Page 32 of Disgrace

John gave his father a look, but did as he was told. He slid the keycard through the slot, heard the lock beep, and then the tumblers roll. Pulling the handle down, the door opened easily under his hand.

He expected the room to be dark.

It was lit up.

He expected the room to be empty.

She stood there waiting.

Siena.

“John,” Siena greeted with one of her sweet smiles.

He was just … stuck.

Speechless.

Stupid.

Happy.

Awed.

All day, he had listened to whispers from his family about the Calabrese family, and the war raging between their organizations in the city. He heard them call them snakes, and untrustworthy. He listened as they made more plans to get rid of them entirely. There was no love lost between the Marcellos, and the Calabrese organization.

This war was apparently one of the bloodiest, and messiest the city had seen in a long while. There was not one person in John’s family who had any issue with saying openly and proudly how wonderful it would be once the Calabrese legacy was gone forever. Not to mention, how great it would be for the Marcellos to be the ones to do it.

Poetic justice after all the history, and bad blood.

And yet …

Here she stood.

In front of him.

Everything his family hated right now. Everything they were working to destroy, and to remove from their lives forever.

Except, his father had alluded to everyone working together to have Siena here for him. As though they were working with her in some way. As though, perhaps, they trusted her in some way. At least, enough to bring her here.

For him.

John really wanted to know what in the hell was up, and what he had missed out on, but not right now.

Right now …

“Your mother kept her company for a while today,” Lucian said, “and I figured she had probably had enough of being alone, and missing out. She can’t come downstairs, of course. We wouldn’t want our best asset at the moment being photographed with the rest of us, now would we?”

“No, we definitely wouldn’t,” Siena said.

John still had not found the right words to say.

His father didn’t seem to mind. With a clap of his hand to John’s shoulder, Lucian gave his son another smile, and a nod.

“Enjoy your evening, son.”

CHAPTER FIVE

SIENA CAUGHT sight of the smile Lucian directed her way one last time before John stepped into the room, and colored up her vision entirely. Nothing else mattered nearly as much as he did when he was in her presence.