Page 118 of Duty

“It terrifies me, yeah.”

Haven nodded. “Yeah, me too.”

• • •

Andino knocked on the door of the small house in Queens, and shoved his hands in his pockets before taking a step back. He had all of one goal in coming here—to John’s place—and that was to start righting some of this shit he’d let slide. He needed to get back in the right place with business and the family before too many messes piled up on him. There, he’d be entirely fucked. Right now, he had a chance to fix some of it.

Hopefully.

He was starting with John.

That seemed like the best route.

As for Haven and his family … well, Andino’s best bet for the moment was to keep Haven’s presence as quiet as possible, and then deal with it when he no longer had a choice. Somehow. He was still trying to figure that bit out.

John first, though.

He intended to seem as least threatening as possible to John because if Andino’s thoughts were correct on his cousin’s current mental state, and John was already slipping off the edge of mania … the slightest idea of provocation from Andino could send his cousin into a bad place. It wasn’t even John’s fault—it was just how his mania manifested.

It took far too long for John to even come and answer the door, and he didn’t do it with any kind of grace or politeness, either. No, he swung the door open with a glare, and a sharp, “What in the fuck do you want?”

Andino kept his loose posture, and his hands stuffed in his pockets. “Thought we could talk, cousin.”

John’s gaze narrowed. “I would rather chew on glass, actually.”

“Can I come in?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Andino sighed, and glanced away from his cousin. “Come on, man, let me in. Let’s talk. You’ve got some things wrong, and I want to correct them.”

John barked out a harsh, bitter laugh. “There’s nothing to talk about, Andino. And really, now you want to fucking talk? Because lately, you’ve been just about everywhere but anywhere I fucking am, man. And that’s fine—keep doing that.”

“John—”

His cousin took one step out of the house, and forced Andino to walk down the steps. “No, you don’t get to say fuck all to me right now, Andino. You sold me out to the family like a fucking piece of shit. You set me up with Siena the one time—acted like it was fucking cool, and then what did you do? Ran to Dante with the info like the good little underboss you are. Always following the rules. That’s you. No worries; it’s just business, right? That’s all you’re about. The fucking business.”

“That’s bullshit,” Andino snapped back.

He knew better than to move forward.

He knew not to provoke John like this.

Knew how bad it could be.

Still, Andino moved back up those stairs and never took his gaze off his cousin’s all the while. He got close to John—too close, likely—and crowded him on the steps. He made sure his cousin was looking him right in the face, and not going to move the next time he spoke.

“You have no idea of the shit I am trying to handle, John,” Andino said, pushing a clenched fist against his cousin’s chest, “and that’s fine. I don’t expect you to know, man, but there’s one thing you know better than to fucking forget—that’s us. You and me; ride or die. I take care of you, and you do the same for me. No matter what. You thought this was different? You thought I sold you out?”

“You think I don’t know?” John asked. “You still don’t want to talk about her, do you? Haven?”

Andino stiffened.

His cousin had heard about Haven’s involvement with Andino through the grapevine, not to mention everybody else’s opinions regarding her and him.

John nodded, and sneered. “Is that what it is, then—you’re trying to keep attention off you, and the shit you’re trying to pull when they’re not looking, so you decided to throw me under the bus by selling me out?”

What the fuck?