Page 64 of The Boss

JULIET

JANUARY

The holidays come and go fairly quietly. No new messages, threats, or even phone calls from Lorenzo, which tells us all that he’s lying low. Probably because if something happened during the holidays, there would be more eyes on him, and he knows it.

The twins were born a few weeks ago, and they are the most adorable things in the world. Since she had a C-section, Vanessa needs to take it easy for at least another month. So anything she needs around the house, I’ve done for her. Every morning after I’ve finished up what needs to be done at Gino’s, I walk over. Gino still doesn’t like the fact that I’m walking over alone, especially in the winter, but I’ve convinced him I’m fine. I know he watches me through the door until I get far enough that he can’t see me. I also know Alonso texts him as soon as I get there.

Walking into the kitchen, I see Alonso already pulling out his phone.

I roll my eyes. “You don’t need to text him about every little thing,” I say to him as I walk in, setting my bag on the counter.

“Yes, I do. He asked, and you’re the boss’s girlfriend. I'm required to keep him updated if you are out of his sight,” Alonso replies.

“He’s fucking possessive,” I mutter.

“Of course he is. He loves you, and he knows the risk you’re taking by being with him,” he says.

“Alonso, I signed up for this ten years ago,” I reply.

“Holy shit, are you admitting what we all thought in college?”

“And that is?” I say, trying so hard to get this conversation to end.

“You two have been in a ‘friends with benefits’ situation.”

My jaw drops. “What? Absolutely not.”

“Absolutely not what?” Vanessa says as she walks into the kitchen.

“That Gino and Juliet haven’t been in a ‘friends with benefits’ arrangement since college,” Alonso replies.

“Probably not, but Gino has been in love with her for years,” Vanessa adds.

Alonso snorts. “Now that I one hundred percent believe,” he says, walking out of the room without another word.

“I just put the twins down for their morning nap,” she says.

“Okay, I’ll clean up a bit here; you go sit down and relax.”

“Thanks, but it’s pretty clean in here already; don’t worry about it.” She brushes it off quickly. “We can watch the new season of the doctor reality show we started last week, if you want.”

I smile, and we walk into the living room. She clearly spent some time cleaning after she ate dinner. Because most mornings, once I get here, I do some dishes and laundry right away, but it looks like she already did that.

We take a seat on the couch, and the show starts playing.

“I know I’ve told you this before,” Vanessa starts, “but truly, thank you for coming over here and helping. I don’t know how I’d get everything done without you.”

I give her a small smile. “I love coming over here. It gets me to hang out with you, but also gets me away from all of the testosterone at Gino’s house.”

“When are you going to stop calling it that?” she asks.

“Calling what?”

“It’s ‘Gino's house,’” she says, adding physical air quotes. “It’s your house too, and since you two are really dating now⁠—”

“What does that mean?”

“Gino told me about you two pretending to date because of the messages, and you’ve crossed into real relationship territory,” she says, smirking.