Page 150 of Sweet Dominion

Knowing his right-hand man very well, Marcelo placed a hand on his shoulder.

That didn’t stop Banks from twisting that toothpick.

“Alright. Thank you for your. . .explanation, Lei.” Dima tapped his pen against the notebook. “However, I think that we are missing the most important part of this.”

“Naw, Dima.” Banks shook his head. “Motherfucker sounded clear to me.”

“He did.” Dima nodded. “However, didMoniwant to leave. I thinkthatis the bigger question.”

“It doesn’t matter if my cousin wanted to leave.” Banks voice rose. “Motherfucker wasn’t going to let her go anyway. He just said that. In fact, I sent men to the goddamn mountain to protect her and I still haven’t heard from them. Where are they?”

I leaned back in my chair and crossed my arms over my chest. “You mean you sent men intomyterritory without getting approval from me—”

“Chen okayed it.”

“Chen’s not the Mountain Master. I am and that wasmyfucking mountain.”

Marcelo sneered. “Where are my men?”

“Healing on that very mountain. Many of their injures should be good to go by the end of the month. In fact, God willing. . .” I grinned. “Most will even be able to walk.”

All three of them shifted—Marcelo, Gunner, and Banks.

I focused all of my attention on Banks. “Let’s be real about why you sent those men. You knew Moni didn’t want to leave, so you sent those men as a test just to show her that I was a monster.”

“And you passed that test, you fucking psychopath.”

“Here’s a little wake-up call for you, Banks. I never claimed to be anything but a monster. And once your cousin saw it, she accepted it.”

“Bullshit.” Banks looked at Dima. “Do you believe it?”

Dima spoke, “I agree with Banks on this one. The sort of woman that I am learning that Moni is, makes me think she didn’t take to kindly to that sort of display of violence.”

I gritted my teeth.

Dima wrote a note. “Did she want to leave in that moment?”

“Moni’s not a helpless damsel in distress. She took charge on that mountain and ended up positioning herself to be aFriend of the Four Aces.”

Dima looked up from his notebook. “You didn’t answer my question.”

Chen jumped in. “There was not acleardeclaration from Monique that she wanted to leave inthatmoment.”

Dima watched me. “Was it inferred?”

I undid my fingers and ran my hand through my hair.

Dima looked at the device. “Let the record show that Lei from the Four Aces is avoiding the question.”

I sighed. “She probably wanted to leave in that hour but by the end of the night she was fine with staying.”

Dima raised the pen in the air. “Or did she feelforcedto stay?”

Banks scoffed.

“Listen.” I unfolded my arms and placed my hands back on the table. “We are together now. Regardless of what happened on that mountain, she has stepped into the position of my Mountain Mistress. She has her own men—”

“She hasyourmen.” Banks pointed at me. “That doesn’t count.”

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