Page 223 of John + Siena: The Complete Duet

Turning fast on his heel, John looked to his uncle. What had been concern and a warning in Gio’s eyes before was now only a slight amusement, and shit, maybe even pride. It was hard to tell with Gio sometimes. His mind was all over the place, and really, he was usually the first man in their family to step out of line when it came to rules and whatever else.

John figured he was good to go. And even if he wasn’t, that one punch had been worth it, all things considered.

“We don’t assault other made men,” Gio said quietly.

“Let him act that way toward your wife, then.”

Gio raised a brow. “Siena is not your wife, John. Therein lies the difference, and you’re quite aware of that.”

Yet.

She was not his wife yet.

John didn’t say that out loud, only shrugged. “I said what I said.”

“Can we finish our discussion, now?”

“Sure,” John murmured, “but somebody might want to get Nathan a towel. He’s ruining the rug, and that’s a damn shame.”

“They said nothing to you?” Dante asked. “Nothing at all?”

John’s defensiveness edged a little higher at the sound of his uncle questioning Siena. It wasn’t that Dante Marcello was a bad man—he wasn’t. In fact, the current patriarch of their family was known to be incredibly kind and giving to those he allowed beyond his hard outer shell.

To someone on the outside of their family, however, Dante was also known to hold nothing back. He could be cold, and extremely callous. He had no qualms with removing what he perceived to be threats against his family and organization.

Maybe it was the way Dante had treated Siena months ago that left a bad taste in John’s mouth now. He was not willing to allow anyone to treat her with anything less than absolute respect, including his uncle.

John leaned in the doorway that separated the main living quarters of his hotel room with the small kitchen section. Dante and Siena sat at the small two-person table. His uncle drank a coffee. Siena picked at food on her plate.

Dante’s gaze caught John’s, but he chose not to move. He simply wanted his uncle to know that he was there, and listening. That was the most important thing

“Nothing,” Siena said. “They left last night, like I said. Darren came over, and Kev had a bag packed. They said they might be gone a couple of days. I hadn’t heard anything before that to suspect something.”

“You didn’t think you had any reason to tell us they left?”

“No.”

Dante sighed, and leaned back in his chair. “And you’ve gotten no calls from them since you’ve been here?”

“No,” she repeated.

“If this happens again—where they up and go without explanation—I will need you to let someone know however you can. I know it’s a little …”

“Dangerous, yeah,” Siena filled in.

Dante nodded. “I know, but it’s important.”

John took a single step into the room, drawing their attention his way. Siena tried to smile, but he could plainly see it did not reach her eyes like it usually would. He didn’t like that at all, and he didn’t like some of the shit he was hearing.

“Someone needs to explain to me what in the hell is going on with her,” John said.

Dante cleared his throat, and his gaze drifted between Siena, and John before he finally spoke again. “You know I’m not required to give you any sort of—”

“You will tell me, or someone else will. Clearly, she’s feeding information to the Marcellos. I got that fucking much at least. But I thought it was just Andino, or maybe even my father after he was the one who let me know she was here last night. But now you’re mixed up in this scheme, too? What switch got flipped when I was away, huh? What changed your mind?”

Dante chuckled dryly. “There was no switch, John. I have always done whatever I needed to do for this family and organization. That’s never changed in all my years.”

Fair enough.