Chapter 17 #2
Guilt burning my skin, I coughed and looked away, downing the rest of the beer.
He wouldn’t be riddled with pain every single day of his life, forever walking with a limp, and she wouldn’t be wasting away in the Serpents.
As proud as I was of my brothers and sisters, most of us had joined a gang because we had no other options for our future. That wasn’t the case for Violetta.
Vincent’s voice was a little fervent, his words rushed with his plan. “I got a friend who lives on the Alabama Georgia border. If we can sneak the kids out without Jackyl seeing, I can drive them out there and drop them off for a few days. They’ll be safe there. Get them out the line of fire.”
She cringed but corrected herself pretty quickly. Tears misting, she withdrew from him to wring her fingers together. “And he’s trustworthy?”
For some reason, he was suddenly anxious, dancing foot to foot and avoiding eye contact with everyone. Crossing and uncrossing his arms, he nodded. “Yeah, he’s cool.”
“No offense, Vinny, but until a few weeks ago, you thought Jack was trustworthy, too.”
When his attention shot to hers, there was something off flickering in his hazel irises. “I would trust my life with this man.”
Something odd gnawed at my gut, my eyelids thinning. Who the hell was this man? I was under the assumption me and Jackyl were the only ones he had a connection with like that. Why the fuck was I jealous over this mysterious man? Who the fuck was he?
She frowned, leaning into the island to tap her nail to the surface. “What’s his name?”
His Adam’s apple bobbed, a muscle in his jaw flexing. “Billy. Why?”
I racked my brain over years and years of memories but could not ever, once, recollect a Billy. I didn’t like this, at all.
Her shoulders rolled nonchalantly. “I just have never heard you mention him before, that’s all. How long have you known him?”
“Since high school. Look.” He huffed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “It’s up to you, sis. They’re your kids, but I think we need to get them outta here asap.”
I stared into the opening of the can, barely able to see the liquid inside. How cute. A high school buddy he trusted his life with. They were so goddamn close, he never once talked about him. So…fucking…cute.
Whimpering, she slid into Tyler’s hold again and clenched her lids, giving a tiny nod. “Yeah, okay. It’s going to hurt like hell because I’ve never been without them, but you’re right. It’s not safe to make a move while they’re here.”
“Great. I’m gonna run upstairs and make the call.”
All too eagerly, he rushed out of the kitchen, his footsteps thumping through the walls as he climbed the stairs.
Peculiar behavior, but okay. Alarm bells were ringing and jealousy clawed the underside of my skin, but I tucked that away for something to deal with at a different time.
A time when a very large, very strong, very crazy man wasn’t nearby, wanting us dead.
I went to the sink to throw the beer can in the trash.
“It will be too suspicious to do anything tonight, but in the morning, we need to close the blinds on the windows downstairs.” I turned to face them, folding my arms and leaning on the edge of the counter.
“We don’t want him to know we’re sneaking the kids out, it’ll let him know we know he’s here.
So, keep the cartoons going, hell, keep talking to them in case he can hear.
For tonight, they sleep with you. Don’t let them out of your sight. ”
She grunted and pushed off him a second time. “Yeah, yeah. I got it.” Her feet dragging, she left the kitchen, too, going to the living room.
Alone with the bitch, my brow arched, challenging him to confront me about Cathy. He just snorted and said, “I don’t care,” again, dragging the words out.
“You don’t care that my wife is dead and your woman has been lying to you about it this whole time?”
He shifted his weight to his good leg to lean on the island.
“Listen, I get it. Letta is a full-blown member of your gang. It’s not a choice I would have picked for her, but I don’t make her life decisions, she does, and she is very proud of her bond with you guys.
Things that happened before we got back together ain’t none of my concern. ”
“And now that you’re back together?”
“All I ask is transparency.”
“Transparency,” I chortled, both brows creasing.
Glaring, he crossed his arms. “Did I rat you out when I was eighteen and you and your buddies beat the shit out of me?”
Taken aback, the smile knocked from my face. Well, he had a point there. I knew for a fact, the cops had been all over his ass for months, trying to get him to talk, but he never did. At any given moment, he could have had us all in jail.
“Why didn’t you?”
Fire flickering in his dark blue eyes, his voice was gravelly when he said, “Because I deserved what I got for what I did to Letta.”
Yet again, the man was surprising me.
“I don’t condone what you guys do, I don’t even want to try to think about what you guys think about.
But if it comes between me and Letta and starts affecting our relationship, you best believe I’m turning a blind eye because I ain’t never,” he hissed, slicing a hand through the air.
“Gonna screw this up again. It took me too goddamn long to get this second chance so if it means going blind to the Serpents, then I’m fucking blind, man. ”
A long, slow breath pulled through my nostrils, taking in his response.
I believed him. I could sell dope right in front of him, I could slit someone’s throat, and he would pretend like he saw nothing to keep peace with Violetta.
It may be for different reasons my brothers and sisters joined, but Tyler was loyal to the Serpents.
“Where’s that piece I gave you?”
He snorted and fanned his hands out. “Piece of what?”
“The gun, bitch. Where’s the gun?”
“In my drawer.”
“Get it. From here on out, it don’t leave your body. I want it within reach at all times.”
Groaning, his head bobbed low. “Yeah, okay.”
For a moment, I debated my next words. “I used to bet on you when you was in high school.”
Startled, his attention snapped to mine, a wildness about his dark blue irises. “What?”
Jutting my chin, I said, “When you played ball. You were good. Real good. Never lost a bet on you once.”
He coughed and averted his gaze, suddenly uncomfortable.
“You definitely woulda made it to the NBA.”
A bitter scoff had his features twisted, rage flickering in his glare. “Yeah, well, different life, right?”
“No, I’m still betting on you.”
His eyelids squinted as we stared at one another in quietness.
I pushed off the sink and strolled for the exit of the kitchen, pausing to pat him on the back of the shoulder. “Go be with your family, bitch. Tiny’s not gonna be okay tonight.”
“No, shit,” he grumbled.
I gave another firm pat and headed for the stairs. The countdown had officially begun and soon, one of my oldest and closest friends would be dead. It was going to break my heart, but Jackyl brought this on himself.