Gaara ripped the shirt from his body and hurled it to the floor, his movements sharp with fury. Half-naked, he threw himself onto the bed, one arm flung over his eyes as though to block out the world itself.

“Damn that woman…” he cursed into the silence, his voice ragged, his words cutting through the air like broken glass.

He despised it. The way she had twisted his emotions, leaving him tangled in knots he had never known before. No one had ever been able to pierce his composure like ...