Page 48 of At The End Of The Day

“You should probably talk to Vinny about this.”

I flushed cold yet again, my heart racing wildly with anxiety. Panting, the fear grew to a dangerous level in a split second. Did he know something? Had he figured things out? How would he know? “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

He sat up and cleared his throat several times, behaving nervously. “Uh, I…ahem. I…I just meant…he-he’s your friend, you know? Me and you ain’t friends, so all these questions you got might be better for someone you trust. Besides, with Jackyl being gone soon, he’ll probably take his rank, won’t he?”

Somewhat relaxing, that was a very believable answer, one I prayed with every fiber in my being was legit. “Yeah, yeah, he will. And just for the record, I ain’t asking questions for personal reasons—”

“No, no. I got it. You’re just curious, is all. Nothing about you, at all.”

“It ain’t got nothing to do with me,” I barked, slicing a hand through the air.

“Got it,” he said with a firm nod.

Frustrated, I bounded to my feet, the panic rising once more. “Hey, man, I’m serious.”

“I believe you,” he chuckled, fanning his hands out. “Honest, wasn’t insinuating nothing.”

Tense, I glared, nostrils flaring. After an extreme stare off, I nodded curtly once and pivoted to head for the door. Swinging it open, I paused but didn’t look back at him for the shame circling my chest. My shoulders curling upward, my voice was almost too low to hear. “By the way, bitch. That was an apology.”

Not waiting for a response or reaction, I quickly stepped out and closed the door.

Chapter 20

Edoardo Jackson “Jackyl” Bianchi

Sunday, 09.01.2019

The pain was migrating away from my hand, up my forearm, to my elbow. Swollen twice its normal size, the fingers were purple, the nails turning black, the skin so tight, it was difficult to bend them. My clothes were drenched from sweat, beads constantly dripping into my eyes to sting. It had been three days since I’d eaten or slept, only occasionally drinking from the lake, and my body was protesting with agony. The walls of the cave were closing in on me, making it difficult to breathe at times.

Hearing a sound just outside the entrance, my heart skipped a beat, and I lunged for the gun. Cocking, I aimed it, panting erratically. I crept to the opening, squeezing and unsqueezing my eyelids, rubbing the sweat out so I could see properly. My vision was blurred and doubled, but I could barely make out the figure strolling closer.

“Dash?” I grumbled, shaking my head and digging my thumb and fingers into my eyes. Taking a sharp inhale through my nose, I shook the sweat from my fingers and tried to focus. “What are you doing here?”

“They’re all laughing at you, Jackyl.”

My brows furrowed, the gun lowering with a sense of humiliation. “What?”

His hands pushed to his pockets as he strutted closer, snickering. “They’re all up there now, laughing at you.”

“Who?”

“Everyone. Vin, Tiny, Tyler. Your kids.”

A breath hitched my throat and my spine snapped straight, my stomach twisting. “No, they’re not.”

“They are, too. You’re the joke we laugh about every night at dinner while your kids are watching cartoons. You’re the loony tune now, man,” he laughed heartily.

I threw my arm back out and aimed the pistol. “You shut your fucking mouth. That ain’t true.”

“It totally is, man. Ty’s up there, dicking your wife every night, after tucking your babies into bed. Vin’s already planning a family vacation to Florida next summer. Even the Serpents say you ain’t nothing but a joke now. Ty’s replacing you everywhere, Edoardo,” he mocked, emphasizing my real name.

Betrayal digging deep into my back, I snarled from the pit of my gut, screaming through gritted teeth. “Fuck you!” I shouted, pulling the trigger four times in a row.

The tree behind him splintered, bark flying in the air. Dash just laughed harder and gradually faded away.

Heaving, my pulse thumping at my temples, I lowered the gun, confusion muddling my brain. Grunting and rubbing at my eyes again, I hissed when the movement caused pain to shoot down my arm from my knuckles.

“What the fuck?”