12. Carmen Royal
W e stepped out of the bedroom like nothing happened, but everybody knew better. I could still feel the heat between my thighs even after the shower, along with the slight tremble in my knees. Dom moved with that same ruthless yet calm demeanor, with his shirt pulled down just enough to hide the marks I left on his collarbone. He looked clean to the naked eye, but his ass was on fire in the inside. The second we walked into the open space, the air shifted. I could easily try to explain to people that you could literally feel the intensity of his presence, but they’d just have to be there to see it.
Tone’s eyesscanned us first and he was cool, but unreadable. His left brow slightly rose just a little, and he let out a quiet “Mhm” behind the toothpick in his mouth. That was the thing with Tone, you didn’t have a choice but to love him because he was solid, yet funny, thorough and spoke his mind while making sure he there a little joke in there every now and then.
Dique , was sprawled out across the sectional with one foot propped up, as he glanced between the two of us and let out the fakest cough, I’d ever heard in my life, followed by the fakest fucking yawn, just so he could smirk behind his hand. “Y’all done prayin’?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I replied. “Prayer went well tonight. Hell, we all need it.”
O’Shynn , leaned against the island like a queen in combat boots ready for war, but she didn’t speak. However, her stare was loud as we locked eyes. It said,‘ I knew it. Don’t let this shit get messy, look into the light girl’. I should’ve known she’d feel that way because she simply didn’t care about love or feelings and it was all business, although I knew she wouldn’t want to see Dom with anyone but me. O’Shynn ran her life like she ran those accounting books and the clubs with an iron fist that would be hard to break.
Then there wasVictoria who wasn’t even trying to hide the stare down. Her arms were crossed, and her mouth tight, with her brows slightly creased in the middle together in confusion although she was trying to dress up as nonchalance. She wasn’t fooling me because I could smell insecurity from a mile away. She didn’t know who I was in Dom’s life yet, but her instincts were already telling her,‘ You not the one he’d die for Victoria. He doesn’t even know you.’
Meanwhile, Dom didn’t acknowledge shit at all and didn’t explain shit either because truthfully, he didn’t have to if he didn’t want to. He was the Miami King, and a king didn’t answer questions from people who didn’t really hold weight unless it was people he cared about or was doing some kind of business with. He felt if you were even a person on his payroll, he didn’t owe you shit because he paid the cost to be the boss, and he did. He walked through the room with that unforgettable presence, like the kind that made grown killers shut the fuck up when he walked in.
“I ain’t talkin’ in front of everybody,” he said, in a low yet smooth voice, but it was also firm like a warning was in it. “Let’s go to the balcony. Me, O, Dique, and you too Carmen,” he said. Then he looked at Tone. “Tone, stay with her.”
That ‘her’ came out in full force and everyone knew who he meant. Victoria blanky stared trying to play it cool like she was still processing how she ended up in a place full of wolves when she didn’t even know where her leash was. We followed behind him and I went last. Before I stepped out onto the balcony, I glanced back at her, and she was still staring at me like she was searching for some kind of truth that she may not have been ready to face. I gave her a small, smile that said it all, You ain’t built for this game, sweetheart.
Outside, the Miami skyline glittered and there was truly not many places like it that’s why everyone loved Miami. The wind carried the smell of salt water and gunpowder because it still lingered in our nostrils. Dom stood at the edge of the balcony with one hand on the rail with a blunt in the other. He retrieved the bottle of Don Julio off of the table and took a swig to the head. As he lit the joint, he hit it one time with his head down like he was studying the streets he controlled. He stayed silent for a long moment while we all patiently waited. When he finally did speak, the tone in his voice was different because he was tired of fucking around, and I knew it was coming soon.
“Fuck all the bullshit, ain’t gon’ be no more waitin’ around when muhfuckas think they gon’ keep shootin’ at me and my people. It won’t be no more warnings,” he said. “Ain’t no more guesses, we in this shit and the Royal’s ain’t pussy, ain’t nobody fuckin’ us, I don’t give a fuck who it is.” He spoke and none of us said a word because we all knew our positions. He turned and looked each one of us in the eye. “Like I told ya’ll before, El Blanca played the game long enough,” he growled. “Bitch put Victoria in my lap, so I’d be the one holdin’ the bag when shit popped off. And when I died, it was gon’ look like El Dorado did it.” He leaned against the railing. “But that ain’t how it played out. We walked out that bitch alive. And now it’s time we remind everybody who really run this shit.”
O’Shynn nodded and took a swig from the bottle her damn self before hitting the joint allowing the smoke to roam around her. She always did it with so much ease it almost looked therapeutic when she closed her eyes and exhaled. “You givin’ the order?” she asked.
Dom nodded. “Yeah. We strike first and loud too.” He then looked at Dique. “Pick three of our cleanest hittas. Dress ’em up like the Moreno Cartel with the fake tats and Spanish accents and shit… make sure they look like a Moreno. I want them to hit El Blanca’s San Pedro warehouse first…. tonight.”
Dique smiled. “Bet, you want fire or finesse?”
Dom grinned. “Start with finesse, and end that shit with fire.”
O’Shynn stepped forward again. “I’ll handle the shell drops and fake chatter and shit. You know how I do. On the other hand, let ‘em think it’s beef from Venezuela somewhere and we’ll leak the shit online ourselves. Miami stays out of the fire; this is our shit.”
After O’Shynn spoke, Dom turned to me next. “How long can you keep the feds confused?”
I lifted my chin and shrugged. “Long as I got burners, fake subpoenas, and money running through offshore youth nonprofits, I can make their heads spin until Christmas.”
He simply nodded his head. “Cool, Victoria stays here, ain’t exposin’ no more of the safe houses, ” he said. “I want her ass boxed in, locked down, and quiet.”
“She gon’ get suspicious,” O’Shynn said furrowing her brows.
“Then let her, shit I don’t give a fuck” Dom replied. “I don’t give a fuck what she’s feelin’. This ain’t about her comfort, it’s about herposition . ” He stepped back, looking all of us over. “We move quiet and smart but we gon’ hit hard. I want Blanca beggin’ to breathe by the time I’m done with that muhfucka.”
I felt my chest tighten just a little because he wasn’t just leading, he was declaring war and anyone who’d underestimated him was about to feel what happens when you pushed the wrong king.
O’Shynn gave me the side eye and I knew she wanted to talk. “Carmen let me holler at you for a second.” She didn’t wait for me to reply before she rounded the corner of the balcony which positioned us on the other side a few feet away from Dom and Dique. As soon as were out of eyes view, she crossed her arms over her chest and squint her eyes with a smirk on her face. “So, what’s going on with you and Dom?”
I rose a brow and slowly licked my lips wearing my own smirk. “Don’t matter, I’m just a visa,” I shrugged. “I’m doing my job, I’m focused.”
“Girl, I keep telling you that you’re more than that even if he doesn’t say. I just don’t want you to get like these other bitches and get dickmatized especially when we’re possibly headed to a mini war.”
“Possibly?” I said, “because per Dom, it sounds like he just made the call back there. I’m not dickmatized either. I’m still stern… still solid.”
She looked as if she didn’t believe me and was analyzing me through my eyes. “Bitch please, I see the look all in your eyes and don’t think I didn’t see you give the lil princess in there that look. She wants Dom’s ass too.”
“I’m not here to fight over Dom, I’m here to fight ‘for’ Dom so it is what it is. Where you headed to?” I asked changing the subject.
“Mhm…” she hummed underneath her breath. “I’m going to finish up some accounts. I just bagged the mayor of Pasadena, California on our payroll so I have to make sure everything is lined up before I send it to you to wash. I have to get to the club tonight too.”
“For your extracurricular activities?” I asked with a half grin.
“Dom almost caught my ass the other night when he called me on FaceTime but I’m not tripping, my life is my life,” she replied. O’Shynn was definitely a cold bitch with a cold heart but in her eyes, woman to woman, I saw that familiar pain. She could front all she wanted or maybe she wasn’t fronting at all.
My eyes roamed her attire. O’Shynn came ready for war but would change in point two seconds depending on whatever the job was. “I guess I’ll check on you later. If you need me, don’t hesitate.”
“Never sis… never. I’m leaving, I’ll catch up later on. My work here is done.” She slipped out through the other sliding glass doors and left the penthouse leaving her strong stench of ‘Love Don’t Be Shy’ perfume lingering around. I joined Dom and Dique again this time without O’Shynn.
“Where O at?” He asked.
“She bagged the mayor of Pasadena, and she needs to get the paperwork done now so she can send it to me. Any currency needs to be washed by the morning.” I said catching him up.
He nodded his head and then told the rest of us. “Come on, I need ya’ll to come roll with me.”
Back inside, the vibe was still icky. Victoria was still seated with her arms crossed clenching her jaws. It was just something about her that I didn’t trust, or maybe it was just a twitch of feeling territorial jealousy because I knew she wanted more from Dom than for him to just be protecting her. Tone stood beside her with his hand on the clip of his Glock like he was justwaiting for someone to try something stupid. Dom stopped beside Tone and spoke.
“Keep her tight. If she so much as twitches funny, I wanna know ‘bout it.”
Tone gave a short nod. “She ain’t movin’ unless I say so.”
And just like that, we moved on his call not really knowing what we were heading to, but we had his back for sure. Dom lead the way with that slow, deliberate walk of a person who knew he was about to crank some shit up and planned on shaking the fucking ground. When we hit the elevator, I didn’t even look back. I let Victoria’s mind wonder while El Blanca was scheming. Hell, I was with the king and whenever he led, I followed.