Page 144 of Disgrace

“Do you have something to say?” John asked the man.

“I will not—”

John swept his hand in a sharp motion, and the sound that followed was both deafening, and morbid. The Marcello man standing behind the Calabrese Capo had raised his weapon faster than Siena could catch the move.

Now, the Capo was dead. His body slumped over the beautiful, large cherry oak dining table. His blood from the back of his blown out head mixed in with the ruddy brown of the shined table top.

John sighed, and then waved at the rest of the men. “Shall we start, then?”

Sometimes, a forceful show was the way to go.

Siena couldn’t be prouder.

• • •

Siena made a run for the front door, and grabbed the bowl of mini chocolate bars on the way. “I got it this time, John!”

“I like to see them, too.”

He slid in behind her with a grin just as she opened the door to showcase three little boys and one little girl in various ninja costumes. They were by far some of the cutest that had come through for Halloween.

Bending down, Siena held the bowl out for the kids to pick their favorite treats from the mix. “Go ahead, boys … and girl.”

The little girl with the pink and black ninja costume preened at Siena. “I’s can be a ninja, too!”

“You can be whatever you want to be,” Siena told her.

John chuckled in the doorway, and helped her to say goodbye to the kids. Once they had darted back down the steps to where their parents were waiting, she and John headed back inside the house.

“Okay, those were my favorites of the night,” she declared, setting the bowl aside.

John’s laughter followed her into the kitchen. “You’ve said that for every kid that knocks on the door tonight.”

“I can’t help it. Look at them.”

“So hey, my sister is coming down from California for a week or two,” John said.

Siena turned to find he was leaning against the island. “The youngest one?”

“Lucia, yeah. She hasn’t met you yet, and I was hoping we might be able to do something with her, or … try. Then she can get to know you, or something.”

“Why try?”

John shrugged. “She’s still pissed at me for shit that happened a while back. Maybe rightfully so, but it is what it is. I can’t change the past, you know?”

Siena smiled softly. “I’m sure she’ll forgive you—whatever it was.”

“Yeah, maybe. Anyway, you wouldn’t mind, would you?”

“Of course, not.”

One of her favorite pop songs started to play from the living room, and Siena couldn’t help but dance a little to the beat. She went back to working on the food for dinner that she had discarded when the kids knocked.

She could feel John’s eyes on her as she moved, and it kind of felt like butterflies beating inside her stomach.

It was strange in some ways how much had changed in such a short amount of time. Her sheltered, carefully controlled life was gone, and she was happy.

Sure, things were still a little shaky in a lot of ways. John taking over the family. Her mother was still missing.