Chapter 15
Dom
My hand ricochets back from the gun going off, making me clutch the heavy metal tightly as the bullet penetrates through Franco’s skull. I don’t regret listening to Franco’s last breath; he killed my father. He was just a puppet for bigger schemes, a foot soldier to Jin.
This was for my father and Logan, the brother I always wanted. I will respect his wishes if he wants to make Franco look like a good guy, even when I disagree. I’d rather see him as the villain, a corrupt cop who deserved what he got. Anyone who has ever hurt a loved one would end up in the same position as Franco.
God. I’m so fucking tired. I need to sleep for a couple hours, or years.
“Clean this up and dispose of the bodies. You know what to do,” Nicky demands, his eyes as cold as steel as he addresses his triad.
His men still haven't removed their eyes from the ground, waiting on command with nervous gulps. I’d be nervous and curious about what my fate holds for me. None of these men have ever stood up for Nicky or lent a helping hand. But I get it. It’s a fucking obey-or-be-killed kind of world sometimes. I’m a hard ass on my men because I have to be if I want them to respect me and follow orders.
“Where did my buttercup get off to?” Tey asks, searching the room with furrowed brows as he fidgets in place.
“What?” I almost shout, clearing my throat to calm down, even though my palms start to sweat when I can’t find her as I spin in a circle, looking in every direction.
The triad bows deeply and straightens up to bow over Nicky’s outstretched hand to place a kiss on the gold ring on his index finger.
“Has anyone seen her?” Dalton growls out, the noise more beast than man.
Each triad member shakes their heads and silently gets to work, mostly trying to stay invisible as they pick up Franco’s body.
More men get up to leave, and some return with a mop and buckets to sweep up the dark liquid of blood on the mats.
“She wouldn’t leave us here, not after that. Dom, you're with me. Search the building. Tey, stay here with them.” Logan lifts his chin at Nicky and Nicola, but that’s not the only reason.
Logan turns his head slightly to look at me with a tilt of his chin toward the stairway with an undisturbed expression, yet I can see the hints of pain, sorrow, anger, and worry all in a rapid flash of his light eyes.
“We’ll be back. Dalton, call in some reinforcements and get them to take Nicola to see her boyfriend,” I order quickly over my shoulder, following Logan through the open doorway.
“Is he…” Nicola whimpers, her question going unspoken, but Nicky understands.
“He’ll be okay. He’s just really banged up, but the morphine should help big time,” Nicky reassures Nicola, his voice going quiet as his sister sobs in his arms.
“Don’t fear, little tiger. Evan is with Doc, and he’ll make sure your boyfriend’s face stays pretty. He’s in good hands,” Dalton promises, and I can almost hear him wink from the top of the stairwell.
The moment the door bangs shut behind us, Logan and I are jogging down the three floors without trying to kill ourselves by tripping.
“She has to be around here somewhere.” I can’t tell if Logan is talking to me or trying to convince himself.
I already know what we will find on the ground, or lack thereof. Tillie would never abandon us, especially when we needed her the most. My gut twists, my pulse going frantic with fear that she’s gone.
“What the fuck!” Logan exclaims, drawing in a sharp breath at what lies in a heap at the glass front doors.
“Who is that- Jesus Christ—it's Rig!” Logan drops to his knees with a loud crack of his bones and frantic, worried hands flailing everywhere.
“Take a deep breath. She knows you’d move heaven and hell for her, and that includes making decisions for her old man.” I inhale deeply and exhale until his breathing gets under control from my copied movements.
“This is going to break her. Is he…?” Logan asks, running a hand through his thick hair with shaky hands.
“He’ll live,” I add with conviction in my voice, even though I don’t fucking know because Rig looks dead except for the faint flutter of his pulse on his neck.
Thank God for fucking small ass miracles. If Tillie lost Rig, she’d lose a piece of herself, even though she’s the strongest woman I know. It would break her, a small chunk of the armor she wears daily.
“Cruz has her,” Logan says in a dead voice. The lack of emotion lets me know he is considering the worst-case scenario, but I can’t blame him.
I’m doing the same thing.
I grab my cell and hit the speed dial until my street runner answers on the second ring.
“Dom. What’s up, Esa?” Gabriel asks all business, which is why I trust him to run the supplies when I’m out of the Office.
“I need eyes and ears on the ground. He took my woman. Get everyone on board. I don’t fucking care if they are high or not, just get it done,” I command into the phone, feeling my pulse pound in my eardrum.
“Who has your queen, boss?” he asks a second later, likely in shock that someone would think of taking my queen away from me.
“Dirty, greasy blond. Cold, dead blue eyes and the Prez of the Joker Demons. Kill the fucker on sight, but make sure Tillie is on-site first before shots are fired. She’s my number one priority. Spread the word ‘shoot to kill’. His name is Cruz.” I lean over Rig as I put the phone on speaker and lift his eyelid to see how responsive he is.
Wide brown eyes, so much like my mama’s eyes, look back at me, dilated but coherent.
“Whe- where am I?” Rig asks in panic, his voice croaking and dry lips probably from dehydration.
Damn. He looks like he’s seconds away from the grave. He’s malnourished, bruised, and weak as a newborn cow, with deep bruising and sunken eyes.
“You’ll be okay, Rig. Try to stay calm.” Logan finally speaks, shaking his head and inhaling loudly to stay in control.
“Get someone over to Jin’s dojo quickly. Rig needs medical attention, an IV bag, pain medications, and a fucking therapist after being in Cruz's hands for so long. A blood transfusion is also required, since he is bleeding profusely from a severed finger," I bark out order after order, because I’m not letting this man die on me.
Tillie needs him.
“How-how do you kno-know me?” Rig asks warily, tired, as he shifts his nervous gaze back and forth between Logan and me.
“We, uh, know Tillie,” Logan coughs out, looking away and making it awkward as hell.
“My daughter. He has her. Please. Don’t let him hurt her anymore. Please. I’ll do anything, but don’t let my daughter suffer anymore.” Rig sobs and coughs on a wet inhale with lungs that don’t sound so good.
“We’ll take care of Cruz. Can you tell us anything about where you’ve been?” I ask as patiently as possible, while glancing at my wristwatch.
It’s been ten minutes. She can be anywhere.
God, please.
I’m only asking for this one-time prayer. Please don’t take her away from me. I love her. I need her like I need oxygen—that deep part inside me that only allows me to breathe when she’s near.
“S-so colddd. Sal-salt. A loud eng-engine,” Rig trembles out weakly, lifting his hand to grasp my arm as he tries to lift his upper body off the ground.
“Calm, amigo. Breathe slowly, in and out,” I whisper, placing my hand over his thin, papery forearm and looking him in the eye until he starts to breathe easier.
“Nicky might be able to track her down.” I lift a brow at Logan, confused, but don’t ask because I don’t give a shit as long as he has a way of finding her.
“Less than five minutes out, boss,” Gabriel mumbles quietly through the phone, having listened to the whole exchange.
“Drive faster. We are heading out in less than a minute tops,” I reply and hang up without waiting for an answer; he will make it happen because I said so.
“She’s not here. Cruz. Get downstairs now and pull up the app to track her.” Logan speaks harshly into the phone with glazed eyes, staring intently out the window before going pale.
“Fuck!” he shouts suddenly, picking up the nearest object, which happens to be a metal chair, and throwing it at the window behind me.
The tinkling of glass at my back doesn’t surprise me. Witnessing Logan’s rage is like looking at a calm and cool gorilla in its environment until something or someone disturbs the creature. Anyone in its path will most likely die as it destroys and kills until it feels safe again.
“Feel better?” I ask dryly, ignoring him as he scuffs beside me as I look over Rig’s injuries.
He’ll live. That’s all that matters.
“Stay alive for her, old man. You’ll see her soon, and she’s going to fuss over you, so get better. She doesn’t need to worry anymore,” I address Rig as he nods his head weakly and slumps on the floor with a quiet groan of defeat.
“Tell her I love her, will you?” he croaks out and stares up at me pleadingly, his eyes so much like Tillie’s breaking my heart.
“Tell her yourself,” I say, hardening my voice so he knows that he can’t give up when he’s so close to having his daughter back in his life.
“I like you. Treat my girl well, and I won’t ever have to kill you,” he rasps out and closes his eyes on a deep breath, although the corner of his mouth lifts into a tiny smile as Logan opens his big mouth.
“Don’t ever leave her again, and I won’t have to kill you,” Logan growls in annoyance, pacing back and forth, most definitely jealous that Rig didn’t say he liked him.
I can’t stop my eye roll and chuckle as I climb to my feet as the sound of loud, stomping feet comes from the stairwell with raised voices.
“I don’t think I like him. But keep him safe. It’d hurt my girl’s heart if something happened to the man she loves,” Rig says in a serious tone, his dry sense of humor amusing me for the time being.
“Men,” Logan whispers with a snort and strides through the broken window, glass crunching under his expensive Italian leather shoes.
“Jesus.” Rig chokes out a wet cough and sighs like a father out of his depth with a daughter.
“Don’t worry. We all love her, and she loves us,” I promise and glance over to see Dalton and Tey on either side of Nicky as they hold him up under his armpits.
“How many men does my daughter have exactly falling at her feet?” Rig gasps out, his eyes opening wide in shock at the sudden appearance of Nicola leaning over his prone body on the ground.
“Five. But only the best for my- cocks! -bestie,” Nicola simply supplies, ignoring as Rig coughs in shock. “There there. You must be Daddy?" she asks with a tilt of her head and must be seeing Tillie’s eyes staring back at her.
“I’m her Daddy, and well, Papi over here too,” Dalton grumbles out, his voice just like the rumble of an engine.
“Okay, yeah. We’ll just be going now.” Tey shifts awkwardly on his feet, making me raise my eyebrow in shock as he seems unable to meet Rig’s stare.
“Her location is pinging. Let’s move out. Nicola, stay here and get one of Dom’s men to give you a ride to see Evan, but, I repeat, don’t leave his side until I see you again,” Nicky orders, his gaze zig-zags over the phone screen, the bright light reflecting in his eyes until he looks up at his sister for confirmation.
“Yeah, yeah. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll just stay here with Daddy Rig and keep him company until then. We’ll be fine. The triad won’t do anything; they’re too scared of your ass now.” Nicola waves her hand absentmindedly and shifts closer to Rig to stare instantly into his confused eyes.
“Let’s head out. Time to get our girl.” I nod toward the parking lot, seeing Gabriel’s Mustang and more of my crew members pulling up.
“You got anything strong to drink around here, girl? I think this is more trauma to add to my list, and I need a stiff drink,” Rig says as we walk through the missing front window. I barely hear her reply but can’t help laughing at what she says.
“I have some." I glance over my shoulder to see her arms gesturing around wildly and snapping her fingers at Tey as he walks by with Nicky. “Gimme that shot of whiskey you have in your boot, TeyTey.”
Tey almost trips over his feet and sputters with a nervous chuckle while quickly reaching into his boot to literally pull out a few shot bottles of some expensive whiskey to lay near Rig’s head before he practically carries Nicky outside.
“I never thought I’d see the day when Tey is nervous of anyone,” Dalton says out loud, which is what we are all probably thinking.
I don’t know Tey that well, but I do know he’s very comfortable in his skin and doesn’t give a shit what anyone thinks of him.
“Shut the fuck up,” Tey grunts, tightening his arm around Nicky’s waist so most of the pressure is off his ribs the more he leans on his boyfriend’s side. “That’s the real MVP back there, the original daddy, who means a lot to our girl. We can’t fuck that up, so stop with the daddy shit with him. I can already see future dinners. One where Tillie asks her daddy to pass the salt, and you two try passing it around the table to her instead of her real father.” Tey glares at Dalton and me until we both agree in nods to his satisfaction.
Life’s a real bitch sometimes, and she likes to play cruel, cruel jokes. I’m still going to be her papi but I guess I’ll have to cool it around the old man.
I shake myself out of my thoughts and meet Gabriel near my car as more of my crew jog into the building to help Rig.
“Boss. We’ll take it from here. Go get your queen. Make that fucker suffer.” Gabriel clasps me on the back two times with respect and continues walking away without a reply.
Good man.
“Where are we heading?” Logan demands hotly after slamming the passenger door of my Mustang and taps his fingers on his knee with impatient movements.
"Eastbound, on the highway, and going fast. Shit. He just got off the ramp. Heading straight for the ocean, it looks like. He’s driving the coastal view streets.” Nicky mumbles out directions rapidly as I peel out of the parking lot and gun it down the crowded streets.
“Which marina is close by?” Logan asks, his tone distracted and deep in thought.
“East Pointe, Sea Life Marina, and Golden Yacht Marina..." Nicky trails off, swearing under his breath in Japanese; he sounds fucking pissed.
“What?” Dalton demands on Nicky’s other side, his gaze meeting mine in the rearview mirror in confusion.
“Son of a bitch! This whole time, that fucker has been hiding out at the marina.” Logan swears in Italian, my car echoing with both of their languages and making me feel like I’m missing something significant.
“Calm down, Nicholas. Deep breath, baby,” Tey mutters quietly behind my seat, comforting Nicky until his rough exhales are normal again.
“I’m calling in backup. I don’t like not knowing what we are getting into,” Dalton grumbles darkly, and I can see his phone screen light brightening the backseats as he types a quick message. “Where am I sending the club?” he asks with an exhausted sigh, probably feeling like this will never end.
When will our girl finally be safe?
“Golden Yacht Marina is where Cruz has been staying. It’s the only thing that makes sense,” Logan says, staring straight ahead out the window shield, his knee starting to bounce with nerves, which makes my palms sweat.
I don’t like this gut feeling.
“How do you know?” I ask through gritted teeth, pressing my foot down on the petal, zooming by honking cars, but not giving a damn if I side-swipe another vehicle as long as we make it in time to Tillie.
“Jin has, I mean, had a yacht in that marina. And Cruz is currently turning into the entrance.” Nicky groans, gasping for breath, and hunches over into Tey’s side.
“Fuck!” Dalton mutters quietly, his fingers flying over his phone screen.
“We’ll get there. She's okay. She’s ours, and we protect what’s ours,” Tey whispers over and over behind me, maybe trying to comfort all of us or himself.
I only know if we take too long to get to her, that yacht can sail anywhere over the seas and we’ll never see our girl again.
“Drive faster, Dom.” Logan’s tone comes out dark, on edge, and almost to the point of frantic.
“I am. I’ll get us there in time,” I promise with conviction in my tone, and I start praying for the first time in a long time.
Please, God, keep her safe until we can get to her.
I repeat that prayer over and over the whole way to the marina, hardly remembering the drive there. I drove from point A to point B on autopilot, as my stomach tightened with the kind of fear that consumes you whole. The kind you can’t stop thinking about, wondering about, and analyzing every possible outcome.
I turn on the street of Golden Yacht Marina, going a little too fast as I jerk the steering wheel and come to a stop with a smoking tailpipe and screeching tires. Car doors open and slam, all of us waiting on Nicky’s lead as he stares at his phone, cursing in Japanese again.
“What?” I bark, feeling my heart pound so hard as if it wants to jump out of my chest cavity and flop around until it just stops.
“They are already out on the water, moving fast and heading southeast.” Nicky slumps against Tey, his face panicking as he looks at all of us.
“Fuck this. Who knows how to drive a boat?” Logan asks, pacing back and forth with his hands on his hips in anger.
“Oh hell. We might die, but I have a club brother who can,” Dalton groans and swipes a hand down his face as we hear a rumble of engines getting closer and closer until motorcycles are loudly ringing in my ears.
"It doesn't matter how well he can steer a fucking boat. We need to go now before she’s too far ahead. Once she crosses a certain part of water, trading begins, and literal pirates take over the sea of those parts,” Nicky explains, sweat covering his brow as he gasps and holds his ribs.
“Okay, okay. Axel is driving. Nicky, you should stay here-,” Logan starts, but Nicky cuts him off with an icy glare.
“I’d like to see you try,” Nicky responds, straightening to his full height, even though it has to hurt.
“Drop it, Lo. You’d be going too, even if you had a bullet embedded into your skin,” Tey remarks and rubs Nicky’s back absentmindedly, as he peers around at the boats surrounding us.
Axel cuts off his bike engine and swings his leg over the seat before quickly striding over to us to stand next to Dalton.
“What do you need, Prez?” his club brother asks, nodding to us before giving Dalton his attention.
“The usual, brother. Stealing a ride, saving our girl, and you’re the fucking driver of this fucking little boat,” Dalton tells him, clapping him on the back, and starts jogging toward the dock boards.
“We can’t take a yacht. We need a small speed boat.” Tey keeps looking around and raising a single eyebrow at something off to the right of the docks.
“Lead the way,” I say, knowing Tey just found our ride by the mysterious grin on his face that slightly freaks me out.
“It’s not going to be pleasant. This type of boat is for stealth and speed.” Tey cackles and starts leading the way, with Nicky attached to his side as he limps on his right leg.
“I need a fucking vacation. I’m too young for this shit,” Logan mumbles to himself and strides after them while Dalton and Axel walk next to me.
“I’m sure Dalton informed you of the situation with Rig. He made it to Doc?” I ask, trying to distract myself from losing my damn mind as we jog down the docks, passing big yachts until we see rusty fishermen's boats, and then each ship starts to get smaller and smaller than the last.
“Yeah, Doc was just patching up the kid, Evan, just as I was pulling out. Your guys were carrying Rig in at the same time,” Axel informs me grimly, probably not liking the state of the boats we walk by and all the shit that went on tonight.
“Good. You think your club doctor can handle it?” I ask Dalton, rolling my eyes as he scuffs at my question like I’m an idiot for even asking.
“Doc knows what he’s doing. Both Rig and Evan are in good hands,” Dalton replies and groans as he sees where Tey has stopped up ahead. “Fuck my life. We might just die tonight by sinking in the ocean.”
“I’m sure your brother here knows how to drive that thing,” I point out dryly and take a deep breath before striding past the guys as they argue.
“Get in the fucking boat. We don’t have time to waste,” I remind them, hearing curses and groans of defeat as I stand at the end of the dock before jumping down into the smallest fucking boat ever as it wobbles under my weight.
I wonder if it will be a quick death as I drown and become shark food?
Guess we’ll find out because I’m not stepping back on land until my queen is safely in my arms again.
I’ll be lost at sea, searching for her until I die.
That’s what a man in love does: go to desperate lengths for his woman.
I swallow thickly as the other guys jump down heavily into the boat, our knees bracing as the boat rocks violently under our weight.
“Might want to hold onto something. This boat is small, but she can go up to a hundred miles per hour. The waves are going to have us flying across the water.” Axel gestures to the boat and finds a pair of keys near the helm before starting the engine and, immediately, backing the boat away from the docks.
“Buckle up, buttercups. Going to be a bumpy ride.” Tey rubs his hands together with a manic look in his blue eyes as he helps place Nicky into the captain's passenger seat.
“Oh fuck. Oh shit,” Dalton mutters and grabs onto one of the bars on either side of the boat just as Axel pulls the clutch forward until we are speeding dangerously in the no-wake zone.
My stomach rolls as the boat jumps speedily over waves, making me sway in place as I grab the metal bar over our heads for balance. I can only see darkness ahead, making it look like the ocean is going to swallow us whole.
I wonder if she’s okay. If she’s thinking the same thing as me, we could get lost out here, where the night sky blends in with the dark ocean until you can’t tell the difference between the two. Lost at sea with no way home.
“We’ll get her back,” Logan says next to me, looking straight ahead as he holds the back of Nicky’s seat and keeps looking over his shoulder at the blinking red dot of Tillie’s location.
“Whatever it takes,” I whisper, meaning every word as a vow.