I damn near swung on Dom as I balled my fist with my lips tight. However, deep down, I still didn’t want to run because no matter how mad I was… I understood. I understood because I knew what I signed up for, and I knew the game.
“Listen, it could be anybody in the world, just not her.” I sighed.
“I don’t want her…”
It was more I would’ve said, but I chose not to, instead I thought about Dru. I really liked him, and he seemed like a decent guy. I couldn’t let him get killed behind this cat and mouse game with Dom and me.
“Let him live Dom,” I said in a whispered tone with tightened jaws.
“I’ma let him live ‘cause I still trust you, but the second I see a faulty line again-” He leaned in, whispering against my ear as hissexy voice vibrated off my earlobe. “You won’t recognize what I do to him or the next nigga who forgets who you belong to.” He then kissed my lips causing a chill to run down my spine in a good way before signaling for the driver to pull off. We left some of his people with Dru, but I felt better knowing they were going to let him go. The rest of them followed us as we rode off into the Miami streets in silence. The fact that Dom was jealous told me everything I needed to know, and hopefully those barriers of walls would continue to break.
The ride back was quiet, and it wasn’t the kind of silence that came from peace either. It was the silence full of tension because I knew that Dom really would’ve killed Dru and then his blood would’ve been on my hands, and on my end the reminder was loud and clear. As long as I was Mrs. Dominic Royal, I could never forget my role, and I wouldn’t either. However, I was still a woman and even the strongest of us had a fucking breaking point.
The truck was full of unsaid words, and I couldn’t stand it. It almost felt like a bad storm about to creep up from the clouds that we didn’t see coming, or at least that’s how I felt. Dom didn’t say shit and neither did I but every now and then I would catch him taking glances at me with a hard, expressionless demeanor on his face. I wasn’t sure if he was full of pride right now, or maybe it was the both of us being full of pride at this moment which is why we didn’t speak. Every time I blinked, I saw Dru’s body laid out in that trunk like he was a discarded suit bag orsomething. I wasn’t scared; I was actually pissed because Dom didn’t just draw blood with that stunt he pulled. He drew a fucking line and was daring me to cross it.
We pulled back into the private garage beneath my building. My nude YSL heels had been left here earlier when they flew off of my feet during the tussle, trying to avoid being kidnapped. I was fighting like my life depended on it because in that moment, it did. However, the heels were nowhere to be found, just like the shattered pieces of my phone or my purse.
It was as if nothing never happened; like the whole damn kidnapping was just a figment of my paranoia or all in my imagination. That was how Dom did though, he made moves then erased the mess before anybody would notice. We stepped into the elevator once again silent as I propped my arms across my chest with a blank glare on my face. I didn’t look at him and I didn’t need to because I could feel his energy, and he was still very calm while I was piping hot on the inside. Dom followed me up, and the second the elevator doors slid open, I walked straight to the master suite, peeled my dress over my head and dropped it in the hallway, not giving a single fuck if he watched or not. Which, of course, he did.
I kicked the bathroom door open, flipped the shower on, and stepped under the steaming water trying to wash this morning away leaving it a memory. I heard him walk in before I saw him as the faint scuff of his Prada sneakers walked across the marble tile. He was leaning against the wall, with his arms folded. His tattooed sleeves on his arm were sexy. I sighed as the water dripped down my spine and over the curve of my ass.
"You got something to say ‘husband’?" I asked without turning to look at him.
"Just waitin’ to see if this the part where you get loud or smart first, ‘wifey’." He replied matching my energy because heknew that I was being sarcastic. “Say what the fuck you gotta say Carmen.”
My hand slapped against the wet tile. "That was a fucked-up move, Dom."
He shrugged. "Maybe, it was, maybe it wasn’t, but I guarantee that shit worked. You know what it is with me Carmen, so I don’t know why you needed a fuckin’ reminder."
I slowly turned around as the water slid over my lashes, and then my face. "You think watching me shower is gon’ undo what you did?"
"Nah," he replied in a low voice. “But it reminds you I never left and never plan to leave. I don’t give a fuck how mad you are at me.”
I just stared at him. His Glock was tucked in the small of his waist and his dark, chestnut-colored eyes were piercing through my soul. He didn’t attempt to move. Instead, he just stood there like a king who already knew the board was his while watching that one piece that still had a mind of her own; the fucking queen.
“You’re being a manipulative muhfucka right now Dom.” I said as I finally reached for the Vanilla Bean and Pomegranate bath wash.
“And you love it,” he shot back unfazed.
It got quiet again for a spit second as the steam fogged the mirror behind where he stood. “You think I crossed the line?” He asked pushing off the wall and stepped closer, standing at the edge of the glass; he still didn’t come in the shower, but he invaded my space without asking for permission. My eyes burned daggers through his ass. As long as I’d known Dom I couldn’t ever remember being this fucking mad at him.
“Yes! You almost did!”
"Almost?" he asked. "I crossed it, stepped over that muhfucka, and did it with both feet."
"And that’s supposed to make it better?”
"No. That’s just me bein’ real. You wanna move like you single, Carmen, like you forgot who you tied yourself to, then I gotta remind you what the last name Royal really means."
"You could’ve come to me like a man," I snapped.
"And you could’ve stayed outta bars with clowns in suits thinkin’ they had a shot."
My eyes dropped into tiny slits as that familiar warmth shot between my thighs. "You're jealous?"
He grinned. "You damn right. I’m fuckin’ stupid when it comes to what’s mine and my name.”
I let the water continue rinsing down my face, as my eyes burned with tears that I refuse to let fall. “I don't fucking belong to you.”