Page 101 of At The End Of The Day

“Hm?”

“Babe, I hate to say this, but…”

He squinted and gazed at me suspiciously. “What, Vin?”

I cleared my throat, huffed, and blurted, “You ain’t getting the results today. It takes about three days.”

He jerked in the chair and bristled, his expression devastated. “What?” he blasted.

Cringing, I skimmed the room at everyone ogling us now. With a quick glance to the reception, my focus snatched back at a sign taped to the glass partition and dread weighted my stomach.

“Oh, shit,” I mumbled, shaking my head.

“What? What now?”

My features scrunching, a shoulder curled upward, that hand motioning. “Monday’s a federal holiday. You ain’t getting the results until Tuesday.”

“Mother…fucker.”

He completely blanched, eyes bulging. Cursing under my breath, I slumped in the chair and twined my fingers with his. Firmly squeezing them, my thumb stroked his knuckles in a futile attempt to soothe his anxiety.

This was going to be the longest weekend ever, probably longer than those weeks in Georgia. Dash was not going to be okay. It was like that week with Violetta, all over.

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.