Classified ☑

[ chapter 36 ]

From where I stood, I could see Dante sitting on the coffee table as he watched Cole sleep on the couch. Dante may have had his eyes on his brother, but he looked lost in space. He had the same look on his face the first time I met him in that convenience store. Emotionless and hardened. And that scared me.

"Nina."

There was a soft tap on my shoulder and I turned to see Thomas and Gracie standing behind me.

"We need to talk, Nina," Gracie said.

The Gracie that stood in front of me seemed to be a whole other person than the one I'd grown to know. She was confident, strong, and had a presence about her that said 'don't mess with me or else.' Where as before she seemed like a person that was scared of everything.

It was a front. I knew that now. Lots of people had fronts. I had a front.

It was almost impossible to meet someone without a front to hide behind.

Gracie nodded her head, and I followed her and my uncle into the kitchen, glancing once more at Dante and Cole. Dante ignored my gaze and looked down at the floor so he wouldn't have to see me.

At that exact moment it felt like someone had sucked all of the air out of me.

Just ten minutes ago we were outside, about to share a special moment. Then Gracie came. As soon as Dante had seen his brother, that's when he locked himself up again. Closing me off completely. It hurt.

I shook it off and lifted my head high before entering the kitchen Thomas and Gracie had disappeared through. The three of us sat down and I waited for them to start. The two of them continued to glance back and forth between each other like I wasn't even there.

"Are y'all going to say something?" I asked.

Gracie turned to look at me, releasing a small sigh. "Nina, I work with the FBI."

I about fell out of my chair as I gripped the table. "You what now?"

A small smile played at Thomas' lips. "Nina, she's been working undercover since you came to live with me. Since Clint's death."

There was a sudden stillness in the room as I took in a sharp exhale. "So all that about my dad having a fake ID wasn't real?"

Thomas looked down at the table as he rubbed his hands together. "No, that part was true, but I did call the cops. I didn't want to lie to you Nina-"

"It was my idea," Gracie interrupted. "After the cops found out about the real identity of your father, they called the FBI knowing it was something more upscale that wasn't something they should deal with. Shortly we found out your father worked for TIA. We thought it'd be best if you didn't know as much just to protect you. TIA was once a group that worked along side us, but then one day they went rogue. Some time before your father left actually."

Gracie's words mattered because it meant my dad wasn't a cold hearted killer like Lucille described everyone at TIA to be. But I had something more important on my mind. My uncle.

I felt like I was seeing him in a new light for the first time in a long time. He was skinnier then when I first came to live with him and he had deep bags underneath his eyes. All the stress had been getting to him and it was clearly showing on him physically. After nine months I had just noticed.

He'd let me be angry with him, thinking he hadn't done anything to help. All just to protect me.

"You let me be mad at you all this time just to make sure I was safe?" I asked him quietly.

Gracie glanced between us, shifting in her seat. Thomas on the other hand lifted his head so we could look eye to eye at each other.

"You told me we couldn't call the cops. You let me think that you didn't care as much." I knew he didn't need me to explain it all to him, but I had to, just to hear myself say it. To try and make sense of it all. "Why?"