by Bethany-Kris
And all was right again.
“I have to go,” she told him.
John nodded.
He knew that, too.
Didn’t like it, though.
“Yeah, I know, babe.”
“We’ll figure something out,” Siena whispered against his skin. “Us, and the rest of this stuff. We will figure it out, John.”
He didn’t know when he was going to see her again, or how long that would be. He didn’t know how he was going to see her again, considering how controlled her life seemed to be under her brothers’ demands, now.
It was a mess.
John didn’t say any of that out loud, though.
Not while she was there.
Not while she hugged him.
Everything—for a moment, anyway—was perfect.
• • •
“John?”
“In the kitchen, Ma.”
John popped open the blister packaging for his pills. Leonard opted to have John’s prescriptions filled as a daily intake, and not a whole bottle that left John managing his meds for months.
Jordyn slipped into the kitchen, and offered her son a smile. It didn’t reach her eyes, but he wasn’t surprised.
Too much shit had happened over the last day.
“Come to fill me in?” John asked. “On Cella, and whatever?”
That’s the only reason his mother would be there. Their family had been taking care of shit, and dealing with the mess the Calabrese attack left behind. John had taken the day after the wedding to settle back into his rented Queens home. He reminded himself to thank his father for keeping up the rent, and having someone come in to clean the place.
He tossed his pills back with water.
“Yeah, I’m here to fill you in. Your father was going to come, but Gio showed up, and Tiffany needs someone to look after her.”
“Cella can’t look after the baby, or what?”
“Not in her state.”
“How is she?”
Jordyn cleared her throat before taking a seat at the table. “Heavily medicated tonight.”
John winced. “That bad, then.”
“That bad,” his mother echoed. “You know, when I first married your father, I thought we would have some day in our lives to enjoy … well, life. Things would slow down, and we would not be so on the go, so to speak. Not everything would be bullets, blood, and famiglia.”
He gave his mother a look. “Bit naive of you, don’t you think?”
Jordyn shrugged one shoulder. “I did not say that I don’t absolutely love our life because I do, John. I simply meant I hoped there would be a time when for once, Lucian and I could focus on being a family, and not the family.”
“Made man for life, Ma.”
“So it seems.”
“Tiffany is good, then?” he asked.
Jordyn nodded, and smiled a bit as John came to sit beside her at the table. “Yeah, she’s good. A couple of scratches from the glass, but nothing too bad. Nothing that can’t heal.”
“Unlike her father.”
His mother frowned. “Yes, unlike William.”
“If you need any help with the baby, or Cella, just let me—”
“Actually, that’s one thing I needed to chat with you about.”
John leaned back in the chair, and stared at his mother, waiting. “Go on.”
“Cella is … still very angry, John. She needs someone—something—to blame right now, and she’s shooting for the easiest targets she can find.”
“Me, you mean.”
Jordyn blew out a shaky breath. “She doesn’t mean the things she says, and she’s so confused with how she feels.”
“Of course.” John shrugged. “Her husband is dead—a violent death. She’s left with a young baby to take care of alone. Hell, she married a man unaffiliated to the mob, and even that wasn’t enough to keep her from being punished for this life. I get it, Ma, really. I’ll keep my distance, and let her grieve. I don’t need to be showing up and making her uncomfortable or anything. Don’t worry about it.”
“You don’t have—”
“It’s fine,” he said firmly. “Really.”
Jordyn smiled, and nodded once. Reaching over, she patted the top of John’s hand with her own. “Someday, your sisters will see the man you are now, is not the boy you used to be, John. It’s been hard for them to separate their emotions from all the things that happened while they were growing up. Give them time, okay?”
John shook his head. “I don’t think they’ll ever be one hundred percent good with me, Ma. And that’s okay—I get that, too. I wasn’t good to them, and you can’t shake that kind of shit off. It’s a long history to work through, and they might never work through it. I don’t expect anything from my sisters.”
“I do, though,” his mom said.
John smiled, leaned over, and cupped his mother’s cheek. She smiled at the affectionate touch, and he felt guilty that he had not asked for his mother to visit him more during his time away. She loved him so much—she always had.
“I know you do, Ma, but don’t push them to do something that they can’t. I understand, and that’s what’s most important.”
Jordyn sniffed, and patted her hand over top John’s gently. “I’m happy you’re home again.”
“Me, too.”
“I’m proud of you, John.”
“You’re always proud of me, Ma.”
Jordyn laughed. “You still need reminders.”
He did.
He loved her for that, too.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“KEV AND DARREN aren’t going to be following us around all day?” Greta asked.
Siena gave the older of her two half-sisters an amused look. “You know, it would benefit you greatly to tone down the attitude when you use one of their names. Not because you have to like them, but because a little respect will go a long way with those two.”
Greta cocked a brow. “But I don’t respect them.”
“Yeah, I got that. Me, either.”
“I don’t get your point, then.”
Siena grabbed her bag from inside the hall closet, and skipped over a light cardigan or jacket. It was still boiling hot, even at the end of July. She didn’t need to be adding extra layers at the moment.
Turning to face the seventeen-year-old, Siena said, “But you like having a little bit of freedom, don’t you?”
“You call being taken from my school, and shoved into a private school freedom? Or losing my mom, and being forced to live with my aunt freedom? How about the fact I can’t even go to the movies with friends because one of them is a guy? That’s not freedom, Siena.”
No, it wasn’t.
Not normal freedom, anyway.
That was part of the whole problem neither of her two half-sisters realized. Nothing about their life was normal, and it was a damn shame, really. They had grown up almost entirely removed from the life Siena had lived as a principessa della mafia.
Maybe that had been because their mother demanded it from Matteo—that he already had one legitimate family to use to further his mafia agenda. Or, it could have been because her dead father didn’t believe his illegitimate daughters would do anything for him in the grand scheme of things.
Siena really didn’t know.
Frankly, none of that mattered, either.
Not now.
“Matteo is dead,” Siena said.
Greta flinched. “I know.”
It was strange to Siena in a way to see someone—other than her mother and brothers—grieve over her father’s death. It seemed, somehow, that her half-sisters had a different opinion from hers on the man who helped to give them life.
They loved Matteo.
They talked fondly about him.
Siena couldn’t say the same.
“And your mom, too,” Siena added. “She’s also dead.”
“Do you think I don’t know all of this?”
Greta’s angry tone was matched on
ly by the red flush covering her cheeks. Siena had hit a nerve, but that was exactly her point.
Someone had not properly sat these girls down, and explained what their life was going to be like from here on out if they didn’t hurry up, and do something. What that something was, however, depended on the girl.
“Exactly,” Siena murmured, staring her half-sister in the eyes, and refusing to look away. “They are dead, and so everything that they promised you for your life will no longer happen. You want to go to college, Greta? Will it further the family—will it further Kev or Darren somehow?”
“Well—”
“Or better yet, will college or something else make you a better house wife when they find a man to marry you to like they tried to do with Ginevra?”
Greta’s mouth slammed shut.
Siena nodded. “Yeah, you get it, huh?”
“Will they really do that to us?” Giulia asked from behind Siena.
It was the first time the girl had spoken since the two had been dropped off for their day with Siena. Something was keeping the two very quiet, and sometimes, she could drag out of them what that something was. Today had not really been one of those days. The girls didn’t seem interested in talking—unless Greta’s attitude could be considered talking.
Siena turned to face the fifteen-year-old. “If it furthers their agenda, and they think they can get away with it, then do not put it past them.”
“I don’t see how respecting them will—”
“Because, Greta,” Siena interjected, tossing a look over her shoulder, “if you think the more you irritate them will make them want to keep you around, or give you anything that you want, you are sorely mistaken. And until they’re gone, your best bet, is to give them what they want.”
“Until they’re gone, huh?”
Siena cleared her throat.
Shit.
That had been a slip of the tongue.
“Pretend you didn’t hear that,” Siena said. “Now, are we going out, or not? I thought you two wanted to go swimming at Jacob Riis Beach, and then grab some gelato?”
Greta didn’t move, and instead, put her hands on her hips. Siena had never met the girl’s mother, but goddamn, when she did that, Greta looked just like Matteo. Tall, formidable, and un-fucking-moveable. Even the look in her eye was the very same. Like she was daring Siena to come closer, and try to move her.
Good luck Kev and Darren when you go toe-to-toe with this one, she thought. Her brothers deserved the trouble, anyway.
“You were the only one with Ginevra on the day she was supposed to get married,” Greta said.
“So?” Siena asked.
“Kev and Darren were very mad at you.”
“Listen, they’re always very mad at me, okay? Depending on the day, they don’t even look at me. There’s a reason they call me the stain on this family.”
Greta’s gaze narrowed. “They only really started that after Ginevra went missing. They say she’s dead. Is she?”
Siena cleared her throat again.
Dammit.
It felt like a giant knot was forming there, and she couldn’t get it out. The uncomfortable sensation only grew the longer she tried to come up with an acceptable response for Greta. Nothing was ever simple, or easy.
This answer couldn’t be, either.
“A lot of things happened on Ginevra’s wedding day,” Siena tried to say. “And a lot of things happened after. You have to consider—”
“Is she alive, or not?”
“I can’t tell you that,” Siena said.
“Why not?”
Greta might as well have stomped her foot, too.
“Because it wouldn’t be safe for me to,” Siena explained.
“I won’t tell, and neither will—”
“It’s not you or Giulia that I am worried about. It’s Ginevra. Do you know what would happen if she suddenly wasn’t missing anymore?” Siena asked.
Greta blinked. “No. What?”
“Let’s just say you should be grateful that Kev and Darren’s anger and hate is focused on me now. Being called the shame of this family is moderate and pleasant compared to what they would do if your older sister suddenly showed back up. So, she won’t. Not today, anyway.”
“Someday, maybe?” Greta whispered.
“Maybe.”
Giulia frowned as she pushed past Siena, and her sister. “Okay, can we go now?”
“Yeah,” Siena said, never taking her gaze off Greta, “we can go.”
Outside at the bottom of the steps, was the enforcer who Siena had skipped out on the week before when she went to see John. The man still wasn’t very pleased with her, but as far as she could tell, he had not yet run to her brothers about what she did.
Actually, Kev and Darren still hadn’t come home from wherever they went.
Like cowards, they were hiding out. Likely hoping that the Marcellos would have gotten all of their violence and retribution for Cella’s husband’s death out of their system, or something like that.
Problem was, this couldn’t end so easily. It was going to continue. It would grow. So was the way of war.
“Where to?” the enforcer asked, moving to open the back door of his black town car.
Siena gave the man a look. “I will be driving my car, thank you.”
She didn’t get to use her Lexus very often, anymore.
“Your brothers prefer—”
“I am taking my car,” Siena said. “And when Kev and Darren get home, I will go back to riding with you. Okay?”
The enforcer’s jaw tightened before he muttered, “Your ass, I guess.”
The most her brothers would do was yell. Siena cared little about that. Yelling she could handle, and besides, their focus was elsewhere at the moment.
Plus, they weren’t even home.
“Could we get gelato first?” Giulia asked as she slid into the backseat. “Before the beach?”
Siena nodded. “Actually, that sounds great.”
Greta glared at the enforcer before she slipped into the car, too. Siena smirked to herself, and closed the door to the Lexus, shutting the girls in.
Poor kid.
Greta just couldn’t help herself. She was a lot like Siena in that way. Hopefully, it never came back to bite her.
It wasn’t long before Siena had navigated the streets of Brooklyn, grabbed them all some gelato, and headed for Jacob Riis Beach. The three sisters sat in the parking lot of the beach with the doors of the Lexus thrown wide open while warm wind blew through the vehicle.
Silent, mostly.
They people watched. Kids squealing, and parents chasing. Water flying, and music blasting.
It was both nice, and sad.
For a moment, they could pretend to be normal people, doing normal things. And yet, they were far removed from all of that.
This was just another illusion.
One soon to be shattered.
“Are you jealous that we got a good dad?” Giulia asked suddenly.
Siena looked back at the younger of the two sisters. “You mean, about Matteo?”
Beside her in the passenger seat, Greta stuck a spoonful of gelato in her mouth. The older girl looked both interested and kind of worried what Siena’s response might be.
Giuia shrugged. “Yeah, I mean, I see what your face does when we say something nice about Daddy, and stuff.”
Siena didn’t realize her face did something at all.
She wasn’t surprised, though.
“No,” she said after a moment, “I’m not jealous. Happy, if anything.”
“Happy seems strange,” Greta muttered around her spoon.
“I can’t be happy that he was a good father to you two? That you have fond memories of him, and loved him?” Siena smiled faintly, and peered back out the windshield at the playing children, and relaxing people. “I am happy that you will have good memories of him to carry you through life. I can’t say that I have the same—I wouldn’t wish my memori
es of him on you two at all.”
“Oh.”
Giulia’s quiet response was only echoed by silence. Really, Siena no longer had anything to say about it. Not Matteo, or her life as his daughter. She meant what she had said about her half-sisters lives with him, though.
Out of the corner of her eye, Siena saw the enforcer approaching the car.
“What?” she asked him. “Jesus, we only got here a few minutes ago.”
“We have to go,” the guy said, offering no room for argument, “right now.”
“But—”
“Now, Siena. Your brothers’ homes are burning to the fucking ground. We don’t have time to argue. Leave the Lexus here—someone will come get it later. I’ve been ordered to deliver the girls to their aunt, and take you to your mother’s place.”
Siena straightened in the driver’s seat. She heard everything that the enforcer said, but only one thing really stood out the most. “Both of their homes?”
“Guess so.”
“Burning?”
“Looks like it,” the man uttered.
Well, fuck.
Where was she supposed to live, then? Oh, was Siena supposed to care that the Marcellos finally attacked back at her brothers after what they did to them?
Because she didn’t.
• • •
Siena stood on the side of the street, and watched as workers began the process of cleaning away the mess left behind from the fire at Kev’s brownstone. Two days after the blaze, and the smoldering and smoking bits had finally been completely extinguished.
The heat hadn’t helped.
Neither had the lack of rain.
Large dumpsters had been brought in to contain the rubble and ashes covering the space between two other brownstones. It would take them a couple weeks to clean up, or so they said, and then once the investigation was finished on the fire, Kev could rebuild if he wanted.
Siena didn’t know if that was her brother’s plan, or not.
At least the fire department had been able to save the homes connected to Kev’s. They contained the blaze enough that very little damage had been done to the main walls connecting the other brownstones, and the supports needed to rebuild.
The firefighters had made it their main focus to save the other buildings once they realized the fire was containable to the one brownstone.
