Page 83 of Loyalty

Siena’s breathless laughter was interrupted by the clenching of her muscles. Her orgasm came on quick, and left her raking lines down his naked back.

John wasn’t even close to being done.

• • •

“This better be fucking good,” John grumbled when he walked in his uncle’s office.

His steps faltered at the many men who waited inside the space. His uncles, father, and Andino. His gaze skipped to the most important man in the room because the boss was always the first one to be respected before anyone else—Dante.

“What’s going on?” John asked.

Lucian spoke up first. “Have a seat, son.”

John straightened his suit jacket. “Nah, I’m good. I kind of want to know why I’m here, though. I don’t like to be interrupted, you know.”

Those phone calls didn’t stop coming until John forced himself away from Siena to answer one. His uncle said nothing except to get to the fucking mansion. Just like that—nothing else.

“Yeah, I bet,” Giovanni muttered.

John gave his youngest uncle a look. “What the fuck does that mean?”

“John,” Dante said, his tone thick with a warning. “Show some respect, huh?”

He checked his attitude, but not because he fucking wanted to.

“Yeah, all right.” John gave the boss his attention. “I’m here—what’s up?”

“You didn’t think to tell any of us that you were going to be having dinner with the Calabrese boss and his family last night?” Dante asked.

“I was invited,” John replied, shrugging. “Tell me how to refuse that without breaking the rules we live by, and I will do that next time.”

“You still didn’t tell anyone,” his father said.

John didn’t see why that mattered. “I didn’t need to. It was a dinner.”

“With the Calabrese boss. You know how the Marcellos feel about that family, John,” Giovanni put in.

John’s attention was still only on the boss. “I couldn’t be disrespectful, and refuse. So, I went. It’s over.”

“You cannot trust a Calabrese,” Dante murmured.

The familiar green eyes of his uncle bore into John. For some reason—not one he could pull forward right away—he didn’t think Dante was only talking about Matteo and his sons.

“I don’t trust the Calabrese boss, or his shithead sons,” John countered. “I remember what they did to my father’s family.”

Lucian cleared his throat, but said nothing.

“Why didn’t you answer my calls this morning?” Dante asked quietly. “You were fine with telling me you couldn’t disrespect Matteo, and yet you made me call you ten times before you finally answered. What was so important this morning that you couldn’t answer me, Johnathan?”

“I was busy.”

His answer was not good enough.

He knew before he said it.

Dante nodded, and leaned back in the chair. “I know you took the Calabrese girl home with you, John. See, I found out about the dinner invitation, and thought just in case, you should have someone follow behind. I don’t trust snakes like those ones in Brooklyn, and in no way will I allow a man of mine to confer with them without some kind of backup.”

John only heard one thing in all of that.