Chapter 28
TWENTY-EIGHT
JULIET
JANUARY
The holidays come and go fairly quietly. No new messages, threats, or even phone calls from Lorenzo, which tells us all that he’s lying low. Probably because if something happened during the holidays, there would be more eyes on him, and he knows it.
The twins were born a few weeks ago, and they are the most adorable things in the world.
Since she had a C-section, Vanessa needs to take it easy for at least another month.
So anything she needs around the house, I’ve done for her.
Every morning after I’ve finished up what needs to be done at Gino’s, I walk over.
Gino still doesn’t like the fact that I’m walking over alone, especially in the winter, but I’ve convinced him I’m fine.
I know he watches me through the door until I get far enough that he can’t see me.
I also know Alonso texts him as soon as I get there.
Walking into the kitchen, I see Alonso already pulling out his phone.
I roll my eyes. “You don’t need to text him about every little thing,” I say to him as I walk in, setting my bag on the counter.
“Yes, I do. He asked, and you’re the boss’s girlfriend. I'm required to keep him updated if you are out of his sight,” Alonso replies.
“He’s fucking possessive,” I mutter.
“Of course he is. He loves you, and he knows the risk you’re taking by being with him,” he says.
“Alonso, I signed up for this ten years ago,” I reply.
“Holy shit, are you admitting what we all thought in college?”
“And that is?” I say, trying so hard to get this conversation to end.
“You two have been in a ‘friends with benefits’ situation.”
My jaw drops. “What? Absolutely not.”
“Absolutely not what?” Vanessa says as she walks into the kitchen.
“That Gino and Juliet haven’t been in a ‘friends with benefits’ arrangement since college,” Alonso replies.
“Probably not, but Gino has been in love with her for years,” Vanessa adds.
Alonso snorts. “Now that I one hundred percent believe,” he says, walking out of the room without another word.
“I just put the twins down for their morning nap,” she says.
“Okay, I’ll clean up a bit here; you go sit down and relax.”
“Thanks, but it’s pretty clean in here already; don’t worry about it.” She brushes it off quickly. “We can watch the new season of the doctor reality show we started last week, if you want.”
I smile, and we walk into the living room. She clearly spent some time cleaning after she ate dinner. Because most mornings, once I get here, I do some dishes and laundry right away, but it looks like she already did that.
We take a seat on the couch, and the show starts playing.
“I know I’ve told you this before,” Vanessa starts, “but truly, thank you for coming over here and helping. I don’t know how I’d get everything done without you.”
I give her a small smile. “I love coming over here. It gets me to hang out with you, but also gets me away from all of the testosterone at Gino’s house.”
“When are you going to stop calling it that?” she asks.
“Calling what?”
“It’s ‘Gino's house,’” she says, adding physical air quotes. “It’s your house too, and since you two are really dating now—”
“What does that mean?”
“Gino told me about you two pretending to date because of the messages, and you’ve crossed into real relationship territory,” she says, smirking.
“Damn it,” I mutter.
“Don’t be upset with him. He was being an idiot, and he needed advice, so he had to tell me,” she says.
“I’m not that. It’s another secret or lie we’ve told you,” I reply quietly.
“I know most of the things you’ve all kept from me are to keep me or my kids safe, so I’m not mad about it.
I just want Gino to stop worrying about me.
And I know why he’s worried. I know he’s nervous that I’ll get severe postpartum depression and start acting differently.
And I understand his concern. Of course, I’m anxious about all of this.
Of course, I feel like I’m going to be a terrible mother when I’m being the best mom I can be. But those feelings are normal.”
I just nod my head.
I’ve never had children, so I can’t debate how she’s feeling. All I can do right now is listen.
“I know I’m in a better spot than most. I have a group of friends who are like family to help me with everything.
You coming over every day has been a Godsend to make sure I’m keeping this place clean and that I’m not falling behind on anything.
Alonso, even though he’s here for guarding purposes, is still a listening ear when I need it and gives me updates when my brother is too scared to.
Then there’s my brother. I know he’s trying to find Mateo, but he isn’t pushing me away.
He’s telling me what I should know. He’s let me help with some things, like the deal you’re trying to close.
And helping when someone gets hurt. I understand he’s keeping secrets, and I know he’s scared I’ll become stuck in my anxiety about everything.
He sometimes forgets that I’ve been on my own before. ”
“He knows that,” I reassure her. “He thought he would be out of this life by now. The Russo deal was one of the last ones he needed to do that was mafia-related. And then all this shit happened.”
“Eventually he’s going to need to pull rank or something because waiting for Lorenzo to make the wrong move isn’t working,” she says.
“It isn’t, but he knows if he takes things too far, he’ll start a war, and that’s the last thing he wants.”
“You know what I’m the most scared of?” she whispers.
“What’s that?”
“That Mateo will never come home, and I’ll have to tell my kids one day that he was kidnapped trying to do the right thing for them, and he doesn’t even know they exist.”
I can hear the emotion in her voice. She’s kept her head held high through all of this so far, but I don’t know how much longer she can do that.
After we spend the rest of the day in a lighter mood, I make the walk home.
Walking through the door, I smell food, and my stomach growls.
Making my way into the kitchen, I see Gino cooking. It smells delicious.
“Hi,” I squeak out.
He walks over to me and lifts my chin, leaning down, and he kisses me.
“Hey, bella.” He licks his lips, moving his hands around my waist.
“What did you make?”
“One of your favorites,” he replies, smiling.
“Hmm, and what’s that?” I ask.
“Carbonara.”
“That’s pretty complicated.”
He snorts. “As long as the eggs don’t curdle, I think I've got it handled.”
“Who knew you knew how to cook something like that?” I joke.
“Well, I’ve had the best teacher,” he says.
“And who’s that?”
“You.” He gives a sly smile. And I know he can see the blush that I can feel.
I take a seat at the bar and watch him cook.
Any man who cooks looks hot, but this man looks like the sexiest man alive cooking for me. I ask if he needs help, and he says it’s his kitchen tonight. Which tells me he wanted to do this, not that he felt obligated.
Once it’s done, we quickly eat, and it’s delicious. I know he knows how to cook, but it always surprises me how good he is at cooking.
I’ve noticed that since we’ve been officially dating, people are over less for dinner. I assumed it was because everyone was focused on their tasks, but the more I think about it, I wonder if Gino told them to make themselves scarce.
I grab our plates and start to walk to the kitchen to clean.
“Not tonight,” Gino says as he grabs the plates from my hands.
“Gino, we're not leaving dirty dishes in the sink overnight,” I say.
“I know; what I’m saying is you’re not doing them tonight,” he replies.
“You cooked dinner; I’m not expecting you to clean too.”
“You’re not expecting me to because I’m doing it.”
I sigh, knowing he won’t let it go.
I turn to walk away. But his arm wraps around my waist and turns me back to him.
“This won’t take long, so just wait right there for me.”
And he’s right; it doesn’t take long for him to clean the dishes from dinner. He's like a man on a mission. And once he’s done, I know exactly what mission he was on, and I will never deny him doing the dishes again after he cooks if he wants to.