Page 224 of John + Siena: The Complete Duet

John still felt uneasy about a lot of things.

“I still need some answers,” John said.

Dante’s gaze fell on something—or someone—behind John. The man nodded, and then stood from the table. He looked to Siena at the same time Andino slipped in beside John. His cousin had gotten rid of the tux he wore the night before, and replaced it with dark wash jeans, and a white T-shirt.

Andino didn’t particularly look pleased to be there, but John couldn’t exactly blame him for that, either. The man should have been spending his morning with his new bride. Like any man would want to do.

“Siena, why don’t I introduce you to my wife,” Dante said. “You’ve met Catrina before, but I think you’ll appreciate her a little more with a personal conversation.”

John didn’t want Siena going anywhere. “She can stay—”

“We should talk,” Andino interjected. “Just you and I, John. Let her go with Dante.”

Andino’s statement offered no room for argument, and also, hinted at something he didn’t fully explain, either. John thought back to the day before, and how a simple gesture of Dante walking Haven down the aisle for Andino would have been seen as a big deal.

“It could help her case a lot,” Andino added quieter, “just to be seen with the boss. Having others trust her is of the utmost importance right now, man.”

John nodded. “All right.”

He didn’t let Siena by without pulling her in close enough for a quick kiss to her temple, though. Her smile grew the longer he held her there, and she gave him a nod before disappearing out of the small kitchen behind Dante.

“Talk,” John demanded once he was alone with his cousin. “And give me something worth chewing on while you’re at it.”

Andino folded his arms over his chest. “You know, I could be fucking my wife—”

“You’ll get back to that. Talk.”

“On your one question—Siena has been feeding us info for months now. Shortly after you went in, actually, I had the chance to give her some direction. She took my advice, and I used it to my advantage.”

“How so?”

“She goes to yoga a couple of times a week. I either meet her inside, or she slips outside and fills me in on things.”

“You said us, but that sounds like just you.”

“Your father was involved behind the scenes, but he stepped in. My dad, too.”

“And Dante?”

“Came in later,” Andino said, smirking. “You know, when I didn’t give him a fucking choice. It’s like this—Dante wants me to take over this family, and I am going to do that. But I will do so on my terms, and how I want to do it. He didn’t want a war with the Calabrese, and I am never going to bow down to those fuckers for anything. Not after what they did to us decades ago, and not after what they did to you. I wouldn’t betray you like that either, frankly.”

Andino shrugged, adding, “I’m going to remove them from this city altogether. Her information, when she has some to give, helps a great deal.”

John cleared his throat. “So what, you take over their organization, too?”

“That’s not important right now.”

“I think it is. You’re putting Siena in a lot of fucking danger, Andino.”

“No, John, she is.”

John straightened on the spot. “I beg your fucking pardon?”

Andino shook his head. “She is the one putting herself in danger. I neither need her for information now, nor to end this when the time is right. She’s helped me more than enough, and got me what I needed the most—for a real war to be started in this city. For a reason to get rid of them once and for all.”

“You used her to start a fucking war?”

His cousin laughed in that dark, dry way again. “John, you helped, too, but she’s the one who pushed them over the edge with me. And now, she is also the one who has chosen to continue on when she knows she could step back now. She is doing this because she has something to gain, too. You, man. Or did you forget about that?”