by Bethany-Kris
Someone else mentioned waking Andino, and his new wife.
What a morning after that would be.
A beautiful wedding, and a horror in the morning.
“Was it them?” someone asked.
“It was, wasn’t it? The Calabrese.”
“No one’s claimed it—but we suspect, yeah,” Giovanni Marcello said, confirming Siena’s worst fears to the questioning family.
She realized then that perhaps her brothers did have a motive for leaving the city. Something they had put into motion that she had not known about beforehand. She wondered if William had been personally picked as a hit, or if he had simply been an opportunity given the circumstances.
Those were not answers she had.
Siena wasn’t able to think on it for long.
“Why is she here?” Cella demanded.
Siena snapped back at the venom in the woman’s tone. Cella—younger than Siena, maybe, or possibly the same age—stared at her with growing hatred in tear-filled eyes. She didn’t blame the woman, but it still hurt.
She stepped back.
John stepped in front of her. “Cella, she didn’t do anything.”
“Why is she here?”
This time, it was a scream.
A stabbing accusation.
“You just had to fucking go and get in bed with that fucking family full of snakes, John,” his sister shouted. Despite being pulled down the hallway by her parents, Cella continued on. Her rage spilled out—hurt and confusion following. “You don’t care what it means, do you? You don’t even know—”
“Cella, that’s enough,” Lucian snarled.
Sobbing echoed, and then the girl was gone, along with her parents. A few people followed them, mentioning the hospital again.
Siena was left standing in the middle of the hallway, feeling oh, so fucking cold and unsure. It wasn’t like Cella had been wrong, though she directed her words at the wrong person. John had not deserved those statements and accusations.
It was not his choices that did this.
It was not his family who took from her.
“Hey, babe. It’s okay.”
John was there in front of her before Siena had even blinked. His hand came up and touched her face with the softest stroke, but a line of tears still fell. She didn’t bother to wipe them away. He did it for her.
“It’s okay,” he repeated.
She didn’t think it was.
Not at all.
“She should have known,” someone said. “Isn’t she the one fucking feeding the boss information?”
Siena looked at the man who spoke, but she didn’t recognize him. “I didn’t know.”
Giovanni—Andino’s father—stepped in front of the man to block him. “Nothing at all, Siena? They didn’t say anything? You didn’t hear anything about something like this?”
She shook her head.
Nothing.
She knew nothing.
She fucked up.
“I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “I’m sorry.”
SIX
John was pulled away from Siena by his uncle. Giovanni cut through the people gathered in the hallway with a low curse, and a shake of his head. It wasn’t hard to figure out that his uncle was pissed, especially when Gio waved at the men following him to get inside one of the hotel rooms. Once they were all inside, he then slammed the door hard enough that John thought the wood might have cracked.
A couple of more men slipped into the room not long after the door had closed. Once most everyone was there—barring a couple of important people—gazes drifted between one another. It was almost as though they were silently asking who wanted to speak first.
John didn’t know what to say.
He didn’t have all the details.
Instantly, all the men started talking at once. The Marcello Capos that had been invited to the dinner and party portion of Andino’s wedding, and had stayed overnight like the family did, made a catacomb of noise inside the hotel room.
John tried to take everything in.
“Has someone told the boss?”
“Dante is awake, and aware,” Gio answered. “He has something else to handle with someone else, and then we will all sit down with the boss and figure something out after we chat here. Not before.”
“What about Andino?”
Gio’s gaze cut to the man who had asked that question. “Someone has gone to wake him up, as well. I should have been the one to do it, but here I am instead. I don’t expect him to be very pleased, all things considered.”
“Shitty way to wake up from your wedding night.”
Wasn’t that the fucking truth?
John figured his cousin was—in some ways—ready for this sort of thing. Andino would have to be, considering he was making big steps to take over their uncle’s position as the boss. No man went into that job with rose tinted glasses on. Trouble always came when you least expected it to, and even when you did expect it.
Andino had to be ready for that.
That didn’t mean a man wanted to have to deal with this kind of thing on what should be one of the happiest days of their life. Some shit just shouldn’t be touched in their life—women, children, and so forth. Only fucking cowards attacked made men and their families during vulnerable times like weddings, births, or even Christenings.
Those days were supposed to be sacred.
Nothing was sacred anymore.
Then, another voice joined the chorus. An older Capo—closer to John’s father’s age, who flat out refused to concede his position to a younger man. Sometimes, that shit happened, but it didn’t always make for good business.
Nathan was the man’s name.
“We’re supposed to believe that the Calabrese woman being here in the morning after what they did to us today is nothing more than coincidence?” Nathan asked.
Gio’s gaze darted from a suddenly stone-still John, to Nathan. “Well—”
“You honestly think she doesn’t know what the fuck happened, or that it was going to happen? I heard there was some kind of behind the scenes action with someone inside the Calabrese family, but I didn’t realize we were using a fucking woman to get it.”
John opted to speak up, then. He really didn’t need to, and God fucking knew they didn’t need more problems at the moment, considering everything. It probably would have been a smarter idea for him to just keep quiet, and let Giovanni handle the questions and explanations for the men.
He couldn’t do that, though.
Not when Siena’s name was brought into it. Not if it meant letting someone drag her through the mud, or stain her with accusations she wasn’t warranted, and could not defend. That kind of shit was not okay, and he would never allow it.
“Do you have a fucking problem with Siena Calabrese?” John asked Nathan.
The older man stood a little straighter in his bathrobe and cotton sleep pants. Nathan was the type that figured his age gave him some kind of edge, or even a heavier respect, than those younger than him in the family. Bullshit. The least he could have done was thrown on a fucking shirt before leaving his room, but here they were.
“Yes, I damn well do,” Nathan replied.
“And what is it?”
“Her last name, for starters.”
John scoffed. “So she’s good to feed you information, but the second someone knows it’s her, she’s not good enough, huh?”
“I didn’t know it was her.”
“Fact remains the same, Nathan. If you’re going to run off at the mouth about Siena, I suggest you do so where I cannot hear, or where she is ready and capable of defending herself. Otherwise, I’m going to make you apologize to her for acting like a goddamn prick, and I can promise that you will not like the way I fucking do it. Got it?”
“It is a little concerning that she’s here,” another man put in.
“She was here for me,” John snapped over his shoulder. “She didn’t leave my room all day yesterday, or last night.
She was kept company by several people while she waited for me. And if you have a fucking problem with who I involve myself with, then you can bring that issue to me.”
“John makes a valid point,” Giovanni said, stepping in between the men. “And right now, the important topic is not who is involved with who, but what we need to do next to lock this family down, and protect anyone who needs protection.”
“And what, ignore the fact he’s sleeping with one of the goddamn snakes?” Nathan asked.
Jesus.
John had done so well.
He hadn’t let his anger or frustration overwhelm him for a long damn while. His new med regime really helped with the sometimes heavy swings of emotions that he experienced. At the very least, it gave him some time to think shit over before he outright reacted to something. But sometimes, shit just could not be helped.
This was one of those times.
Rage swelled through John like a fucking tsunami coming to destroy hallowed ground. Rage was often his favorite emotion as it was the easiest to understand, and to feel. It certainly wasn’t the easiest to control, but he wasn’t concerned about that at the moment. He had other things to handle.
He swung around, despite seeing the warning flash in his uncle’s eyes, and took aim at the idiot who smirked at him.
Good.
Wiping that off would be greatly satisfying.
John reared back, and let his fist crash into the face of the Capo. He didn’t hold back for a second, and he put every bit of his weight behind the punch. He swore Nathan’s nose broke under the impact as the man’s bones flattened with a sickening crunch damn near instantly. That sound was quite satisfying, really.
Blood poured.
Someone swore.
Someone else moved closer.
“John,” he heard his uncle warn.
John didn’t need anybody to step in. He knew exactly what he was doing, he was perfectly in control, and he had this shit handled.
He had himself handled.
John pulled back, stood straight once more, and fixed his fucking jacket. Another time—another day in his life or another person he disliked a little bit more than Nathan—and he might have beat the guy to a bloody pulp because he couldn’t fucking control himself, and it would have felt divine.
Today was not that day.
John only needed the one hit to make his fucking point clear. He looked over Nathan as the man covered his broken, bleeding nose with one hand, and nodded when the Capo glanced up at him. Bleeding and holding onto his face, Nathan muttered a garbled apology when John cocked his brow at the man.
He hadn’t even needed to ask.
The Capo just knew.
So was their life.
Pointing a finger at him, John said, “And you fucking remember how this shit went down the next time you put Siena’s name in your goddamn mouth, too.”
Turning fast on his heel, John looked to his uncle. What had been concern and a warning in Gio’s eyes before was now only a slight amusement, and shit, maybe even pride. It was hard to tell with Gio sometimes. His mind was all over the place, and really, he was usually the first man in their family to step out of line when it came to rules and whatever else.
John figured he was good to go. And even if he wasn’t, that one punch had been worth it, all things considered.
“We don’t assault other made men,” Gio said quietly.
“Let him act that way toward your wife, then.”
Gio raised a brow. “Siena is not your wife, John. Therein lies the difference, and you’re quite aware of that.”
Yet.
She was not his wife yet.
John didn’t say that out loud, only shrugged. “I said what I said.”
“Can we finish our discussion, now?”
“Sure,” John murmured, “but somebody might want to get Nathan a towel. He’s ruining the rug, and that’s a damn shame.”
“They said nothing to you?” Dante asked. “Nothing at all?”
John’s defensiveness edged a little higher at the sound of his uncle questioning Siena. It wasn’t that Dante Marcello was a bad man—he wasn’t. In fact, the current patriarch of their family was known to be incredibly kind and giving to those he allowed beyond his hard outer shell.
To someone on the outside of their family, however, Dante was also known to hold nothing back. He could be cold, and extremely callous. He had no qualms with removing what he perceived to be threats against his family and organization.
Maybe it was the way Dante had treated Siena months ago that left a bad taste in John’s mouth now. He was not willing to allow anyone to treat her with anything less than absolute respect, including his uncle.
John leaned in the doorway that separated the main living quarters of his hotel room with the small kitchen section. Dante and Siena sat at the small two-person table. His uncle drank a coffee. Siena picked at food on her plate.
Dante’s gaze caught John’s, but he chose not to move. He simply wanted his uncle to know that he was there, and listening. That was the most important thing
“Nothing,” Siena said. “They left last night, like I said. Darren came over, and Kev had a bag packed. They said they might be gone a couple of days. I hadn’t heard anything before that to suspect something.”
“You didn’t think you had any reason to tell us they left?”
“No.”
Dante sighed, and leaned back in his chair. “And you’ve gotten no calls from them since you’ve been here?”
“No,” she repeated.
“If this happens again—where they up and go without explanation—I will need you to let someone know however you can. I know it’s a little …”
“Dangerous, yeah,” Siena filled in.
Dante nodded. “I know, but it’s important.”
John took a single step into the room, drawing their attention his way. Siena tried to smile, but he could plainly see it did not reach her eyes like it usually would. He didn’t like that at all, and he didn’t like some of the shit he was hearing.
“Someone needs to explain to me what in the hell is going on with her,” John said.
Dante cleared his throat, and his gaze drifted between Siena, and John before he finally spoke again. “You know I’m not required to give you any sort of—”
“You will tell me, or someone else will. Clearly, she’s feeding information to the Marcellos. I got that fucking much at least. But I thought it was just Andino, or maybe even my father after he was the one who let me know she was here last night. But now you’re mixed up in this scheme, too? What switch got flipped when I was away, huh? What changed your mind?”
Dante chuckled dryly. “There was no switch, John. I have always done whatever I needed to do for this family and organization. That’s never changed in all my years.”
Fair enough.
John still felt uneasy about a lot of things.
“I still need some answers,” John said.
Dante’s gaze fell on something—or someone—behind John. The man nodded, and then stood from the table. He looked to Siena at the same time Andino slipped in beside John. His cousin had gotten rid of the tux he wore the night before, and replaced it with dark wash jeans, and a white T-shirt.
Andino didn’t particularly look pleased to be there, but John couldn’t exactly blame him for that, either. The man should have been spending his morning with his new bride. Like any man would want to do.
“Siena, why don’t I introduce you to my wife,” Dante said. “You’ve met Catrina before, but I think you’ll appreciate her a little more with a personal conversation.”
John didn’t want Siena going anywhere. “She can stay—”
“We should talk,” Andino interjected. “Just you and I, John. Let her go with Dante.”
Andino’s statement offered no room for argument, and also, hinted at something he didn’t fully explain, either. John thought back to the day before, and how a simple gesture of Dante walking Ha
ven down the aisle for Andino would have been seen as a big deal.
“It could help her case a lot,” Andino added quieter, “just to be seen with the boss. Having others trust her is of the utmost importance right now, man.”
John nodded. “All right.”
He didn’t let Siena by without pulling her in close enough for a quick kiss to her temple, though. Her smile grew the longer he held her there, and she gave him a nod before disappearing out of the small kitchen behind Dante.
“Talk,” John demanded once he was alone with his cousin. “And give me something worth chewing on while you’re at it.”
Andino folded his arms over his chest. “You know, I could be fucking my wife—”
“You’ll get back to that. Talk.”
“On your one question—Siena has been feeding us info for months now. Shortly after you went in, actually, I had the chance to give her some direction. She took my advice, and I used it to my advantage.”
“How so?”
“She goes to yoga a couple of times a week. I either meet her inside, or she slips outside and fills me in on things.”
“You said us, but that sounds like just you.”
“Your father was involved behind the scenes, but he stepped in. My dad, too.”
“And Dante?”
“Came in later,” Andino said, smirking. “You know, when I didn’t give him a fucking choice. It’s like this—Dante wants me to take over this family, and I am going to do that. But I will do so on my terms, and how I want to do it. He didn’t want a war with the Calabrese, and I am never going to bow down to those fuckers for anything. Not after what they did to us decades ago, and not after what they did to you. I wouldn’t betray you like that either, frankly.”
Andino shrugged, adding, “I’m going to remove them from this city altogether. Her information, when she has some to give, helps a great deal.”
John cleared his throat. “So what, you take over their organization, too?”
“That’s not important right now.”
“I think it is. You’re putting Siena in a lot of fucking danger, Andino.”
“No, John, she is.”