Page 127 of The Boss

“Hey, are you almost ready?” I ask her.

She looks up. “Yeah, just one second.”

I lean against the door frame. “Take your time.”

She looks back down at what she was working on. After a few minutes, she turns off her computer and gets up from her seat.

“Should I change?” she asks.

“No, you look perfect,” I reply as she walks to me, and I press a soft kiss to her lips.

I move so she can walk out of the office, and I follow behind her.

We make the drive to dinner at an Italian restaurant I own. Once we get there, we are led into a private dining room with everyone.

My sister is seated with Mateo and their children, both in high chairs. Sophie is seated next to Vanessa with Ryan on her other side. All three Cambio brothers are seated together. And Drew and Alonso are seated next to them.

I take a seat next to Mateo, and Juliet sits next to me.

Once everyone orders their drinks, I clear my throat, and everyone looks over to me.

“The last year, as we know, was hard, but today was the start of something new for all of us,” I begin. “Something we worked for a long time. We are probably going to fuck some things up, but we’ll figure it out. We’re doing this together.”

Everyone clinks their glasses.

I place my hand on Juliet’s thigh, and she looks over to me.

Even though it took me nearly a decade to be with her, meeting her in Business 101 was the best thing to ever happen to me.

EPILOGUE

JULIET

SIX MONTHS LATER

Gino said he’d take me on a vacation, and here we are at Pohoiki Beach in Hawai’i. Outside of some surfers and families sitting around the beach, we’re mostly alone. It’s our second-to-last day here, and we’ve waited until the end of the trip to spend the day at this specific beach. Gino insisted on planning this vacation without my involvement, except for this.

We’ve hiked through lava tubes and calderas, and did our own version of an Island tour where we stopped at almost every tourist spot from ‘Akaka Falls to Punalu’u Black Sand Beach. And the food tour, stopping at different local restaurants for plate lunches and other Hawai’i local food.

I’m lying on my beach towel and notice Gino leaning up from his towel. We’re somewhat in the middle of nowhere; the closest town is almost thirty minutes away. We brought lunch with us so we didn’t have to leave partway through the day.

“Are you hungry?” Gino whispers.

“Yeah,” I reply, leaning up.

Gino slowly goes to the cooler, grabs a container, and hands it to me. I look at him, and he just stares at me.

“You okay?” I ask.

He shakes his head. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

I can tell he isn’t, but I let it go.

He grabs another container, and we both dig into our food. I have a plate of rice, mac salad, and kalua pork and cabbage, and Gino has a plate of Hawaiian teriyaki chicken, rice, and mac salad.

We eat mostly in silence. I lean into him and bump his shoulder. No matter how our romantic relationship goes, he was my friend first.

“Are you sure you’re okay? You’re being very quiet today,” I say.