Page 21 of Gemini
My anger dissipated if only a little. “That’s…sweet of you to think. And…probably I would have dug it a year ago before I…you know…got ran over by a car.”
Dom’s face actually went a little red and I couldn’t help laughing. “It’s okay. It’s cool, really.”
“Sorry,” he signed again. I waited for him to show his text. “Let’s go somewhere else and talk.”
“Where?”
He gestured for me to get in the car as he opened the door.
“I…I don’t really feel good about leaving my Jeep here.”
He seemed to think it over, then started texting. “Will you trust if I have one of my guys take it somewhere safe?”
One of his guys?
“Probably not, honestly.”
“Follow me then?”
I glanced over at the group of men then turned back to him. “Alright, but take me over to my car first.”
He winked, gesturing again for me to get in his car.
I went to walk around, then stopped. I reached out to his door, gripping it as he was about to get in. He looked back at me curiously.
“Your brother…” I was going to ask if he had told his brother anything, but of course he had to have. Still the mention of him grew tension between us.
Dom’s eyes shifted from me to something past my head. I looked around, the wind whipping my hair back, and I went rigid.
Lez was still across the lot, joint in one hand, leaning forward against the door of his car. Only now he was ignoring the girl near him, as well as everyone else, to stare directly at me.
The moment our eyes met, a shiver ran down my spine. Then my body started to heat up. I wasn’t sure if it was from rage or something else. Deciding it was rage, I refused to look away, until I heard a tap on the door. I looked back at Dom, and he tilted his head toward the passenger side.
Silently, I went around the front and over to the passenger, perfectly aware of Lez’s eyes burning into my back. As I got in and shut the door, Dom started up his car, the roar of the engine making me flinch.
He backed out of his space and slowly made his way over to my Jeep, the crowd parting as he went. Once I slipped back intomy own car, I followed him, keeping close behind as we turned on to the main road.
We drove closer to the city. More lightning flashed from a storm in the distance, hinting at the threat of rain coming our way. Dom got off the highway, passed a gas station and several dark buildings before he entered the parking lot of a twenty-four-hour diner called Tony’s. I sighed as I parked next to him, glad he hadn’t taken me to one of the bars in the city instead. From the row of windows, I could see a few groups of people sitting at booths or the counter beyond, otherwise the place was mostly empty.
Cold air hit me as we made our way inside and Dom led me over to a booth in the corner. As we sat, a waitress with curly blond hair and a wide smile came our way.
“What are we drinking?” she asked.
“Just water for me, thanks,” I answered.
Dom typed quickly and showed her his screen.
“And a coffee. You got it.” She sauntered off, and I looked around, studying the pictures along the walls of famous musicians from the city. There was jukebox in the corner and little paper vinyls hanging from the ceiling. A neon sign above the coffee station said “Never too late for a coffee break.”
Dom tapped on the table, and I looked over as he showed me the screen of his phone.
“I’m sorry about your sister.” It read.
I bit my lip as my gaze flickered up to him. “Who are the men who took her and how do you know them?”
He took a moment to type again before showing me. “They are called the Order of the Serpent but used to be known as the Serpent Kings. Before that, it was the Serpent Brothers.”
“So, some kind of gang?”
