Page 276 of Cara & Gian: The Guzzi Duet

Cara found Gian sitting on the middle of their bedroom floor, his suit jacket discarded, and his tie hanging loosely around his neck. He sat in the same spot Domenic had damn near killed her, and then subsequently lost his own life. Gian fiddled with his finger, and as Cara came closer, she realized he was spinning the wedding band around and around the digit. She rarely saw him wear the piece of jewelry—he said he didn’t like it, and only put it on when necessary.

She supposed today would have been one of those necessary days.

Elena’s funeral.

The last two weeks had been especially trying for Gian, she knew. Perhaps had it been any other man he’d killed, and not his brother, the heavy weight he carried around wouldn’t be so present and obvious. She had gone along with him when he chose to tell his mother and father that Domenic would not be coming home ever again. Gian hadn’t needed to do that, because as far as Cara knew, by Gian’s request, Stephan had taken care of the body so that it wouldn’t be found. As sad as it would have been for Gian’s parents to realize something had happened and not have answers, Gian was not required to give one.

Yet, he had.

And the sound.

Oh, God.

The sound of Celeste Guzzi’s heartache still resounded in Cara’s mind. It was as though the woman’s whole world had just fallen apart entirely. It had been a tug of war in the mother’s eyes as she listened to Gian explain and apologize. Cara did not think she was as good of a woman as Celeste seemed to be in the moments that followed. A woman who faced the reasons why, and forgave all the same. A woman who loved a murdered child, and the child who had done the killing.

Gian’s father, on the other hand, had not been so understanding. Coward. Fool. Your fault. You did this. And for what, Gian, for a whore?

Cara would never forget those words.

She suspected that neither would Gian.

“Gian?” Cara asked quietly.

He didn’t look up at her, but his fidgeting stopped. “Hey, mon ange.”

“I didn’t see where you went when you came in the penthouse.”

“I needed a second.”

“For what?”

Gian let out a heavy breath. “To think. Alone, for a while.”

“I can let you—”

“No, don’t go.” He caught her wrist in a snug grip, and tugged her down. She sat opposite to him on the floor as his ring spinning started up again. “Last time to take it off.”

Gian said that with a soft smile and a shrug.

“Then why haven’t you?”

“A part of me thinks it’s not real. As much as I hate this ring, I don’t hate what it means, Cara. I just hated who it tied me to and how it chained me. It felt like it was choking me every time I had to put it on. I’m worried, that’s all.”

“About what, Gian?”

“That maybe the way this one has always felt will taint the way the next one feels.”

Oh.

“We don’t need to be worrying about that right now,” Cara whispered, reaching out to stroke Gian’s tense lines away on his face. “You know that, right?”

“I’m a boss. A boss needs—”

“To be happy. To take some time. To manage a family and his organization. To be a dad. To be my lover. To be a son. Have you ever taken the time just to be, Gian?”

“I don’t have that kind of time, Cara, not in my position.”

“And who the fuck is going to tell you what you should and shouldn’t do for you at the moment, Gian? Who is going to tell you anything? You got one thing right—you’re the boss, not anyone else.”