Page 115 of The Boss

“Why do you say that?” I question.

“My sister, she’s…” he trails off. “She’s sick—well, I guess not sick. But she’s had immunity issues her whole life; she was born with a rare intestinal condition that requires her to take a lot of medication, and she’s had a lot of surgeries. She was also born with a heart condition that she had surgery for as an infant, so she just needs to be careful with certain things. That’s why I know she wouldn’t have walked here.”

He swallows, pausing, letting what he said sink in.

“Ryan, why didn’t you say anything?” I ask, shocked.

“I found my dad shortly after Mateo went missing. I kept it quiet. I didn’t want you all to ask too many questions when I was trying to get to know him. I met my sister a few months later. My dad didn’t tell me the extent of her illness until she and I started getting close.”

“How sick is she?” I ask.

“If you’re asking if she’ll die, the answer is no. Her condition isn’t life-threatening, but she just needs some extra help and has to be careful. She sees a lot of doctors and has a lot of appointments; that’s why she’s homeschooled,” he says.

We spend the rest of the drive in silence.

“This is your dad’s house?” I ask as we pull into the driveway of a beautiful Victorian mansion.

“Yeah,” he says as he parks the car and gets out.

He walks to the front door and pulls out his keys. Unlocking the door, the house is quiet. I follow him into the house.

“Sophie, you here?” he calls out.

Then I see her, a blonde woman maybe five feet tall, walking towards us.

“Hey Ryan, what are you doing here?” Sophie asks.

“Is Dad home?” Ryan asks her.

Her face falls slightly.

“No, he and Mom went into the city for the night,” she says.

“What?” Ryan replies.

“Yeah, they do that a lot.” She shrugs.

“I’m sorry?” he asks, and the tone he uses, I think he might actually kill his dad after this.

She snorts. “Remember how I told you I get left home a lot? You know I can’t go anywhere.”

Then she sees me.

“Hi,” she squeaks out.

“Hey, I’m Gino.”

“Gino Esposito?” She looks at me in shock, and her mouth drops.

“Yes?” I reply. How does she know me?

“How do you know his name?” Ryan asks her.

“Dad talks about him a lot. Well, and Juliet. You know, months ago someone dropped flowers off for her here. Weird, I know, so I borrowed one of Dad’s cars and drove them over.” She looks at me. “I hope that was okay?”

“That’s fine. Why would your dad know us?” I ask.

“I’m not sure, but I know he has been on the phone a lot with people about you ever since Ryan came around,” she says.