Page 46 of At The End Of The Day

My pulse skipped a beat, the subject I was truly curious about naturally coming around on its own. “Your uncle.”

“My uncle’s husband. So, he’s my uncle, too. Anyway, the agent we got said it would be best if me and Leah looked like we were a full-blown couple, madly in love,” he mocked, wiggling his fingers. He took one last drag and smashed it out in the ashtray, exhaling on his next words. “I never wanted it, told her no from the get go. But, my agent had me believing my career would crash and burn without her, so I did it. Played that game for about a year. Didn’t know at the time he was saying that cuz he wanted to fuck her.”

“Wait, wait. Leah. She’s the one who started all those rumors about you at the beginning of your career, huh?” My jaw fell and I snapped, pointing and wagging the finger. “Holy shit, bitch. The woman she said you cheated on her with…that was Tiny, wasn’t it?”

Arching a brow, he shot a hard expression. “We tried to tell everyone we were still in love. No one would listen, or they just didn’t care.”

I heaved a sigh and turned my profile to him, stewing in my thoughts. Guilt tried to plant roots but my mind kept reminding I had no reason to doubt Jackyl at the time and, even if I had, I would have been the brunt of his anger along with Tyler. Not wanting to dwell on that, for there was already a long ass line of bullshit crammed in my head, waiting for attention, I moved the topic along. “She tried to trap you with a baby, huh?”

“Yup, but I knew better. My dick ain’t touch ass or pussy without a rubber since Letta.”

His words right away brought my thoughts around to the night Violetta violated him three ways to Sunday with a cucumber, and I snickered, wrinkling my nose. “Ass. I ain’t never met a guy who likes to be fucked in the ass that ain’t gay.”

“So, you know gay people, huh?”

Bristling, my jaw clamped, my throat constricting. “Your uncle’s gay. You okay with gayness?”

“Gayness? Homosexuality. Yes, perfectly fine with it.”

“You gay?”

“You’ve seen the videos. You watch us almost nightly. Does it look like I’m gay?”

Heat rose to my face, a muscle flexing in my jaw. “But you like it in the ass.”

“Very much. You should try it—”

“I ain’t no faggot!” I bellowed, lunging to my feet with a wave of panic.

Both brows lifting, he simply grinned. “No one said you was, Dash. And it ain’t an insult if you are. This ain’t the old days. Gayness,” he stressed. “Is perfectly okay in today’s society.”

Some of the anxiety waning, I frowned and sat on the desk again, recrossing my arms. “Yeah, well, the Serpents would say different, so don’t go even implying something like that again. Besides, I like pussy.”

“So, you’ve said. Can I ask you something?”

“Hm?”

“Why did you get rid of your wife?”

My insides plummeted, a frantic glare shooting out the corner of my eye. For a split second, I thought about panicking, but dismissed it instantly. One thing I’ve learned since being locked in this house with everyone was Jackyl was a habitual liar. Nothing he said about Tyler was turning out to be true. He was a decent guy, loyal, even.

Groaning, I relaxed and shrugged. “She was fucking someone from a rival gang. I can’t have that on my rep. Besides, that puts all Serpents in danger. She had to go.”

He lit another cigarette, inhaled, and blew out the smoke with, “Yeah, that’s fucked up. I mean, it’s one thing to have an affair, but to involve enemies like that.”

Old habits dying hard, I tensed with resentment and snipped, “Kinda like you and Jackyl.”

Hardly even faltering, he was quick with a retort. “Not in the slightest. I was never any threat to him or any of you. In fact, the exact opposite.” He tapped the bad knee and seethed, “Remember this? Who attacked who that night? And how many of you were against me? A kid against all you grown adults? And when the cops ragged my ass for over a year, did I say one fucking word? No, I didn’t. Jackyl was the threat, not me.”

Sighing, my head bobbed side to side. “Yeah, yeah. You’ve made your point there.”

“Holy shit, Dash. Was that an apology?”

I snorted and looked away, my thumb stretching out to rub the center of my chin. The real reason for this small chat resurfacing, I cleared my throat and tried to make a u-turn with the conversation. “So, your uncle. He always been gay?”

“Uh, yeah. Ain’t exactly a choice.”

My brows shot up. It wasn’t? So, if it wasn’t a choice, then that meant I didn’t have to feel guilty for the things I was feeling for Vincent because it was out of my control.