Page 220 of John + Siena: The Complete Duet

Someone else mentioned waking Andino, and his new wife.

What a morning after that would be.

A beautiful wedding, and a horror in the morning.

“Was it them?” someone asked.

“It was, wasn’t it? The Calabrese.”

“No one’s claimed it—but we suspect, yeah,” Giovanni Marcello said, confirming Siena’s worst fears to the questioning family.

She realized then that perhaps her brothers did have a motive for leaving the city. Something they had put into motion that she had not known about beforehand. She wondered if William had been personally picked as a hit, or if he had simply been an opportunity given the circumstances.

Those were not answers she had.

Siena wasn’t able to think on it for long.

“Why is she here?” Cella demanded.

Siena snapped back at the venom in the woman’s tone. Cella—younger than Siena, maybe, or possibly the same age—stared at her with growing hatred in tear-filled eyes. She didn’t blame the woman, but it still hurt.

She stepped back.

John stepped in front of her. “Cella, she didn’t do anything.”

“Why is she here?”

This time, it was a scream.

A stabbing accusation.

“You just had to fucking go and get in bed with that fucking family full of snakes, John,” his sister shouted. Despite being pulled down the hallway by her parents, Cella continued on. Her rage spilled out—hurt and confusion following. “You don’t care what it means, do you? You don’t even know—”

“Cella, that’s enough,” Lucian snarled.

Sobbing echoed, and then the girl was gone, along with her parents. A few people followed them, mentioning the hospital again.

Siena was left standing in the middle of the hallway, feeling oh, so fucking cold and unsure. It wasn’t like Cella had been wrong, though she directed her words at the wrong person. John had not deserved those statements and accusations.

It was not his choices that did this.

It was not his family who took from her.

“Hey, babe. It’s okay.”

John was there in front of her before Siena had even blinked. His hand came up and touched her face with the softest stroke, but a line of tears still fell. She didn’t bother to wipe them away. He did it for her.

“It’s okay,” he repeated.

She didn’t think it was.

Not at all.

“She should have known,” someone said. “Isn’t she the one fucking feeding the boss information?”

Siena looked at the man who spoke, but she didn’t recognize him. “I didn’t know.”

Giovanni—Andino’s father—stepped in front of the man to block him. “Nothing at all, Siena? They didn’t say anything? You didn’t hear anything about something like this?”

She shook her head.

Nothing.

She knew nothing.

She fucked up.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “I’m sorry.”