Unraveled (Guzzi Duet Book 1)(94)

It was a particular sport that she had been taught all too well, and had yet to lose.

Gian didn’t realize he had been playing Elena’s game until it was too late. He had fallen for all of her lies, they were only a single week being married, he was stuck in the agreement made, and his life shattered. Just like that, she ruined what should have been his free choice and will.

And she had done it for no other reason than to be free.

She trapped him so that she could fly.

“Well?” Gian asked. “What do you want for your birthday?”

Elena shrugged. “Nothing spectacular.”

“But something amazing.”

“That is what your wife deserves, isn’t it, Gian?”

“She certainly deserves something,” he said as he moved past her.

Elena reached out to pat his cheek. It took every ounce of willpower he had not to flinch away. He did not share a life with this woman beyond the one they were forced into, and they certainly didn’t share affection. He didn’t want her touching him, and he had no interest or desire to touch her.

Once, before they married, all he had wanted to do was touch her, and to save her. And then he figured out her games, but it was already too late.

“Don’t,” Gian murmured, stepping out of Elena’s reach.

“So touchy, Gian.”

“I wonder why, Elena.”

“You’re no fun tonight.”

With her, he was never fun.

“If you want something, then ask for it. Don’t, however, try to manipulate me into giving you something by pretending to be nice or that you give a shit. You don’t. I don’t. It’s that simple.”

Elena shot him a look. “Fine, whatever. Shiny and pretty things, people to sing me happy birthday, the usual.”

Gian nodded. “It’ll be done.”

“Out somewhere, too. Not here.”

“Pick a place.”

Elena was the one to walk past him that time, her smile serene and her sarcasm oozing as she spoke over her dainty shoulder. “You’re too good to me, Gian.”

As he should be.

As he had to be.

Because she was his wife.

Little else had to matter, apparently. Certainly not his feelings. Those disgusting fucking things were meant for weaker men, and Gian had no time for weakness. The only time he did indulge his feelings were when it came to a certain woman that was out of his reach.

“Well, are you coming to eat supper, or are you going to stand there in the entryway all night?” Elena asked.

“Did you cook it?”

“God, no.”

“Then yes, I’ll eat,” Gian said.

He didn’t even trust his wife not to try and kill him with food, honestly.

This was how their life was lived now that they had to be together in some shape or form. Carefully, circling around each other with the occasional sharp word quick to show itself and cut the other person standing too close. Maybe it was easier for them both this way.

If they stuck to what was, they would not dig too deep into what had been.

Neither of them wanted that mess brought up.

Not again, anyhow.





The priest waved his hands upward in a sweeping motion to the parishioners, and everyone stood at the same time to be blessed a final time. Gian was grateful—it was almost over.

And by it, he meant his time with his wife for a couple of days.

Church was meant to be one of his peaceful times, but even that was becoming tainted by the fact that he now sat in a pew with his wife, instead of with his family like he once had. Appearances were everything, after all.

Some needed to be kept happier than others in that regard.

“Finally,” Elena grumbled under her breath as the priest dismissed the congregation. She stood, brushing down the skirt of her cream-colored, knee-length dress that matched her shoes and hat. “Mass never ends. I hate it.”

And yet, she was one of the best dressed in the entire congregation.

“Church is good for the soul,” Gian replied tiredly.

“People like us have no souls, Gian. This is nothing more than a farce, and if there is a heaven, we will only be allowed entrance because we paid our way in.”

Touché.

“Chris can drive you home,” Gian told his wife as he picked up his aviator sunglasses from the pew. “I have things to do today.”

Elena pursed her lips. “I’m sure.”

She didn’t push him or argue his demands, though. Chris would be waiting outside to return Elena to the mansion, and she had another driver on speed dial to take her wherever in the hell she wanted during the week. She had a license and could drive perfectly well, but she preferred to be chauffeured about like a queen.

Gian didn’t give a shit as long as it wasn’t him doing the driving.

It wasn’t long after Elena was gone down the aisle that Dom slid in beside his brother in the pew. Gian allowed a few more people to head down the aisle, opting to stay behind with Dom to get his weekly update.

It always fucking hurt.

It sucked like nothing else.

Gian did it to punish himself, surely.

It still helped him to breathe.

“Well?” Gian asked.

Dom sipped from a to-go cup of coffee like he had all the time in the world. “Nothing new, really. Cara’s been pretty quiet the last week. She’s still working at that women’s shelter over on the Fifth.”