Page 124 of The Boss

A black truck just pulled up, and a guy jumps out. His dark hair is slicked back, dressed in all black, and has at least two guns on him that I can see. Without hesitation, I know it’s him.

“Looks like he just got here,” I say, giving her a quick smile, and we walk out to the parking lot.

We take a few minutes to observe him from our car to make sure it’s him. After he looks out the window three different times, we’re pretty sure it’s him. But to make sure, I’m absolutely certain, I call Drew.

“What’s up?” He asks.

“Hey, we’re at the hotel. Do you have any idea if he’s in room 14?” I ask.

“Why?”

“Because we’re here; a guy pulled up about five minutes ago in a black truck and went into room 14,” I explain.

“Give me a minute to see if any new transactions hit or if the credit card hit for a rental car.”

“Alright,” I reply. I can hear him typing. I turn to Mateo. “Drew’s checking to see if we can verify this is him.” Mateo nods in agreement.

After five minutes, Drew’s voice comes over the phone, “It’s probably him; there was a transaction for a rental car. I got a copy of the receipt, and it was for a black truck.”

“Thanks,” I say, hanging up.

We both get out of the car and walk towards the door. I’m not risking Mateo’s life, so I stand in front of him and knock on the door.

Initially, he doesn’t answer. But after the third knock, he opens the door. I push it open, knocking him back.

“What the fuck?” He yells. He’s in dark wash jeans, a black T-shirt, and his black hair is slicked back.

“Want to tell me why you’re sending text messages to my woman?” I yell.

“Your woman?” he pauses, looking at me. I hear Mateo close the door behind us.

“I know you know who I am.”

“You have an ego, but yes, I know who you are,” he says.

“Tell me why you were sending her messages?” I ask.

“I ain’t telling you that,” he starts. Then I step right into his space.

“I promised her I wouldn’t get violent, so you better start talking,” I grit out.

“You can try all you want, but you’re not getting anything out of me,” he replies.

Mateo cuts in. “I’m guessing you don’t know then.” He walks forward. “I don’t recognize you, and I’m guessing you don’t recognize me. I’m Mateo Romano, the guy your boss was holding for a year. So yeah, you’re going to start talking. I’m guessing you didn’t hear about me coming back, which means Anthony doesn’t know about you because he would have told you. Which means if you go back to Italy, they won’t know you, and all you have is, what? You worked for Lorenzo? And well, just like him—” he points to me, “—I promised my wife I wouldn’t get violent, but I’m getting close.”

After a few minutes of silence. He starts talking, “It was Lorenzo’s directive. He wanted me to get you off his tail. It didn’t work that well because your team is good. I started getting aggressive, which I regret. I honestly didn’t know I was messaging her; I thought I was messaging someone else in your crew until a few months ago. That’s why I stopped. I wasn't okay with it anymore.”

“This is what you’re gonna do,” I start. “You are going to leave this state and never come back. I don’t want to hear, see, or interact with you again. Got it?”

He nods his head, and Mateo and I quickly leave.

Once we get back to my house, we walk in, and I can already smell what Juliet cooked for dinner. She made Vanessa’s favorite, chicken parmesan.

We both walk into the kitchen and see Juliet and Vanessa talking at the bar. Vanessa sees us first and gives us a bright smile.

“Hey, everything good?” she asks, and Juliet turns around.

“Yeah,” Mateo replies, walking to her and placing a kiss on her head. He whispers something to her, and they walk away.