Page 130 of Disgrace

Putting it lightly.

Haven Marcello was in one hell of a fit. Damn, the woman wasn’t even Italian, but she knew how to raise hell like any good old Italian woman at the end of the day. She was a nasty thing when she thought something or someone was fucking with her life, and her husband.

Not that John blamed her.

This shit was bad.

“You’ll figure it out,” Andino told John.

“Was that part of your plan, too?” he asked.

Andino smiled. “What, leaving you to hold the ball for me?”

“I suppose you could put it that way.”

“Man, I have held the ball for you time and time again in our life. I didn’t mind doing it, either. No, it wasn’t part of the plan, but here we are. I have all the faith that you’ll do whatever you need to do, so we can get back to controlling this fucking city like we were always meant to.”

John nodded. “Ride or die, right?”

“Since the days we were fucking born, John.”

Yep.

It wasn’t long before the damn jail guard came around to knock his baton against the metal table to signal it was time to wrap up the visit. John didn’t know if that was some kind of shit the jail had worked out with the detectives or not, but they didn’t allow Andino’s visitors to linger for too long.

Mostly because the bastards couldn’t stay too close. Certainly not close enough to overhear their conversations—the man was allowed privacy, after all, even if said man was a fucking criminal in jail on suspicion of murdering a handful of people with a simple explosive device.

“Tell my wife—”

John looked at Andino, noting the way his words cut off. “What? I’ll pass whatever along. I know taking your calls upsets her.”

So was the way with women married to a man like them. Those ladies fought tooth and nail for their men’s freedom, but at the end of the day, they were still women looking down a long, hard road that might just lead them straight to hell.

It was a big undertaking.

It wasn’t for the faint of heart.

“I was going to say you could tell her to relax,” Andino said, grinning a little, “but I don’t think you could handle Haven in one of her moods. She’s not like Siena, you know?”

“Definitely not as mild-mannered and sweet, no.”

Andino smirked. “She can be. You just have to stroke her the right—”

“Thanks for that, but no thanks.”

His cousin’s laughter lit up the visitation area. “Tell her I love her, man.”

“Will do, Andi.”

It was the best a man in this life could offer to a woman he loved. His faith, and undying loyalty. He could hope for forever, but promising it was never really a guarantee he could keep. She could share his life, but John wasn’t sure the life was ever really theirs to actually have.

“I’ll be seeing you around,” John said, fixing his Armani blazer as he stood.

No goodbyes.

Those were too final.

“Of course you fucking will.”