by Bethany-Kris
“Haven’t you told me for basically my whole life that idle hands and bad behavior would only shame you and the family?”
Matteo chuckled darkly. “That I did.”
“I don’t go out very much, Dad.”
Mostly true.
“No friends, either?”
“A couple.”
“What about men?”
A knot of tension tightened around Siena’s spine. She tried not to show how uncomfortable the question made her as she turned around to face her father.
“Like dating?” she asked.
Matteo nodded. “Exactly that. Are you seeing someone?”
“Would it matter if I was?”
“I should think it would be my business if you were,” he replied.
“Yet, I’m not.”
“At all?” he pressed.
Siena’s gaze narrowed. “Where is this coming from, Dad?”
Because it all screamed strange and odd to her. It wasn’t like her father to care much about her personal life as long as she kept it quiet, and private. As long as nothing she did brought shame to her family, then he never spoke a word about it.
After all, he wanted a compliant, easily controlled daughter. Much like how he preferred his wife, too.
Matteo waved a large hand. “Your brothers mentioned maybe you were dating, and I thought I should ask.”
What?
When would her brothers—
Siena’s thoughts slammed together with a heavy realization. All she did was ask about one single man in front of her brothers, and the first thing they did was run to her father with the information.
Like a bunch of assholes.
She was, however, planning on seeking Johnathan Marcello out in a week at the club he apparently worked out of every other weekend. She even made sure to clear things off her schedule so that nothing would be taking her away.
Siena was not telling her father that, though.
Andino had been clear.
Her family was not welcome.
“I’m not seeing anyone,” she told her father. “At all.”
“Do let me know if that changes,” Matteo said, grinning.
With that, her father moved away from the small island, and headed for the door. As though he were completely finished with their conversation, and now had better things to do that did not include being there with her.
“What about your coffee?” Siena asked.
Matteo looked over his shoulder as he pulled open the door. “I’m not really in the mood to stay and chat longer.”
Yeah, she hadn’t thought so.
He had only come to pry information out of her.
But why?
Why?
Siena filed the strange encounter away in the back of her mind, and decided it was probably nothing.
For now, anyway.
• • •
Despite the name of the club, Heavy Metal had very little to do with scream-o music or hard rock. Siena figured that out the second she stepped inside the joint. The reflective lights and metallic accents left shimmering colors cascading over her body-con red dress, and the matching four-inch stilettos on her feet.
The bouncer at the front of the club had only nodded at her when she mentioned being there to see a Marcello, even though she hadn’t technically been told to do that by Andino.
Whatever.
It got her through the door.
Siena kept a firm grip on the red clutch in her hand as she weaved in and out of the moving people. The flickering lights and bass pounding through the hardwood floors made for quite an experience.
She wasn’t really a partier.
Clubs weren’t her thing.
She did kind of like this, though.
Siena found herself moving toward the bar while her gaze scanned the crowd for a familiar face …
For John.
The bartender came down her way, and tossed a rag over his shoulder. With a warm smile, he asked, “What can I get for you, pretty girl?”
Siena smiled. “Something light.”
“I can mix you up something virgin, but it’ll look like the real thing if you want really light.”
“Sure, do that.”
It was a couple of minutes before the guy came back with her drink. As she paid for it, Siena thought to ask, “Do you know where Johnathan is by chance?”
The bartender cocked a brow. “Marcello?”
“There’s only one, right?”
“That there is. He’s usually upstairs in the VIP, or working out of an office. Either way, you won’t find him on the floor.”
“Thanks.”
“Just tell the guys guarding the entrance that John asked for you, and they’ll let you through.”
Siena laughed. “Even if he doesn’t know I’m here?”
“Only one way to find out.” The bartender winked, adding, “And I bet he won’t say no to your pretty face.”
Well, then …
CHAPTER FIVE
ANDINO PASSED John a subtle nod as he handed his cousin a glass of what would look like vodka to anyone else watching. Around the table tucked in the back section of the VIP area of the club, the two were working out a deal with a local gang leader who had been encroaching on their territories.
Capos had to talk a lot to make shit work, especially on the streets. Business could not always be done through bloodshed. It drew too much attention, and left them wide open for retribution. A good Capo could get anything done that needed handling with a few words, and a drink.
Or, that’s how John had learned the business.
The gang leader—Maverick—took the second glass Andino had been holding with a nod, and thanks. Maverick held the glass up to John, and he did the same with his own, clinking the two together.
A peace offering.
After three years of lockup, it felt damn good to get back into business. Being a Capo—even if he did have other Capos looking over his fucking shoulder—was what he did best.
“Pleasure doing business with you, Johnathan,” Maverick said.
John tipped his glass up for a drink, and smirked. “And you.”
The two men sipped their drinks, although John’s was nothing more than water. He didn’t drink—or usually—as it wasn’t good to mix alcohol with his meds.
Only a select few people knew that, though.
Andino was one of them.
John quickly finished his water, and set the glass to the table. Maverick followed along, and finished his own drink as well.
“So that’s settled then,” Johnathan said.
Maverick stood from the table. “Seems so. You’ll supply, and I’ll buy from only you.”
“Keep that agreement, and you won’t need to see us again.”
“We wouldn’t be as nice the second time,” Andino added.
The gang leader gave a single nod in response, held up two fingers, and gestured at his men waiting a few tables over. With a quick goodbye between the three men, Maverick headed for the exit with his three men flanking him from the sides and behind.
John and Andino’s two enforcers came closer damn near instantly. Their empty glasses on the table, and the one Maverick left behind, were picked up by the enforcers, and removed.
“Thanks,” John said to Andino.
His cousin grinned. “For what, man? You handled that on your own. I don’t know what the hell Dante is worried about with you. I wasn’t even needed here tonight.”
John chuckled. “Tell him that.”
“I will.”
He didn’t doubt his cousin.
“I meant, thanks for the water,” John said.
Andino shrugged a single shoulder, and shoved his hands in his pockets. “I’ve always got your back, John. Even when you don’t know it.”
John gave Andino a look. “Not really your job, though.”
“Still going to do it.”
“What about when you don’t have the time anymore, huh?”
“How about when you’re the boss, and have a whole organization to manage? You don’t need to be worrying about me when that happens, Andi.”
“Yeah, sure, but—”
“No buts. You work on you—make sure you are where you need to be in this organization, Andino. I’ll handle me.”
Andino scoffed, but clapped John hard on the shoulder at the same time. The two stood at the same six-foot-three height, yet Andino had a good thirty pounds of muscle on John’s lean form. Still, he had never felt like the lesser when it came to his cousin. He appreciated Andino for that more than anything else.
“Man, even when I am looking out for me, I am still going to be looking out for you,” Andino said, shrugging. “I don’t know how to do anything different. Not after everything.”
John knew Andino was telling the truth.
He wished he knew how to tell his cousin that it would be okay, one way or the other. It wouldn’t matter. Not to his cousin.
Andino was going to do him, and that meant looking out for anybody he gave a shit about.
John included.
“Speaking of looking out for you,” Andino said quieter.
John glanced at his cousin. “Pardon?”
“I ran in to somebody—looks like she listened to me.”
“What are you talking about?”
Andino pointed over Johnathan’s shoulder. He turned to see the sight of Siena Calabrese being escorted across the VIP floor by one of Johnathan’s enforcers. The man stayed close to her side, like if she moved out of step, he was ready to grab her.
John hadn’t expected to see her.
Especially not here.
“I figured that was fucked—finished,” John said, more to himself than anyone else.
Andino cocked a brow. “What—her? I ran in to her when I had to handle some business with the Calabrese brothers. I hate them fuckers.”
“Yeah, but no. I meant, I kind of ducked out on her. What did you do?”
A sly smile and another clap on John’s shoulder accompanied Andino’s next words. “She asked about you when I ran in to her. Kind of figured you must have made … an impression.”
John cleared his throat. “Not really supposed to be dating.”
Or fucking.
Or anything.
His therapist made that clear at every appointment. He was supposed to give it time, and work on getting himself straightened out and on the up before he worried about anything else. For good reason …
Relationships, women, and sex were intense things for John. When he mixed all three together, it could be one hell of a hurricane for him.
A good hurricane.
Damn, so good.
It could be a bad one, too.
“Who said anything about dating?” Andino asked like the word tasted bad in his mouth. “Have some fun, John. That’s all.”
It wasn’t that simple.
John actually had an interest in Siena Calabrese. Her and those sweet smiles, the romance novels she always seemed to have, and her soft-spoken demeanor. It was only a little bit about her, but he liked it.
There was a lot about her he didn’t know but wanted to, as well.
The two quieted as the enforcer finally approached with Siena at his side. She flashed John a blinding smile. He was so caught up in the way she looked at him, that he barely noticed the fact she was wearing a dress that showed off all her curves, and heels that made her legs look … fan-fucking-tastic.
Painted red lips.
Hair in curls.
Blue eyes lined in kohl.
All club and ready to dance.
She was not the same woman he had met on the street, and yet she was exactly that person, too.
“Siena,” the enforcer said, jerking a thumb in her direction, “said she was told to come see you here tonight, Skip.”
Siena glanced at Andino, and then back to John.
John waved a hand at the enforcer to make him scatter. The man went back to his post without a word.
Andino cleared his throat, and picked his jacket off the back of the chair. “John, I will see you … tomorrow, or something. I have business to do.”
Sure you do.
John didn’t really mind.
“Nice to see you again, Siena,” Andino added as he passed her by. “Thanks for following directions.”
“And you,” she said quietly.
Then, they were alone.
Not entirely alone, as the VIP area still had a few other people partying, but no one was paying them any mind. For a long time, Siena and John simply stared at one another. He broke the silence first.
“I can’t decide if you are out of your element, or not,” he said.
She flashed him a smile.
Sexy and pretty in a blink.
How in the hell did she manage that?
“This is a little new for me—a club, I mean,” she said.
John grinned. “That so?”
“Yep.”
His gaze traveled up from her heels to her delicate features. He didn’t hide his staring, and she didn’t act like it bothered her.
John liked that a lot.
“That dress says differently—like you might know a bit more about this kind of place than you let on,” he said.
Siena winked. “Guess you’ll have to find out.”
He laughed, loud and hard.
It had been too long since he laughed like that.
Way too long.
“I do owe you a coffee,” he said.
“Coffee in a club?”
“I don’t drink.”
A beer once in a blue moon, but even that wasn’t usual.
She didn’t even blink.
She didn’t ask a thing.
Instead, Siena said, “I know a place down the block, if you want to go?”
John’s hand on her lower back led them both out. He left his anxiety about the rest at the door.
• • •
“Here,” John said.
His fingers circled around Siena’s small wrist to stop her from walking further. The cool September air had mixed in with the nighttime breeze, and made him think the thin sleeves of her tight dress were not enough to keep her warm.
“What—”
He already slipped his suit jacket off, and tossed it around her shoulders before she could protest, or say anything. He fixed the collar a bit, and the tips of his fingers grazed her collarbones peeking out.
John didn’t miss the shiver that raced through Siena at the touch. He didn’t think it was the cool breeze that time.
Her blue gaze stayed locked on him, even after he let her go. She didn’t move to start walking down the sidewalk again, either.
“You didn’t have to do that,” she whispered.
John chuckled. “Sure I did, bella.” He glanced down at the heels on her feet. “Let me know if your feet get tired because I don’t mind helping you out there, either.”
“And just how would you do that?”
“Carry you.”
Siena stilled on the spot, and peeked up at him through long, dark lashes. “You’re kidding, aren’t you?”
“No.”
Not in the least.
“Oh,” she said softly.
“I don’t mind.”
She sighed. “You know, your cousin is kind of scary.”
“Who, Andino?” John let out a laugh. “He’s a fucking teddy bear.”
“If by teddy bear, you mean a teddy bear built like a linebacker with the attitude of somebody ready to take you out, then sure.”
John barely held back his smirk. “Really, he’s harmless.”
“Not if he thinks someone is trying to mess with you.”
John sobered instantly. “Yeah, he doesn’t play there. What did he say to you?”
Siena shrugged under his jacket. “Basically demanded to know what I wanted with you.”
“Becau
se …?”
“I asked about you?”
He liked how she posed that as a question.
“You don’t seem sure,” he said, giving her a look.
“That’s all I did. Like I said, kind of scary.”
John shifted from foot to foot, and glanced down the quiet sidewalk. “And what do you want with me, huh?”
“Not really sure.”
When he looked back at her, she was still staring at him. Not like she was looking for something in his eyes, or anything. No, she was just there … with him.
Present.
Curious.
It was a strange feeling for John.
And definitely not something he was used to.
“Are you really interested in coffee?” John asked.
Siena shook her head. “Not really, no.”
“So, I can assume you came looking for me tonight because you’re interested in something else.”
“You can definitely assume that, John.”
Well, then …
He didn’t get the chance to reply because Siena pushed up on her tiptoes, and kissed him. It took him all of three seconds to snap out of the shock, and act. He did just that by wrapping an arm around her back, and grabbing her jaw. He pulled her closer, felt her soft lips grin against his, and just like that …
John felt alive again.
Kind of like when he met her gaze that first time on the bus.
When she blushed …
Siena’s lips parted at his tongue teasing against the seam, and he got his first taste of her. A heady sweetness that reminded him of cherries and vanilla. Wicked and pure.
John would have happily stayed like that with her on the sidewalk, until he remembered where exactly they were. Siena’s tongue peeked out to touch her bottom lip as he pulled away.
Her lips curved sweetly, while her blue eyes flashed with something that spoke of sex and sin. It was such a juxtaposition. A contrast that took him by surprise each time she did it.
John’s thumb stroked her cheek. “So what did make you come find me, then?”
“I thought … why not do something different?” Siena asked. “Besides, how many more times do we have to run in to each other before we get a chance to actually finish a conversation? Kind of leaves a person wanting more, doesn’t it?”
“It can.”