Page 271 of John + Siena: The Complete Duet

Two.

Three.

She thought it might go to voicemail.

Thankfully, it didn’t.

“Ciao.”

The Italian greeting almost made her smile.

“Lucian?”

A beat of silence passed before John’s father asked, “Siena?”

“One and only.”

Her joke fell flat, but she figured that. Sometimes, shitty humor was the only way she knew how to deal with things that stressed her out.

She had way too much stress lately.

“New number?” Lucian asked.

She laughed. “A burner from John, actually.”

“Ah, I see.”

Siena wasn’t exactly surprised that Lucian didn’t quite know what to make of her call. Sure, she had been given his number from Andino in case she needed another way to get ahold of him while John was in the facility. Lucian had periodically got messages through to her about John while he was away, too.

Still, their conversations were short, and to the point. He wasn’t, however, rude to her or anything. Always respectful, and kind, but never personal. Siena kind of got the feeling that was just how Lucian approached people, and how he handled them.

She didn’t take it personally.

“What can I do for you?” Lucian asked.

“Check on John for me, that would be great.”

She didn’t mention that she was at John’s place, or that he had taken off shortly after she arrived because someone called him away.

“Why do you need me to do that?”

“He hasn’t called in a while.”

Not a lie.

“Oh?” Lucian asked.

“Usually, he calls every day.”

“He’s been a little off lately,” Lucian said.

Good.

Someone had noticed it. Someone was taking note. Someone could help.

Siena wasn’t entirely comfortable with outing John’s business to anyone, even if it was his father. That’s why she chose to hold off on telling Lucian that she suspected John was in a rough place because she saw him in a rough place.

John wouldn’t want her bringing that up, either. His lines in the sand about his disorder, and how he wanted to handle it with those close to him were clearly drawn. Siena was not about to cross one of those lines.