Page 17 of John + Siena: The Complete Duet

“Of course.”

“Don’t be late again. It’s rude, Siena.”

“I know, Dad. I won’t be late.”

Lies.

She would make sure to be late.

Besides, she did need a couple of new books to put on her nightstand. The old bookshop a couple of blocks away from her brother’s club sounded like a good place to get lost in for an hour or so.

If she could do it, and get away with it, then what was stopping her?

It was the Calabrese way.

Siena thumbed through the brand new paperback of a romance she had asked the old shopkeeper to order in for her well over a month ago. Sure, she had an e-reader and could have purchased a digital copy instantly, but she still liked a good old paperback once in a while.

“How long are you gonna caress that book, girly?”

Siena gave Eugene a smile.

Well in to his seventies, Eugene had been supplying Siena’s addiction to romance and thrillers since she was seventeen or so. Sometimes, she came in the shop just to help him rearrange shelves, or unload the new releases for the month. He didn’t need to be lifting things, anyway. His aged face showed more wrinkles when he smiled, and told the story of his life.

“I’m going to touch it and love it for as long as I want to, thank you,” she said, smiling sweetly.

Eugene sighed. “You and those damn romances. You’re going to give yourself an unhealthy outlook on men. No real life man will stand up to the kinds of heroes in those books.”

Siena shrugged. “My standards are already pretty sky-high.”

The man chuckled hoarsely. “As they should be, Siena. You take the book, and have a good day, sweetheart.”

“You didn’t ring me up yet.”

From the other side of the counter, the man winked. “Call it even for you doing my books last month for the quarter.”

Siena gave him a look. “Yeah, and I saw how much you’re making, too. So, let me pay for the damn book.”

“No way. It’s all yours. I already paid for it. You thought I would forget, I bet.”

“Eugene.”

“I remembered your birthday was today. Twenty-five.”

“Eugene.”

The old man smiled. “You didn’t ask for a thing to do my books, girly. Plus, you filed my taxes last year and wouldn’t let me pay you for that, either. Consider it payback, and a birthday gift. It’s just a book.”

“I didn’t want anything,” she replied, giving him a look.

It literally took her all of an hour to do his books, and twenty minutes to file his taxes.

Eugene shrugged. “The least you could do is allow me to buy you a book—one you’ve been waiting a long time for me to get. I know you have one of those fancy e-reader thingys. You could have just as easily gotten yourself a copy on that reading thing, and not from me. It’s one book. Don’t worry about it. Your reading addiction keeps me in business.”

Siena knew that was only partly true. She still adored Eugene for saying it. Both sets of her grandparents had died—one after the other over the span of a decade. Before she ever even reached sixteen years old.

Now, at twenty-five, she kind of felt like she had found a stand-in for a grandparent with Eugene. Seeing him once or twice a week made her whole day.

Leaning across the counter, Siena pulled Eugene in for a tight one-armed hug. “Thank you, Eugene.”