Disgrace (John + Siena Book 2)

by Bethany-Kris

  Quietly, Andino said, “I really didn’t want to do this day without you, man.”

  “Yeah, I kind of got that. Congrats, huh?”

  “Hold off on that. We still need to get Haven to the altar, and everything.”

  Chuckles lit up the room, reminding John once again that they still had a bit of an audience. He didn’t mind—it was just his family, after all.

  His grandfather was the first to approach them. Antony took his time looking John over, and then the older man clicked his tongue. His weathered face cracked with age when he smiled, and shook his head.

  “You’re not properly dressed, Johnathan.”

  John held up the garment bag. “Working on it, Grandpapa.”

  “Work faster. We’re all a little late today.”

  “He’s not lying,” Giovanni said as he stepped in beside his son to clap Andino on the back. He gave John the same attention. “Good to see you home, nipote.”

  “Glad to be back,” John replied in kind.

  “I bet.”

  And then, the one man John might have been dreading speaking to just a little bit stepped closer. His uncle, Dante. The boss of their family—the patriarch who John had, without a doubt, disobeyed, disrespected, and more before he entered Clearview.

  He didn’t know what to expect from Dante.

  He didn’t know what to say.

  Dante only smiled.

  Not a cold smile, either.

  “Boss,” John said.

  Dante’s grin deepened a bit. “Not for long, John.”

  John’s gaze darted to Andino, who only smirked. No, he supposed someone else was getting ready to take Dante’s place, now.

  It was appropriate.

  All reigns eventually came to an end.

  Even a Marcello King’s.

  “I certainly hope you’re ready for this day, and what comes after,” Dante said, eyeing John with a careful eye. “Are you?”

  He didn’t know what the hell his uncle meant.

  He didn’t care, either.

  “Of course, I am,” John replied.

  Dante nodded, and reached out a hand. John took it, only to then find himself dragged into a quick, tight hug from his uncle. Dante let him go, and smiled again in that way that reminded John of when he was a young boy, and idolized his uncle to the ends of the earth and back.

  “You have ten minutes to get dressed,” Dante told him with a smack to his cheek. “Hurry the fuck up—nobody here wants to make Andino wait longer than he already has for this girl of his. Isn’t that right?”

  Laughter colored up the room.

  Everybody agreed.

  John made quick work of getting dressed in a separate private room, and had only took one step out before his mother damn near tackled him in a hug. Well, his mother, grandmother, and both aunts. Lips found his cheeks for kisses that were then quickly wiped off to avoid lipstick stains, hands patted his cheeks with sweet affection, and Italian words filled his ears.

  Nipote.

  Bambino.

  “Let me breathe, donnas,” John heard himself say with a chuckle.

  The women didn’t really let him do anything.

  John didn’t really mind.

  Soon, though, his aunts and grandmother dispersed to leave John alone with his mother. Jordyn checked him over, ran her fingers through his hair to slick the longer length of the high fade back further, and smiled in a way only a mother could when she was staring at her child. Those blue eyes of hers lit up with love, and John smiled back.

  “Hey, Ma.”

  Jordyn let out a happy noise. “I missed you, my boy.”

  “I know, Ma. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

  “Never, John. I only worry. You’ve certainly made my life interesting when things seem boring, though. Big day today, huh? You kind of ended up thrown in the middle of the whole shebang.”

  John shrugged. “I don’t mind.”

  “Not when it comes to Andino, right?”

  “Right.”

  “Come on,” Jordyn said, tangling her arm in with his. “I will walk you to your spot. It’s my job to make sure you know what to do today.”

  John didn’t mind indulging his mother—she loved him so very much, after all. He chatted away with her as she walked him through the large Marcello mansion, and to the main ballroom where the chairs and decorations filled the room. Outside would probably have been nice for a wedding, considering the weather, but he didn’t even ask why they hadn’t bothered.

  He already knew.

  It was open.

  It made them targets.

  Protection be damned.

  Jordyn led John to his position at the front, and he gave his mother a quick kiss on her cheek before she darted off. Probably to find one of his sisters—who he had not seen in months—or his father.

  It wasn’t too long after that before Andino took his place beside John. The priest was there, too. Likely paid off considering the man was marrying them outside of a church, and on a very short timeline that did not allow for couple’s counseling.

  Funny how the church worked.

  When the music started, Andino said to John, “Watch this, man.”

  John waited.

  He watched.

  Dante Marcello walked Haven down the aisle.

  It was as good of a show as any. For the few guests invited, it meant a hell of a lot without ever saying a damn thing. The woman—regardless of heritage or bloodline, or history—was a Marcello. Accepted, brought in, and protected.

  Respected.

  John could only think of one person he wished would get the same respect: Siena.

  • • •

  “Walk a little slower, would you,” his father joked.

  John laughed as the two navigated the halls of the Waldorf hotel. “I’m supposed to be downstairs, all right. The party isn’t even over yet, Dad.”

  Lucian shrugged. “For you, it is. At least, down there.”

  “What?”

  His father didn’t answer. A floor later, and Lucian handed over a room key. It matched the number on the door that the two stood in front of.

  “What, are you putting me to bed like a fucking kid, or something?”

  Lucian smirked. “Or something.”

  “I should be downstairs with Andino.”

  “Sure, but we all kind of pulled some strings hoping this would work out for you today, and it was just our luck that it did.” Then, his father reached out and smacked John’s cheek lightly. “Or shit, maybe it was your luck, huh?”

  “I thought they used to call you Lucky.”

  “It’s been passed down,” Lucian replied. “From me, to you. And you’ll pass it on, too.”

  Well, John didn’t know about that. He wasn’t sure if he was every going to pass anything on to children from his blood, but this wasn’t the time for that discussion, either.

  Lucian tipped his head toward the door. “Go ahead. We’ll all be here tomorrow. Breakfast with your mother and sisters. They’ll like that.”

  He didn’t know about his sisters, really. His mother would like it, for sure.

  “You really fucking took me from the party to put me to bed, didn’t you?”

  Lucian only grinned. “Just open the fucking door.”

  John gave his father a look, but did as he was told. He slid the keycard through the slot, heard the lock beep, and then the tumblers roll. Pulling the handle down, the door opened easily under his hand.

  He expected the room to be dark.

  It was lit up.

  He expected the room to be empty.

  She stood there waiting.

  Siena.

  “John,” Siena greeted with one of her sweet smiles.

  He was just … stuck.

  Speechless.

  Stupid.

  Happy.

  Awed.

  All day, he had listened to whispers from his family about the Calabrese family, and the war raging between their organizations in
the city. He heard them call them snakes, and untrustworthy. He listened as they made more plans to get rid of them entirely. There was no love lost between the Marcellos, and the Calabrese organization.

  This war was apparently one of the bloodiest, and messiest the city had seen in a long while. There was not one person in John’s family who had any issue with saying openly and proudly how wonderful it would be once the Calabrese legacy was gone forever. Not to mention, how great it would be for the Marcellos to be the ones to do it.

  Poetic justice after all the history, and bad blood.

  And yet …

  Here she stood.

  In front of him.

  Everything his family hated right now. Everything they were working to destroy, and to remove from their lives forever.

  Except, his father had alluded to everyone working together to have Siena here for him. As though they were working with her in some way. As though, perhaps, they trusted her in some way. At least, enough to bring her here.

  For him.

  John really wanted to know what in the hell was up, and what he had missed out on, but not right now.

  Right now …

  “Your mother kept her company for a while today,” Lucian said, “and I figured she had probably had enough of being alone, and missing out. She can’t come downstairs, of course. We wouldn’t want our best asset at the moment being photographed with the rest of us, now would we?”

  “No, we definitely wouldn’t,” Siena said.

  John still had not found the right words to say.

  His father didn’t seem to mind. With a clap of his hand to John’s shoulder, Lucian gave his son another smile, and a nod.

  “Enjoy your evening, son.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  SIENA CAUGHT sight of the smile Lucian directed her way one last time before John stepped into the room, and colored up her vision entirely. Nothing else mattered nearly as much as he did when he was in her presence.

  “You should close the door,” she told him, grinning a little.

  John still seemed a bit stunned at seeing her there. Not that she blamed him. “I should, shouldn’t I?”

  Siena nodded. “Yeah. I mean, who knows what’s going to happen now that you’re finally up here. We wouldn’t want to give the rest of the floor a show, right?”

  His tongue snuck from his mouth to touch his top lip as he grinned in the most salacious way. A smile that spoke entirely of sex and sin, and how dangerous this man could be for her body and heart.

  Goddamn.

  She loved him.

  Still.

  So much.

  John reached back, and swung the door closed without ever taking his eyes away from Siena. Like maybe he thought if he blinked, she might suddenly disappear on him. It was almost comical.

  “Look at that,” she said.

  John’s eyebrow quirked up. “Hmm, what?”

  Siena waved a hand between them. “We match.”

  He looked damn good in the fitted tux he wore. It hugged all of his strong lines, showcased his broad shoulders, and only added to the tall, dark, and handsome thing he had going on. The peach vest, tie, and pocket square as accents to his tux perfectly matched the color of the dress she had picked for church that morning.

  John’s gaze traveled over Siena’s body, unashamed. He didn’t even try to hide the way he lingered on her legs, and then his gaze skipped back up to her face just as fast. “I suppose we do match. Was that part of the plan, too?”

  “What plan?”

  “You being here.”

  “That was the only plan,” she said. “And really, I don’t even think they knew if this would work out, John. Sometimes, I get a message to try and be somewhere at a certain time, and I just can’t make it work, so I don’t go. It happens. Today could have been one of those.”

  “Except it wasn’t. You’re here.”

  “I am.”

  Siena offered him another brilliant smile, but John only stood there, still as stone, and staring at her in that way of his. A way that put her entirely off balance, and yet grounded her at the same time. She didn’t want to move, yet she wanted more than anything to reach out and drag him closer to her.

  “I’ll have to leave in the morning. Early, likely. I have to be at one of Kev’s restaurants tomorrow, so the enforcer will need to see me leaving the house like he always does. I can’t risk staying any longer than that.”

  John nodded. “And where are your brothers that they’re not looking for you tonight? I assume that’s why you were able to get away today. Or was it just the right circumstance kind of thing?”

  Siena laughed, although the sound came out a bit hollow. “It’s always when the right circumstances happen, John. I live with Kev, now. Occasionally, they let me go back to my apartment to grab some things, but someone is always with me.”

  He frowned. “Oh.”

  “My life revolves around them—it’s not new, though. My life was always about what they wanted or needed me to do, and the small illusion of freedom that I had before was just that, and nothing more. An illusion.”

  John’s jaw ticked—a sure sign of his irritation. “Circumstances were right today, then?”

  “Something like that. I don’t know where my brothers are at the moment. Out of town for a couple of days. That’s all they told me when they left last night.”

  “Out of town,” he echoed.

  Siena shrugged. “I was at church when I got the chance to sneak away, and so I took it. My newest enforcer hasn’t been on the job long, and I don’t suspect he’ll want to get himself in trouble by telling one of my brothers that I got away from him. I assume he likes being alive, and all that. Kev has killed enforcers for far less—the fear in them is real. Small blessings, you know.”

  There was a question burning brightly in John’s eyes as he looked her over once again. He came a little closer, and then closer still. Until finally, he was close enough for her to reach out and touch him.

  So, she did just that.

  Her fingers stroked the strong line of his jaw, and then her hand cupped his neck. She felt the way his pulse quickened under her touch, and how his muscles jumped when her fingertips pressed a little harder into his skin. The slight bit of stubble tickled her palm, and she smiled at him when his hand came up to cover hers.

  “Tell me,” he murmured, “are you working for my family?”

  Siena stilled, and John’s hand tightened around hers. “And if I was?”

  “What are you doing for them, Siena?”

  “It’s complicated right now.”

  “Why is that?” he asked.

  “Because I’m not really sure what I’m doing at the moment, I only know what my end goal is.”

  Him.

  Nothing else.

  Just him.

  John cleared his throat. “Are you just feeding them information?”

  Siena used her other hand to reach up, and tap a single finger against his lips. “Let’s talk about all of this tomorrow, okay. Not tonight. You can order me breakfast, and feed me, and then I will tell you all the things I haven’t been able to.”

  John didn’t agree, or disagree.

  She took that as a good sign.

  “Hey,” she whispered.

  John came closer again, wrapping his arms around her. “Hey.”

  “I know you don’t like surprises.”

  “This was a good one. I’ll deal with this one.”

  “But any others in careful moderation, huh?”

  John chuckled. “Exactly that, bella donna.”

  “Did you have fun today—Andino got married, right?”

  “He did, and it was busy, but good.”

  “I bet something looked good,” she teased, toying with his lapels, and then the peach-colored tie. “Too bad I missed it.”

  “You didn’t miss it, babe. I’m here.”

  Siena smiled widely as she looked up at him. “You are.”

  The very second th
ose words left her lips, John closed the small bit of distance left between them. His lips crashed against hers, and took her damn breath away. Their two short meetings over the past few months had been careful, and not at all affectionate in the physical sense. She got the impression that the facility did not approve of that sort of thing.

  John was making up for it tenfold in that moment. His tongue struck out against the seam of her lips, and teased her without ever saying a word. She granted him access to her mouth with a grin, and a little sigh. His tongue slipped in to war with hers, while his hands slid up her sides, and then cupped her neck.

  He drew her closer.

  So much closer.

  His body fit against hers perfectly. The world just didn’t exist anymore when they were like that. All she could see was dark hazel drinking her in, and that was just fucking fine.

  She didn’t need anything else.

  All too soon, John pulled away. He dropped quick, soft kisses along the seam of her lips, across her cheekbones, over her chin, one to her forehead, and then another to the tip of her nose. Siena’s smile only grew more and more until her cheeks hurt.

  She hummed a happy, soft sound under her breath.

  John kissed her mouth once more.

  “I love you,” he murmured.

  Siena nodded. “I know, John. I love you, too.”

  His lips skimmed her cheek, and ghosted along the shell of her ear. She heard his words whisper along her skin as she buried her face against his chest.

  “Do you hear that?” he asked.

  She listened.

  All she could hear was his heart beat.

  “I hear you,” she replied.

  John pulled her back a little, tipped her head up, and winked down at her. “No, the music. Can you hear it?”

  Siena gave him a look, but indulged his question. She quieted, and listened hard for this music he spoke of. Sure enough, in their stillness and silence, the softest hum carried through the walls and floors.

  A slow, lovely beat.

  “Someone is waltzing,” Siena said.

  John smiled charmingly, slid one arm around her waist, and captured her hand with his. “Dance with me?”

  Siena laughed. “That’s what you want to do right now?”