Chapter 11
ELEVEN
JULIET
As we all leave Gino’s office, I know I need to tell him.
I hear him on the phone, so I pace the hallway, trying to gather the courage to walk back in there.
That call is the reason I know now is the time. I need to be honest about the other messages.
I stop, listening intently, and hear silence, so I know he’s done.
Then, I slowly walk in, closing the door behind me while inhaling a deep breath.
Turning towards him, I wring my hands, nervous that this could go very badly.
He walks around the desk and stalks toward me.
His green eyes look down at me. “Juliet, what's wrong?”
“I need to tell you something.”
He looks at me nervously. Gino never looks nervous. Even through all of this, he hasn’t been nervous.
“What is it?” he asks.
“Umm, so I know I just woke you up for this. But someone has sent me other messages too. Probably the same person.”
“What?” he yells. “Juliet, how many messages have they sent?”
“Enough that I’ve lost count. Nothing I couldn’t handle until now. All related to the same thing. Saying to look into more of Lorenzo’s associates or to listen to the demands, which I know you have to an extent, and Lorenzo hasn’t given anything to really negotiate,” I’m rambling now. I know I am.
“Juliet. Jules. It’s okay, but why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t want to stress you out more than you already are.”
He takes a deep breath. “Juliet, we've had our differences, but your safety is not something I will debate with you.”
He’s closer to me now. He places his hands on my arms. I can feel myself shiver from the touch.
“Jules, you’re shaking,” he whispers.
“I’m fine.”
I’m not fine; his hands are so warm and feel so good on my skin.
No matter how much he’s your friend, he’s your boss. That’s what I keep telling myself, which I know isn’t true. He’s my boss on paper, and it makes sure we keep our distance from each other when necessary.
“Juliet, when did these messages start?”
“A few days after Mateo was kidnapped.”
“You’re joking?” he replies.
I shake my head.
“Show them to me,” he says, sticking his hand out.
He raises his eyebrows when I don’t hand over my phone right away.
I grab my phone out of my pocket; he takes it from me and types in the password. It’s been the same ever since we met, and it doesn’t surprise me that he remembers it.
He looks over the messages. “We need to send these to Drew.”
“I showed him, and he’s looking into them,” I say quietly.
“I’m going to kick his ass. Why didn’t he tell me?” he asks, pressing his thumb and index finger to the bridge of his nose.
“Because I told him not to,” I mumble.
“Juliet—” He takes a deep breath. “I’m going to ask again: why didn’t you tell me?”
“I-I didn’t want you to worry about me when you’re having to worry about everything else,” I whisper.
“I need you to understand something you’ve clearly spent the last ten years avoiding. Your safety is important, your well-being is important. I don’t give a fuck what else is going on, but you are important to me,” he says seriously.
I gape at him.
“Clearly, you didn’t believe that before, but believe it now,” he smirks.
I swallow.
“Juliet, something like this can’t be ignored. This is serious.”
“I know,” I reply.
“Has Drew found anything?” he asks.
“Not yet.”
He groans. “I need to keep you safe. I can’t—no, I won’t let anything happen to you too.”
“Okay, I barely leave your house.”
He grumbles at that, and I know it’s because I said ‘your house’.
“I only go over to Vanessa and Mateo’s and leave to run errands or go hang out with friends, which we both know isn’t more than once a week.”
“You staying at home doesn’t protect you. Do you not remember the day my sister arrived? We were attacked that day. Things can happen at any time. Whoever this is needs to understand a certain message.”
“And what’s that?” I whisper.
“That Juliet Tran is my responsibility and is being protected by me.”
“Okay, how do you expect to do that?”
He walks back to his desk and looks down at everything. Placing his hands on the surface, his knuckles turn white.
Taking a deep breath, he looks up at me. “I think I need to make people believe you’re mine, and doing anything to you will directly be a shot at me.”
“How do you expect to do that?” I reply, walking closer to his desk.
“I think we should date.”
I stare at him, my mouth wide in shock.
“Giovanni Esposito, are you okay? Because it sounds like you just said we should date?”
“Did you just use my full name?”
“Yes, I did. What the fuck, Giovanni?” I yell.
He huffs out a laugh.
“You just suggested that we date because I’m getting messages from an unknown number. Do you know how that sounds?”
“It makes sense to me,” he replies with a sly smile.
“Explain, because it doesn’t make sense to me.”
Over the years, Gino has had some really dumb ideas, and most of the time, Mateo or I can talk him out of it. The look on his face right now tells me differently. He’s not going to back down from this absolutely terrible idea.
He sighs. “This is for your protection. If everyone believes we’re dating, this person will either back off or reveal themselves.”
“Gino, I don’t see how a fake relationship between us would do that.”
“Regardless of how I want this business to go, people still see me as an Esposito. They fear me. If people believe we’re together, maybe they will come directly to me versus going to you.”
“So you want control?”
“That’s not it. I want you safe and protected.” He rounds the desk and leans against the front, his eyes never leaving me.
He’s close again. Too close.
“Juliet, this is the only way.”
“No, it’s not, Gino; there are a lot of ways, not just this.”
“Please trust me on this,” he pleads.
“Gino, you’ve had some dumb ideas over the years, and this is probably the dumbest.”
He snorts.
“This isn’t funny,” I say.
“Juliet, I’m not joking, I’m not overthinking, and I’m definitely not doing this for fun. This is your safety, and to me, that’s the number one thing I care about most in the world.”
Getting him to back down is not happening; I can see it clearly now.
“If we do this, how do you expect everyone to believe you? Would we tell our friends at least?”
“We need to keep it between us; we don’t know who this is. We both know it’s no one in the group, but who knows how this person is getting their information? Someone could be passing it along and not knowing it.” He pauses. “Outside of Drew, did you tell anyone else?”
I shake my head.
He grabs my hands. “We’ll find out who this is, but I need you to trust me; this is the best option to protect you.”
I swallow and nod.
I guess it’s official: I’m fake dating my best friend who I’ve been in love with for ten years.