Gabriel frowned as William approached them, once again appearing as if out of nowhere. Anna felt a subtle wave of relief wash over her—the conversation with Gabriel had started to drift into dangerous territory, and she wasn't in the right frame of mind to handle it.
"It's not very polite to interrupt an ongoing conversation," Gabriel snapped, narrowing his eyes as William casually took a seat on the blanket beside Anna and wrapped an arm possessively around her waist.
"This conversation needed to end," William replied curtly, his voice sharp as his jaw tensed. "Anna clearly wasn't comfortable listening to your mindless rambling."
"And how would you know that?" Gabriel shot back, his tone rising. "Do you even bother asking her how she feels? No, of course not." He scoffed, his frown deepening. "I'm just trying to spend time with the woman I care about."
