Page 109 of Unraveled

“I’ll hold you to it,” Cara said sweetly.

She went back to attending her steaks, slathering them in a special homemade sauce that very few people had the recipe to. She preferred to cook her steaks in the oven, rather than on a frying pan. The meat always came out a bit more tender.

Gian moved around her in his penthouse, grabbing items out of the fridge and setting them up on the counter for Cara when she asked. He also pulled out a beer, popping the top off and taking a hearty swig from the amber-colored bottle. Just the way he stared at her, told Cara something was on his mind.

What, exactly, she didn’t know.

She could just see it.

Their ruined date a few nights earlier had mostly been brushed under the rug. Cara hadn’t seen her cousin since, and she didn’t plan to seek the asshole out. Gian, on the other hand, kept Cara closer than ever since that evening and the morning after. In fact, he’d packed a bag for her to bring to his penthouse, and he hadn’t let her leave since, only for school.

Cara didn’t mind, really.

She liked being there with him.

“Everything okay?” Cara asked.

Gian shrugged. “It could be better, but I’ll get there.”

“Do tell.”

“It’s not for you to worry about, bella. Just nonsense making noise in my head, like it sometimes does. It’ll all go away soon.”

“If you’re sure …”

“Positive.” Gian took another drink from his beer as Cara slipped the casserole dish, filled with the marinated steaks, into the oven. “I do have a question for you, though.”

“Oh?”

“What do you want in the future?”

Cara straightened quickly as she closed the oven, and leaned against the warm metal to regard Gian as she spoke. “For what?”

“Us, I guess.”

“I want you,” Cara said simply.

“That’s a broad statement, though. I meant … the details, Cara. Of life, you know. The little things. What do you want with me in all of that?”

“What’s brought this on?”

Gian smirked in that way of his. “I told you once that if you asked me for something more, I would try my very best to give it to you. I’ve done that so far, but now I wonder what you want beyond what we have, that’s all.”

“I want you,” she repeated firmer.

“Yeah, but—”

“Everything, Gian. I want everything with you.”

“Everything,” he echoed.

“I mean, yeah. As it comes, you know.”

“With me.”

“Who the hell else?”

Gian gave her one of his usual smiles, leaned forward, and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “All right, then. That’s all I needed to hear.”