Chapter 1 #2
I couldn’t help but shake my head because he said exactly what I didn’t want to think.
After we left our parent’s house last night, I don’t know where the fuck Dique went but if he did do some dumb shit like that he was out of his mind.
“Matter fact, swing by there too. If he is, tell him he better answer before I come up over there myself and drag his out. If he has anymore females around here talking about he’s the daddy, I’m making an executive order to have his ass fixed. ”
Tone chuckled, “You got it, boss. I’ll let you know what’s up.”
I ended the call then I poured another drink and looked over at Carmen again.
She was standing near the counter, flipping through her phone with that calm look she always had.
I caught myself smiling because this woman gave me balance even when I didn’t want to see it.
The world could be on fire, and she’d still move like it was ice cold without panicking.
That was the difference between power and panic, and I had both sitting in my living room at this very moment.
My phone lit up again with another encrypted call.
This one wasn’t Tone though. I recognized the number.
It was one of my people assigned to keep eyes on Victoria.
I grabbed the phone, already knowing it wasn’t gon’ be good.
“Yeah,” I said.
“Boss,” Luis spoke fast, yet calm. “We been watching her like you said. She been quiet for the most part, just shopping and cooking, but she just told us to take her to the airport. Says she’s going home and she has her bags packed, with her passport and everything ready.
She claims she’s going to her uncle’s, funeral.
I sat forward, rubbing my face. “You let her leave yet?”
“Hell nah,” Luis said. “We told her we had to wait for clearance. She’s in the condo right now pacing back and forth mad as hell we won’t take her until we get the word from you. We posted outside her door.”
“Good,” I said in a steady tone. “Keep her ass right there. Don’t let her step out, don’t let her breathe too far from that door until I get there. I’m on my way.”
“Alright boss.”
The call ended, and I tossed the phone on the counter before I even stood up. Carmen looked up from her phone, with that sharp look of curiosity in her eyes like she already knew something was off. “What happened?”
“It’s Victoria,” I said, removing my Glock from the counter tucking it in the small of my back. “She trying to run to Cuba, but my people won’t take her unless I give the okay.”
Carmen let out a slow exhale and sat back against the counter, crossing her arms across her chest. “Soooo, what are you gonna do?”
“Handle it.”
Her eyebrow lifted slightly, and she tilted her head. “Dom, whatever it is… don’t kill her. Remember the bigger picture. This isn’t the time for anybody that close to El Blanca to die too. The Royal Cartel will for sure have the Feds swarming us.”
I glanced at her, half smirking. “You don’t trust her as far as you can smell her and neither do I. Fuck, I thought to myself. “I hate El Blanca introduced her into my life only complicating shit even more.”
“I don’t,” she said in a blunt tone, “but she’s not built for this.
She’ll slip and break herself without you lifting a finger.
Just… be smart about it,” she muttered. “But then again, she might be and even if she is, there is nothing we can do about that besides let whatever play out. Everything that happens is a part of the game. It’s the underworld baby. ”
I nodded admiring her ass. “The King ain’t never worried.”
Carmen stepped closer, with her eyes locked on mine. “Dom.”
“Yeah?”
She placed her hand against my chest, right over my heart. “Be careful, no matter what you do. You have a child that will want to meet his father. I don’t like how everything feels. I can’t put my finger on it, I just don’t like it.”
I covered her hand with mine pressing it down gently. “I’ma be back soon. Get some rest.”
“I’ll try,” she replied.
I leaned down and kissed her forehead before walking out. My driver was already waiting in the garage, with the engine already on. I climbed in the backseat, shutting the door as two black SUVs fell in line behind us.
“Where to, boss?” my driver asked.
“Victoria’s condo,” I said. He nodded, and the car peeled out the garage with my shadows close behind us keeping a tight formation with my eyes locked on the city as it slid past the tinted glass.
My phone vibrated again with an alert from security confirming she was still there and they were waiting on me.
Good, I thought. She wanted to run home, but home didn’t exist anymore for her unless she was ready to sit on that throne.
I was far from green and she knew that. If anybody around me even thought for one second, wanted or expected that, they better go by something slow and green like a fucking turtle because it wasn’t Dominic Royal.
However, before she went anywhere, I needed to see exactly where her head was at.
The truck ride over felt long even though we cut through traffic with ease.
By the time we hit the elevator at her condo, I could damn near smell the tension in the environment.
My head wasn’t on edge, because it never really was, since I always stayed focused.
Carmen’s voice still sounded off in the back of my mind… “Whatever it is, don’t kill her.”
When the elevator doors opened, Luis met me halfway down the hall, with his eyes wide. “She been pacing for an hour, boss,” he said. “Her packed bags and shit by the door. She’s real jumpy too.”
“Good,” I told him. “That means she knows better than to try to move too fast. She would’ve had a bullet in her head before she could walk out the front door.”
I didn’t bother knocking. I twisted the knob and pushed the door open, stepping straight into that scent of vanilla and wine that followed Victoria everywhere she went.
She was in the middle of the living room, with her heels off, her hair sleeked back, and walking in circles like a caged animal trying to find a way out.
Her head snapped up when she saw me walk in and for a second, her whole body froze like she’d seen a ghost. Then she repositioned her posture and lifted her chin.
“I’m leaving,” she said. “I’m not asking either Dom, I’m going home.
I have to be there for the funeral… for my uncle.
You told me to decide by this morning and that’s my decision. ”
I shut the door behind me, slow enough to make her nerves crazy. I didn’t say nothing at first. I just stared, letting her talk herself into a corner. “You done?” I finally asked.
She blinked with confusion showing across her face. “I’m serious, Dom. I need to go.”
“You don’t need to do shit.” I stepped forward, closing the distance between us until I could see the pulse jump in her neck. “You think you calling shots now?”
“I’m not calling shots. I just…”
“You just forgot what side you on?” I interrupted, with my voice dropping lower.
Her lips parted open, but nothing came out.
I could see it in her eyes she still felt that same pull towards me; in love with a man who technically didn’t do shit but save her while I was simply trying to do a job and obey El Blanca’s orders before I knew he was crossing me.
I moved in closer slow enough for her to try to control her breath.
The energy between us got thick and hot because it was that kind of energy that makes a person either fold or fight.
“You really wanna go back there?” I asked quietly. “You think they waiting to welcome you? You think they forgot who you stood next to when he died?” I asked. I could care less about what she thought, this was about me reading her mental.
Her throat tightened and she swallowed hard. “I can’t just stay here and act like I don’t care. He was my uncle and I do care. Nobody is against me at home, El Blanca was simply trying to teach me a lesson and while I am glad to have some kind of independency, I never wished death on him.”
“That’s your problem right there,” I said.
“You care too fuckin’ much about people who wouldn’t piss on you if you were on fire, but I could care less.
I’m a King, and sometimes King’s help people in need…
just like you needed me to help you.” I reached up and slid a piece of her hair between my fingers watching her entire body stiffen up.
Her pussy was probably throbbing so bad, she had to try to squeeze her thighs.
That hair was soft and smelled like coconuts.
I twisted it slow with my eyes still locked on hers, letting her know exactly who she was dealing with.
“You know what your problem is, Victoria?” I said, leaning in until my lips were inches from her ear. “You keep forgetting who saved your life.”
She shivered, once again trying to control her breathing.
I brushed my finger down the side of her face, tracing her jawline until it rested under her chin, forcing her to look at me.
“You was never built to lead,” I told her.
“You was built to survive and you only still surviving ‘cause I let you.”
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 closure or 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.