Page 140 of Unraveled

Cara shrugged. “Sometimes, the truth hurts, Gian. Seems I’m not the only one who needed to learn that lesson, lately.”

With that statement, Cara turned on her heel and headed back to the elevator, determined to let those words be her final goodbye. It had said much more than she could. It wasn’t a proper goodbye, but it would have to do.

“Cara, wait.”

His footsteps echoed behind her, but she kept walking.

The elevator came into view fast, but not fast enough.

Gian grabbed her arm, spinning her back around to face him. “Wait, I said.”

Cara glared right back at him, letting her anger swell for the first time since she had entered the penthouse. “Don’t manhandle me, Gian. You don’t get to order me around, not now.”

“Let me speak for five minutes. Let me explain, and then you can do whatever the fuck you want to do.”

“What is there to explain?”

“I—”

“Are you married?” she asked.

“It’s not that simple.”

“Are. You. Married.”

“Yes,” he admitted.

“For three years.”

“And a couple of months.”

Cara took a deep breath. “Did you lie to me about it?”

“In a sense, yes, by omission.”

“Then nothing else matters.”

“It might, if you would let me explain, Cara.”

She doubted it.

“Let me go, Gian, I don’t belong here. You have a woman who can stand at your side, be in your bed, and whatever else you want, but I’m not her. I am not your wife. And I won’t pretend to be, when you want something different for the evening. I won’t be a goomah for a made man, and I certainly won’t be your whore.”

Gian released his hold on her arm, but it took a few passing seconds. “I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

“You should have known it would. All lies unravel, eventually, no matter how good you are at telling them. And you’re so good, aren’t you? You made sure no one said a single word to me, but they all knew, didn’t they?”

“It wasn’t like that. They had no reason to speak up, and maybe some even thought you knew. Shit, at first, I thought you might have known.”

“Why would I have known, Gian? I knew barely anything about you!”

“I know.” Gian raised his hands high and wide, as if to offer nothing but air. “I do love you, Cara. You know that’s true. You have to know that’s true.”

“Do I? I don’t think I know anything about you at all.”

Cara blinked, and the tears she had been holding back made lines down her cheeks. She didn’t make a move to wipe the wetness away, instead, letting Gian see them, so he knew. She needed him to understand how much he hurt her.

It couldn’t be fixed.