Page 4 of Dom 4
She swallowed hard. “Dom, I’m not your enemy.”
“I know,” I said, smirking just enough to make her heart race faster. “But don’t ever make me treat you like one.”
Her eyes glossed over with angry tears trying to escape. I let her chin go and took a step back, watching her try to pull herself together. She was breathing hard as her chest rose and fell like she’d been running laps on the track.
“You think you can just disappear,” I said. “Hop on a flight, go cry over the same man who had his soldiers hunting you through alleys? You think I’m that stupid?”
“I just want closure,” she said with her voice cracking a little.
“Closure is for the weak,” I said. “And that ain’t you, right?”
She didn’t answer and her silence told me everything I needed to know. I reached out again, and gently grabbed her chin one more time, yet still firm enough to make her listen. “You wanna know what you’re gon’ do? Cause I do mamacita. You’re gon’ run to Cuba for a funeral, but the real plan is to take the throne that El Blanca left for you because you upset that the man you mistakenly fell in love with will never be with you. Had I been fuckin’ you, you would’ve been cool with that.”
She nodded and a single tear slipped out before she could catch it. “Dom… I…”
“Nah,” I said, releasing her. “I’m smarter than you think. Stay alive Victoria… stay alive… but don’t test me, ma,” I whispered. “You won’t like how that story ends.”
I straightened up and walked out, leaving her standing in the middle of the room hugging her own arms. I kept saying the shit and I’d say it again, I didn’t hate her, but I didn’t love her like she wanted me to, nor had I ever given her any indication that she would be on my side. I couldn’t heal that little girl within Victoria that wanted a prince charming. In another life maybe, but in this one, I had my queen. My people were waiting in the hall all tense like they could hear everything through the walls. Luis and the rest of the crew were standing straight like they knew some shit had gone down inside that condo. I didn’t say nothing right away. I looked down the hall, then back at the door. My mind wasn’t really here right now, instead it was already a few moves ahead.
Luis finally spoke up. “What you want us to do, boss? We keeping her locked in or what?”
I looked him dead in his face. “Nah,” I said. “Let her go.”
He blinked like he thought he heard me wrong. “Let her what?”
“Yeah,” I cut him off. “If she wanna run, let her run. I got eyes everywhere anyway.”
I walked past him and hit the elevator button. The doors slid open slow, reflecting the black tint of my shades. “She think she getting out clean,” I said, voice low, calm. “But everything she does in Cuba; I’ll know about it before she can run a play.” I couldn’t lie, little Victoria finally standing up for herself made my dick jump. Not in a way that wanted her though.
Luis nodded slowly, catching on now. “You think she gon’ make a move?”
“I don’t think,” I said. “I know she will, one day, and when she do, she better be ready but for now, I’m about to enjoy my fuckin’ family.”
He gave a short nod. “You want me to tell the other boys to stay on her trail?”
“Mateo is on it. He knows to stay close but don’t get seen,” I replied. “We letting her feel free for a minute. She’ll lead us right to the heart of whatever’s left of El Blanca’s people, because she’s too damn emotional.”
Luis smirked and shook his head. “That’s crazy.”
“That’s the point,” I said, stepping into the elevator. I didn’t underestimate Victoria because I knew she was the niece of a boss and was harder than she led on, however, she had to be the one to find that beast within. The doors started to close, and before they sealed shut, I looked at him one more time. “Make sure she gets on that flight safe. I don’t need no drama, and no scenes, and when she touches down, I want a location, a visual, and every name she speaks to. You got that?”
“Got it, boss,” he said.
The doors slid shut and the elevator started moving again. I leaned back against the wall, with my mind already mapping out the next five moves. Victoria thought she was walking out free. She thought she was following her heart, while chasing closureor whatever made her feel better about betraying her blood, but I wasn’t playing checkers. I was just letting her go because sometimes the best way to win was to make somebody think they had a choice.
Ihad the urge to want to check on O’Shynn so I had the driver to take me to the club. The club was half lit, and half alive, just how O’Shynn liked to keep it during the daytime hours. The smell of money, liquor, and some kind of cleaner lingered through the air along with the bass humming from the speakers. The ‘closed until nightfall’ sign didn’t mean shit at all, at least not for us. This was our spot, one of the Royal fronts, where business moved smoother than the dancers’ skin did and money was cleaned through the business.
As soon as I stepped in, I didn’t have to say a word. Everybody inside knew what time it was. The bartenders straightened up, the floor girls smiled, and the few day shift dancers were moving on stage adjusting themselves real quick like they were trying to get my attention. You could feel it; it was that familiar pause that came with power walking through the door.
One of the bottle girls smiled big and wide when she saw me. “Hey, big boss,” she said. Her voice was soft but full of that fake sweetness, but she knew it didn’t work on me.
I gave a nod, nothing more, nothing less because I wasn’t here for games. A few of the dudes sitting around the VIP side whispered amongst themselves but kept it respectful. Most of them worked under the umbrella anyway whether it was car lots, detail shops, or small-time hustles tied back to Royal money. They knew better than to make too much noise.
The lights were low, and the smoke hung over the room, and every now and then a girl would slide past wearing one of those tiny two pieces that made even the most disciplined man look twice, even me. I had to admit; they were fine as hell. A few of them gave me that stare but right now I wasn’t here for none of that. I walked straight past, with my jewelry catching the reflection of the stage lights as I moved.
“Boss in the building,” the DJ said low into the mic, trying to play it all casual but respectful.
“Dom Royal in the building,” somebody tried to mumble near the bar as if I couldn’t hear it and that was enough to start a ripple.
