Page 8 of Amadeo (Dark Legends #4)

Gia

After dinner, Amadeo asked me if I wanted to take a walk under the moon.

I smiled and said, “Yes, especially since Zia recommended it.”

“One of the wonders of the world.” He nodded at me. “Right next to her desserts.”

“You got that right. I don’t understand why all of you aren’t fat.”

He laughed. “The gym, baby. The gym.”

“Oh, that’s right.” I walked beside him in the hallway now. “You have a full gym here. Tito told us about it.”

He rolled his eyes. “Our house has what? Thirty bedrooms, thirty two bathrooms. Three kitchens. Two studies. Maybe five offices? I lost count. Let’s just say it is ridiculously large. Ok?”

Laughing, I shook my head.

“It's monstrous really. So, I can understand why my father hired servants and people to help with the upkeep,” he continued as he opened the French doors so we could pass through.

“Like Max?” I asked. “He has startled me in the hallways a few times.”

“Yes, he could scare almost anyone.” Amadeo chuckled as he shook his head. “But no, he never hired Max.”

“What do you mean?” My curiosity pushed at me. “He works here as a butler, right?”

“Yes, but can you imagine looking for an English butler in America?”

I shook my head at the concept.

“He was sent here from Italy,” Amadeo explained. “From my grandfather. Some traditional thing.”

“Wow, that is so interesting.”

“Max himself is a mystery, I will admit.”

“He is?” I asked.

“Hell yeah. A tough nut to crack and believe me, we Descalia boys have tried.”

“I get it. I think in the times I’ve seen him, he may have spoken 5 whole words to me?”

“That would be normal. He also disappears but it might be when he goes to his cottage. It’s out back.

” He motioned to the east side of the estate.

“There’s plenty of room for all of us and then some here.

The property itself spans thousands of acres.

My father can’t seem to do anything modest. Look at that dining room we just ate in.

A table that seats thirty-five people? Who has something like that?

We do have parties though. I mean my father does.

Not me. I hide out when those happen. In fact, I spend a lot of time trying to figure out where I can hide so he cannot find me.

I hate those parties. He would have maybe at least seventy-five guests.

So he has a ballroom to put them in with tables for all…

Man, I gotta show you that place. Talk about wonders of the freaking world!

There’s three full chandeliers in there.

I mean overdone is done over and over again here.

Like I asked him one time, are we royalty? ”

I shook my head.

He passed his hand around and went on, “We own two lakes, a river, and even a small creek or two. There’s old weeping willow trees, hundred year old oaks, and a few orchards.

Last year, he added an olympic sized swimming pool.

Two years before that, he had a golf course built.

Then there’s the tennis courts and a full gym.

Not to mention that we have three different gardens.

” He paused on the path outside. “The one we are in now is the smallest. But I’m not really sure because I get lost here sometimes. ”

I smiled again.

“No, I am serious. I got lost on what they call the back forty once. Only it’s the back five-thousand in reality. Tito used to live out there at one of the lakes. Like a caveman or something? Not me. I hate mosquitoes, ants or bugs of any kind.” He visibly shuddered in an overly dramatic way.

“You are so funny.” I just kept smiling.

“Thanks.” He smirked. “Luca and my father don’t think so.

Or they don’t appreciate my humor I should say.

But I could care less. Just look at Max.

I have never seen him smile or laugh. I think it would take a miracle to make that happen.

But damn, who wants to be serious about just every damn thing?

Have some fun. Like live it up a little. ”

“And how do you live it up?” I asked.

“Fly.” The answer seemed to be super easy for him. “I love to fly.”

“Yes, you were our pilot over here in that copter. You are a good pilot too. You never tipped us or anything. My patient did well on that flight.”

He nodded. “I can fly anything with wings. Except for paper airplanes, they are just too hard to maneuvre and I would just keep falling on my ass.”

Dang, he was just so funny. I couldn’t help smiling even more as we headed along the path now.

“Let me show you Zia’s rose garden,” Amadeo offered.

“Oh, I love roses.”

“Most women do. So we boys... Well, when we were boys, we made her a rose garden.”

“Oh, that is so sweet.”

“She raised us. She was in essence the only mother we had. She is worth more to us than this whole damn place.”

I wondered at his sincerity. Did he really feel like that? If so, how could he live the life he was living?

Amadeo shook his head as he really looked amused now. “Zia sang an old timey song when she first saw it . Let me see if I can remember it? It went something like this… I beg your pardon but I never promised you a rose garden. Along with the sunshine, there's gotta be a little rain sometime. ”

We laughed.

“I mean it was old, so I’d never heard it before and I had to look it up,” he admitted as he grinned at me.

I stared at his smile and the warmth in his eyes.

I saw tonight how much he loved Zia and I had this chance to really see if he was a kind, warm person.

Still, could a person change that much in such a short time?

. His father was pure ‘mafia’ one-hundred percent.

I really wanted to understand this. None of them seemed bad or evil on the surface.

Then again, my father had been totally convinced of their bad intentions and evil way of life.

I needed to remember that and I again hardened my heart.

As we walked along, he broached the subject of Deacon again, “I had assumed that you knew about Deacon Walker’s past.”

“I knew several things. His age, his vocation and the fact that he is in a coma.”

“There’s lots more to know.” He tugged on my hand and led me to the rose area.

“He has a long history of bad deeds. I’ve seen the evidence only because Luca had looked it all over when we were locked down at Descalia corp for two weeks.

From what we read about him, he worked with his mother.

And let me tell you…that woman was a crime boss of the likes I have never seen before.

” He offered for me to sit on the bench.

Even though the moon was out, the estate was currently shading the rose garden. So there was just the low lighting along the ground to see by. Sitting on the bench, I looked at what I could see of the roses. Then I glanced over at him. “But your father is part of the Fam—”

He raised his hand at me. “Most of our operations are legal, Gia. We do not deal in drugs or trafficking people. Do we bend the law a bit, like selling things that aren’t taxed, maybe?

Yes. But we mostly own businesses, stocks, companies and the like.

In fact, Descalia Corp employs over three thousand people.

We aren’t the mafia. We are associated with them, yes.

But we are mostly legal.” He shrugged his shoulders. “I myself have never broken a law.”

“What is it that you do? I mean for the corporation?”

“I fly the bosses around, pick up business investors. Fly them in. Like I said I love flying and my father tolerates me doing that. He wanted me in an office, but I cannot stand being cooped up there. I also help with security.”

“That’s it?”

Nodding he said, “We are a business. I mean like I said, my father has ties with the Famiglia, but hell, I’ve only seen a few of them.”

“Ok, I am glad you cleared that up.”

“But Deacon’s mother. She dealt in all of it. Drugs, gunrunning and she trafficked in human beings. You name the vice and she had a finger in it. I saw undeniable truth in the files we have on her.”

“But her son was FBI?”

“Sure, she put him through school to become an agent. That way, she was covered.” He looked over at me.

“She was also very sick. In the head, I mean. She went after her own family all because she fell in love with the man her sister married. So she stalked them, attacked them and killed some of them. The Walker family from here and the Texan Walkers. I also saw evidence that showed that Deacon helped her to do that. He was running it with her and after she committed suicide, he ran it for her. He took over her vendetta and her illegal businesses.”

“So how did your family get involved with him?”

“My father told you that already. My brother Gio got together with Glory Walker. Who, by the way, was kidnapped by Deacon.”

“What?” I was stunned.

“You heard me right. The Walkers finally caught his mother. Then he had been instructed by her beforehand that if that ever happened, Deacon was to take Glory Walker from Texas. Hold her and trade her for his mother.”

“Oh, my God.”

“Yes, oh.my.god . So both the Louisiana Walkers and the Texas Walkers rescued her. Then she was coming here with Gio to see us after that ten year separation, I told you about. On their way here, Deacon sent killers after them. So, to my father, that was an act of war. Hell, to me at the time, it was too. Gio is my brother. Tito and Rocky are Zia’s sons, my cousins.

Those men on that freeway actually tried to kill them all.

You’re damned right we resented Deacon’s attack. ”

“Wait a minute. I was told Mr. Walker was in a plane crash. How did he get into your custody?”

He let out a sigh. “Not my custody. I just guard him.”

“Oh, wow. So your father…” I couldn’t say it aloud but he might have had Deacon’s plane shot down.

“I wasn't there, so I cannot say for sure.”

“Ok…I see it better now,” I told him. “Although, I still feel the same way. I am his doctor and I will do my best to help him.”

“But can you?” He looked over at me. “Can you really help him?”

I gazed up at the moon then stretched my legs out. “I will help if and when he wakes up.”

“I just cannot understand why you chose the medical career that you have,” he said.

I sat up straighter and squared my shoulders. “I had a very good reason.”

Amadeo stared at me in the moonlight and asked, “A personal reason?”

Nodding my head, I didn’t elaborate on this subject. It hurt too damn much and I didn’t want him to see that.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” he told me sincerely. “I mean it is so sad. It must be hell for anyone trapped in a comatose state.”

“Or a heaven?” I suggested. “I’ve been told stories by patients who have woken up from comas. They sometimes talk about seeing loved ones on the other side.” I didn’t want to go on with this discussion at all, so I changed the subject, “This place is so huge.”

“My father built it for my mother. Then…” He paused. “She never lived to see the whole thing completed.”

“Oh wow, that is so sad.”

He looked up at the estate from where we sat and added, “I was only two when she passed.”

“Ohh, that is…I am sorry.”

He shrugged. “I never missed what I never knew. Believe it or not, Max helped to raise us boys. Zia was always there too, and she is like a mother to all of us. My father, on the other hand… Well, he isn’t all warm and squishy as you already know.

But sometimes I think it was from grieving her.

It took all his happiness away. He has remained alone for all this time. That we know of.”

“Yeah, that is true love, I suppose?”

“I thought you didn’t believe in that?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “For myself, I don’t.”

He chuckled. “Just for yourself? I mean the world is full of people and only you will never know true love?”

I couldn’t explain to him why I didn’t believe in it. There were several reasons but one main one that I could never forget. “My sense of it is warped I guess?”

“Warped?” he repeated. “Did someone already break your heart?”

“No, no,” I replied instantly.

“Oh good, so that gives me a chance.”

I turned to stare at him.

He rolled his eyes and clarified what he meant, “Not to break your heart but maybe to date you.”

With a laugh, I shook my head.

“No?” he asked. “Am I too funny to date? You don’t date? Or no, you won’t date me?”

“I…” I bit at my lip. Damn, I needed to tread carefully here. “I need to ask you a few things first.”

Amadeo looked curious as he sat up straighter on the bench. “Ok, I have my shots and I don’t bite. Unless you ask me to.” He jiggled his brows at me. “I’m not a genius like you but I am pretty smart. I would never jump on you unless invited.”

I couldn’t help it, I again burst out laughing. “You sound like you want to be my pet.”

He cocked his head back and forth. “That wouldn’t be so bad. It would mean that you would give me attention. Let me protect you and possibly allow me up onto the bed.”

I was laughing harder now. “Stooopp!”

“I fetch well and I don’t drool.”

“Oh, my God!” I exclaimed while holding my side.

“Otherwise, I would be faithful and loyal,” he stated firmly.

My laughter slowed and then stopped abruptly.

He paused to stare at me.

“No, you wouldn’t be,” I told him flatly.

“Faithful and loyal?” He looked a bit stunned by this accusation. “How do you know?”

“I just do.” I shrugged and looked away from him.

“How can you say I wouldn't be faithful? That’s not fair,” he countered.

“Oh, it is.”

“Look, just because someone…” he paused to ask, “Did someone cheat on you?”

At this summation, I scoffed. “I would never give them the chance to.”

“So then how can you say for sure that I—”

“Because you would, that's all!” I cut him off.

“Wow, you realize what you will be missing out on in life? If you refuse to trust anyone?”

“Oh, I trust people, just not a man.”

He laughed though it didn’t sound amused. “Just men, eh? Well, I’ve seen plenty of women who cheated.” I shrugged. “Not on me, but men I’ve known.”

I crossed my arms over my chest and asked, “So, you are telling me that you never cheated on someone then dumped them?”

He blinked hard at the description I used. “No, I have never done either one of those things. In fact, I have only dated casually. I’ve never been close to anything serious.”

I stood from the bench to look down at him. “You at least seemed honest up until now.”

Amadeo stood too and stared at me. “What the hell are you talking about? Why would I lie about that?”

“Yes, why would you? If you did that to a girl, why would you admit it to me?”

“Okkkk.” He raised his hands up. “You have lost me completely. I have never been in a serious relationship. Never got engaged, never fell in love. Then I find a woman that I think I would like to experience all of those things with and she hates me beyond reason?”

I stopped to stare at him and said, “Oh, I could never, EVER date you.” Turning away, I rushed down the garden path.