Page 21 of Tito
“Brun—”
I stood from my chair and yelled, “NO!” If hell could be a name then it would be Bruno. I could not be related to Valencia. Not after we—
“—nelli,” Julianna finished.
“Wait, wait,” Valencia spoke up. “It’s Brunelli?”
Julianna stared at her then looked at me to finally answer, “Yes.”
I let out maybethelongest breath that I had no idea I had been holding in. “Santa madre di Dio!” I exclaimed as I slowly sat down. If she had said Bruno I don’t know what I would do. My heart thudded in my chest like a fucking jackhammer.
Valencia’s hands shook, as she kept repeating, “Thank God, thank God.”
I took her hand into my sweaty grip and raised it to kiss her knuckles in utter relief.
Romeo looked back and forth at us all as his confusion finally cleared and he exclaimed, “Holy fuck. You all thought that….” He blinked several times in absolute shock. “Damn!
Chapter Eight:Birds and The Bees
Valencia
Finally, we made our way out of the dining room. I admit I probably sat there looking like a drooping daisy all during lunch. What a scare. In fact, now I felt less shocked about possibly being a Walker. Because the other possibility had been so terrifying.
Tito kept patting my hand consolingly all through the rest of the time we sat there. Although, he’d had a scare too. We could have found out we were cousins or something. Talk about a nightmare. I just wanted to find the truth once and for all now, so I could put this all behind me.
Tito asked if I would like to take a walk down to the lake. Like a real one, he said.
I teased him, “There’s a fake one?”
He laughed. “Remember I was going to sneak you out of here?”
“Yes, I know.” I nodded at him and so here we were on a grassy path now. “I’m glad now that never happened. It would have been a disaster.”
“You chose to tell the truth…to face the truth,” Tito said.
I stopped walking to look up at him and ask, “What?”
“No sneaking around it. You told everyone what Deacon said and did. You chose to keep everyone out of danger. Even if it meant you might never get to the truth by not meeting him.”
I squeezed his hand. “No one ever …” I shook my head and said, “No one ever saw me the way you do.”
He nodded. “Only someone that loves you sees you for real.”
I sucked in a breath. He pretty much just told me he loved me. I wish I had the courage to tell him the same. Old fears remained and I couldn’t do it yet.
As we walked, Tito told me about all the improvements that his uncle had made to the Descalia property. It had two lakes, one was man made and one had been there already.
I asked him, “Why two?”
He shrugged and said, “Cause Uncle Stephano always has to be extra.”
I laughed as I could see this was true. Everything here seemed to be extra. The estate even had a river running through it. There were lots of trees, grassy knolls and flowers everywhere. We passed the huge 12 foot deep swimming pool, ten minutes back. Then I asked him about the golf course, where his uncle was supposed to be.
“It’s on the east side,” he told me as he motioned in that direction. “If he went there, he’ll be gone all afternoon. Takes a while to play a round of golf.”
We walked a bit longer. The quiet and the green truly felt relaxing and luckily it was March. So the temperatures were like spring and very mild for the South.
Suddenly, Tito tugged me off the path into the trees. “I have a favorite spot and I think I’m the only one who has ever been there.” He led me through some bushes and small saplings then stopped.
