Page 55 of The Boss

I pause; I don’t know how to answer that. The answer is never, but…

She looks to me as a moment of realization hits her. “Ah, I see. It seems like your relationship is very similar to how Francesca and Emilio got together. Seemed to work out well for them.”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

Lucy looks at Francesca. “You tell her. I’m not the one who pretended to date my best friend, so I wouldn’t have to marry another man.” My jaw drops, and I look at Francesca.

“Ah, that was a long time ago, Lucy, but yes, Emilio and I had been friends our whole lives. And, well, my father decided it was a good idea for me to marry a man from a different family who would move me to Chicago. Emilio was not happy when I told him, so he thought it would be a good idea to say we were together. What he wasn’t anticipating was my father then saying he needed to marry me. Emilio didn’t seem too upset about the idea, and I didn’t want to marry a man I didn’t know.” She smiles softly.

“So, Juliet, why did you and Gino pretend to date?” Lucy asks.

“I feel like I am betraying him by telling you this.”

She laughs softly. “It’s not betrayal if we figured it out. And I’ll give myself credit for figuring it out so quickly in this conversation.”

They both look at me expectantly.

I sigh. “Shortly after Mateo went missing, I started getting texts and phone calls from an unknown number. At first, I didn’t tell him, but after getting one about a bounty on Mateo, I told him. It was Gino’s idea, and he thought that it would hopefully get the unknown person to stop messaging me. It worked to an extent, but then he decided not to tell anyone we weren’t actually dating. So everyone just assumed. Honestly, how could I do that to Vanessa with everything going on in her life? She’s Gino’s sister and my friend.”

Lucy sighs, “Vanessa will understand, trust me on that. But you wouldn’t be here if you didn’t want to be in a relationship with him.”

“I-I want to. I’ve wanted to for a while, but what if something happens to him? What if this whole situation with Mateo never gets solved? It will kill him.”

“Gino has wanted you for a long time. The way he looks at you, Juliet… He has loved you since you first met.”

“What?”

“That’s why Antonio offered you a job. He knew you were Bianca and Henry’s daughter, but Gino asked him to hire you. He knew that would be the only way Henry would allow you to be close to him.”

My jaw drops again. This has been going on for ten years.

“Why hasn’t anyone told me that before?”

“Oh, we all thought you knew,” Francesca says. “My boys always talk about how upset Gino would be after you came home from a date or were talking to any man that wasn’t in the crew.”

“Juliet, you have to admit, most housekeepers and accountants don’t live with their boss and have full control of the house. And they definitely don’t sleep on the same floor as their boss.”

“I know, but why did he lie to me?”

“Because he’s a man,” Francesca says. “Men have trouble showing and sharing their emotions. My husband and sons still are like that, no matter how much my daughters or I try to convince them.”

Francesca and Emilio truly followed the mafia rules of having lots of kids. They have five children: three sons, Marco, Gabe, and Jake, and two daughters, Emily and Julia.

“The first thing I'll tell you is, don’t back down,” Lucy starts. “Gino, just like Emilio and Kevin and every other man around here, will ask you to stay back or wait. At times that’ll be the right call, but sometimes it won’t be. Trust your gut and tell him when you think something’s a bad idea. He thinks of you as an equal; don't forget that.”

Francesa then continues on the same idea. “My husband tried to tell me opening this restaurant could go south quickly if I didn’t allow anyone from the crew in here. I still said no. They could eat here, but no mafia business happens here. That’s my hard line, and it’s worked out well for us all. When Antonio died, this restaurant became our source of income after Emilio decided to retire.”

We spend the rest of lunch talking about how to date a mafia man.

Once I leave the restaurant, I see I have seven missed calls and texts from Gino asking me where I am and to please come back.

What the hell did I miss?

TWENTY-FIVE

GINO

Once I heard Juliet leave the house, I knew I needed to come clean to my sister. I have no idea where Juliet is going, and I know I could easily find out. Before I have a chance to call my sister or walk to her house, the front door of my house opens, and Vanessa walks in, Alonso following behind her.