Page 48 of Unraveled

“Saying what?”

“Nothing,” her cousin muttered. “It’s been a long night. Gian’s already discharged, anyway. He’s not even here, and he’s chilling out where he can’t be bothered.”

Cara stood firm. “I want to see him.”

“Yeah—”

“And why isn’t he answering his phone?”

“Kinda got smashed on the way down to the pavement, and yeah,” Constantino said. “Why don’t you head home, and I’ll let him know you were here.”

Nope.

“I want to see him,” she repeated.

Constantino scowled. “Since when did you become so fucking irritating and stubborn? Weren’t you supposed to be the quiet twin?”

Cara couldn’t quite let those comments roll off her shoulders. “You don’t know shit about me. Don’t pretend like you do, Constantino.”

“Clearly.”

“Take me to Gian.”

Her cousin shook his head. “Fine. Whatever.”

The very moment Cara laid eyes on Gian from across the club’s floor, a swift relief coursed through her system. It was a feeling she hadn’t quite experienced before, and she didn’t know what to do about it. She hadn’t realized that from the second she heard bomb uttered alongside Gian’s name, fear had put her back in robot mode.

She’d gone back to that black space in her mind. Things moved around her, she did what was needed, and went through the motions of life amongst the living, but Cara wasn’t really there. Not entirely. Not like she should be.

You’re catching feelings for someone you shouldn’t, her mind taunted. And for no good fucking reason.

Cara ignored her inner voice, her attention snagged entirely by the man across the floor. His gaze caught hers, and time stopped as he smiled. Even surrounded by a group full of men, all chatting with drinks in front of them, Gian looked at her and smiled.

A reddish discoloration marred his right cheek, up to his temple, but other than that, Cara couldn’t see any visible issues that should be a cause for concern. Then again, she wasn’t close enough to tell.

“Wait here,” Constantino demanded.

She glared at her cousin’s back as he crossed the club floor to the sectioned-off table where Gian was currently seated with the other men. Constantino bent down, said something, and then nodded quickly. That was it, and her cousin took the seat that Gian vacated not a blink in time later.

The club was hot as hell, so Cara pulled off her coat as Gian crossed the space between them, and hung it over her arm. She tried to shake off the lingering anxiety, and seem like everything was fine, but she couldn’t quite do it as he came to a stop in front of her.

“You’re not who I expected to see showing up here tonight,” Gian said.

Cara shifted from one foot to the other. “You didn’t answer me back.”

“Something happened to my phone.”

“Something like a bomb?”

Gian shrugged one shoulder. “I mean, we can do details, but it won’t help all that much.”

Cara sighed, trying hard not to meet his gaze. If she did, he would surely see all the crazy worry swimming in her mind, and he would know that she actually cared. Cara didn’t know if she wanted to go down that road with Gian, quite yet.

“Shouldn’t you be in the hospital?” she asked quietly.

Gian lifted his arms, and turned slowly as if to let her look him over. “Mild concussion, which means no sleep tonight. I can’t hear all that great out of my right ear, but there’s no lasting damage. I’ve got a bruised kidney, but I only need one, anyway.”

Cara shook her head in disbelief. “Lucky.”