Page 94 of Castle

A slow grin formed on Devin’s face as he looked at his brother. “Well, I’ll be damned!” He seemed happy to see his brother. “I don’t believe this. Look at you…”

“I do.” Castle said with a chuckle, “I keep looking at myself in the mirror and thanking my good fate that I was born better looking than you.”

“Fuck off!” Devin said and then he realized Chandler was there with us so he said, “I mean buzz off!”

He crossed the distance between us in a few strides and pulled Castle into a hug, and patted his back with a few hard thumps. “It’s been tough without you around, Cas. I was barely hanging on—with everything, the company, and the family…I’m so goddamn happy you’re back, brother.”

It sure looked like he wasn’t faking it, and if he was, that was some good acting. An award-worthy performance.

And then Dayana strutted in, dressed for dinner like she was going for a party. She looked at Castle and then at Devin.Her bitchy demeanor changed all of a sudden. “Is this really happening?”

“Castle…” she sniffled. “Do you know me?”

“Yup, you’re the giraffe who escaped from the zoo and kept wandering into my backyard. I can never forget you.”

“Oh god, it’s really you.” Dayana sobbed harder, a laugh breaking through her tears as Castle raised his hand towards her. She bolted straight into his arms.“I missed you so much. We’ve been waiting.” She cupped his face in her hands and kissed his cheek, crying uncontrollably. “Cassy…”

My eyes almost bulged out of their sockets. She called him Cassy, and I felt like I’d walked into another dimension, one in which we were all part of this slice of life movie where the hero regains his memories and the family members are shocked out of their socks but also super supportive and lovely. Kind of like a modernJane Austenbook. Happily ever after. The end.

This looked more like an episode fromThe Twilight Zone.

I wish my life was simple.

Castle kissed the top of her head in return like a caring brother would. I’d expected surprise, yelling, and a lot of mayhem, but not this…

Not Devin and Dayana acting all jolly about Castle getting his memories back.

They went back to their seats. Devin raised his glass of wine, “To Castle. For regaining his memories and to his good health.

“To Castle,” Dayana said, raising her glass.

I couldn’t decipher what Castle was thinking by his expressions. He had a smile on his face, like he accepted the love and affection his family was showering him with.

Theo stormed into the room while the staff served dinner.

“Sorry, I’m late.” He said, taking his seat opposite from me and then gave me a wink.

“Chandler, put your phone down,” Castle ordered. “It’s my first dinner since returning, so I’m going a little easy on everyone, but I need all of you to be at the table at seven-thirty, and you will leave your phones outside the dining area.”

Chandler sighed and put his phone away. That was new, especially since Chandler didn’t even listen to Devin when he yelled at him. I guess Chandler had only known Castle as the authoritative figure after the death of their parents, and he was much more successful in keeping the brat in line.

It gave me an impression that Castle didn’t need to raise his voice to get things done here. One icy look from him did it.

Devin was looking directly at Castle; he hadn’t taken his eyes off him like he expected Castle to pull a knife in the middle of dinner.

The two brothers started talking about their company and what was going on. I had a tempting urge to intervene and confront Devin about his attempt to frame me for Castle’s murder.

How could he sit there, laugh and joke like he hadn’t done those vile things?

“I need a detailed report from all the department managers, starting with finance. We need to know what happened to the five-hundred thousand dollars…” Castle said, cutting into his steak. He raised it to his mouth and then stopped. “Unless one of you could enlighten me.”

“You want all the reports?” Devin asked.

“Did I stutter?”

Theo laughed.

Devin shot him a glare, but he was feeling threatened. It seemed like it was a hard pill to swallow for Devin, since he wouldn’t be running the show here anymore.

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