Page 142 of John + Siena: The Complete Duet

“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.

Siena nodded. “Yeah, but it made me stop, and pay attention. Things I was overlooking before, or whatever else. Maybe this is partly my fault, and I don’t want them—they already don’t like me—to blame me for this, and take him from me. Would they do that? I don’t know, and I don’t want to risk it.”

“And so you came to me.”

“Yes.”

“You said he left?”

“In a fit,” she confirmed. “He was really upset, and he wouldn’t even talk. I don’t know where he went, and he won’t answer my calls.”

Andino let out a harsh sigh. “Well, the most important thing to do is find him, get him calm, and then get him settled enough to actually talk.”

“I don’t know how to do that,” Siena said.

“It’s not an easy thing to do with John, and you kind of learn how to do it over time. You came to me, Siena, and that’s the best you can do. That was the right thing to do.”

“Is it?”

“Sure. Why would you think differently?”

“Because it feels like I betrayed him.”

“Trust me,” Andino said, “when this all blows over, the last thing John will ever think you did is betray him. It’s quite clear where your loyalty is, woman.”

What did that even mean?