The Boss (The Brotherhood #2)

Chapter 1

ONE

GINO

LATE MAY

I would have thought by this point in my life, my business would’ve started and my mafia don days would have been behind me.

Sadly, they’re not. I had a completely different plan for myself.

By now, I would have started my security and investment company with my friends, the plan we’ve had since college, but things don’t go as planned.

These last few days have been a fucking disaster.

My best friend and right-hand man has been kidnapped, and his wife, my sister, just found out she’s pregnant.

I sent him to Italy to finalize a deal to hopefully end this mafia madness we’ve been a part of for way too long.

But someone on the other side of that deal wanted more and is using him as the collateral to do that.

The number one priority is getting him back. But there’s added intensity to it now.

“Gino.” I hear a soft voice call out.

I pry open my eyes to see Juliet, one of my closest friends. Her dark black hair is tied in a high bun, her brown eyes are tired, and her warm beige skin is perfect without makeup, as it always is. And she’s wearing a gray sweatshirt and plaid sleep shorts that fit her perfectly.

I rub my eyes and lean up from my desk chair, the small movement forcing every muscle in my body to feel strained.

“Gino, you should really go to bed,” she whispers, leaning over me.

When I sat down at my desk, the sun shone brightly into my office. Now, the darkened sky tells me it’s late, and the only light around us comes from the small lamp on the corner of my desk.

“No, I need to keep working,” I mumble.

“You’re going to hurt yourself if you keep doing this,” she whispers back.

“Juliet, I can’t stop right now.”

Over the last decade, she has been the one person outside of Mateo who has been around constantly for me; not even my father could do that.

“Yes, you can.” Her strained voice showcases her concern.

Not only am I concerned about Mateo, but my sister Vanessa, whom I just connected with a few months ago, is nervous and scared.

Due to being raised outside of our family, she knows very little about this mafia lifestyle.

And since my father died two years ago, I’ve tried to get out of it to build the security and investment business my friends and I had planned.

But as each day passes, it’s getting harder to achieve.

We had it all planned out. Once my father died or passed down his assets, we would formally close down the mafia side and create a business.

An enterprise, if you will. Everyone would play their own parts, too.

Juliet would run the finances, and Ryan would assist her, while also handling all the investments.

Mateo would lead all the legal aspects, such as contracts.

Drew would manage the tech side. And the Cambio brothers and Alonso would run the security and logistics division, considering what a large aspect of the business it would be, including shipping and transport services, personal protection, and private security.

We all knew what a big task it would be, but we were going to make it work. The first stage is getting out of all of this mafia shit and using some of the contacts we have in place to start the shipping and transport business, using the docks my father was shipping and receiving from for decades.

“Fine.” Letting out a long exhale, I rise from my chair and begin to leave when I notice Juliet isn’t right behind me.

Turning around, I see her attempting to clean the files on my desk.

“Juliet, you need to sleep too,” I say firmly.

“Hmm?” She looks up at me from my desk.

“Come on, you need to sleep too,” I protest.

She walks away from my desk and comes up right behind me. “Let’s go to bed.”

Walking to my room at the end of the hall, I turn to see Juliet walk into hers, two doors down from mine.

When my father died, I moved her here because she was someone who saw it all. I may or may not find her very attractive. I don’t know if I’ll ever admit to her how I feel.

Over the last decade, I have spent too much time thinking about her. Two years ago, I made a move and failed. Ever since then, I have been kicking myself in the ass about it, trying to figure out how to make it right.

2 YEARS AGO

Running my hands down my face while perched at the bottom of the stairs, the last person finally leaves my father’s—now my—house after his funeral. My best friend walks over and sits next to me, offering me a glass of scotch.

My dad died last week after being shot by the Russians, and now it’s my job to run his mafia syndicate.

He stays silent for a minute, then says, “It’s going to suck for the next few weeks, having to take control of everything.” He lets out a breath. “But take your time. I’m here for you and so is Juliet; she hasn’t taken her eyes off you all day.”

“I know.” I let out a huff of a laugh. “She’s acting like I’m going to crack at some point.”

“I felt the same way. You know how I was after my parents died. I couldn’t do anything for weeks.”

“Yeah, but I don’t have the time to grieve right now.”

“I can help with work stuff, and Juliet can help with life stuff. Give yourself a break, man,” he tells me.

“I know. I know.”

“I have to drive back to the city, so I’m going to head out, but let me know if you need anything,” he says as he stands.

“Mateo,” I call out to him, and he turns around. “Thank you.”

He gives me a nod in response and heads towards the door. He hugs Juliet on the way out, and it makes me get a little tense.

“She’s not mine,” I have to remind myself. She’ll never be, no matter how many times I have masturbated thinking about her.

“Hey,” Juliet says softly to me, taking a seat right next to me on the stairs. “Do you want more of that?”

“More of what?”

“Scotch?”

“Uh, sure.” She pours more into my glass. “Are you going to have anything?”

“No, I’m going to clean up from tonight.”

“It’ll be here in the morning. Have a drink with me, please.” I look at her with pleading eyes, to which she replies silently with a soft smile.

She gets up, leading the way into the kitchen. She grabs one of the open red wine bottles on the table and pours herself a glass. We sit at the bar in silence for a while.

To break the clear tension, she says, “Gino, I know today has been a lot, but are you sure you’re okay? Your father just died, and you haven’t slowed down.”

“Why is everyone so worried about me?” I ask.

“Because grief is weird,” she says, looking down at her hands.

“How would you know?” The words leave me quicker than I can register them. Harsher.

I’m such an asshole.

“I’ve lost people too, Gino,” she whispers. I can tell it pained her to mention.

“Shit, Jules. I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright.” She lets out a breath. “Grief is weird. Some days you’re fine, and others you feel like you are going to break down. And sometimes, you do.”

Releasing a breath, I look over at her and see a tear roll down her cheek.

Taking my thumb, I wipe it away. “Jules, I’m sorry I didn’t think.”

“It’s alright.” She looks over at me and gives me another soft smile. Her lips, as usual, are a soft pink and gorgeous to look at.

She bites her lip. “What?”

“N-nothing,” I stutter out.

We continue to sit in silence, sipping our drinks.

“I’m going to turn on the LA baseball game if you want to join me,” she says, breaking the quiet and standing up from her chair.

“Sure, yeah, I’ll join you.”

We walk into the family room next to the kitchen in a comfortable silence, both of us taking a seat on the couch.

During the next hour while we watch the game, we banter as we did sometimes when my father wasn’t around.

I spent the entire time stealing glances at her, noticing her beauty.

Her long hair is down, which is a rarity, and I just want to twirl it in my fingers.

It’s the top of the fifth, and LA are up four runs to none.

Stretching my arms up, I put my left arm behind her. She leans back just a little, which confirms to me she’s comfortable. I look over at her; she keeps her eyes on the TV, but then she turns her head to me and smiles when she senses my glare.

I smile back at her and whisper, “I’ve been wanting to do this for years.”

“Do what?” she whispers back.

Instead of using my words, I kiss her. Her lips are soft, softer than I could have imagined. Moving my other hand around her neck, I rub my thumb across her jaw. When I open my eyes, I look at her, quickly noticing her shocked expression.

“Was it that bad?” I ask.

She lets out a soft laugh. “No, it wasn’t bad at all; I just wasn’t expecting it.”

Before I can respond, she leans into me and kisses me.

Moving my hands to her waist and to the hem of her shirt, I pause. “I really don’t want to do this on the couch. Could we go upstairs?”

She nods.

I grab her hand and lead her upstairs to my room. It’s a basic room with dark wood furniture, a gray comforter, sheets, and a large flat-screen mounted on the wall across from my bed.

Pulling her into the room, I grab her waist and kiss her again. I don’t want to push too strongly, allowing her to set the pace, which she does by gently pushing me towards the bed.

Since the couch, my cock has been bulging against my slacks, and it’s becoming rather painful.

Walking backwards, I feel the back of my legs hit the bed, and I fall to lie on my back, using my elbows to prop myself up slightly. Juliet straddles me, and slowly takes her shirt off. My eyes don’t leave her bare chest for a moment to appreciate how breathtaking she is.

I unbutton my shirt, and she gets up from the bed to take off her jeans, revealing a matching lavender set. Standing up, I follow suit, my gaze never leaving her.

“Juliet, there is no going back from here–” Before I can get the words out, she kisses me again, pulling down my boxers.

She pushes me back onto the bed, and takes off her panties. Leaning up and to the side, I reach out to the nightstand and grab a condom out of the drawer before rolling it down my throbbing cock.

With my hand on her back, I drag her closer and shift until she’s on her back, my body hovering over hers. Leaning down, I kiss her deeply, taking my time to savor the moment. My lips trail from her mouth to her neck, down the curve of her chest, and further down, pressing kisses along her stomach.

She squirms beneath me, her breath catching with every touch.

By the time my mouth reaches her pussy, she’s trembling.

A sharp inhale leaves her as I drag my tongue through her wet folds, tasting her. I slide my tongue in and out, feeling the way her body reacts, and the way her hips move against me.

Her moans grow louder, her body tightening as I work her higher.

I shift my focus to her clit, drawing it into my mouth. My tongue swirls over the sensitive nub, and her whole body tenses as she comes apart beneath me.

Moving back up until our faces are aligned, I kiss her again while lining my cock up with her pussy.

As I thrust into her, she lets out a breathy moan, her body arching beneath me.

I keep a steady rhythm, driving into her as her breaths grow heavier. It’s only a few minutes before I can feel myself getting close, my control slipping with every thrust.

Leaning down, I kiss her again, swallowing the sounds that spill from her lips. Her moans grow louder, more desperate, and I know she’s right there with me.

After a few more thrusts, I groan her name, the sound breaking between us as we both come together.

The release hits me harder than it ever has before.

When the moment settles, I pull away, discarding the condom before grabbing a washcloth to clean us both up.

When I wake up, she’s not beside me in bed.

When I see her downstairs, she acts like nothing happened. Acts like I’m her boss, not her friend of eight years, and she’s not the person who has helped me so much. Maybe I read her wrong all these years.

Or maybe I was that bad in bed.

The memory of that night plagues me every day. Anytime I see her, I think of it. The night when I wanted to finally tell Juliet how I felt. But she didn’t see it that way, and I didn’t help her understand how much I want and need her.

The last two years haven’t been the same. The sarcasm and banter we shared in private aren’t there as often as they once were. But I can’t think about that, considering the situation at hand.

Getting up from bed, I stretch, throw on black slacks and a gray button-down shirt, and walk out of my room to start a new day that will probably get worse.