Chapter 3
THREE
GINO
Juliet is on edge. Everyone is, but she is somehow more so. She’s avoiding me, too. Just like she has been for the last two years, but this feels different.
To break the tension between the two of us sitting on this couch, I tap her knee with mine. “If you have anything you want to talk about, just tell me, okay?” I give her my best relaxed smile.
She looks up at me, her mouth opening, but the office door flies open, tearing her words from her, and Drew walks in. “I got some intel on why the Russos are holding Mateo,” he says quickly.
“Really?” I ask.
This could be a big break.
“Yeah, apparently the cops busted one of their warehouses, and they thought it was us, so Lorenzo did this in retaliation.”
Fucking awesome.
“What do you want to do next?”
“We keep digging and finding ways to get Mateo out of there.”
“Got it, I’ll keep digging to see if we can get a location.” Drew walks out of my office and shuts the door.
I glance over at Juliet, hoping she’ll say something, anything that could be helpful.
Juliet was the person I went to for advice on any big decision. She has an even head and isn’t rash in her decision-making. That's what I’ve always liked about her. She’s been someone I have trusted over the last ten years.
She doesn’t say anything; just stares at the ground.
I stare at her and take her in for the first time in who knows how long. Her long hair is down, tucked behind her ears and cascading down her back. Her warm beige skin is lit up perfectly by the sunlight shining through the windows.
Before I can say anything, she gets up from the couch, grabs our plates, and leaves my office in a hurry.
What the hell was that about?
Sighing, I get up from the couch and sit at my desk.
It’s a mess, piles of papers scattered everywhere by my doing.
I have been searching for something, anything, to find Mateo.
It’s my fault he’s even there. I'm the one who sent him there and convinced him and my sister that it was a good idea, just a few months into their marriage. I feel like I’m losing the hold I had on the business I have been trying to create.
This deal in Italy is the last thing my father did, and completing it is what I set out to achieve.
My father, the infamous Antonio Esposito, was ruthless, and everyone expected me to be like him. He wanted me to be him. But he knew at the end I was never going to be; that’s why the plan for Vanessa changed.
We were supposed to meet after she graduated college, but he realized I would, in his eyes, corrupt her and tell her everything he was doing.
Then he died before we were ever introduced, and it wasn’t until Mateo and Alonso showed up at the hospital she worked at that she started asking questions.
I definitely would have told her what our father was doing back then and have done so to a limit thus far.
She doesn’t need to know everything he did, but she deserves to know the big stuff, including the kind of person he was.
Now, because of this holier-than-thou thing I have going for myself, my best friend could be dying. I need to strategize and plan how to get Mateo back. There’s no way to find him right now. But I can’t tell anyone that; I need to be confident in my decisions.
Grabbing my phone, I decide to call someone who would know exactly what to do.
“Hello?” the voice says, picking up on the second ring.
“Hey Kevin, I could really use your help here,” I say.
“I’m with Vanessa. Do you want to come over here?”
“No, I’m pretty sure she hates me right now, and I don’t want to stress her out any more than I already have,” I answer honestly.
“Gino,” he sighs. “Believe me when I tell you this, you are exactly who she needs to see right now.”
“Why? I’m breaking her, Kevin.”
“No; your silence is.. You’re her brother; she trusts you, regardless of how long you two have known each other. She loves you, and she knows you’re hurting too. Just come over here. We can talk about whatever you want here.”
“Fine.” I hang up the phone and hurriedly exit my office.
The walk to Vanessa and Mateo’s house isn’t far, but it gives me just a few minutes to think before I need to look my sister in the eye and tell her I have nothing.
She’s the last person who should trust me right now. The last few months, she not only learned of the family she didn’t know she had, but married someone she barely knew and fell in love with him, and then I fucked that up.
Reaching their house, I stare at the door for a long moment. But before I chicken out, I open it, calling Vanessa’s name as it closes behind me.
I glance around their entryway and see no one, so I walk further inside.
I reach the kitchen, and that’s when I see her. She’s in front of the stove, the smell of frying oil and potatoes filling the air.
She claims to be a bad cook, but her husband gloats otherwise.
Being in her presence is nerve-wracking, knowing I have nothing to give her.
I haven’t had anything to tell her since I told her his husband was missing.
“Hey, Vanessa,” I call out again, my voice more level.
Before she turns to look at me, I notice how empty our surroundings are.
Didn’t Kevin say he was over?
Then she turns to face me. Her red hair flows down her back, and she’s wearing a simple outfit—black leggings and a matching T-shirt.
“Hey, Gino,” she says, giving me a soft smile.
“Hey, is Kevin here?” I ask.
“Yeah, he’s probably in the bathroom. Are you hungry?”
“I just ate, but thank you.”
She turns back to the stove to turn off the burner before spinning back around to pile some eggs, potatoes, and peppers onto two plates. I guess the second is for Kevin.
“Do you want anything to drink?” she asks.
“No, I'm okay.”
“Gino, what’s going on?” She looks at me with soft eyes that hold her frustration.
I sigh.
How do I tell her I have nothing, again?
“I want to talk something over with Kevin; it’s nothing bad, I promise.”
She exhales deeply before walking out of the kitchen and into the breakfast nook. I watch her, but don’t follow, remaining frozen in place.
Once I hear her and Kevin talking, I wander out of the kitchen and around the first floor.
Their house is straight out of a magazine.
Their walls are lined with photos of them.
Their wedding was in my backyard after knowing each other for two weeks.
So a lot of these photos were taken after their wedding.
They look happy and very much in love, which I wasn’t expecting to happen so fast, considering their arranged marriage.
They work well together. They’ll be great parents to their children.
But I have to get him back for that to happen.
“Gino, what did you want to speak about? Kevin asks as he walks out of the kitchen.
I pivot around on my heels. “Can we talk in private?”
“Sure, let's go in here.” He points to one of the guest rooms on the first floor.
I walk in first with him closely behind, and the door closes behind us.
He doesn’t speak; he looks at me, waiting for me to start.
“I need help,” I admit. “I have looked everywhere I can think of and can’t find him.
I’ve reached out to contacts I know, and they have nothing.
I don’t know what to do. All I have so far is that Lorenzo did this.
That’s it. It looks like Anthony had nothing to do with this, or he didn’t know the extent of Lorenzo’s plan. ”
“Why do you say that?” he queries.
“In the security camera footage we have, Salvo, who looks surprised when Mateo falls over. And when they leave, it’s just Lorenzo and a few other men I don’t know. All of the Russo men stay behind.”
“So either Lorenzo is doing this on his own or the Russos are very good at picking a fall guy,” he says.
“Exactly.”
“See if you can get Anthony to negotiate. If he doesn’t know anything, go to Lorenzo.”
“Okay, thanks, Kevin,” I reply.
“You’re welcome. Talk to your sister; she needs her brother right now. She doesn’t need you to pull away. This isn’t your fault.”
I swallow.
Before I can respond, Kevin leaves the room.