Page 135 of John + Siena: The Complete Duet

SIXTEEN

“Yeah, Matteo here.”

“Hey, Dad, it’s me.”

“Siena?” her dad asked.

“Yeah, would you mind if I took today off, and didn’t come in to the restaurant?”

Matteo hummed a sound. “Well, you’re supposed to be at the restaurant for noon, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I am,” Siena said.

“Then, what’s the problem here?” her father asked.

“Nothing’s wrong. I just wanted a day off.”

“It’s a busy month, Siena. For both sides of business, if you get what I mean.”

She did know what he meant, and her father was right. They were still in February. The tax deadline was coming up to have everything filed. While most of the businesses’ books were closed for the previous tax year, there were still a couple left. Not to mention, the illegal side of business picked up in the new year, and that forced more work on her to scrub and cook books. Her books were ace, though.

It wasn’t that she was concerned about. She really did just need a day off.

“I work all the time, Dad,” Siena said. “I rarely ask for time off. Sometimes I’m working seven days a week. The least you could do is give me one day when I ask for it. And I don’t ask for it very often.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Exactly,” Siena said.

“What were you planning to do today, then?” her father asked.

“I was going to spend the day with John.”

“John.” Her father didn’t even sound surprised, simply interested. “And how is he lately?”

“He’s … fine.”

“Fine?”

“Yeah.”

Matteo made a noise under his breath. “Your brothers mentioned that he seemed a little off last week. Not his normal self, or something of that sort.”

“Off?” Siena asked.

“Yes, off.” Matteo chuckled, adding “All men in our business get a little off sometimes. It’s not unusual. They simply mentioned that he didn’t seem up to par.”

“He’s fine with me. I haven’t noticed anything.”

Or rather, nothing that she was going to tell her father.

“Well, maybe that was just Darren and Kev.”

Siena placated her father’s assumption, but inside, she knew differently. After talking to John’s mother a few days earlier, she was more observant of him. She noticed things that she might otherwise have overlooked. She paid closer attention to his behaviors, and the things he did when he thought she wasn’t looking.

Sometimes, it was worrying.

What was more concerning to her was the fact that other people were starting to notice. Clearly, people were noticing. John’s family. Her brothers, if this conversation with her father was any indication.