Page 116 of The Boss

I turn to Ryan. “Did you ever tell your dad about any of us?”

“I mentioned you all were my friends, but I never told him specifics. I didn’t think he knew anything about the mafia stuff; he's a luxury realtor, he shouldn’t know anything about any of this,” Ryan says.

I swallow.

“Sophie, why aren’t you with your parents?” I ask.

“They leave me here a lot. They think I can’t do anything with my condition. Even though every doctor has said that if I keep up the supplements and medication I’m taking, I’m fine and can go outside,” she groans.

“Ryan, can I talk to you for a second?” I ask.

Sophie gives a soft smile and walks away.

He sighs as she walks away, then he starts talking. “You know, if I knew about her sooner, I would have made sure she got to be a kid. She’s eighteen now, and she hasn’t gotten to experience anything a normal eighteen-year-old has. She wants to go to college, but our dad says she’d get sick if she was outside. The doctors disagree and said she’ll be fine. She’ll just need to be careful since her condition is so rare they don’t know how her body reacts to certain things.”

“Any idea how to get in contact with your dad to draw him out?” I ask.

“No, but she might.” He calls his sister back into the room. “Soph, I have an idea if you’re up for it?”

She walks back over to us and smiles. “Of course, I’m up for it if it means I can leave this house.”

“Grab your bag; we're going to Gino’s,” he says to her.

“Really?” You would have thought he just gave his sister tickets to her favorite musician by the way she reacted.

“Yeah,” he smiles back at her.

“Okay, give me five minutes,” she says, then she runs out of the room.

“What’s she getting?” I ask.

“Her medical bag with some of her extra supplies she might need if something happens or if she doesn’t come back here,” he tells me.

“I’ll wait by the car.” Then I leave the house.

Ryan has always been quiet and brooding, as Juliet says. But he had a rough life before moving to New York. He grew up in a small town and didn't have a lot of money growing up. The second he was offered a scholarship, he left without a second glance. By getting to know him, I know he regrets not telling a soul when he left town in the middle of the night.

A few minutes later, Ryan and Sophie walk out of the house, and Ryan locks the door. We all get into the car. Then we start the drive back to my house.

I glance back at Sophie, and she looks like a kid in a candy store looking out the window.

Once we pull into my driveway, I can see Ryan visibly relax. Almost like he’s been wanting to get Sophie out of there for as long as he’s known her.

Once he parks, he exhales deeply.

“Okay, I didn’t look closely at your house when I brought those flowers, but holy shit, your house is nice,” she says.

“Thank you,” I reply.

“Your wife did a great job,” she says.

“Uhh—” I start.

She looks at me with wide eyes. “Wait, is Juliet not your wife? This whole time I thought she was.”

Ryan snorts. “You know that’s the second person who has assumed you and Juliet were together the first time they met you.”

I groan and get out of the car with Ryan and Sophie right behind me.