Page 96 of The Boss

“Good, but when I get there, I will be judging his character.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less,” I reply.

“I love you, sweetheart. We’ll see you in a few days,” he says.

“I love you too, Dad.” And I hang up.

Walking into Gino’s office, I see him sitting at his desk looking over something.

“Hey, you okay?” I ask.

“Yeah,” he replies. “Come here.”

I walk over to him and sit on his lap.

“I talked with my dad; they’ll be here in a few days,” I tell him.

He looks at me with shock on his face.

“My parents will take any opportunity to question you in person.”

“Question me?” he asks.

“Yeah, well, you are dating their daughter. They'll want to know you more than what I’ve told them and what they remember from the few times they’ve seen you in person,” I reply.

“Okay, well, I need to prepare to impress your parents.”

I snort, “I think you’ll do just fine.”

FORTY

JULIET

It’s been three days since I called my dad, and now that they’re here, Gino decides that a good way to impress them is to take them to dinner at one of the restaurants in the city. He decided against one of the restaurants he’s invested in; he felt like he might come off too strong if he did.

Of course he picked one of the fancier restaurants in the city. It’s an upscale Korean Mexican fusion restaurant.

My parents know he’s trying to impress them, and I think it’s hot that he’s putting this much work into it.

“So Gino, Juliet mentioned you recently came into some new real estate,” my father begins.

“Uh, yeah, I did,” Gino swallows.

“And how did you come about this real estate?” Dad asks. I know he knows how; I told him days ago. He’s just pushing Gino’s buttons.

“Dad,” I warn.

Gino places his hand on my thigh and squeezes, telling me he’s got this.

“Well, as you know, our close friend Mateo was kidnapped last year, and we finally found him,” Gino starts, seemingly unfazed by the question now. “I negotiated with Anthony Russo, since one of his sons was behind everything, to give me something in return for all of the suffering in the last year. He gave us all of his properties in the States, and his men should be out of New York soon if they’re not already.”

I glance at my father and see the approving look on his face.

“With you getting these properties, what’s your goal with them?” he asks.

“We’ll move them into our business portfolio and start using them for their intended purposes. Whether it’s the office buildings or housing. If you’re asking if we’ll use them as fronts for illegal activities, the answer is absolutely not. We’ve spent too much time working on building a legitimate business, and we're not going to turn back on that now,” Gino says.

“Good, I think you’re aware of how I feel about Juliet’s involvement in all of this,” my father says seriously.