Page 123 of Loyalty

“Not here, I hope.” The man gave him a look. “You can’t call it a proper date when it’s the same place she works.”

“Not here,” John said.

Matteo waved at the stool. “Sit, John.”

He didn’t have a reason to refuse, so John sat.

“I never get to sit and chat with you,” Matteo said, grinning widely. “You’re always running with my daughter, or working with my boys. You should stop and say hello once in a while. We’re all friends, right?”

Friends.

Right.

If by friends, he meant two men who came from a long history of bad blood, then sure.

“Friends,” John forced himself to say.

“Oh, I saw that father of yours the other day. Asked about you since I hadn’t seen you in a while.”

John stiffened. “That so?”

“He didn’t have much to say about you. Kind of a shame, really.”

John tried not to let that admittance sting him on the inside, but it kind of did. Seemed his father couldn’t muster up a good word about John, unsurprisingly.

“Here, have a drink,” Matteo said, waving at the bartender down the way.

Soon, two fingers of whiskey were sitting in front of John. He didn’t have a reason to refuse, and he couldn’t say no to a boss, anyway. So, he stared at the drink while Matteo nursed his and overlooked the patrons.

Before he thought much about it—he didn’t really think at all—John picked up the whiskey, and tossed it back. The glass clinked to the bar when he sat it back down.

“Another,” Matteo called, waving a finger between John and the glass.

He threw back three glasses of whiskey before he finally found Siena in the back of the restaurant working. She peeked up at him from the computer with a wide smile. Bending down, he pressed a quick kiss to her sweet lips.

Siena hesitated when he pulled away. “Were you drinking?”

“A couple with your dad.”

“But you don’t drink, John.”

“Don’t worry about it, love.” It was just a drink. Alcohol wasn’t great with his meds, but he was already fucking with those anyway. He jerked a thumb toward the door. “Are you ready to head out of here, or what?”

“Almost.”

Siena went about saving all the files, and turning the computer off. She packed up her bag, and rounded the desk to come and stand beside John.

“So hey,” he said.

He slipped two fingers under her chin, and tipped her head back to make her look up at him. Those blue eyes of hers darkened with lust when he dropped a soft kiss to her mouth. Her tongue teased along his when her lips finally parted for him.

“Hey,” she whispered when he pulled away.

“I was thinking …”

“I thought you did that quite often.” Siena winked. “Thinking, I mean.”

“Cute. No, I meant about this weekend. How would you feel about coming to church with me, and then to a big Marcello dinner afterward? It’s a regular thing.”