Page 67 of Loyalty

Siena could see her father sitting at the bar with her brother. She was stuck between wondering why her father was even at the restaurant—he rarely showed up when she worked at one of her brother’s places—and the fact that both men were very obviously staring. They made no effort to hide it.

Matteo and Darren had their gazes glued on Siena and Johnathan like they had found the most interesting show, and couldn’t tear their eyes away.

It was unsettling.

She went back to Johnathan.

“Listen, Johnathan,” she said, falling back to his full name, “I really am busy, and I have to get to work if I plan on getting out of here before dark.”

Johnathan didn’t look like he wanted to move at all. In fact, the two of them stayed locked in a staring contest, and his fingertips grazed her throat momentarily before he dropped his hand altogether. She thought there was something new to be seen in his eyes—usually she found a lost, wild glint there. Now, she saw something else.

A silent request, maybe.

A demand, possibly.

Siena didn’t know.

She had learned through three months of silence that she really couldn’t afford to find out much about Johnathan at all. Not when things like her feelings were in play, and he didn’t seem to mind hurting them.

A weak woman she was not.

He would not make her one.

Still, Johnathan didn’t move. He didn’t say anything, either, but she could see he wanted to. He was holding back—maybe for himself, or for her. She didn’t know, and she didn’t really care, either.

“Excuse me,” she said.

It came out like a whisper this time.

Soft, unsure, and barely there at all.

Johnathan still heard it because he finally stepped aside a little more to let her pass. Behind her, she heard him say, “I’m sure I’ll see you around, Siena.”

Doubtful.

She didn’t answer him back, though.

She didn’t even look over her shoulder.

Siena made a left before the bar to head for the back offices. Books to scrub and cook, after all. Her work never ended, and her life only seemed to revolve around what business her father or brothers needed her to do next.

Matteo calling her name stopped her. “Come sit with me, Siena.”

She glanced at her father, and then at Darren who pushed off the stool behind him. The two men shared a quiet word as she made her way over. Darren left their father’s side just as Siena came to stand beside Matteo.

“Pinot Noir—the dark red,” Matteo told the man behind the bar. He looked to her. “That’s the one you like, isn’t it?”

“Usually,” Siena said. “Not when I’m working, though.”

It was not good to mix alcohol and numbers. Especially not when those numbers were fraudulent, but had to look better than real when the IRS looked at them.

Matteo laughed. “Oh, take a break once in a while, Siena. It’s good for the soul. You can’t work all the time.”

What?

She only worked as much as she did because that’s all they wanted her to do. They didn’t give her any choice.

Siena said none of that, and instead, took the glass of red wine when the bartender offered it. She took one small sip, but kept her nose down in the glass as she swallowed. It gave her the chance to smell the wine, and ignore her father at the same time.