Page 11 of DOM: The Miami King

“She’s fine, bro. She comes in, gets out. Nobody touches her.” Tone replied.

Dom turned toward me and O’Shynn. “Get her to the restroom, quietly. Then get her the fuck back in the truck. I don’t want eyes on her.”

I moved without a word. Victoria followed me, but not before taking a glance back at Dom allowing her look to linger. It wasn’t curiosity, it was more like interest. I clocked it and kept moving. I didn't say a word and didn't tell her who I was… at least not yet. O’Shynn and I kept eyes on her without a word and she didn’t speak to us either like she knew this was just one of those situations where she was supposed to look, not speak. After Tone and the security escorted her back out after she used the restroom, we returned to the upstairs suite where the business was happening now.

“You always right on time sis, always late but early when shit goes down.” Dominique joked with his legs kicked up holding a bottle of Hennessy.

“I’m on Carmen time,” I replied. “You want me super early, call the interns.”

Dominique laughed. “Ooooh, she got jokes today. What’s up, sis-in-law?”

I loved me some Dique, I truly did, although he wasn’t shit and no matter how many women knew it, he still had a slew of them. “Ain’t nothing, another day in the underworld.” I replied. I then looked at Dom. His jaws were tight, and he didn’t speak right away. I took a minute to admire how damn fine he was.

His tattoos covered nearly every inch of his body. His arms, his chest, his back, his hands, you name it, he had it, except for his face. All of his tattoos told silent stories only real ones could read or relate to. He was covered in hood murals, memorials, crowns, names of the dead, and a script from the Bible across his ribs that only the woman lucky enough to see him naked could get close enough to read. I was one of those lucky women but was never lucky enough to actually have sex with him.

His face was damn near perfect, and it was the kind of perfect that was dangerous. His thick eyebrows sat low over his chestnut brown eyes that saw through lames and made bitches fold without him saying a word. His lashes were thick too, and long enough to make a female jealous. That low cut he rocked stayed fresh and was always brushed down with thick waves rolling across his scalp. He kept his hairline crispy too thanks to his personal barber. His full lips stayed sitting pretty even when he was talking grimy and his perfect nose gave him that strong, masculine profile that had you staring whether you meant to or not.

“You good?” I asked him.

“I’m good,” he said in a low tone taking a shot of Henny to the head. “You?”

I nodded, knowing I was about to lie. “I’m fine.”

O’Shynn stepped in. “I went over the offshore holds earlier. Cartagena’s port been running late, and the last Lambo shipment flagged for additional review because customs are saying it was too clean.”

“That’s cause somebody probably got cute with the route,” Dominique said. “Word on the coast is El Dorado been testin’ our lanes. Pushin’ just close enough to stir tension but not enough to call war.”

Dom rubbed his chin. “We been too quiet. They think quiet mean soft.”

“They got us under a microscope,” O’Shynn replied. “If they smell blood, they comin’ for it.”

“And now Victoria shows her spoiled ass up in Miami…” Dominique sat up straighter, dropping his playfulness. “We got a big-ass spotlight on us, and Dom’s babysittin’ the plug’s niece.”

I watched Dom closely and he didn’t flinch, nor blink. “I didn’t have a choice,” he finally said. “El Blanca made the call. We got too much money tied up with that muhfucka. If she dies in this city, it’s on me. And if it’s on me, it’s onus.”

O’Shynn shook her head. “Still shoulda told me first. I run the books, Dom. You let someone like Victoria step into our world, I gotta know how to hide the footprints.”

“I’ll clean it up,” he said. El Blanca ain’t give me no heads-up on purpose. “Whatever’s dirty, I’ll handle it.”

The room was filled with silence. It was the kind that only came when too many people got too many secrets. I used the opportunity to step forward. “There’s more,” I said quietly. “I found something.” All eyes turned to me. I dropped the flash drive on the table. “Customs and sealed reports with Royal Enterprises flagged. There’s shipments linked to places they shouldn’t, and there’s a paper trail back to a trust account tied to my fucking firm. I never signed that.”

O’Shynn cursed under her breath. “I know you fuckin’ lyin’.”

Dominique sat forward, serious now. “That’s not just cartel. That shit is federal.

Dom stared at the drive like that shit was poison. “Who else knows?” he asked.

“No one but me and Janine at the office. I shut it down quick, but if I found it… someone else will too… and real soon.”

He ran a hand down his face as I watched the tension on it. Then he looked at me, like really- really looked as though he was reading through my eyes. “You mad?”

I tilted my head. “I’m furious, but I ain’t stupid, and I ain’t gonna fold. Something is fishy, and I know it isn’t you.”

In that moment, his eyes softened, just for a second. It was the part he hid from the world, the softness somewhere deep down in there. Dom carried weight like it didn’t bother him. He didn’t say I looked good, but I saw it in the way his eyes lingered on the curve of my hips. The way my blouse clung to my waist, and the way my perfect titties sat up. Yeah, he saw it, but he wouldn’t speak on it. Instead, he stepped closer and lowered his voice. “You ain’t gotta carry this, Carmen.”

“I already am husband.” I replied sarcastically. We were inches apart and close, but we didn’t touch and didn’t say what we really wanted to. I wondered how long Dom was going to be able to fight the feeling.

O’Shynn cleared her throat. “If ya’ll done flirting, we got money to wash and a princess to hide.”

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