Page 108 of Sweet Dominion

Marcelo’s gaze locked onto mine. A silent challenge hit his eyes.

Chen whispered. “Don’t play into his bullshit, Lei.”

Next, Marcelo wrapped his massive arms around Moni and lifted her off the ground.

“Marcy!” She shrieked in surprise, her legs kicking in the air as she playfully smacked his shoulder.

“Put me down, Marcelo!” she laughed, but I wasn’t laughing.

Every muscle in my body tensed and before I knew it, I was moving forward, all my instincts screaming to tear him apart.

Duck, Hu, Chen, and the rest of my men grabbed me, holding me back with all their strength.

I tried to twist out of their grips and spoke through clenched teeth, “Let go.”

Chen kept his shaky grip on me. “Calm down.”

But I couldn’t calm down. My vision narrowed, all I could see was Marcelo holding Moni and all I could think about was killing him.

"Put me down. Now, Marcy!” Moni hit his shoulder.

Chuckling, Marcelo finally set her down.

But the damage was done—the moment had pushed me to the brink of war.

Duck, Chen, and Hu had to dig their heels in to keep me from lunging at him. My muscles were strained, trying to get them off me.

Moni, oblivious to the tension spiraling out of control behind her, adjusted her dress and playfully swatted Marcelo’s arm. “Stop playing. You know you don’t hug me that way.”

Still not calm, my heart pounded in my chest and my vision turned red with fury. The men around me tightened their grips, trying to hold me back from making a move that would unleash chaos on the Diamond Syndicate.

A deep voice cut through the tension like a knife. “No. No. We cannot fight during my first official cookout in the East.”

Goddamn it.

I calmed a little.

And we all turned to see Dima approaching, dressed in a pale-yellow linen top and pants.

However, to my surprise the second quest was not his mother or someone from the Syndicate. Instead it was a striking Black woman in a yellow sundress that walked beside him and held his arm.

Chen whispered, “She looks familiar.”

“It’s the nosy reporter.”

Duck kept his voice low. “I thought he was supposed to kill her.”

“Me too.”

When Romeo had been killed this reporter had sneaked into Syndicate owned places, trying to get an extra story. No other reporter in Paradise City would have dared, but she wasn’t from around here.

Dima said he had it under control, which to me meant—kill and bury her somewhere no one could find her.

Apparently, having it under control meant making her his lover.

And she had to be a pretty important lover, because he almost never brought women around us.

But that still wasn’t the most ridiculous thing about his entrance.

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