Page 25 of Entangled

“A date, someone I met. Happy?”

Gian’s eyes flashed with his jealousy, and she hated him for that, too.

“No, I’m not happy.”

“Well, don’t ask if you don’t really want to know.”

“How long?” he asked.

“I’m not answering that one.”

“I’ve seen him here before, with the owner. I could always … ask around.”

Cara stiffened a bit. “You have no right to do that, Gian. Whether or not I see someone, or go out with someone, or fuck someone, isn’t for you to know or have an opinion on. I’m not yours, now. You don’t get a say in anything I do. Learn that, and fast.”

By the time she had finished her tirade, her voice had turned into a harsh whisper.

Gian barely blinked a lash at her rage.

“It fucked me up,” he said, shrugging one shoulder, “seeing you out with somebody else. Smiling like you do, and it just … fucked me up, Cara. I thought, who the fuck is he, and what in the hell is she doing, and why? And it’s fucking disgusting how fast I thought about finding out who he was just to kill him. And you—Jesus, Cara—you don’t even realize how pissed off it makes me that you smiled for him, mon ange.”

Cara sucked in a low breath, willing it to give her some sense of calm.

It didn’t help.

Screw him for the fact he made her hot and bothered, and all he had to do was threaten a man he didn’t even know. God, she hated this and the confusing way it left her feeling.

“You don’t get to say those kinds of things to me. We’re not together. I can date whoever I want. I already told you that. And stop calling me your pretty French pet names, Gian.”

“Why? It still fits. My angel.”

“I’m not yours,” Cara snapped. “Not anymore.”

Gian smirked, his arrogance becoming all the more apparent. “Oh, Cara, you’re always going to be mine. Sempre, amore.”

“I beg to differ.”

“Do you want to play this game?”

“Gian—”

“You are mine, Cara, even if you’re not with me. And do you want to know how I know that, sweet girl?”

Cara refused to look him in the eye. He stepped close enough that his body pressed against hers, but she couldn’t move away. She kept her head turned to the side, even when his hand slid up to cup her cheek and his fingers threaded into her hair.

“I know you’re still mine, because there’s no way on earth you could tell me that man, or any other man, knows anything about you worth knowing.”

“Stop, Gian.”

Why was her voice so goddamn weak?

And why did she want to turn into his palm, not away like she was?

This isn’t fair.

“Has he, or anyone else, even touched you since me? Can you even stand to let someone have you the way you let me have you?”

Cara’s gaze cut to his fast. “Gian.”