Page 150 of Loyalty

She shook her head. “I just … kind of feel better standing right now.”

“All right.”

“I think John needs help.”

In a blink, Andino shoulders dropped. It was a subtle action, and someone else might not have even seen it. His face gave away nothing. There, he was still cold, and emotionless.

“Help how?” Andino asked.

“Today, he got something. This morning, I mean. A file, I guess. He said it was from—or the guy was from your family. An enforcer.” Siena hoped her rambling made sense because she had been dealing with more than enough, and this was just one more thing to add to her pile at the moment. “He threw the file, and had a fit. Broke things, and then he left. I’ve been trying to call him. He’s not taking his meds.”

“Slow the hell down,” Andino said. “One thing at a time.”

Siena was shaking. Her fingers trembled, and her shoulders felt heavy. She stuffed her hands in the pockets of her coat, trying to hide her nerves. Anxiety was most definitely not her best friend.

Not in this circumstance.

“I think John’s manic,” she said.

Andino sucked in a sharp breath. “Manic.”

“Yeah.”

“What makes you think that?”

“Why are you so calm right now?” Siena asked. “Doesn’t knowing that he’s manic bother you?”

Andino cocked an eyebrow. “This is how I am, and how I need to be. Now, what makes you think that?”

“Things he’s doing. Things he’s done. Today. Yesterday. Everything.”

“And you said he’s not taking his meds?”

Siena shrugged. “No, I don’t think so.”

“I don’t deal with maybes when it comes to John.”

“Definitely not taking his meds the way he should be,” she said.

“And this file that was delivered to him,” Andino said. “What was in it?”

“Things about his great-grandfather. The one that was murdered by my grandfather.”

Andino folded his arms over his chest. “And you’re sure it was delivered by a Marcello man?”

“An enforcer. That’s what John said.”

“Why come to me?”

All over again, Siena’s nerves made themselves known. She wanted to be anywhere but there. She couldn’t betray John, and yet here she was, doing exactly that. She no longer had a choice.

“They might take him away from me,” she said.

Andino quieted for a long time. He simply stared at her, and said nothing. It only made Siena’s nerves worse, but she figured in that moment, the truth was better than lying. She knew how much John cared about Andino, and how much he trusted him. Whenever John spoke about his cousin, it was with great respect and a genuine fondness. Something she had never heard John use when he talked about anyone else. Except for maybe his mother.

“His mother told me things at the dinner on Sunday,” Siena said, “about his mania. Things that he does, and how to recognize it. She explained the way he acts, and what might cause it.”

“Which can sometimes be the smallest of things,” Andino added.