Page 90 of The Boss

“Hey, Ness,” Gino says.

I walk to her and grab Victoria out of her arms. She looks at me like she knows Gino needs to talk to her.

“What is it?” she asks.

I know she’s hopeful I will tell her, but Gino’s right; we can’t get her hopes up if this doesn’t go well.

“I need to send Alonso on a job; he'll be gone for a few days. Juliet will come by every day to help with the twins,” he says.

She looks at him with hopeful eyes. “Please tell me where you’re sending him.”

“I’m sending him on a job; trust me, it’s for a good reason. And before you ask any questions, I won't tell you anything. But I’ll tell you this: if this works and goes according to plan, everything will hopefully be better.”

“With that statement, I'm assuming you’re sending him to Italy,” she replies.

Gino looks at me, but he decides to give her something. “I’m sending him and Gabe to track down a lead, and if it works, it’ll put an end to all of this.”

She gives him a flat look. “That's it? That’s all you're going to say?”

“Ness, I’m sorry. For your safety and the safety of Victoria and Julian, I can’t tell you,” he says.

“I really hope you’re not using my kids as the reason you’re not telling me.”

“That’s not even close to what I’m doing,” he sighs.

“Fine, once this whole thing is dealt with, we’re going to need to talk about your communication skills.” She looks at me now. “Is he always like this or just with me?”

“Uh—” I pause.

How do I answer that?

“Don’t answer that; I’m not going to drive a wedge between you two,” she says. “Gino, seriously, why the secrecy? If this concerns me or my children, I should know.”

“Vanessa, please just trust me on this,” he pleads. “Once Alonso gets back, I’ll tell you everything.”

She swallows. “Fine, but I’m not happy about it.”

We stay for an early dinner. While Gino’s washing the dishes, Vanessa pulls me into Mateo’s office.

She shuts the door and turns to me.

“I’m not asking you to break Gino’s trust. But I need to know, Juliet, are we any closer to finding him?” she asks, defeated. “I can’t keep living like this. Everyone has been great and helpful, but the one person I need isn’t here. I don’t want my children growing up without their father.”

“All I can tell you is everyone is working their ass off to find him.” I try my best to reassure her, but there’s only so much we can offer her right now. “Are we close? Hopefully. I’ve been trying to find new angles, and we might have one. Clearly, Anthony Russo knows nothing of what his son is doing outside of what we’ve told him,” I reply.

“I don’t know what to do,” she admits, her voice extremely low. “My brother is hiding things from me. What should I do?”

I really look at her now. She’s been holding it together, and most days I see her, she seems to have it together, but right now the cracks in her armor are showing.

“If you can’t trust Gino, trust me, Vanessa. I promise the reason Gino isn’t going to tell you anything is not that he doesn’t want to. It’s because if he does and it doesn’t work, he doesn’t know how to face you,” I say, looking at her with soft eyes.

She purses her lips. “Okay, I’ll let it go for now, but I don’t know how long I can keep this up.”

“You’re allowed to reel through the motions, Vanessa,” I tell her. “They’re all valid.”

Tears brim her eyes.

“Thank you,” she whispers and wraps me in a hug.