Page 208 of John + Siena: The Complete Duet

“Hold off on that. We still need to get Haven to the altar, and everything.”

Chuckles lit up the room, reminding John once again that they still had a bit of an audience. He didn’t mind—it was just his family, after all.

His grandfather was the first to approach them. Antony took his time looking John over, and then the older man clicked his tongue. His weathered face cracked with age when he smiled, and shook his head.

“You’re not properly dressed, Johnathan.”

John held up the garment bag. “Working on it, Grandpapa.”

“Work faster. We’re all a little late today.”

“He’s not lying,” Giovanni said as he stepped in beside his son to clap Andino on the back. He gave John the same attention. “Good to see you home, nipote.”

“Glad to be back,” John replied in kind.

“I bet.”

And then, the one man John might have been dreading speaking to just a little bit stepped closer. His uncle, Dante. The boss of their family—the patriarch who John had, without a doubt, disobeyed, disrespected, and more before he entered Clearview.

He didn’t know what to expect from Dante.

He didn’t know what to say.

Dante only smiled.

Not a cold smile, either.

“Boss,” John said.

Dante’s grin deepened a bit. “Not for long, John.”

John’s gaze darted to Andino, who only smirked. No, he supposed someone else was getting ready to take Dante’s place, now.

It was appropriate.

All reigns eventually came to an end.

Even a Marcello King’s.

“I certainly hope you’re ready for this day, and what comes after,” Dante said, eyeing John with a careful eye. “Are you?”

He didn’t know what the hell his uncle meant.

He didn’t care, either.

“Of course, I am,” John replied.

Dante nodded, and reached out a hand. John took it, only to then find himself dragged into a quick, tight hug from his uncle. Dante let him go, and smiled again in that way that reminded John of when he was a young boy, and idolized his uncle to the ends of the earth and back.

“You have ten minutes to get dressed,” Dante told him with a smack to his cheek. “Hurry the fuck up—nobody here wants to make Andino wait longer than he already has for this girl of his. Isn’t that right?”

Laughter colored up the room.

Everybody agreed.

John made quick work of getting dressed in a separate private room, and had only took one step out before his mother damn near tackled him in a hug. Well, his mother, grandmother, and both aunts. Lips found his cheeks for kisses that were then quickly wiped off to avoid lipstick stains, hands patted his cheeks with sweet affection, and Italian words filled his ears.

Nipote.