Chapter 13
Iwoke up before my alarm laying there for a moment letting myself listen.
Dom was already up, sitting on the edge of the bed with his elbows resting on his knees, and his shoulders tense with his head down like he’d been thinking for a good while.
He didn’t have to say anything because I could feel it on him.
I slowly sat up and pulled the robe around me and Dom looked over at me; whatever was in his face softened just a little bit when his eyes landed on mine.
“I’m coming with you today,” he said without much of an explanation with it. Dom never came to court with me, ever.
I breathed deep and then exhaled. “Dom…”
He shook his head before I even got the rest out. “I don’t like that I still don’t know where them bullets came from. I don’t like that shit happened out in the open. It’s too many variables today and too many cameras with too many people wanting to make a point.”
“I have security,” I reminded him.
He flexed his jaws. “You always have security, but you pregnant now and this isn’t just regular protection no more. I’m not letting nobody try their luck today. Not when the whole damn city gon’ be watchin’ you walk into that courthouse.”
He wasn’t raising his voice because like me, he didn’t have to do all of that to get his point across.
When Dom believed something, it came out like law.
I looked at him for a long time weighing in on what he was saying.
If Dom came to that courthouse, the press would lose their minds.
Every camera would swing. Every headline would be twisted, and they’d try to frame the trial as a cartel interference, and intimidation, whatever the fuck sounded dramatic enough for an evening segment.
But the last time I went somewhere without him, I had bullets shooting past my head and this wasn’t just my life anymore.
“I want you there,” I finally said, and it wasn’t fear talking, it was simply the truth. To hell with the press.
Dom exhaled like something in him really was bothered. He stood up and came over to me placing his hand on the side of my belly giving me a kiss.
“I got you,” he said.
“I know,” I whispered back.
I showered and dressed with intention today and never emotion.
See you didn’t wear bright colors and things of that nature in high profile cases just to be mistaken for too girly or fragile.
I wore a deep charcoal grey blazer dress, that was tailored clean with a sharp collar structure and my waistline fitted right above the curve of my stomach.
I also had on my sheer black stockings and my black Guiseppe heels letting them know that I was here to work.
Underneath the blazer dress, I strapped the maternity ballistic band Dom had custom made thin and flexible barely noticeable under the fabric for extra protection.
My hair was sleek down my back, flat ironed bone straight.
My makeup clean and nothing dramatic. I wore subtle diamond studs, and my wedding ring, that was it.
When I stepped out of the closet, Dom was fastening his watch.
He wore a black-on-black fit, his iced out cross chain across his chest and his sleeves rolled just enough to show the tattoos.
He didn’t wear the flashy jewelry today because his presence was the statement.
He turned when he heard me and just stared for a second.
“You look like money and death,” he told me. “You look un-fuckable with.”
I smiled. “That’s the goal.”
He reached for my coat and slid it over my shoulders himself and kissed my forehead helping me to feel more grounded. “We walk in together,” he said no questions asked.
“Together,” I confirmed.
The ride to the courthouse stayed quiet, but not uncomfortable.
Dom sat beside me in the backseat with one hand resting on my thigh and his thumb moving in slow circles like he was just thinking while watching the world outside through tinted glass.
Rell drove today and another two shadows followed behind in an unmarked SUV.
We didn’t do too many shadows trailing us because we didn’t want anything to draw attention to us.
We only wanted clean and controlled movement, plus a lot of the cartel would be here disguised anyway.
When we turned the corner toward the courthouse, the energy shifted immediately. The crowd was already there with press, supporters, protesters, and onlookers, even some law students. Everybody was thirsty for a moment to say they were there. Cameras were raised before the car even stopped.
Dom’s strong hand gently squeezed my thigh, and we waited about three seconds after the car stopped because timing mattered.
Leaving the car too fast made you look reactive and too slow, made you look hesitant.
Dom got out first standing tall with his black shirt open at the collar.
He didn’t look like security. He didn’t look like a spectacle.
He looked like everyone knew his name, so it didn’t even have to be said.
The crowd immediately shifted the way crowds do when something serious steps into the space and they wanted the first glance.
He came around my side of the car and opened the door for me extending his hand.
I took it and I stepped out slowly keeping my balance as the cameras lit up like fireworks.
The flashes weren’t frantic, but they were ridiculous and just wouldn’t let us live because for me, I wasn’t just the attorney anymore.
I was the woman the city had whispered about for weeks and couldn’t keep my name out of their mouths.
I was the one standing next to the man they didn’t know how to define.
Dom didn’t touch me possessively because he didn’t have to.
His presence around me said everything. The courthouse didn’t allow guns, and everyone had to be scanned but Dom always had his ways.
We walked forward together with Rell and the shadows blending into the crowd instead of around us, but around the space. Security wasn’t in front of us nor behind us, but everywhere attention wasn’t looking.
A reporter yelled my name first. “Carmen! Carmen, do you believe your client is being unfairly targeted due to his background?”
Another voice shouted over them. “Dom! Is your presence meant to intimidate the prosecution today?”
Dom didn’t answer as the cameras pushed closer. My chin lifted high, just enough to let them know this was my show. “This is a court of law,” I said with my voice stern enough to let them know I meant business. “Everything will be addressed where it should be, in the courtroom.”
I didn’t need to give any extra words or emotions and no leeway for them to pull narratives from.
Dom didn’t look at them at all. He didn’t even blink in their direction.
That was what made them more afraid than if he had.
He scanned rooftops, windows, street eagles’ views, and entry points as well as exit points.
His attention was on threat, not spectacle and everyone felt it.
Inside the courthouse doors, the noise settled down.
Dom leaned in just enough so only I could hear him. “I’ll be right here,” he muttered.
I nodded with my eyes set forward and levelheaded.
By the time we reached the double doors to the courtroom, everything felt good to me even air because I knew I could beat this case.
Dom stayed one step behind my shoulder, making sure he wasn’t overshadowing but anchoring instead.
Rell and the shadows blended into the room before we crossed the threshold as they claimed seats without needing direction to do so.
Nobody pointed and nobody whispered names, but the room recognized power when it entered.
Kilo was seated at the defense table already wearing a dark suit and a fresh cut with his shoulders back and he wasn’t wearing chains at all.
The only thing he had was his ankle monitor outside of his clothes and shoes.
He looked up when the doors opened and the judge’s bailiff announced our entrance.
His eyes hit Dom’s first and he didn’t have a look of surprise and not fear either…
it was just a look of respect. The kind of respect real men gave each other when they understood exactly who they were dealing with.
Then his eyes landed on me and the shift was immediate almost like he was relieved I lived another day to be able to show up.
Kilo trusted me with his life right now because truth was, it was surely in my hands.
He stood up when I reached the table because that’s how I trained my clients to greet me with respect the same as I’d do them.
“Morning,” I smiled.
“Boss lady,” he said with a slight nod. “You look like you came to bury somebody.”
“I did,” I replied smoothing my hands over my blazer sliding into my seat. “And it isn’t you.” I winked.
A slight smile spread on his face before he leaned closer using a tone that only I could hear. “They whispering ‘bout yo’ husband being here.”
“He is, and he isn’t going anywhere.”
“You think that’s gon’ draw heat?” he asked.
I clicked my pen so the ballpoint could pop out. “Everything draws heat. The question is who gets burned.”
Kilo nodded, sitting back. The prosecutor walked in next all sharp wearing a navy suit with too much confidence for someone who’d been losing all week. His eyes scanned to Dom in the room and stayed there half a second too long as he swallowed hard. The judge entered, and everyone stood up.