Page 119 of The Boss

“Sophia, come here; we’re leaving,” her father yells, walking towards us. He has a murderous look in his eyes.

Before either of us can respond or move, Marco steps in front of us.

“Don’t you dare,” Marco growls.

He pushes him back, and Ryan is now behind his father.

“We’re going upstairs to talk,” Ryan says and pulls his father out of the room.

FORTY-EIGHT

GINO

We’re all in my office, waiting for Ryan’s father. Mateo is sitting on the couch, while Drew, Jake, and Gabe are all standing in the corner. Alonso and Ryan, though, are downstairs waiting for him, and Marco’s here too, staying downstairs to ensure the man doesn’t do anything stupid.

“Alright, who's this guy we're letting in here?” I ask.

Mateo looks down at the papers in his hand. “John Mitchell, he's a real estate broker, someone we’ve worked with over the years. Not often, but enough for him to know us.”

“Shit, does Ryan know that?” I ask.

“I’m guessing no,” he replies. “If he found out about his dad last year, he might not have any idea. I handled all of the real estate transactions. He wouldn’t have been in any of the meetings.”

“What about the sister?” Gabe asks from the corner.

“Let Ryan decide that. It seems like his sister is being hidden from the world,” I say.

Before I can continue, Marco strides into my office looking pissed. Ryan trails behind him, dragging his father with him.

“Ryan, this is unnecessary. Let me just take Sophie home,” John says to his son.

“No,” Ryan grunts as he sets his father in the chair in front of my desk.

I stand in front of him. He’s tall, almost as tall as Ryan. I can see the resemblance between the two. They both have dark hair; John's slightly graying. The only real difference between the two is the fact that Ryan wears glasses.

“John, we've known each other for a few years. Do you know why you’re here?” I ask.

“No, let me take my daughter home; she's sick,” John replies.

Ryan cuts in. “Dad, she doesn’t need to be hidden away.”

“Her immune system—” he starts.

“—is fine as long as she takes her medicine,” Ryan finishes. “You and I both know that. The doctors have been pushing you and Lisa to let her experience life, and you aren’t doing that. But all of that doesn’t explain if you were involved in the messages being sent to Juliet.”

John sighs. “I was trying to help.”

“Help?” I reply.

“I realized partway through, I wasn’t actually helping—” John admits.

“So you were sending them?” Ryan asks.

“Yes,” he whispers.

“What about the threatening ones or the flowers?” Mateo asks.

“What—I didn’t send any threatening ones or flowers,” he says.