Chapter 42
FORTY-TWO
JULIET
Gino knows he fucked up. Big time. And I bet he’s getting absolutely cussed out by Mateo for one, letting Vanessa get involved, and two, hiding certain things during the process.
Vanessa dramatically plops down on the couch in the family room. “So, be real with me, Juliet. Did you know you found him and you all decided not to tell me?”
Shit.
I swallow. I turn to look over. “You can hate us, but Gino made the decision because he didn’t want you to get your hopes up if something happened.”
“My brother’s an asshole,” she says.
I laugh. “He’s just protective.”
“Uh huh, just like how he didn’t tell you he was paying for your bills for years.” She cocks an eyebrow at me.
Damn it. She’s got me there.
“He really needs to stop assuming everyone’s feelings,” she mumbles.
“I agree with that,” I say, nodding my head.
“Now that Mateo’s back, I am going to push as much as I can to get this business to move forward,” she says.
I snort. “Those two have said they want to start ‘Esposito Enterprises’ since they were twelve.”
“I’m sorry? We’re calling it Esposito Enterprises? That’s terrible. Do they have any creativity?” she asks sarcastically.
“You know those two are way too serious for that.”
She snorts. “That’s very true.”
“Hello, ladies,” my mother says as she walks into the room, my brother trailing behind her.
“Hey mom, hey Danny,” I say.
“So, do you want to get started?” Mom asks me.
“Yeah,” I reply.
“Start with what?” Vanessa asks.
“We’re going to have everyone over for lunch to celebrate Mateo being back.”
She starts to get up from the couch.
“Oh, you’re not helping; you just relax.” My mom tells her, and she leaves for the kitchen.
“Just relax, hang out with the twins, or if you want, you can sit at the bar while we get everything together?” I tell her.
“I’d rather do that. The twins are napping in their playpen right now, and I don’t want to sit here by myself,” she replies.
We both walk into the kitchen. Vanessa takes a seat at the bar, and I go to the fridge, grabbing her a soda.
I place it in front of her, and she gives me a soft smile.
“Vanessa, we haven’t known each other long, but I know Lucy and Kevin, and they’ve talked about you over the years. They never said you were Antonio’s daughter, but I will say they’re very proud of you,” my mom tells her.
Vanessa swallows. “Yeah, I really do consider them my parents. Not to discredit my biological parents. But Aunt Lucy and Uncle Kevin really did step into the role of parents for me.”
Mom gives her a soft smile. “How do you feel with Mateo back?”
“Good, still pissed at my brother for keeping that secret,” she says.
I look at her; I know she’s upset with everyone for keeping all the secrets over the last year.
“We have a long way to go, though; he was held captive and tortured for almost a year. It's going to take time for him to fully recover, not just physically but mentally too,” Vanessa says.
My mom and I look at her silently, both knowing that but not fully coming to terms with that fact until now.
“I’ve asked Jordan if he has any recommendations,” she adds.
I never met Jordan, but his wife, Lauren, is a good friend of Vanessa’s. They both worked at the hospital with Vanessa, and he’s a psychiatrist from what I remember.
“That’s good. I know you have Lucy and Kevin, but I want to make sure you know you also have Henry and I in any way you and your family need,” my mom says.
“Thank you,” Vanessa whispers.
After a few moments of silence, I turn to Mom.
“Where’s Dad?” I ask.
“He’s picking up some of the food for today,” Mom answers.
“So what’s on the menu?” she asks.
“We’re going with a mostly simple menu,” Mom says. “We've got some deli trays for people to make sandwiches; we’ll make some pasta and potato salad.”
“Sounds great,” she says.
One of the twins starts crying, “I’m going to handle that. Thank you for doing this, Mateo, and I appreciate it.”
And she walks out of the room.
“She’s got a good head on her shoulders,” Mom says. “I don’t know if I could be as strong as she’s being through all of this.”
“Yeah, she’s been dealing with a lot,” I say.
“I hope Gino understands the mistakes he’s made. Especially when it comes to secrets.”
“I know, Gino knows. He doesn’t know how to let others help.”
“I understand that, sweetheart, but that doesn’t excuse him from keeping secrets. May I remind you he did it to you?”
I sigh. I was hoping she wouldn’t bring that up.
“Mom, I know. He grew up in a world where that was commonplace.”
She pauses and looks at me flatly. “Juliet, I know you love him, but you can’t make excuses for him. He needs to earn his forgiveness. You can’t force that. He needs to do that work himself.”
“I know, but I don’t want him to do it alone,” I say quietly.
“Sometimes people need to do things on their own to learn from their mistakes.”
I nod my head.
I know she’s right.
The lunch and welcome home party for Mateo goes well. Everyone has a great time, and once everyone leaves, I notice Gino sitting in the living room with a beer, watching a basketball playoff game.
“Hey,” I whisper, taking a seat next to him.
I didn’t notice it before, but he’s sporting what looks like a fresh bruise on his jaw.
“What happened there?” I ask, nodding my head to his jaw.
He huffs a laugh. “Mateo did that. He wasn’t too happy about me keeping secrets from Ness.”
“Yeah. You understand those secrets almost cost you your relationship with her?” I ask.
He swallows.
I continue, “I’ve been by your side for a decade, and I won’t walk away now.
But you need to put in the work. Spend time with her now that Mateo’s home and not having the burden of looking for him stopping you.
And don’t keep any more secrets from her.
Regardless of her feelings on the business, she wants to know.
You need to trust that she wants to be involved and wants to know what’s going on.
While we’re on the topic of trust, you need to earn a lot of the group's trust back. Yes, we’ll always have your back, but you still mostly did things and made decisions on your own.
It took a lot of strong-arming for us to get you to involve us in decisions.
If you want everyone to be a part of this business and help you build it, you need to trust them. ”
“I know you’re right, but I don’t know how to start,” he replies, sounding defeated.
“Sometimes the best way to start is to listen,” I say.
He swallows again and nods.