Page 57 of Amadeo
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, itwasokay,” 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.”
