Page 57 of John + Siena: The Complete Duet

“I start classes during the second semester. Next month after I go back.”

“You’re all settled in, though?”

“Guess so.”

Everything about the conversation felt wrong and bad. Had this been one of his other sisters—Liliana or Cella—John wouldn’t have thought anything of the cold demeanor and flat responses. Instead, it was Lucia.

His baby sister.

The kid he looked after since she was born, and he was twelve.

“You were supposed to be my best friend, John,” Lucia whispered.

Angry eyes turned on him again, but now, they were filled with tears. She let one escape, and it made a track line down her cheek. With a quick hand, she wiped the tear away, and let out a harsh breath.

“You shouldn’t have run off like that,” he replied.

Lucia’s cheek twitched—a sure sign she was clenching her jaw for all she was worth. Hiding that anger behind a stone facade and calm words.

Just like their father.

She wore her namesake well.

“I was hoping you might let me apologize, and we could spend some time together while you’re visiting,” John said. “But even at Christmas, you ignored me.”

“Perhaps you should take a fucking hint, then.”

“Lucia.”

He didn’t get anything from that—not a damn thing. She didn’t even flinch at his rough tone.

John tried a different direction once more. “What made you get mixed up with a guy like Renzo, anyway? Didn’t I tell you not to mess with boys like that?”

Her laughter stung when it escaped her smirking lips. She turned on the couch to face him completely.

John should have took that as a warning, maybe.

“Like him?” she asked. “John, you and every other man in our family are no better than him. Except what? We’ve got money, and you guys wear nice suits and drive expensive cars. So, you’ve got a last name that gives you respect, and a family legacy that affords you privilege.”

Lucia shook her head, never backing down for a minute as she continued with, “And guys like him? They come from the streets, and hustle every day of their lives just to survive. Did you know he was paying for his sister’s private schooling? Nobody else paid for it. He was trying to let her be something when they came from nothing. Where do you think that left her? Or his little brother—his parents fucked off a couple years ago. Where does that leave the boy? Don’t worry, I’m sure his sister—who can’t go to school anymore—took him, or better yet, maybe a nice foster family picked him up.”

John blinked, unsure and wary.

The contempt in Lucia’s words were coated with bitterness.

He didn’t know what to say.

“Fuck you with your guys like him shit,” she snapped. “So, you’ve got money and a suit, but that’s all you’ve fucking got, too.”

Who was this girl staring at him like she hated his guts, and everything he stood for?

This wasn’t the Lucia who fawned over expensive cars, and liked diamonds on her birthday. This wasn’t his sister who was the quiet, perfect Marcello principessa.

No, this girl was entirely different.

“You come from the same privilege I do,” John said quietly.

“Except I can own it now. Can you?”