Page 202 of Cara & Gian: The Guzzi Duet

“Why her, Gian?”

Gian tensed at the question, but only because he knew there would be no one, easy answer. It was several events, mixed-messages, and dumb feelings that had led him into the mistake of marriage with Elena. A sense of duty.

When he stayed silent, mulling over his reply, Cara took a seat at the table. “So, you’re not going to tell me?”

Gian meet her gaze, unashamed. “Of course, I’ll tell you. It’s just not an easy question.”

“You’ve asked me before, if I wanted to talk about her or the marriage. What is so different this time? Because I asked?”

“Because I wasn’t expecting it. Because back then, I was prepared to explain and knew how to say things. When you spring it on me, I don’t have time to consider ways to wall myself off from shit I don’t like to feel.”

Honesty was the best policy.

Gian had learned his lesson about lying.

Cara played with the tablecloth as Gian got one of the mini tubs of ice cream from the freezer, and then spoons from the drawer. He pulled a chair out from the table, and set it opposite to Cara, so the two were facing one another.

“Wine would probably be better for this conversation,” Gian said with a smirk, “but since you can’t drink, neither will I, and the ice cream will have to do.”

“It’s that bad for you that you need wine?”

“Whiskey, preferably. Even beer wouldn’t be enough.” Gian shook the ice cream container. “And today, it’s ice cream only.”

“So, why her?”

Gian handed Cara a spoon, and used his own to pull through the top of the ice cream. He stared at the rolled-up treat on the tip of the spoon, considering whether or not he wanted a bite before he spoke. His mouth worked first.

“I met Elena Canali shortly after her twenty-second birthday, at a restaurant, actually. We married when she was twenty-three. Just a random pass by, she was at one table alone, and I was at another with a date, of sorts. I recognized her, but only because we had previous run-ins with her father. Gabriel is a boss of another organization—one not entirely like ours, less controlled, but still Italian-based. Not that it matters.”

“Then get to what does,” Cara urged.

Gian sucked the ice cream off his spoon, then waved it at Cara. “I’m picking out important details. Think, stuff I overlooked, or should have paid more attention to. Things like a boss’s daughter being alone, without any sort of watcher or protection.”

Cara frowned. “All right.”

“She was exceptionally beautiful, and it’s one of the first things someone notices about her, even from afar. I was not an exception to that rule. She kept looking over at me, ignoring the fact I was with a woman at my table, and I caught her staring a few times. It made me curious.”

Cara took a bite of the ice cream, too. “She is beautiful, but cold, too. Even in your wedding pictures, I could see it. It’s strange.”

“It’s not strange if you know her,” Gian murmured. “Back to my story, though. I let my date go early; my mother had set it up, and back then, I didn’t mind playing into Celeste’s meddling from time to time, but nothing was coming from that.”

Gian shrugged. “Anyway, she left, and I asked for the bill. The waiter hadn’t even brought it over before Elena approached me. By the time he did get there, we were already five minutes into a conversation about who was going to run for mayor that year in the city, as the Ford family seemed like loose cannons, which teams had the best shot at the Stanley Cup, and some movie she wanted to see that was coming out.”

“Oh?”

“I offered to take her to see it,” Gian said dryly. “Call that a first date, I guess.”

Cara took a huge scoop of the ice cream. “And then what happened?”

“I mean, you could say we started dating, but it wasn’t like that really, and it was clouded by all sorts of other shit going on.”

“Like what?”

“Elena’s father was in the midst of a street war with a gang, so I had to be careful about my involvement with her seeming … to their side of things and making it appear like the Guzzi family would get involved. Petty street wars aren’t worth much except a growing body count, and the Guzzi family doesn’t get mixed up in those sorts of things unless it’ll benefit us in some way.”

“Details again?” Cara asked.

Gian laughed. “Sort of. I thought I was the one being careful, taking her out occasionally, or having her stay over at my place, but never hers. She didn’t meet my family or friends, and I didn’t meet hers. It turned out, she was the one being careful. Elena didn’t want her father to know about me, or that she was messing around with me—that’s the best way to describe what it was, anyway.”