Chapter 43
Dario “Dash” Mangiacavallo
The island in Vincent’s kitchen was massive, spanning about six feet by four with crisp white cabinets below and a shiny white marble slab on top with thin grey veins.
Four tall chairs spanning one side, Piera was sitting in the middle, eating a bowl of ice cream while I was bent at the waist, my arms crossed on the opposite side.
My weight on my good leg, the other was bent to the side, my chin propped on the back of my wrist. I was studying her, falling deeper in love with my little girl.
She was by far the best thing I ever did in my entire life.
I may not have wanted kids before Mary, but the second she got pregnant and I heard her little, tiny heartbeat in the ultrasound, I was hooked. I’d wanted five more just like her.
I huffed, my breaths fogging the slick countertop for a second. Now that I was with a man, that would never happen. Not biologically, anyway. What agency would allow two gay gangbangers to adopt a child, though?
There was always surrogacy, but that would cost a shit ton of money that we just didn’t have. The way it was looking, there would just be the one acorn planted in my field of eternity.
If she was even mine. Christ, why did it take so long to get the results?
And, of course, Monday was Columbus Day, so that meant we had to wait an extra twenty-four hours to find out.
What the hell was I going to do if I didn’t get the results I desperately needed?
Both Mary and Jackyl were already dead, so I’d have no way of getting revenge to release that kind of heartache.
I would simply have to deal with it, letting it fester in my gut the rest of my goddamn life.
I studied every inch of her features, trying to match them to mine. Unfortunately, all my mind saw was similarities to the Eddies. How could that be unless they shared DNA? The only way they could share DNA is by having a parent in common. Jackyl.
Grief and trepidation gripped my soul and twisted it in three different directions.
Was that bastard ever my friend? How many years had I wasted loyalty on him, and for nothing.
He’d been stabbing me in the back for years, lying and betraying me every time he looked in my eyes and promised allegiance in brotherhood.
Fuck, this was a nightmare. I thought once we put Georgia behind us we could move on and start to heal. Apparently, that had been foolish thinking. Even from the grave, Jackyl was in control, pulling the strings, laughing from hell that his puppets were living in chaos.
Her little head bopped side to side, chocolate smeared on her cheek. Smacking her lips, she scooped another spoonful into her mouth, humming the theme song to one of her favorite cartoons.
My mouth curled into a small smile, love swelling my heart.
One was enough. I may not have a legacy forest as I’d hoped, but Piera was plenty enough.
She would get all my love and devotion. It would be better this way.
Instead of spreading my attention over several children, I could give my all to just her.
Piera would grow up knowing how fucking cherished she was.
“I love you, acorn.”
She flashed a dirty toothed grin, her eyelids squinted closed. “Love you, Daddy.”
“Can we talk a minute?”
“Uh huh.”
“So, you know how we moved in with Vinny, right?”
“Uh huh,” she sang, not looking at me to focus on her melting treat.
“And you know how Mommy’s gone, right?”
Her mood suddenly sank, her shoulders slumping. No longer lively, she was poking at the ice cream while nodding. “Uh huh,” she muttered somberly.
“Well, Mommy was the bestest mommy, right?”
“Yeah,” she whispered.
“And the bestest can’t ever be replaced, right?”
She nodded, licking the side of her hand. “Uh huh.”
“So, I’m not gonna give you another mommy, ever, okay?”
She gazed at me through her thin lashes, her dark irises glossy. “Just you and me forever?”
A surge of emotions shot through my system and my sight lowered to the marble. “Uh, no.” Coughing, I stood upright but leaned into my palms, my cheek leaning toward a lifted shoulder. “What do you know about love, acorn?”
She huffed and pouted, squinting with thought. “I dunno.”
“Okay. Think of me and how you feel.”
“Yeah?”
“That goodness,” I said, spreading my fingers and making circling motions in front of my chest. “That’s love. When you think of Edwina and Eddie, that’s love, too.” I licked my lips and gulped, my breaths shallowing. “When you think of Vinny, do you feel that, too?”
Batting her lashes, she was scrutinizing, trying to figure out where I was going. Already, at only five, my little girl was calculating. She’d be a great Serpent one day. She’d be amazing at whatever she decided, even if she wanted to go legit and break away from the gang life.
“Yeah.”
My stomach turned over with a burst of hope, but then her features scrunched into the meanest of scowls, her eyelids so thin, I couldn’t see her irises.
“But not Jimmy.”
“Jimmy? Jimmy Moore, from school?”
“Uh huh. I don’t love him, Daddy. I don’t like him, at all.”
I snickered, digging the heel of a palm into an eye. “But you love Vinny, right?”
“Yeah.”
“And…ahem.” I rested on my forearms again, but didn’t lay down this time, staring directly into her eyes. “What…w-what if…” A shallow breath pulled through my lips. “I…loved Vinny?”
She bristled and lifted her brows, batting those lashes once more. “I don’t get it.”
“You know. Like how I loved Mommy.”
Bit by bit, her features scrunched again. “You mean…like the kissing and holding hands and junk?”
“Uh, I mean, well…y-yeah. And dancing and hugging and… spending the night in the same room and…” I took a deep breath and heaved it out with, “And having two daddies instead of a daddy and mommy.”
Her head tipped to the side, still squinting. “That’s weird.”
I cringed, shame heating my skin. Avoiding her peer, my fingertip anxiously traced the thin gray lines. “What’s weird, acorn?”
“Vinny’s gonna be my daddy, too?”
“Uh, yeah. Yeah. I mean, if it’s okay with you.”
She shrugged and reclaimed her spoon. “It’s weird, Daddy.”
My heart twisting, I swallowed against the lump in my throat, my voice coarse. “What’s weird about it?”
“It’s Vinny.”
I grimaced, ashamed that my homosexuality seemed to have rubbed off on my innocent little girl. My ignorance was now going to infect Piera. I screwed up.
“Yeah, yeah, it’s Vinny,” I sighed, straightening my stance to fold my arms. The top one lifted to rub at my eyes, wondering how the hell to fix this.
“He’s Eddie and Edwina’s uncle.”
Stilling, my eyelids opened behind my fingers, my sight blurring a moment before focusing around them. “What?”
“It’s weird.”
My pulse quickening, my hand lowered to see her properly. “Wait, so it’s weird because he’s their uncle, not because he’s a man?”
Confused, her head tipped again. “Huh?” A sudden thought occurring to her, she choked on a gasp and threw the spoon down, both sticky palms slapping to the counter so she could stand on the wrung of the chair.
A pinkness rising to her cheeks, her eyes were bulging.
“Does this mean me and them are gonna be cousins now?”
Gawking, my arms fell to my sides. “Uh…yeah?”
Elated, she started squealing and clapping her hands, plopping back to the seat. “Oh, my god! This is so cool.”
“Whoa, wait. Hang on. So, you’re okay with me and Vinny being together?”
“Yeah, why?” she asked, shoving more ice cream into her mouth.
“Because he’s…” I clucked my teeth and shrugged my arms out. “Because he’s going to be your daddy, too. We…We’re together, acorn.”
The spoon lowered with another stern scowl. “Like how you were with Mommy, right?”
“Yeah, like that, like I said walla go.”
She shook her head and went back to the ice cream yet again. “It’s weird. But it’s cool we’re gonna be cousins. I miss them,” she stated, dropping the spoon. Pouting, she gazed up at me, completely changing the subject. “When can I see them?”
“Uh, s-soon…acorn. About Vinny—”
“Can I call them?”
“Y-Yeah. So, Vinny—”
“Yay!” she squealed, hopping from the stool. Running around to my side, she tugged on my jeans, wiggling her fingers. My eyes rolling, I cursed under my breath, dug out my phone, and dialed Violetta’s number before handing it to her.
“Tiny? Can I speak to the Eddies? Yay!” Giggling, she jogged for the stairs, her tiny feet sounding like a buffalo as she charged up them for her room.
“Shit.”
I snatched the bowl and spoon, taking them to the sink to wash away the remnants. Maybe she was just too young to fully comprehend what was going on, what I was trying to tell her. I’d try again in a few weeks. Perhaps seeing us, living the life, would help her grasp the concept better.
As I was dropping the spoon into the basket in the dishwasher, the side door opened and Vincent strolled in, and I’ll be damned if my heart didn’t turn over and shake with excitement at just the mere sight of him.
Before I could delve into that thought process, however, I noticed his deep scowl and dark complexion.
Frowning, I closed the washer and inched closer, realizing he was on the phone. Curious, I mouthed, What’s wrong?
He huffed, pulled the device away, and put it on speaker.
“…a lot of explaining to do, Vinny. I haven’t heard from you hardly at all since we moved to Tennessee, and now my kids are screaming from the rafters because Piera is going to be their cousin?”
My heart skipped a beat and my stomach plummeted, a knot clogging my throat. Gulping, I gawked at his sinister scowl, all that gladness seconds earlier zapped away to dread. “Oh, shit.”
A brow arching, he strolled to the island and tossed the phone to it, stomping his foot to the side to lean that way, his fingers tapping the surface. “I can honestly tell you, sis, I ain’t got no clue what’s going on. I just walked in the fucking door. Dash, you wanna fill us in on something?”
“Uh.” I gulped, wringing my hands together. “What’s, uh, going on?”