Page 32 of The Boss

Thank God, I’ve been waiting for this. Since Mateo didn’t let me plan his bachelor party, when you get married to Juliet, can I plan yours?

I roll my eyes.

Gino

No. And don’t tell my sister.

Alonso

Come on, she’ll be happy about it, and you know it.

I grumble, but I don’t reply. I don’t have time for this. But I’ll need to make sure Juliet is on board before everyone else knows and asks her questions.

Before I can look for her, she rounds the corner.

“Hey,” I say as she walks closer.

“What’s wrong?”

“Drew thinks we're together, and before you protest, this could work,” I reply.

“Work how?” She asks, a slight irritation in her voice.

“Like I said, we need to make people believe we’re dating.”

“You’re serious about that? I thought you just said that off the cuff weeks ago.”

“Juliet, I've never been more serious about anything. I told you your safety was the most important thing, and I meant it.” I look at her sternly.

“Gino, you can’t favor my well-being. Everyone deserves safety,” she replies softly.

“They do, and they have it. Alonso is staying with Vanessa. The Cambio brothers have each other, and Ryan and Drew live on this property. You are living in this house with me, which means you are under my protection figuratively and literally,” I reply.

She’s going to make this hard; I know that, but I need her to understand why this is going to protect her.

“You’re expecting me to change my life because some asshole is texting me?” she asks with furrowed brows.

“I’m not asking you to change anything about yourself. I’m asking you to play the game a little bit,” I reply, hoping she’ll let this go and agree.

I walk closer to her. I’ve gotten away with the light touches over the years, but now I don’t know if she’ll take any affection as a part of this fake relationship we’re diving into.

Grabbing her hands, I lower my voice and say, “The thing you need to understand, bella, is that I will do anything for you, even if that means I’m lying to others to protect you.”

FIFTEEN

JULIET

SEPTEMBER

The messages haven’t stopped through the entire summer so far; it’s early September, and they are more of an annoyance than anything. Most of what they say is the same things we already know. Lorenzo is the mastermind of this, and the rest of the Russos have no idea what he’s doing. He has his own crew, and there are no known associations with him in the States. So this person is trying to get under our skin, whoever it is.

After spending the morning in my usual routine, I’m back on the reviews of this Third Street Deal. It makes sense for this to be my focus, as everyone else spends their time looking for Mateo.

Sitting at the dining room table, I start looking over all of the documents. Mateo was in the middle of this deal when Gino sent him to Italy, so I took over to close it once we realized Mateo wasn’t coming back right away. I’m not a lawyer, but I do have experience in business and contracts. My father let me sit in on meetings when I was home after Antonio hired me, and Gino has had me in just about every conversation related to the business.

I hear the front door open and close.

“Hey, Juliet,” Vanessa calls out, Alonso right on her tail. Since he’s been living with her, they’ve become very close friends.