Page 90 of The Pretender

I slump in my seat, my mind racing. Twenty minutes ago, I was in shock over losing Balt and finding out his secret, and now… well, now I have to rethink my entire family history.

After a few minutes, I ask, “Did it work?”

“Did what work?”

“Was Nonno out for good?”

She nods. “He was, but it took some sacrifice. It was worth it though. We built a beautiful life here.”

“Is the story you told us about why Nonno picked Wisconsin true?” Brogan asks.

“Yes. We were in New York City when we saw a news story about a winery in Wisconsin. Your grandfather thought it looked like a wonderful place to raise a family, far from everything we wanted to get away from. He asked me and I told him we could try it out. We loved it here.”

“Do our parents know?” I ask.

Nonna shakes her head. “No. By the time our kids were born, we were far from that life, and we had gone to great lengths to erase any connection to it. All I have to say is we don’t want anyone doing any of the ancestry stuff. I wouldn’t be telling either of you if the situation didn’t call for it.”

Brogan takes the exit for the airport and I feel myself tense up the closer we get to the terminal. This isn’t a back-in-the-day rom-com where I can run through the airport and stop him just before he boards. I have no idea how Nonna plans to get to him before he’s gone for good.

I haven’t even had time to process any of this, but I know I don’t want anything bad to happen to Balt. Even if I’m not sure I can trust him anymore.

“He lied to me, Nonna.”

“Did he? Did he tell you a lie?”

Her questions hit hard. “Um, no, I guess he didn’t. He said he worked for a difficult man.”

“And he does.”

“And that he needed to get away to let something blow over.”

“Also true.”

“He just left out the part about how dangerous his boss is.”

“Would you have told you, all things considered?”

Of course not. We aren’t even really dating. Neither of us expected this to last more than a few days, a week at the most. Why would he tell me all the dirty parts of his life when we both knew we were just pretending to be a couple?

Nonna squeezes my hand. “He was protecting you. Protecting all of us.”

I nod, glancing out the window as Brogan navigates the parking garage. They whip into a space and shut the truck off.

“Ready?” they ask.

“I guess so,” I mumble.

Brogan helps Nonna out of the car and the three of us rush inside the airport. Nonna walks up to the security person while we hang back. She’s explaining something to the man on duty, and he looks deeply concerned, then he nods and walks into an office.

“What did you tell him?” I ask.

She smiles the way she does when she’s up to something. “You’ll see.”

Over the PA, an announcement blares through the relative calm of an early morning airport.

“Mr. Balthazar Cassiano, please come to the airport security office.”

It repeats three times while I look ahead for him, glancing up at the escalators, and a few minutes later, he finally appears. He looks uneasy to say the least, but when his eyes land on us, his jaw drops.