Page 206 of John + Siena: The Complete Duet

“Yes, John.”

“He didn’t tell me—”

Lucian’s gaze cut to John’s, quieting him instantly. “He asked her the day they came to visit you, and only announced it to us a couple of days later. They did not want to wait to be married, and everyone has agreed to this. Andino did, however, want to wait for you.”

John looked down at the rings again. “A best man, huh?”

“You’re not really surprised, are you?”

“Fuck no.”

Lucian let out another one of his hard laughs, and then reached for his son again. John let his father bring him close, touch their temples together, and pat his neck with affection he had denied his father for years.

Then, John had another thought.

His mind had been so caught up in the revelation about Andino getting married today that he hadn’t stopped to think at all about the other information his father offered to him. The mention of moving the family from place to place because of protection. How they were planning in order to prevent an attack that they believed might come.

“It’s the Calabrese, isn’t it?” John asked quietly.

“How about today, we—”

“How about you just answer me, Papa?”

Lucian nodded with a dry chuckle. “All right. Yes, it is the Calabrese.”

“How bad is it?”

Sure, Siena had given John a bit to go on, but that’s all it had been. A little bit of info—a tease, if you will. Something to make him stay up at night and ponder, but not enough to chew on and really understand what was happening.

He needed more.

He needed it now.

“Dante wanted this feud between our families to be settled peacefully,” Lucian said.

“Someone mentioned that to me already. I’m not sure what methods he used for that, though.”

“An attempt to arrange a marriage, actually.”

John stiffened in his seat, and his gaze flew to his father. “What?”

“You heard me,”

He didn’t like what that implied. There was really only one Calabrese woman worthy of marrying into the Marcello family, or rather, one woman that Dante would consider worthy in the grand scheme.

Siena.

“He didn’t—”

“It was not your woman,” Lucian muttered. “Relax.”

John did not realize how stiff his body had become in those few seconds, or how firmly he had gritted his teeth until relief flowed through his body. Sweet like sugar, the sensation washed through his bloodstream. His molars ached when they released from the tight clench. He found crescent shaped marks on the insides of his palms from how tightly he clenched his fists together, too.

Jesus Christ.

“It was not Siena,” Lucian repeated. “And the details do not matter, honestly. What matters is that the deal failed, and the violence escalated from there. We had in good faith information about an attack that would happen on one of our warehouses, but it did not happen.”

“That’s a good thing, then.”