Page 162 of Loyalty

“Say that again,” John uttered.

Matteo gaze stayed firmly on John when he said, “It’s no secret that you’re crazy, John. The way you go on sometimes, and the shit you do … this isn’t a surprise. What is a surprise is how long your family was able to keep it quiet.”

Siena couldn’t keep her hold on John after that statement. He ripped away from her side like a bullet shooting from a gun. He was a foot away from her father before someone was quick enough to step in and grab him.

Actually, several people.

And just like that, a meeting that had a possibility to be peaceful and calm was now chaos and violence.

“Say that again!”

John’s words echoed above the shouting men.

Only a laugh answered him back.

Held back by his cousin, father, and uncle, they were barely keeping ahold of John. Matteo gave another one of his sneers. A signature look for her father. Something he always gave to someone when he felt above them, and he wanted them to know they were beneath him.

She was not surprised to see him use it on John.

“I think this meeting is done,” Dante said.

Matteo turned away, and waved a hand to his men. “It was done before it ever began, Dante. We both know that. We’re leaving.”

Siena moved toward John, but she didn’t make it far.

Kev grabbed her arm forcefully enough to leave bruises behind, and dragged her with him. Her protests, and her shouts to be left alone, went unheard. All she saw was the burning hazel of John’s eyes before the restaurant door slammed closed.

• • •

Siena’s heart felt as heavy as her feet. As though cement had been poured in both, and were now weighing her down.

She glanced back at the enforcer who stood with his arms crossed at the car. He kept an eye on her—a threatening eye—as she stood on the sidewalk. Her new best friend, as her father like to say.

She couldn’t go anywhere without the enforcer either driving her, or following her.

Today was no exception.

The enforcer was just one new change in her life since the week before. Her father had also taken her cell phone away, and refused to provide her with a new one. The freedom she had been given with living away from home was suddenly ripped from her grasp. She had been relocated to her parents’ home without any explanation.

Her days now consisted of waking up, working wherever her father told her she had to work, and going home to her parents’ brownstone.

She didn’t know where John was, and had not spoken to him in days. She didn’t even know if he was okay.

“Are you going in?” the enforcer asked from behind her.

Siena gritted her teeth, and forced herself to be polite. There was no need to make the man run back to her father, and report bad behavior. All that would make for was another long night with Matteo raging on.

She didn’t need that.

Nobody needed that.

She was struggling between keeping her father happy, and needing to know something—anything—about John.

“Well?”

Siena looked back at the enforcer. “Yeah, I’m going in.”

“I’ll be here waiting when you get out.”