Page 102 of Sweet Dominion

He gasped, a wet, choking sound, his body convulsing as his heart struggled to keep beating.

And I stood over him and watched the life drain from his eyes with no pity in my heart.

No guilt.

No sense of humanity.

My breaths came out in ragged gasps.

The stench of blood and sweat filled the room.

His body twitched one last time before going still and then finally his eyes stared blankly up at the ceiling.

A huge satisfying smile spread across my face.

Chen got to my side and wiped the blood from my hands with a cloth. His expression was unreadable. “We need to move. I’ll have to send people back here to. . .figure this out.”

I snapped my view to him. “Figure it out?”

“Stage it.”

“Stage it how?”

“Dima is already investigating Romeo’s murder. We’ll just make this look similar to how Romeo died—”

“That won’t work. Dima’s too smart for that—”

“It will have to work Lei, if they figure out it is you, then it violates Law 480, and we’ll have bigger problems.”

Returning to the present moment, I spotted Rowe Street Mob’s helicopters in the sky getting closer.

The bright green helicopters continued to cut through the clear blue sky, their blades a blur as they hovered over the East.

Large, gold lettersRSMwere emblazoned on the side, a warning to all who crossed their path.

Dima never called me out on Pedro’s murder. Why? And even more important. . .why is he on his way now?

I turned to Chen. “If they went to the North, then we know Dima is with them.”

“Or course, but who else?”

“His mother?”

“Or perhaps Kashmere went to the North and jumped on the helicopter with them.”

“No. If they were going to tell Kashmere that I took Chanel’s body, they would have done it already.”

“We haven’t given them an update on progress with Uncle Leo—”

“And they won’t get one until everything is finalized. The East handles the East. It’s always been like that and it will remain that way.”

“Then, what do you want me to do?”

“Call armed men over. Let them see what they have landed into.”

Chen adjusted his glasses. “Is that necessary? Perhaps, the greeting should be welcoming, with less guns and men.”

“Dima has never entered the East without getting myclearpermission. Which says this is going to be some surprise bullshit meeting.”

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