Chapter 9 Carmen Royal #3
I could tell she was trying not to look nervous, and that alone almost made me smile. Dom wasn’t even doing anything. Just standing there in all black with one hand in his pocket and that same unreadable expression on his face.
I reached for the files in Nia’s hand. “You can go home.”
“You sure?”
“Yes. I’m only staying a little while.”
She looked at Dom once more, then back at me, then nodded. “Okay. I’ll be available if you need me.”
When she left, the whole office felt quieter. The overhead lights were dimmer than usual, the hallway empty, and Dom stayed right behind me the whole time, not crowding me, just close enough that I could feel him there. The second I stepped inside, I felt better.
My desk was exactly how I left it with my books, my notepads, my chair, my little gold pen holder and my favorite office candle that I barely lit. There were files stacked in organized piles because Nia knew better than to play in my office when I wasn’t here. I sat down slowly and exhaled.
Dom looked around the room, then at me. “Happy now?”
“A little.”
I laughed and picked up the top file. The next hour went by fast. I returned calls while Dom used his encrypted lines and made his own business call as I reviewed notes and corrected a draft motion Nia had left for me.
I went over scheduling conflicts for the next week and called one client personally because I needed him to hear my voice and calm down.
Then I called another because his case had gotten more complicated while I was away.
The more I worked, the more normal I felt.
Dom didn’t leave. He sat in the chair across from my desk at first, then got up after a while and started walking around the office, looking at framed certificates on the wall, picking up one of the little legal pads on my credenza, glancing out the window, checking his phone, then looking right back at me again every few minutes like he couldn’t help himself.
“You know you’re distracting,” I told him while flipping through a file.
“You know you nosey,” he replied. “You shouldn’t be watching me.”
“Well, I’m working.” I shrugged.
“You talking to me more than you working right now though.”
“That’s because you keep staring at me.”
He had a serious look on his face. “You gotta be staring at me to know I’m staring at you ma.”
I muffled my laugher. “Excuse me?”
“Exactly.”
I shook my head and kept reading. A little while later, I was on the phone with a client when another call came through on my other line.
I glanced at it and frowned because I knew the number, but not in a saved-into-my-phone kind of way.
It was one of those numbers I had memorized from using it too often over the years which meant it was important and private.
I wrapped up my current call quickly and hit the other line back immediately.
“Hello?”
My colleague and very close source, my other eyes and ears, who just so happened to be an attorney on my payroll who I mentored just in case any one of my family members got in trouble and it was a complex case or conflict of interest where I wouldn’t be able to represent them. I had two beasts, him and Marcus.
“Carmen.” Barron said from the other end.
My whole body got still. “What is it?” I raised a brow.
“I can’t stay on long.”
That made me stand up out the chair before I even realized I was doing it. Dom’s eyes followed me from across the room immediately. “What happened?” I asked again.
There was a pause first before he replied which made knots form in my stomach. “They’re coming for your husband.”
Everything inside me froze for half a second. I walked farther into the office, turning slightly away from Dom even though I knew he was already watching me.
“Who is they?” I asked carefully.
“Miami-Dade police with help from county investigators in homicide. They’re building this case around the Riverside murders.”
I placed my hand on my stomach, but I didn’t panic because I was trained for this shit. “Fuck,” I whispered.
“Someone gave them enough to move faster than expected. They’re trying to tie him directly to Maine’s killing as a retaliation for you and Kilo.”
I closed my eyes and shook my head knowing they couldn’t possibly have enough and this was a scare tactic. “How much time?”
“Not long before they should be there. They have warrants to pick him up for questioning and I’m not sure how they know, but they’re coming to your office.”
“Barron is it real?” I chuckled low and evil seeing red.
“It’s real enough that you need to act like it is. If you need me, call me.”
Then the line went dead because he had to go as we never stayed on the phone too long.
I stood there with the phone still at my ear for a second too long in my own thoughts.
When I turned around, Dom was already on his feet.
He looked at me, and whatever he saw on my face was enough to make his expression change.
“What happened ma?”
I swallowed hard, but that didn’t do nothing for the tightness in my throat. Although I wasn’t scared. I was just too busy thinking running the next steps through my head like a spinning record.
Dom took one step toward me. “Carmen. What up?”
I finally set the phone down and looked him dead in his eyes. “They’re coming for you.”