" I apologize,” he said stiffly. “I don’t know why I got so upset.” He brushed a few crumbs from his clothing as he stood. “If you will both excuse me, I have some reading I must complete.”
Cass turned to her aunt the second Luca disappeared into the portego. “What on earth do you suppose that was about?” she asked.
“It appears that during his time in France, your fiancé developed a bit of a temper,” Agnese said mildly, as though Luca’s outburst were perfectly normal. She blotted her mouth with her napkin and signaled a servant to bring her a second pastry. “Let’s just hope he saves some of that passion for your wedding night.”
Cass folded her napkin and put it on the table. She felt nauseated. She replayed the conversation with Luca again and again. He hadn’t even denied returning to Venice early. It was true--he’d been in town for at least a week, maybe more. Why had he lied to her? She thought of how she had seen, for just one second, his face contorted with rage as he warned her to be more careful. It was a side of Luca she had never seen--almost as though for just one second, he had slipped on a mask.
Or perhaps he had slipped out of a mask. Maybe, in that moment, he had let drop the image of the ever-composed, always righteous Luca.
It was more than just jealousy or overprotectiveness. Luca was hiding something. Cass was certain of it. "

― Fiona Paul , Venom (Secrets of the Eternal Rose, #1)