Page 99 of Loyalty

She had said more, but he only caught the last part of her sentence. It was enough to send a hot burst of anger shooting through his bloodstream.

Mostly because he knew exactly what she was talking about without even asking. His father, uncles, and Andino.

Watching him like he couldn’t be trusted.

Acting like he didn’t know how to do his fucking job.

Like he couldn’t handle his shit.

“Fuck them,” John uttered.

He picked up Dante’s calls because he couldn’t ignore the boss. Their conversations consisted of Dante asking a question, and John answering with yes or no. It never went deeper than that, though his uncle tried.

Anyone else, though?

His father, Andino, or even his uncle, Gio?

John ignored all of them.

“Maybe if you actually sat down and heard them out,” his mother tried to suggest.

“What I want to hear is them saying they’re going to stay the fuck out of my business, and let me handle my own shit, Ma. Nothing else. Pass the message along if you think they actually give a damn.”

Because he didn’t think they cared.

His whole life had been this nonsense.

“John—”

The cell phone on the island rang out with a familiar tune. John had gotten to the point where he added specific ringtones to certain people. That way, he knew who was calling without even having to look at the phone.

Jordyn made a move to grab the call, but John spoke up first.

“Leave it, Ma,” he said. “It’s just Andino.”

Still, his mother glanced at the phone, but she didn’t actually touch it. “Looks like he’s called you ten times this morning.”

“Came over last night, too,” John said, “and I showed him how he could leave just as fast as he came.”

Andino’s visit damn near ended in the two of them going to blows—again. Like Andino promised a couple of days earlier, he came to check in on John. He should have just stayed away a while longer, and gave John some damn space.

John was still pissed at his cousin for spilling his personal business like it was public fucking consumption. Andino kept trying to say that hadn’t been the case. The fucking proof was right there in black and white.

What more needed to be said?

He needed one thing from his cousin—something he gave to Andino without question.

Loyalty.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Being like John was, with the way his life sometimes spiraled out of control, he needed just one fucking person on his side no matter what. Andino was supposed to be that person, but it turned out, he was just like everybody else.

Loyalty was not promised.

John didn’t have time for that, either.

“Come on, now,” Jordyn said, “Andino is your best friend, and you won’t even listen to him?”