Page 30 of DOM: The Miami King

Carmen’s fork froze mid-air while Dique damn near choked on his soda. I swallowed hard and snatched the phone off speaker. “Yo. Chill,” I growled into the receiver, glancin’ at Carmen. “Now ain’t the time.”

“Oh really?” she pouted. “Sound like you got company but I’m tryna see you… sit on your face. Whisper in your ear while I…”

“Katrina… shut up man, fo’ real.” I groaned chewin’ the rest of my food. I stood from the booth, walkin’ a few paces toward the back hallway.“I don’t got time for none of that right now,” I said low tone. “When I want some pussy, I’ll call. Till then, don’t call this muhfuckin’ line unless blood is involved.”

She paused. “So, it’s like that?”

“Yeah… it’s just like that.” I hung up and slid the phone back in my pocket. When I returned to the booth, Carmen was stirring her coffee slow and just as calm as ever, but I knew her too well. That calm meant lava underneath ice. I slid back into the seat. “You good?” I asked.

She nodded. “Always.”

I gave her a long look and she didn’t blink so I let it go. I was findin’ myself givin’ more fucks about her feelings than I should. “Alright.”

Dique cleared his throat. “That was the most uncomfortable roast pork sandwich I ever ate in my life,” he said. “She really said ‘sit on yo’ face’ before I finished my bite. Felt like I needed to pray over the fuckin’ sandwich.”

Carmen finally cracked a half smile ‘cause being round Dique, it was damn near impossible not to. Once we finished eatin’, I tossed a wad of hundreds on the table and slid out of the booth. I stepped into the street with Carmen and Dique behind me. Our hittas rolled past slowly in the blacked-out SUV, with the windows barely cracked. They didn’t wave nor did they nod. They just moved like thieves in the night. I lit a blunt and exhaled slow allowin’ the smoke to circulate around me.

“It’s time.” I told Dique.

Dique looked over. “Time for what?”

“Time to strike. Ain’t no more waitin’ and no more defense. El Blanca thought he could pull strings behind glass walls now we ‘bout to show him how to shatter every fuckin’ window. ”

“You know I’m wit’ it… he bout to get a taste of his own medicine. Make his ass think the hit comin’ from the Morenos so we can have his ass runnin’ in circles too tryin’ to figure it out. We put the ball in our court while we figure everything else out, slime. I got you.” Dique replied as we bumped fist and headed off into the night with Carmen right next to me.

The penthouse was too quiet and not in a peaceful way either and it was far from one of those silent moments before sunrise and you felt like a new person because it was a new day. It was the kind of quiet that kind of still buzzed loud as hell. No matter how comfortable I tried to make myself, I felt watched in every way almost as if the walls themselves were listening and waiting for me to slip. I had finally managed to shower and change and now I paced the living room barefoot with my arms folded across my chest, glancing toward the hallway for what had to be the tenth time in twenty minutes because Dom still hadn’t returned and neither did Carmen. I tried not to think about it, but the image was already there, vivid in my head of the two of them stepping out that bedroom earlier, like it wasn’t obvious. I saw the way Carmen had that sex glow on her face and the way Dom’s demeanor wasn’t as perplexed as it was after the shoutout.

And even though no one said shit? We all knew. EspeciallyTone, because hehadn’t left from by the fire wall since they’d gone. He leaned there now in that same spot with his arms folded across his chest, as his watch and diamonds gleamed every few seconds from the moonlight cutting through the glass. His presence was never aggressive unless it needed to be but other than that he was firm for the most part. He was dressed in a black Tee with the sleeves stretched around thick football player looking arms. His gray cargos hung off his frame just right, and a pair of Jordan 4’s graced his feet but were all scuffed up from the ambush earlier. He wasn’t talkative but since he was watching my every move I tried to talk.

“Tone…” I called his name in a hushed tone. His shot to mine, but he didn’t say anything. “What’s going on, like what’s really going on? Why’s Dom got me cooped up in here like I’m the one who pulled the trigger?”

He licked his bottom lip once and then sucked his teeth. “Look, princess. You gon’ be safe long as you stay where you at. Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answers to.”

I felt myself getting irritated. “That’s not an answer.”

“It’s the only one you gettin’ from me.” He replied in a voice that let me know he meant business. Everything Tone, Dom, Dique, hell even the ladies were different than what I was used to and maybe it was just that extra sauce of the Miami swag.

I stepped closer. “You really gonna stand there like I’m the enemy?”

“I ain’t standin’ like nothin’. I’m doin’ what Dom told me to do and that’s protect you. That don’t include breakin’ down cartel politics to somebody who ain’t earned it… at least not in our camp. You ain’t slow, you know enough, you heard enough, and you’ve seen enough. Yo’ eyes open… but I’m not about to be the one to break it down. Go with ya gut.”

That one stung more than I expected because that’s what it had truly come down too. However, he was wrong, because I definitely earned it, even if it wasn’t with them. He thought that I was just the niece, the pawn, and the guest in a world I barely understood. However, Dom didn’t treat me like a pawn all the time. There were moments where his eyes did soften or where he touched the small of my back incautiously. Other times, he watched me like I was something more than an assignment right before he’d go cold again being professional and distant. That hot-and-cold confusion was starting to burn holes in my chest, or maybe I was being delusional, but fate brought me to Dom even if he didn’t see it yet.

Then there wasCarmen, and I was still trying to figure out her position in his life, but I knew she was a powerful piece to their puzzle that he had a thing for. That woman moved like she belonged. She moved like she knew certain things were going to happen before they did and that was from what I could sense when I read her. She was calm and collected but underneath her polished voice, expensive jewels, and expensive perfume, her eyes said she was a demon. I saw the way Dom looked at her even when he tried not to or even when he avoided it. There was history there, or maybe even love, which I recognized even from the club that night during my brief restroom intermission and that made my skin itch. I didn’t know what I was feeling whether it was attraction, an obsession for someone to finally save me, or it was simply curiosity. All I knew was… I hated my current position, and I needed to do something about it quick.

I walked over to the massive windows and peeked through the blackout curtains. Down on the street, I sawthree black Escaladesparked and lined up across the block. “Dom’s people,” I mumbled to myself.

They were just posted up and watching like thugs in a suit and the street was extremely quiet, yet beautiful as the skyline painted the sky different hues of warm colors. It looked safe, but I knew damn well it wasn’t safe, and I could feel it. Whatever Dom had planned was bigger than me and probably deeper than anything I’d been thinking about the pieces I’ve been trying to piece together and maybe He didn’t want me to know the whole truth. But tonight, I wasn’t gonna wait behind walls like a caged animal anymore.

I moved to the couch and sat on the edge as I grabbed the throw blanket off the armrest. I didn’t turn the TV on, I just stared at the door and made up my mind that I would wait for Dom to come home and once again try to get him to explain hoping that something made sense even if I had to walk through hell to get it. I had just pulled the blanket tighter around my body when I heardTone’s voicetalking to someone and sounding annoyed at the same time. He was now by the window with one hand pressed to his ear as he spoke low into his phone. I couldn’t hear the voice on the other end, but I could hear him and that was enough to make my ears perk up.

“Nah, I can’t leave yet.” He said and then he paused to listen before he continued. “I told you, I ain’t like them nine-to-five dudes, baby. You knew what it was.” He then paused again. Tone stepped away from the window and was pacing now while rubbing his temple. “I miss you too, but I got a job to do.” He explained, with his voice a little softer. “What you want me to do? Walk away from the one person who trusts me with his life, just so I can cuddle? Come on, man you gotta do better.”

I leaned back, watching him feeling a tad bit jealous because everyone had a love life besides me. Everyone had a life outside of the underworld besides me. Even Tone had someone at home waiting for him, somebody calling him wanting more than the kill-or-be-killed bullshit of the underworld. Tone had a whole life outside of Dom and the Royal Cartel and so did Carmen, so did Dique although from what I gathered, he had several lives. Dom even had a life outside of this one, they all had people who gave a damn beyond the mission. But me? I had no one besides El Blanca, walls, fucking guards, gates, and briefings. I didn’t have anything real.Nobody ever asked me what Victoria liked or what I dreamed of. They didn’t ask who I wanted to be and for the first time in my life, that realization opened something inside of me.

My eyes shifted back to Tone, as he ended the call with a low sigh, while muttering, “I’ll be home when I can bae.”

He didn’t know I was listening or maybe he just didn’t care because when you truly loved someone, it didn’t matter who knew. The sound of his voice talking to her sounded like a war between loyalty and love and as he returned to his post by the window, he once again folded his arms across his chest and his face was unreadable again. I just sat staring at the closed penthouse door and not just waiting on Dom but waiting for the part of my life that finally felt like it was about to begin.

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