Chapter 26
Vincent da Silva
“No! God, no!” Dash screamed from the bedroom.
I snorted and lunged to my feet, discombobulated from being ripped from my nap so abruptly. It took a few moments for my body to remember it was busted, but the pain caught up in a hot wave that broke me out in sweat and made me nauseous, my arms hugging my torso. “Ah, fuck.”
“Vin, no!” he shouted again.
My heart skipping a beat, I took off running down the hallway, overwrought with a burst of adrenaline.
Shoving open the door, it banged on the wall from the force.
My own body riddled with pain, sweat was drenching my clothes, beads trickling down the dip of my spine.
Dropping to a knee on the edge of the mattress, I bent over and grabbed the sides of his neck, my fingers curling under his ears.
“Dario! Hey, man. Dash, open your eyes. Look at me, baby.”
He was thrashing about, an arm lifting, his fingers crooked as if he were holding a gun and repeatedly pulling the trigger. His lips curled over gleaming teeth, he, too, was dripping sweat, his breath foul from not brushing his teeth since leaving the hospital that morning. “No!” he whimpered.
“Dario, baby.”
“Daddy?”
I looked over my shoulder at Piera standing in the doorway, rubbing at her eye. “Everything’s okay, acorn. He’s just having a nightmare.”
She pouted and batted her lashes, her innocence shining in her wide, dark eyes. “Is he okay?”
I petted the side of his face, turning my concentration on him.
At the sound of my voice, he was starting to calm, sagging back into the sheets that were soaked with sweat.
My pulse slowing, I nodded and gulped, wondering if any of us would ever recover from what happened in Georgia. The things we said, did, learned…
“Yeah, acorn,” I sighed, dropping my chin to my chest. “Yeah, he’s okay. It’s just a nightmare.” I tipped my head to flash her a smile, the only light coming from the small lamp on the nightstand.
“Is it because Mommy’s gone?”
Bristling, my eyelids rounded. Oh, shit. Why did we keep forgetting about her? “Uh, yeah, probably.”
She pouted further and sniffled. “I miss Mommy.”
Heaving another sigh, I sank to my ass on the mattress, still petting his cheek while focusing on the little girl. “I know you do. Come here.”
She ran over and climbed onto my knee, snuggling into my chest and tucking her head beneath my chin. “Is she coming home?”
Fighting off the cringe, I folded an arm around her to hug her closer, dropping a kiss to her hair. “I dunno, acorn.”
“Daddy was so sad here by himself.” She leaned away to look up at me. “Will you stay until she comes home? He’s not so sad when you’re here.”
My heart lurched to the side and spun around before plummeting to my stomach. Ouch. “Uh. Ahem. Well, I’m going to be here a while to help take care of him until he’s better.”
“Good.” She nestled into my chest again and heaved a sigh. “Daddy needs you. You’re his best friend. The Eddies are my best friends. Can they come over?”
This time, I was unsuccessful hiding my reaction. “Uh, I dunno, we’ll have to see about that.”
She slid off my leg with a heavy sigh, tucking her dark brown hair behind an ear. “Can we have waffles for breakfast?”
“Sure thing.”
Before she left, she hopped to her tiptoes and kissed Dash’s cheek, whispering, “Love you, Daddy.” Yawning, she strolled out of the room and disappeared around the corner.
Groaning, I gazed down at him, my palm cupping the cheek.
My thumb stroking side to side, I dared to copy the little girl, bent over, and grazed my lips to his.
Afraid of a repeat of what happened in the car earlier, I stopped before actually kissing him.
My eyes opened, I gave in to intrusive thoughts and breathed against his mouth, “I love you.”
His eyebrows furrowed and his nose wrinkled. A moan slipping past his lips to heat my face, his features smoothed out and he sighed, suddenly looking very peaceful.
My insides rattled that I actually spoke those words, I slowly rose to my feet and backed out of the room for the second time that day, the atmosphere feeling rather threatening.
Things were getting out of control, and I was fucked with no salvation.
The things I was feeling for this man were starting to surpass anything I felt for Billy, and he wasn’t even reciprocating. I was about to ruin my life.
Both my palms together over my mouth and nose, I cursed under my breath and strode back into the living room, my heart slamming against my shattered ribs.
I had to get the fuck away from Dash. As soon as he was healed enough to take care of himself, I had to go.
Would Tyler and Violetta be okay if I butted up into their brand-new life together, at least for a little while?
Tennessee wasn’t so bad, I could definitely build a new life out there.
Anywhere that put distance between me and Dario Mangiacavallo.
Dario “Dash” Mangiacavallo
My own snore pulled me from slumber. Groaning against the pain, I reluctantly opened my eyelids to stare at the ceiling in the darkness.
A sigh heaving my chest, my head rolled to the side.
For a split second, I saw Mary lying beside me, only her face was mangled, as it probably looked since she’d been dead for about six weeks.
Wearing the light pink nightgown the night I snapped her neck, she was oozing, as if she’d been in water.
Her eyes milky white, an arm lifted, revealing her hand cut off at the wrist.
My heart lurched and I flung myself to the side. If not for the nightstand, I would have tumbled from the bed. The lamp tipped over, but didn’t hit the floor, the shade bent to cast the room in an awkward ray of light.
“Jesus fuck!” I shouted and then cried out, my arms instinctively curling around my chest. Hissing through gritted teeth, I peeked through one clenched lid and found the mattress empty. Relief flooding, I exhaled and tried to relax, but the pain wouldn’t relent.
Vincent banged into the doorframe and stumbled into the room, panting. “What? What’s wrong?”
Gulping, I checked once more, just to make sure I was alone in the bed.
My head plopping to the pillow, I groaned and rubbed my face.
Right as I was about to answer, Piera started screaming.
My heart turning over and my veins icing, I bolted upright and three of the bullet holes exploded with agony.
“Ah, shit!” I whimpered, my eyes actually watering.
“Goddammit, what the hell is going on?” he grumbled and darted from the room.
Every fiber in my being longed to get up out of this bed and go to my daughter to comfort her, but I couldn’t even get one foot on the floor.
The pain, goddamn this pain! Jackyl had managed to land six bullets; the one in my shoulder and upper gut went straight through, the one in my lower abdomen had to be surgically removed, one grazed my thigh, the other two had ripped the flesh on my thigh, not imbedding but not merely grazing.
I’d been shot before but never like this. This was pure agony.
“Are you okay? What’s going on, acorn?”
“Mommy was here.”
In mid-pant, I seized, my eyelids rounding in horror. My heart thumping against my ribs, I held my breath and listened.
“What do you mean?”
“I saw her. She was standing over there,” her little voice echoed through the walls. “And she was all icky. She looked like a zombie.”
Vincent chuckled, but his voice was strained. “Aw, Piera, it was just a nightmare. You didn’t see your mommy—”
“I did, Vinny, I really, really did. She said you and Daddy made her go away. She didn’t have hands.”
My jaw fell, my fingers curling around the sheet, and Vincent dropped another stunned curse.
“What?” he nervously chuckled, trying to brush it off. “That’s crazy talk—”
“She said it was because of Jackyl.”
My features scrunched and my chin bowed, my free palm swiping the sweat from my face.
“It’s okay, little acorn. I know that was scary but look. See?” I heard the faint click of her light switch. “See? No one’s here.”
“I don’t wanna be here. She scared me. She yelled at me. I wanna go somewhere else.”
He groaned and said, “Hang on. Stay here. I’ll keep the light on.”
A moment later, he was peaking around the corner at me. His stare a little frantic, the whites showed around his irises, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “How the fuck she know that, man? Only a few of us know Letta had her hands cut off. What the fuck is going on?”
My heart stuck in my throat, I stiffly shook my head. “I dunno, dude. I…I saw her, too. That’s why I yelled. She’s here, Vin.”
His eyelids rounded slightly and he coughed, appearing very anxious. “What do we do, man?”
“I guess we’re packing up. I can’t have my little acorn scared all the time. Where’s my phone? I’ll find us a hotel for a while—”
“Get the fuck outta here,” he snorted, fully stepping into the room. “You ain’t going to no goddamn hotel.”
“Vin, I gotta look after—”
He flipped a dismissive wrist and stepped out yet again. His footsteps thudding through the walls, he was in her room, his voice feigning excitement. “Well, guess what, acorn?”
“Huh?”
“Pack your things. We’re headed to my place for a while.”
I bristled and blinked rapidly, having not even considered that, for some reason.
“Really?”
“Yup. C’mon. Up, up. Grab everything you wanna bring.”
“Yay!” she squealed, her mattress creaking.
He chuckled and strolled back through my doorway, going to the closet.
“What are you doing?”
“Packing your shit.” He stepped into the large, walk in closet and set his hands on his sides. “Dash, you ain’t got shit in here.”
“Everything’s still in Georgia.”
He leaned to the side to stare at me with a sense of horror.
Licking his lips, his head bobbed and he ducked back in.
Hangers scraped over the bars and a couple minutes later, he was coming to the bed to toss what little clothes I had onto the empty side of the mattress.
Whistling, he returned to the closet to get the smaller suitcase, the one Mary used to tote her makeup and purses in when we went on vacation, and began packing it, actually taking the time to fold my clothes.
Every once in a while, he’d suck on his teeth and grimace but, otherwise, showed little signs of his injuries.
I knew from experience how high his pain tolerance was, so this wasn’t surprising.
I smiled and slumped against the headboard, my arm hugging my stomach.
Whatever changes may have happened between us while hiding out at my folks’ house, one thing stayed the same.
Vincent da Silva was a solid dude, someone I could turn to no matter what.
In any situation, that man would be there for me, no strings attached. He was my ride or die.