Chapter 26
TWENTY-SIX
amadeo
I’m startled awake by an unfamiliar noise. When I roll over, Balt isn’t there.
“Balt?”
I scratch the back of my head, listening for any sound of him, but I’m met with almost eerie silence. Glancing at the clock, I see it’s almost morning. Balt is an early bird, but something urges me to get up and check on him.
After throwing on a pair of sweats, I wander out to the living room to find it empty. Same with the kitchen. My chest tightens immediately, and when I see the sheet of paper sitting on the kitchen table, my heart feels like it’s falling to the floor.
I hurry over and grab it, my eyes running over the words.
Amadeo,
These last few weeks together have been more amazing than words can express.
I almost can’t believe how well suited we ended up being.
Your family is wonderful, but you, Deo, have been a wonderful surprise.
So please understand when I tell you that leaving is for your benefit far more than mine.
There’s something about myself I kept from you, again for your safety, but mostly because I didn’t want to lose your respect.
Unfortunately, I can no longer hide out in your world, no matter how much I want to. I’ve developed real feelings for you, but my old life is bearing down on me and leaving is the best way I can protect you.
I’m sorry. So sorry. I’m sure neither of us expected things to go the way they have between us, and maybe I’m a fool and you feel nothing more for me than you would a passing fling, but in my heart I don’t believe that’s true.
If I’m being honest, this sucks, and if you’re hurt by my revelations and departure, just know I thought that hurt was better than what could happen if I stayed.
My mind races as I read, tempted to stop there, but compelled to finish.
The truth is, I’m involved with some bad dudes. The organized crime variety. I never meant it to happen, but it did.
Holy fucking shit. I read the sentence again. Balt is in the Mafia?
If I ever have the chance to tell you the full story, and you want to hear it, I will, but I’m leaving because of a mix-up.
My boss thinks I took money and he’s hunting me down.
He’s found my sister and my personal phone number.
It won’t be long before he finds me here.
I couldn’t take the chance of endangering you and your family.
I hope he’ll listen to reason and I’ll be able to prove my innocence. I understand if you never want to see or hear from me again, I deserve it, but just know, I care about you. More than I ever expected.
All my love,
Balt.
I plop down in the kitchen chair, staring out the window as the sun starts to push back the darkness.
He left.
He’s a criminal.
And dammit, I think I’m in love with him.
Fucking great. I finally meet a guy with some real potential and this happens. At least it explains why he’s been acting weird the last few days. I thought he was getting tired of me.
The knock on my door startles me, and I gasp before hurrying over to answer it. Maybe he came back. I swing the door open to find my nonna standing there.
“Nonna?”
“Where is Balt?”
“Um… why?”
“Is he here?”
“He’s not.”
“Shoot. That’s what I thought.”
“How do you know that?”
She huffs. “Get dressed. We need to go. I’ll explain on the way.”
“I’m so confused.”
“Listen to me, nipote. Get dressed.”
I nod, backing away from the door. I’ve never heard her sound so firm before, but it’s clear I shouldn’t question her.
In my bedroom, I put on jeans and a sweater, and I hear my nonna talking to someone while I get my socks on.
When I come out of my bedroom, she’s waiting by the door, holding my coat in her arms.
“Brogan is warming up the truck.” She smiles. “We still have a little time.”
“For what?” I ask, hopping on one foot to get my boot on. “Do you know where Balt is?”
“I have an idea.”
“How did you know he was gone?”
“I saw footprints on the path between your house and the main road.”
“Why were you outside at this time of morning?”
“I am every day. I like the quiet before the day starts. I had a hunch, so I checked the flights, and if he’s going back home, we have about an hour.”
I stare at her like she turned green. “To do what, Nonna?”
“Rescue him, boy. He can’t go back. They’ll kill him.”
Now I’m sure I’m in a fever dream, but before I can ask anything else, she grabs my arm and drags me out of the house into the cold where Brogan is waiting. We climb into the vehicle as Brogan yawns.
“Where we going, Nonna?”
“Airport. Step on it.”
Brogan glances at me with questions in their eyes, but I just shrug. I have no idea what’s going on. Once we’re on the road, Nonna pats my hand.
“He kept it from you to keep you safe.”
“Wait… You know?”
“I guessed.”
“Guessed what?” Brogan asks. “Spill the tea, Nonna.”
“What I’m about to say stays in this car, you understand, boys?”
“Yes, Nonna,” Brogan says while I just nod.
“Balt is a good man,” Nonna says. “A good man who got caught up in a bad thing. He’s naive enough to think he can talk his way out of it, but he’s wrong. They’ll kill him.”
My blood runs cold. “Kill him? He left me a note. He’s in the Mafia, Nonna.”
“No. He works for the Mafia. That’s different.”
“Holy shit,” Brogan whispers. “This is intense.”
“How is it different? He’s a criminal.”
She pats my thigh but gets a stern look on her face.
“Let me tell you a little story. When your grandfather came to court me, my father said no because he was a simple man of humble means. My father insisted I deserved more. So your grandfather promised me he would earn my father’s respect and come back if I would wait for him.
So I did. I waited nine months. When he returned, he wore an expensive suit and looked like a fine gentleman.
He told my father he could care for me and my family, and we’d never want for anything.
Times were tough then, my father was out of work, so he agreed. He gave us his blessing.”
“Nonna,” Brogan says, “are you about to tell us our grandfather was in the Mafia?”
“Your grandfather opened an importing goods store in the city. In Naples. He got the loan from the local boss, who used the store as a front for some of their activities. So, while he wasn’t a made man or anything, he was involved.
When we were ready to start our family, he knew we had to leave.
My brother took over the shop and we disappeared to America. ”
“Whoa,” Brogan murmurs. “How did we not know this?”
“We made a clean break,” Nonna explains. “We helped others do the same. I can help Balt.”
Rubbing my forehead, I try to make sense of her story. “You’re telling me that Nonno had business dealings with the Italian Mafia?”
“The Camorra, yes.”
“And you knew about Balt? For how long?”
She shrugs. “A couple of days, maybe. I’ve been thinking of ways I could help him. He can’t reason with them. Especially over money. That’s a fool’s errand.”
“Okay, so what’s your plan?”
“Are we busting past the TSA to save him?” Brogan asks excitedly.
I scoff. “And get arrested?”
“You boys have no faith. I’ve got a perfectly legal plan in place.”
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.
He walks in our direction, glancing around. “What are you doing here? How did you…? I have to go to the security office.”
“We’ll handle that,” Nonna says, dragging a grinning Brogan away.
Balt and I stand staring at each other for a few seconds until he says, “How did you know to come here?”
“Nonna figured it out. She saw footprints in the snow and did some math based on a previous conversation you had with her.”
He blanches, nodding slowly. “I’m so sorry, Deo. This is not at all how I thought things would go when we made our plan.”
“No.” I wrap my arms around myself. “Nonna said you can’t go back. They’ll kill you.”
Balt nods solemnly. “A possibility, but they’ll hurt my sister if I don’t show up.”
“Nonna says she can help. I guess it’s up to you if you want her to.”
“You’re not disgusted by me?”
“I’m confused, Balt. Less than an hour ago I found out things about you I couldn’t have imagined, and then you were just gone.
Before I could process that, Nonna dropped a bomb on us about our family, and now I’m here.
I’m confused, but I don’t want anything bad to happen to you. I know that for sure.”
He takes a step toward me, but I flinch, and he sighs. “I don’t know the right thing to do. I want to stay here with you and prove that I’m worthy, but I would never forgive myself if anything happened to my sister or to you and your family because of me.”
“Can you trust my nonna? I think she knows what she’s talking about.”
Balt looks past me at my waiting family, then back at me. “Do you think you could forgive me?”
Searching his eyes, I replay the last several weeks with him, thinking about what a wonderful person he is.
That wasn’t fake. I remember all the intimate and sexy moments and how he listens to me.
That wasn’t just pretending. I recall all the work he put in to help my family business thrive.
That wasn’t fake either. He cares about me and my family.
He wasn’t leaving because he doesn’t care. Just the opposite.
“Forgive you for protecting me?” I step closer, pressing my forehead against his chest. “We’ll figure this out. I think we’re worth it.”
Balt wraps his arms around me and I return the hug. It feels amazing to be in his arms when I thought I’d never see him again.
Nonna appears next to him, tapping his arm. “Come on, you. Let’s go save your life.”