6. Dominic Royal
T he sun hadn’t been up an hour, but my mind had already traveled everywhere but where it needed to be. Carmen was still on my skin from the night before or should I say this mornin’. Her voice, her body, the way she grabbed me like she was scared to let go did somethin’ to me, but I couldn’t stay. I had to let her go this mornin’ ‘cause today was about business. Today was about movin’ Victoria before the vultures circled and we needed to roll out deep.
Me, Tone, Dique, and four hittas in blackout bulletproof SUVs rolled out. Victoria was in the middle, dressed like she was goin’ to brunch instead of a fuckin’ relocation. I rode shotgun next to Tone, with my Glock sittin' heavy in my lap, as my eyes locked on the mirrors, watchin’ every car that got too close for comfort. Lil Durk and Gucci Mane’s song ‘Rumors’ blast through the speakers as the tires burned up the pavement gettin’ to our destination.
“Y’all ever think we movin’ too loud?” Tone asked, glancin’ over at me.
I didn’t look at him. “Ain’t nothin’ louder than leavin’ a body in the street, so nah.”
He nodded, lit a blunt, and cracked the window just enough to let the smoke flow out.
Dique’s voice came through the radio. “We on schedule. Ain’t no tails, we good slime.”
The safe house wasn’t just a hole in the wall. It was a fuckin’ fortress disguised as high-end peace. It sat deep in a quiet neighborhood where the trees were manicured, and the streets were fresh. It sat behind a reinforced gate disguised as a luxury estate entrance when we pulled up to what looked like a million-dollar home.
Palm trees lined up the driveway and marble columns were secured into the pavement. Everything was modern on the outside, with balconies wrapped around the house made of all glass and steel. However, underneath it was equipped with panic rooms and armory cabinets disguised behind full-length mirrors. Every square foot was wired with motion sensors that even security staff trained overseas watched. She wouldn’t just be safe, she’d feel untouchable.
We parked in formation around the circular driveway shaped like a horseshoe. I stepped out first with my Timbs crunching’ against the rocks on the gravel. The sun was hot as fuck beatin’ down hard on us. I turned as Victoria stepped out of the middle SUV with her outfit damn near painted on her as tight as it was. Her Chanel shades disguised her eyes; however, her body language was straight up defiant.
She scanned the house, then glanced at me. “This is where you’re hiding me?” she asked flatly.
“No, this where I’m keepin’ you alive. Come on.” I told her. Her lips twitched, in somewhat of a smirk. Tone walked up behind me with his arms crossed over his chest, watchin' her like a hawk. As she walked, my eyes caught glances of her ass sittin’ up perfectly in her jeans.
“Nice spot,” she mumbled. “Feels like a rich girl rehab center.”
“It’s a kill switch in disguise,” I said, walkin’ past her. “Come on.” I ordered once again.
Inside, the safe house was immaculate with polished stoned floors and clean white walls with the charcoal trim. It had an open kitchen with quartz counters and a state-of-the-art surveillance feed built into a recessed wall unit. The blackout drapes were also put in place to shut down all the sunlight at the push of a button.
She walked through slowly, as her fingers trailed across the counter like she was testin' it for dust. “What happens if I get bored?” she asked. Fuck she askin’ me that shit for? I thought to myself. I ain’t her muhfuckin’ play mate.
“You won’t,” I said. “You’ll be too busy stayin’ alive.”
Tone smirked, standin’ in the corner, with his arms folded, watchin’ her movements like a dog watchin’ a door. I led her upstairs to the master suite where there was a king-sized bed, a private balcony, soundproof glass, walk-in closet, and a spa-style bath.
“This is yours,” I informed. “You come here when I say. You leave when I say. Nobody touches that door unless I authorize it.”
Victoria walked to the window and slid the curtain slightly open. “You really think they’re gonna find me?”
“They already lookin’,” I told her. “We just stayin’ ahead.”
“Are you still not going to tell me who’s after me? Or should I contact my dear uncle?”
Just like a woman, just couldn’t fuckin’ chill. She thought she wanted to know, or maybe she did know and was playin’ shit close like her uncle, but I’d soon find out. “Just relax.”
She turned around finally removin’ her shades. “You always this paranoid?”
I stepped closer in her space hoverin’ over her. “I’m still alive, ain’t I?”
She had been around Cartel all of her life. El Blanca ran shit with an iron fist so my presence shouldn’t have affected her, but I saw in her eyes that she’d fuck me if she had the opportunity. Victoria wasn’t as sweet as she seemed, and I sensed that shit. We stared at each other, and in that second, I saw she was scared, but she wasn’t strong enough to admit it. She folded her hands across her chest and blinked back the tears of fire in her eyes. She tried to hold it back, enough for her chin to twitch just slightly when she looked away. She didn’t want to be here, if she could be around me twenty-four seven she would.
“You good?” I asked.
She nodded, refusing to drop her head. “Just tired of being a fucking target.”
“You ain’t a target in here,” I said. “Not unless you turn into one.”
She deeply gazed into my eyes with a hard look understanding exactly what I was sayin’. I glared at her one last time before walkin’ off to make a phone call. Outside on the balcony, I pulled out my burner phone and called the one man I didn’t fully trust right now, El Blanca. The line clicked after two rings.
“You’re still breathing, which means Victoria is okay, good.”
I felt my jaws tighten. The only reason I even dealt with El Blanca was because we were much stronger as allies on the business side. “She’s secure,” I said. “Safe house, locked down, and teams posted.”
“I told you I wanted her with‘you’ , Dominic.”
I gritted my teeth. “And I’m tellin’ you that ain’t happenin’. I’m already jugglin’ too much. She’s safer here than in my penthouse while I’m in and outta meetings, cleanin’ up cartel messes, and duckin’ federal heat.”
“You’re getting bold.”
“I been bold. What’s the real concern, OG? You think I’m gon’ leave her? Let her get got? I don’t understand why you down my back like you don’t know me.”
There was a moment of silence before he spoke again. “You’ll rotate her back as needed.”
“Yeah, I’m with that. Night moves and emergencies only, otherwise, she gotta stay here.”
He didn’t say another word. He did what he always did and hung-up leavin’ shit in the air with no confirmation, and no denial; that’s the shit that bothered me. He was playin’ chess, but I wasn’t sure whose side the board was tilted toward no more. I thought back to the first time I met his ass… wouldn’t say I’d take it back if I could, ‘cause the truth is I wouldn’t. He played a major role in how I’d grown till this very day.
I remember the first time I met El Blanca ‘cause it would forever be stitched in my mind. It wasn’t in no boardroom, and it wasn’t over no contracts, or champagne, or none of that fancy shit. It was behind a burnt-out cigar lounge deep in Miami, back when Little Havana was still half bullets and filled with broken dreams ‘cause everybody was simply just tryna make it.
I was twenty-one and fresh off my first real run with Royal Enterprises. We were clean on paper the paper with luxury vehicles, custom shipments, global clientele but behind that, it was still baby moves. The money was good, but it wasn’t yet great. The respect was local, but not yet global and I wanted more. El Blanca smelled it on me the second I walked into that backroom.
He sat there with a fat Cuban cigar rolled up between two gold-ringed fingers ,and his linen suit was expensive. His brown skin was smooth, but his eyes were like a fuckin’ wolf. They just looked hungry and calculated. Four of his men surrounded the room. From what I scoped, two of them stood with their guns visible. The other two stood with invisible intentions. I walked in clean, wearing a gray hoodie, black jeans, and a Glock tucked in the small of my back. I didn’t sweat, nor did I let them choke me up and stutter. He smiled when he saw me, but his grin just looked evil and almost shark like.
"You Dominic Royal?" he asked, in a smooth tone.
"Yeah," I answered, still standin’ tall.
"I heard about you," he said. "You move like you aren’t scared of nobody, as if you know the streets owe you something."
I didn’t respond. Instead, I just let my silence speak for me. He puffed his cigar and leaned forward in his chair. "You’ve got something. I can see it… it’s fire, it’s smarts, and loyalty. Those are the things that money can’t buy." He tapped the ash from his cigar onto a gold tray. "But ambition without guidance?" he said, slightly cocking his head. "That gets you killed in this city."
Miami wasn’t even his city, he was from Mexico, but he did a lot of business in Miami so I could get why he felt like he knew about it. I stayed still and let him talk. I knew a salesman when I saw one. He chuckled, while leaning back. "Let’s make each other stronger, hijo. You got Royal Enterprises. It’s a pretty little setup with big dreams, but you need reach. You need protection at the ports. You need a network wider than your block." He spread his arms wide. "I can give you all of that… overnight."
"And what you want in return?" I asked, in a cold voice. I liked what I was hearin’ but I knew wasn’t shit in this world free.
He smiled again and this time it was sharper. "When problems come, you clean them for me... fast and quiet." He wasn’t offerin’ a partnership. He was offerin’ my young ass blood work which meant body disposals and message deliveries. It was loyalty without paperwork. I thought about it for maybe half a second. Royal Enterprises could only grow so far before the Feds, the rivals, and the snakes started lookin’. I needed a shield bigger than my ambition and El Blanca could offer me that. He was the fuckin’ wall I needed.
I simply nodded just once to seal the deal. It didn’t come with a handshake. However, with a body droppin' forty-eight hours later, the next three years, I became the ghost El Blanca sent when problems needed silencin'. Snitches, rivals, and loose ends, I buried 'em all. It wasn’t no witnesses, no evidence, and no mercy. In exchange, Royal Enterprises exploded. My international shipments were protected. Dirty customs officers were paid off. Front businesses was flourishing under our parents’ names. Luxury cars rolled outta our warehouses like candy outta a factory. Doors were stuffed with kilos, dashboards were lined with uncut diamonds, and tires were packed with cash.
We cleaned money so good, even the banks smiled when we walked in. El Blanca started callin’ me his "young lion… the Miami King." Muhfucka said I was the future and when the old wolves fell, I'd be the one left runnin’ shit. He told everybody about me. But now, the gut that kept me alive since I was a teenager was screamin’ at me ‘cause El Blanca wasn’t actin’ the same. The calls got colder, the demands got heavier, and his orders were less about trust and more about control. The streets were whisperin’ with rumors about older rival Cartels losin’ power to the younger ones, but I blocked the shit out. I prayed like hell that wasn’t the case with El Dorado... the same cartel tryin’ to push into Miami like they owned it.
I stood by El Blanca for years and buried bodies for him. I protected his blood and made myself a shield he leaned on whenever shit got heavy. But loyalty ain’t blind and it damn sho’ ain’t stupid. And my loyalty? It was startin’ to feel like a noose tightenin’ around my fuckin’ neck.
I snapped from my thoughts and stayed posted for another hour, goin’ over protocol with security, double checkin’ the surveillance feeds, and makin’ sure the back-up generators were runnin’ clean. As I got ready to leave, I passed the lounge area where Victoria sat on the couch, quiet. She was watchin’ old fight footage on the TV of heavyweight brawls. She looked up at me when she noticed me watchin’ her.
“You like boxin’?” I asked.
She nodded. “My uncle used to make me watch it. He said it was the best way to understand life. Take hits, keep moving.” She shrugged picking at her nails. When she looked up again, she had that look in her eyes.
I stared at the screen. “You ever fight back?”
She looked me dead in the eyes. “Only when I have to.”
For a brief moment... I respected her. Not trusted, not liked, but I understood. I sat next to her ignorin’ the chaos around us. I could smell her fresh scent fillin’ the room. “It’s more you wanna say… say it.”
She sighed long and hard allowing her eyes to bounce around before she spoke. “If I’m gonna be in Miami, I at least want to be able to have some kind of fun and not sit in a safe house being watched like a little girl. I’m not as fragile as you may think I am Dom,” she said slowly lickin’ her lips. Her eyes shot down to the middle of my jeans.
Had she not been El Blanca’s niece, I probably would’ve fucked her. I shook my head and told her the truth. “You don’t want me, trust me… this shit look good, but a lot comes with me. You’d be round here stressed the fuck out… this ain’t for you. Just chill out and let me figure this shit out.” I told her standin’ up. Her gaze never left mine. I placed my hand underneath her chin and brought my face as close to hers as possible with our lips damn near brushing across each other’s. “I can promise if you playin’ some kind of game with El Blanca, he’ll never see yo’ pretty lil eyes again Victoria… in the meantime, stay put and I got you.” I gave her a burner phone that had one of my encrypted numbers in it already. “If I’m not around, and you need me, just call me.”
With that, I left the house with my chest tight, and head spinnin’. I still had work to do so my next stop was to Royal Enterprises, my Coral Way location. I needed to see who was slackin’. Soon as I pulled up, the iron gates parted slowly, and the cameras rotated. My hittas snapped to attention. I walked in and the scent of leather and success hit me instantly. The Bentleys were lined up on the floor as well as the Porsche trucks lined up with modified trunks. The walls gleamed under the lights. It looked like heaven to the naked eyes but behind all that it was dirty work. I spotted the manager sweatin’ behind the desk. I knew his eyes always hated to see me comin’.
“Shipment from Panama delayed!” he blurted. “It’s a dock glitch.”
I stepped close, grippin’ the edge of his desk. “Bill, ain’t no glitches.”
He swallowed hard. “We’ll fix it. I’ll make a call… trust me.”
“Nah, you’ll make sure nobody talks, ain’t no paper slips, and no ports get flagged again because if the Feds link this location to the Emirates route,” I leaned in and my voice was ice cold. “I’ll torch the buildin’ with you in it and rebuild it in forty-eight hours. You understand me?”
He nodded fast. “Crystal clear, boss.”
I turned and walked out with my fuckin’ blood boiling, and my mind movin’ a mile a minute. I was determined to figure this shit out, even if the snakes were sittin’ right next to the throne. I didn’t give a fuck ‘bout none of that shit.