Chapter 19
NINETEEN
JULIET
Gino has never, in all the years I’ve known him, admitted defeat in any way, and he just did. Finding Mateo is becoming the one thing he can’t figure out. But he’s someone who doesn’t back down. I know asking for help is hard, especially for him.
I know I need to take more off his plate so he can focus on Mateo.
Walking into my office, I sit down and open my laptop.
This mystery person, or persons, still lingers, but they’ve backed off.
Both of them have. And I think both for the same reason: they know we’re on to them.
Sending the flowers set a lot into motion.
Ryan has been all over the city looking for any associates of Lorenzo and hasn’t found a single one with any information.
Which tells us Lorenzo is really doing this on his own and not telling anyone within his family about it.
The security footage and the flower shop yielded nothing; the shop owner and the teenager working there that day don’t remember much about the person. Our theory is that someone who has no idea what’s happening was sent to send the flowers to throw us off and scare me.
Jake has been a little more violent in his search. He’s been going into different businesses with any association to the Russo family and threatening them to give up anything they have.
But nothing has given us what we want: a name and how it helps us get Mateo back.
I look over the new financial documents Drew has gotten a hold of. We haven’t gone full force on the hacking front, considering that it could cause more damage.
The documents I’m looking over are about any properties Lorenzo owns and the deals on how he got them. Everything seems to be in order and legit, but the question is, how did he get the money for it?
I keep staring and looking at them, hoping the issue jumps at me. But nothing. I’m about to give up when my phone pings.
Unknown
The violence is unnecessary. Tell your men to back off or else.
Curiosity gets the better of me, so I respond.
Juliet
Or else what?
Unknown
Your man dies.
There it is. I knew it. Whoever this is is working with Lorenzo.
I send a message to Drew to get to my office asap.
Juliet
Do you know where he is?
Unknown
Of course I do. You seem not to be listening. I’ll spell it out for you if you don’t stop. I will personally make sure your man is dead tonight.
Juliet
I thought you were trying to help. Why are you being aggressive now?
Drew walks into the office and shuts the door. I wave my phone at him, telling him without words that the unknown number is sending me something he needs to look at.
That’s what’s great about Drew; he’s good at reading people and signals that you could be standing a different way than normal, and he’d know something was wrong.
I give him my phone, and he plugs it into his phone.
Unknown
I’ve only been trying to get you to understand how much we’re watching you.
“Gino needs to see these,” Drew says.
“Yeah, go get him.”
He leaves the room and gets Gino.
“Bella, what is it?” He gives me a nervous look.
I glare at him. This is not the time.
“The threatening unknown number is back,” I say.
“What?” he yells. He extends his hand, wanting me to give the phone to him.
I hand it to him.
He looks it over and pauses. I can tell he wants to throw the phone. I stand up and grab it from him before he does.
“Gino, we're handling it. Please don’t do something we know you’ll regret,” I say, stopping him in his tracks.
“Regret? This person is threatening you. He clearly is a part of Lorenzo’s crew. I don’t give a shit; he needs to be dealt with.” He presses the bridge of his nose. “Drew, can you track them?”
“I’m trying.” He pauses, focusing on whatever he’s looking at.
“Wait,” I say, and both of them look over to me.
“What if somehow, through all of this, this person is piggybacking off of the other one? What if they know someone else has been messaging me, and they are using this as a way to scare us? They think we still think they're trying to help us. What if we play into that? Pull everyone back, Gino, get Ryan and Jake to lay off the violence. Let’s move underground. They’re one step ahead of us right now. ”
“How would they know a second person has been texting you?” Drew asks.
“Clearly they know more than they are letting on. Sorry, Drew, but they clearly know how to get around your ways to find them. Maybe they hacked into my phone or can see the phone data like we’ve been trying to do to them,” I say.
“Clearly I’ve taught you too much about phones,” Drew grumbles.
“What about the second person?” Gino asks.
“If they message or call me, we do exactly what we’re doing here: try to track them, but don’t be as open about it,” I say.
“I want them both found. I don’t care if one is trying to help; they're making you feel unsafe, Juliet, which I don’t like,” Gino replies.
I’ve noticed Drew has left my office, knowing this is a standoff he doesn’t want to be a part of.
“Gino, we have other things to worry about. I can handle this,” I grit out.
“How many times do I have to tell you that your safety is the most important thing?” He says.
“I feel like that shouldn’t be the most important thing,” I mumble.
He crosses his arms and stares at me.
“Juliet, since the day we met, you’ve always been the most important,” he says.
“You’re really taking this fake relationship thing seriously,” I grumble.
“This isn’t fake. The dating part, sure, that’s not real, but you’re my best friend—”
I cut him off. “I feel like that’s Mateo.”
“Okay, fine, you're my second best friend; your life matters more than anything,” he replies.
“Gino, why have you never told me that before?” I ask.
“I didn’t think I needed to tell you that.”
I just stare at him, and it takes me back to the day I met him and Mateo.
10 YEARS AGO
I knew my first day of college was going to be nerve-wracking, but I am now into my second class of the day, and oh my God, my social life is not going to exist for the next few years. I am very much regretting being a double major right now.
On Mondays and Wednesdays, I have four classes, and three classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Fridays will be my only free day in the week, which I already know will be filled with studying in the library.
I wanted to at least spend some time dancing, but I might only be able to do that through some electives I’m planning to take.
Business 101 shouldn’t be the hardest class I take this semester, but it will be the class with the most students. It seemed like a good idea when I enrolled.
I walk into the largest lecture hall on campus, and when I signed up, there were over 300 seats assigned to this class.
I look around, looking for the seat I want.
I don’t want to sit in the front few rows, but I also don’t want to sit all the way in the back.
So, I pick a seat to the left in the middle.
I pull out my notebook; each class has its own color, and for this one it’s navy blue. I start to open it up and notice someone takes a seat right next to me. I glance over and notice a guy, probably a freshman like me; he’s cute, dressed in his sweatshirt and sweatpants.
“Hey, I’m Mateo.” He extends his hand for me to shake.
“Juliet,” I give him a soft smile and shake his hand.
Before I can say anything else, another guy sits right next to him. This guy is hot, with his brunette hair in a natural fade cut and piercing green eyes. He’s wearing a black button-down and black dress pants with sneakers.
“Dude, why do you have to wear slacks everywhere?” Mateo says.
“Because I wanted to? Why does it matter?” Even this guy’s voice is hot. It’s deep and commanding.
“We’re in college, not at home. I get that your dad is wearing suits all day, but come on, man, in college we're supposed to be in sweatshirts all day,” Mateo says, rolling his eyes.
“It’s not that serious.” He rolls his eyes back. He looks at me like he just saw me for the first time. “Hey, I’m Gino.” He gives me a small wave.
“Hi, I'm Juliet,” I reply.
“He may be my best friend, but he is also the most annoying person I’ve ever met sometimes,” Mateo says. The conversation ends as the professor starts talking.
Once class ends, we all go our separate ways, and I think I’ll never talk to them again, but every class they sit with me.
We work on group projects together, study, and eventually become friends.
By the end of the semester, we become a trio of friends who are inseparable, and Antonio Esposito offers me a job.