Page 19 of Amadeo (Dark Legends #4)

Amadeo

After breakfast, we went straight to the study.

When we entered, my father motioned us over. “Accomodati.” He waved his hand at the chairs in front of his desk.

Gia and I sat down.

“I don’t have any new information on Deacon,” my father stated. “He is nowhere to be found. But I do require that Dr. Ribisi stays here for a while anyway. In case.”

I took Gia’s hand and told him, “She is going to stay for longer than a while, father. She will probably come home here after her hospital shift. Or we might get a penthouse in town for the work week.” I glanced at Gia and added, “We don’t know yet.”

Gia beamed at me.

Silence fell in the room.

I stared at my father. “Is there anything else?”

He stared at Gia then looked over at me. “I haven’t ever interfered in my son’s choices for a mate. I see that when they choose one it is permanent. Just like it had been for me. I do not intend to disapprove or stand in the way.”

Gia and I froze as this was the last thing we thought he would say. All we could do was to stare at him in shock.

He gave us a slow grin. “Speechless, I see?” He actually chuckled.

“I wish you could see your own faces. No one can say that I do not support my sons.” He nodded at us.

“Congratulations are in order as I did worry when Amadeo never looked at any woman twice.” He cocked his head at me. ” This leaves Luca as the bachelor.”

I finally came out of my shock to ask, “Who could put up with him?” I quipped. “He is more like you than anyone, Papa.”

My father stared at me, then he burst into laughter. “Yes, that might be an issue. I do believe the woman meant for him will have to be…” He looked over at Gia. “...tougher than you even.”

Gia beamed at him. “She will have to be patient and very forgiving on a daily basis.”

My father smiled as he nodded. “Unfortunately, he cannot marry a nun.”

We all laughed together.

Max came in and reminded him of a call meeting he had coming up.

My father dismissed us with, “I am glad to have some happiness floating around. Dante and Della were supplying that until they went on their honeymoon to Chattanoogis of all places.”

“Chatanooga,” I corrected him.

“Bah, what is the difference?” He scoffed. “I cannot understand the infatuation with Moon Pies. Who would go there just to see a pastry store?”

I chuckled as we left the room and went out to the hallway.

“Moon Pies?” Gia asked me.

I held her hand as we went down the large hallway. “Dante loves those damn things. I cannot really say that I ever took to them. It’s the marshmallow part.” I almost shuddered. “I just can’t stand marshmallow anything.”

“That did not answer my question, Deo.” She smiled while shaking her head.

“You should have been here for their wedding,” I went on. “They had a huge Moon Pie wedding cake. Like ten tiers high and I was never so glad to hear that they skipped the marshmallow and used cream frosting instead.”

“Deo!” Gia said as she laughed. “What the heck is a Moon Pie?”

I laughed too and shook my head.” “I would rather show you. I think Dante had a case of them shipped here. Maybe 2 of them? Let’s ask Zia and see if she knows where they are.”

We actually ended up helping Zia with clearing the table and taking dishes back to the kitchen. Yes, she had two maids helping her but we just loved being around my aunt. She kept us laughing and her stories were always fun. A little housework was good for the soul, Zia had said after we were done.

The kitchen was suddenly empty except for me and Gia.

Zia then popped back in through the door. “Oh, Deo, I forgot to give you an answer. There are 2 cases of Moon Pies in the pantry. I have to help the housekeeper. See you two at lunch.” The swinging door shut with a whoosh.

I went over to the pantry then opening the door, I halted.

Tito stood there.

I stared at him.

He stared back.

“Ok, cuz. Why are you in the pantry?” I asked him. “I never saw you go by us. We’ve been in the kitchen for an hour.”

From behind him, someone else stepped up from beneath the floor.

Turning, Tito took Valencia’s hand, helping her up.

Valencia gasped when she saw me.

“Deo?” Gia said from behind me. Then she stepped in next to me.

Now all four of us stared at each other.

I looked into Tito’s eyes and asked, “What’s going on?”

Tito slowly shook his head, then he looked beyond us. “Dr. Ribisi, can you shut the door?”

Turning, Gia did so. When she turned back, she looked as confused as I felt.

I waited. He had to tell me sometime.

He glanced over at Valencia and nodded. “Let’s go back down.”

Her eyes widened.

“I trust Deo and the doctor will do what doctors do.”

Valencia pressed a lever under the shelf and a noise could be heard, like a scraping.

Gia and I kept staring at them. Our confusion was huge.

Valencia then stepped down under the shelf and took another step, then she disappeared.

“What the fuck?” I exclaimed.

Tito raised his hand at me. “Remember when I hid out at the lake and you found me?”

I looked from the vanishing act of Valencia over to him. “What?”

He grabbed my arm. “You promised you wouldn’t tell Uncle Stephano where I was.”

“Ok and so?”

“I need the same kind of promise here,” Tito said.

I felt confused then it dawned on me. “Oh, hell no…You didn’t?”

He shook his head. “I didn’t. But I am now in on it.”

I let out a heavy breath. “Ok, go ahead and show me.”

Tito nodded, then he stepped down and soon disappeared, below the shelf.

Turning to Gia, I held out my hand.

She took it and seemed to figure it all out suddenly. “They’re hiding him?” she asked as she moved over and went down, not waiting for an answer.

Feeling a bit nervous, I followed her down. I wasn’t sure I knew what to think. For one, there was a secret door and apparently a room under the pantry that I never knew about. For two: Gia and I were now a part of whatever this was.

Tito stood close by, waiting for me. He reached over and pushed a lever. The opening we just came through now closed up.

I moved in and we entered a very large room. I looked around for Gia. Then I spotted her.

Of course, the good doctor stood next to the bed where Deacon Walker rested.

Valencia was there as well. Looking up at me, her face looked pale and she nervously clasped her hands together.

I came over and told her, “Please don’t be afraid of me.”

“I’m not but..” She motioned to the bed. “...he is helpless and your father—”

“Isn’t here,” Gia cut her off. “He seems fine,” she added.

“Except that I don’t know who the hell I am.”

I dropped my gaze to Deacon who had said this as he stared up at Gia.

Looking back down at him, she said, “That will more than likely fade away. It is normal for a comatose patient to wake up and not remember anything. Or sometimes they remember only a little bit.”

“Well, I don’t remember anything,” he told her as he motioned to Valencia. “She says I’m her brother.” He shook his head slowly. “What happens to a person that has no memory?”

Gia looked down at him. “I see that you can move and use your legs, correct?”

He nodded. “I’m weak and can’t walk so well right now, but I’m not paralyzed if that is what you mean.”

Nodding, she looked around. “So where is Nurse Jocelyn?”

“She’s sleeping in the next room,” Tito replied. “She hadn’t gotten any rest because she had been watching over Deacon.”

“But you two were leaving him alone?” I asked Tito.

He shook his head. “No, I was helping Valen to get up top and I intended to come back here.”

I stared at him and asked, “Can you tell me what is going on?”

Shaking his head, he replied, “I wish you hadn’t caught us like this.”

“Oh, I imagine you do,” I replied as I scoffed. “And I wish the same. But now that we are. How can we help?”

Valencia gasped and asked me, “You're willing to help?”

I shrugged. “Look, this is hard on everyone but if it’s true that Deacon doesn’t remember anything, then to me that makes him non threatening. I also worried that if my father got his way, then I would lose a brother.” I looked over at Tito. “Meaning you.”

Tito stared at me. “Deo, I never would have pulled you into this.”

“But fate decided differently.”

I sucked in a breath when I heard the English accent and I flipped around.

Max stared at me then he did something I had to have imagined—he smiled at me.

I froze for a full minute while staring at our family butler who kept grinning at me, then I asked in a faltering voice, “M-max?”

He nodded and stepped closer. “Who else would I be, dear boy?”

I raised my hands then backed up a bit.

“It will be okay, cousin,” Tito tried to convince me.

“No, it was okay,” I retorted. “But now, I know this is not real. It has to be a nightmare.” I reached over to my upper arm and pinched myself…hard. I then jumped with a wince.

Max then laughed. “You were always funny. I mean really now, who pinches themselves like in a cartoon? Only Deo. I do have to say thank you for the many times you told me jokes or played some prank on me. I used to say to myself. The kid is hilarious .”

I actually gasped and took a few steps back. He had never spoken more than five words at a time to me since I was a toddler. Now, he was talking to me? Actually conversing, smiling? I blinked hard at him.

Gia looked from Max to me. She then reached over to pat my arm.

I jumped at the contact and slapped my hand onto my chest to attempt to keep it from hammering. “Ok, ok…I know what happened. I was reaching for that Moon Pie box in the pantry, right? Then hit my head on the lower shelf. Right?”

Tito chuckled. “At first, it was surprising to me too. Max acting like a human being.”

“Like a…” I shook my head. “Will someone tell me what the fuck is happening?”

“Shhh,” Valencia shushed me and motioned to Deacon.

He looked like he had fallen to sleep.

Valencia took my arm and moved me to the far side of the room. She turned and motioned for Gia to come over as well.

I followed, then I stared at her. “Tell me this is real?”

Nodding, she said, “It has to be or I have been trapped in a dream for more than a month.”

I sighed. “What kind of answer is that?”

“Tito decided to become a detective,” Valencia said.

I shook my head. “Well, that is not news, he has been doing that all of his life. What does that have to do with it?”

“It was just a feeling that kept nagging at me. Like for years I guess?” Tito explained.

“Then I noticed something. Max would come out of the pantry like many times when he really had no business doing that. So one night, I decided to find out what he was really doing. I snuck into the pantry to have a look and maybe find out what was in there that…I don’t know.

So anyway, I found the lever below that shelf because a box was sitting sideways.

I got in here and saw all of this.” Tito motioned to the far side of the room where there were monitors and a single office chair on wheels in front of them.

We looked over. I was surprised as I hadn’t even noticed they were there this whole time. Maybe it was the shock of finding Deacon and then Max.

One of the monitors showed the front of the estate, the gatehouse and driveway. The next showed the back of the house. The third and fourth ones were inside the house, showing the main hall. Then the foyer, dining room, study and the main stairway were shown in four parts of the screen.

“What the hell?” I asked.

“Why are you surprised?” Max asked me. “Someone has to protect this family.”

Tito nodded. “I had the same reaction, Deo. I think I suddenly…” Tito paused. “No, not suddenly, but I had too many questions about him. Stuff that didn’t add up. Things about Max just seemed odd.”

I rolled my eyes. “Tito, he’s always been strange.” Then I glanced over at the butler. “Sorry Max, but there are times…Like when you just appear out of nowhere. Or when you seem to know what someone needs before they even know it. Then, man…you haven’t aged since I was a child.”

“He hasn’t aged at all, cousin,” Tito said.

“So we just came full circle to my question,” I noted. “What the hell? What is Max doing? Besides this protection thing.”

“Ok, let me try to tell you about the night we found out.” Valencia started to pace as she spoke as if moving around would help her to describe something undescribable.

A month ago…

Max stared at us. “I can explain. However, you may not believe what I tell you.”

Tito scoffed then shook his head. “I already can’t believe what…” He then looked around. “You live here in the basement?”

“Most of the time, yes,” Max replied.

Tito again looked at him then around at the mostly empty basement. “I don’t see a bed, or any furniture here, Max.”

“I have a bed in the back area, Sir.” He motioned to the dark area of the very large room.

“Would you quit calling me sir!” Tito snapped. “You raised me from diapers, Max. The sir thing really annoys me. I am not your boss.” Then he sucked in a breath as if something else just occurred to him. “Does my uncle know about…” His voice faded a bit as he went on, “Whatever this is!”

“Yes and no,” Max answered.

Tito sighed heavily then said, “Ok, I can't believe … just please explain all this Max.”

“I am the protector of the Dark Moon.”

Tito stared at him and paused. “Ok…go on,” he urged.

“I was your grandfather’s protector for many years.”

“Yes, I know that, he sent you here from Italy.” Tito nodded.

“I was also his father’s protector,” Max added.

“That’s not possible, Max. You must mean that your father protected his father.”

Max slowly shook his head. “I alone have always protected the Descalia family. He shrugged. “Well, as far back as 1750, I have.”

“Seventeen…” Tito faltered. “So I was right? You aren’t human?”

“Yes and no.”

“Max, you keep saying yes and no,” Valencia told him. “Something either is or isn’t.”

He again smiled at us.

When he did this, we had to suck our breaths in again. It just seemed to be so terrifying. The man had always worn a non-emotional blank look.

“In 1750, your great, great, great grandfather saved my family,” Max explained. “I’d been injured and he took me to his modest home in Italia.” He shrugged his suited shoulders. “Well, it was actually part of Rome at the time.”

We both stared at him.

“He saved your life?” Tito asked.

Nodding, the butler went on, “Yes, it is a long story, but I have been with the Descalias for over two-hundred and seventy-five years.”