Page 102 of The Pretender

Deo’s brow scrunches. “No, but why?”

Nantes shrugs, stepping out of the cart. “Just came to see how things are going on a rare day off. Haven’t seen you much since you’ve been back.”

Deo glances at Brogan, who shrugs, then at Nonna, who smiles.

“You know what would be good right now?” Nonna asks. “Some coffee cake. You boys catch up and I’ll bring some over to the office when it’s done.”

“Sounds great, Nonna,” Nantes says, then he turns to Deo. “Mind if I hang out?”

“No, of course not.” Deo glances at me. “We were just about to head over to the office.”

“I’ll drive,” Nantes says, hopping back into the golf cart while Brogan and Nonna take Brogan’s truck back to the main house.

“We’ll get our coats,” Deo says, pulling me inside. “Guess we’ll talk more later?”

“Yeah. Nothing to talk about yet anyway.”

“Are you okay though?”

“I am.” I pull him close and press a quick kiss to his lips. “Better than I’ve been in a long time. Freedom is close.”

“And the future is ours.”

“I can’t wait.”

THIRTY

amadeo

Nantes is walkingaround the office, glancing at papers and folders, while I watch him and Balt tries to act normal at the computer.

“It looks good in here,” Nantes says. “Organized.”

“It took a while. Dad and Zio did everything on paper.”

Nantes chuckles. “That doesn’t surprise me.” He leans against the desk, crossing his arms across his chest. “How does it look? Is it salvageable?”

“It is. We’re in the red and have been for several quarters, but we’re gonna launch the rebrand and get a campaign going on social media. Brogan’s been researching what other companies are doing and we’re gonna sit down and create something just for us.”

Nantes nod, still glancing around. “What about infrastructure? I know Dad had to let a lot of staff go over the years.”

“Still figuring out what we need, but for now we’re gonna grow slowly.”

“Just the three of you until Balt leaves?”

“I’m not leaving,” Balt says. “I’m here for the long term.”

Nantes looks surprised, but he smiles. “That’s great.”

“Did you have something specific you wanted to see or talk about?”

“Uh…” Nantes chuckles. “No. I had a really stressful day yesterday and I think I wanted to ground myself a little.”

“What happened?” Balt asks.

“I lost a patient.” His expression falls as he rubs his forehead.

I rub his arm. “How?”