Page 62 of John + Siena: The Complete Duet

“Stop looking at me like my head is growing bigger, John.”

He wet his lips. “We don’t usually do this kind of small talk, Dad. That’s all.”

“Never really got the chance, did we? Cosa Nostra was always getting in the way, and putting up barriers that kept us apart. I couldn’t only worry about my son—and the problems he constantly faced—when Cosa Nostra made me stay at arm’s length.”

John blinked.

Lucian waved at the chair beside his. “Come sit, and talk.”

“I—”

“John, please come sit with me.”

“All right,” he said, his voice feeling like an echo.

He joined his father, and Lucian passed over a section of the newspaper.

“We’re going to start doing this. You and me, I mean.”

John stared at the paper. “So, doing nothing?”

“Not nothing. Being normal, John. Have I ever told you how proud I am of you, my boy?”

He had to think about it.

“Sure you have, Dad.”

“Things I thought you wouldn’t be able to do or handle because of the bipolar, you’ve done all of it and more. You still are. Expect me to tell you how proud I am more often now, John.”

“Did you ever think that I liked the way we were?”

“Did you?” his father asked. “Like it, I mean.”

No.

“I’ve done a lot of shit, Dad,” John settled on saying, “to everybody—you included. Said a lot of things, you know. I burn bridges, but I don’t usually fix them.”

“And here we still sit, John.”

“Darren,” John greeted.

The Calabrese Capo shoved his frame off the barstool, and stuck out a hand for John to take. He did and shook Darren’s hand, but made sure to keep a tighter grip than he normally would.

John had to do these meets and work with the Calabrese brother—or both, who knew, since the two stuck together a lot—but that didn’t mean he was going to bow down to either of the fuckers. He didn’t trust them with an inch.

“John, it’s good to see you,” Darren said with a smile.

John wished it felt welcoming.

It didn’t.

“Care for a drink?” Darren asked, waving at the bar.

John used one of his old excuses to pass that offer up. “I don’t drink during work time.”

“You Marcellos are always so stiff with your rules.”

“It’s what makes us the best.”