Chapter 40
FORTY
JULIET
It’s been three days since I called my dad, and now that they’re here, Gino decides that a good way to impress them is to take them to dinner at one of the restaurants in the city. He decided against one of the restaurants he’s invested in; he felt like he might come off too strong if he did.
Of course he picked one of the fancier restaurants in the city. It’s an upscale Korean Mexican fusion restaurant.
My parents know he’s trying to impress them, and I think it’s hot that he’s putting this much work into it.
“So Gino, Juliet mentioned you recently came into some new real estate,” my father begins.
“Uh, yeah, I did,” Gino swallows.
“And how did you come about this real estate?” Dad asks. I know he knows how; I told him days ago. He’s just pushing Gino’s buttons.
“Dad,” I warn.
Gino places his hand on my thigh and squeezes, telling me he’s got this.
“Well, as you know, our close friend Mateo was kidnapped last year, and we finally found him,” Gino starts, seemingly unfazed by the question now.
“I negotiated with Anthony Russo, since one of his sons was behind everything, to give me something in return for all of the suffering in the last year. He gave us all of his properties in the States, and his men should be out of New York soon if they’re not already. ”
I glance at my father and see the approving look on his face.
“With you getting these properties, what’s your goal with them?” he asks.
“We’ll move them into our business portfolio and start using them for their intended purposes.
Whether it’s the office buildings or housing.
If you’re asking if we’ll use them as fronts for illegal activities, the answer is absolutely not.
We’ve spent too much time working on building a legitimate business, and we're not going to turn back on that now,” Gino says.
“Good, I think you’re aware of how I feel about Juliet’s involvement in all of this,” my father says seriously.
“Yes, sir. I know your feelings and the way you reacted when my father hired Juliet.”
“Good. Have you told your sister that Mateo’s been found?” My mom cuts in and asks.
“Not directly,” Gino admits.
I don’t know why Gino insists on hiding it from Vanessa. But I won’t go behind his back to tell her.
Based on the interactions I’ve had with her since Alonso left, she knows something’s happening, but she also doesn’t want to be wrong and get her hopes up.
I also have a feeling she knows what’s going on based on the lack of questions.
Gino hasn’t visited her, trying to busy himself with enough to have no time for her.
“Why haven’t you told her?” my mother asks.
“Mateo’s still in a medically induced coma to allow his body to heal,” he replies. “I don’t want her to get her hopes up if he needs to be under longer than they anticipate or something bad happens while he’s still over there.”
My mother softens her gaze. “Gino, I understand you’re afraid to tell her, but she’s been waiting for good news for nearly a year.”
This time I put my hand on Gino’s thigh and squeeze. He’s in a tough position, but he knows he’s been keeping secrets from her and having us all do the same.
He swallows. “I know.”
“You’re in a tough spot with what to tell her,” my father chimes in. “I would suggest telling her when you know he’s coming home. If she doesn’t know and he walks through the door, you don’t know how either of them will react.”
“Do you plan on telling Mateo of the twins when he wakes up?” my mother cuts in.
“Uhh, I don’t know if that’s my place or anyone’s, in fact, to tell him outside of Vanessa,” Gino says.
I know my parents aren’t trying to make him feel bad. But they are trying to give him another opinion on the matter. They know I’ll tell him how I feel, but when it comes to his sister, I won’t tell him what to do.
“I understand not telling Mateo about his children, per se, but you need to tell him at least that Vanessa didn’t know she was pregnant.
He could assume she knew and was waiting to tell him or that she didn’t want to tell him.
Not saying he will, but anyone in his situation will think the worst before the best,” Mom says.
Gino swallows. “I’m aware of the secrets I’ve been keeping from my sister. Your daughter here won't let me forget.” He looks over to me and smiles.
“Since we’ve moved to the topic of my daughter. Are you going to keep secrets from her like you’ve been doing with your sister?” my dad asks.
“No—” he stops himself. “Well, to be completely transparent, I have done so in the past. But moving forward, there will be no more.”
Thankfully, my brother is on his phone because even though he’s a teenager, he would definitely make his opinion known. He’d probably tell Gino that he’s being mean to his sister by not telling her what she should know. And he’d do it with that teenage snark he has.
“Good,” my father replies. “As you know, Bianca and I knew your father when we were younger.”
I have no idea where this is going, so I don’t interject.
“Your father had expectations of you before you were born. And luckily you chose a different path for yourself; I can admire that.”
Did my father just compliment him?
Outside of family, he doesn’t compliment often, if ever.
“Juliet, don't look at me like that. I can provide praise when I see it.”
Shit. Clearly I didn’t hide my reaction well.
Dad continues, “As I was saying, you haven’t strayed too far from that path.
I can also see how much you care for Juliet.
I figured as much when you asked your father to hire her all those years ago.
And before either of you ask, your father didn’t ask me about a contract between you two, like he did with Mateo and Vanessa.
He knew I would have shut that down before it even started.
Hell, the man didn’t tell me anything he was involved in.
All of this to say, I’m not going to tell either of you what to do, but we’ll provide any advice or help you need with your business and other endeavors. ”
Now I know I didn’t need to be nervous for this conversation. But I’m becoming more nervous about the conversation between Mateo and Gino.