Chapter 17
DOMINIC
S ophie and I got out of the car after I parked it on the street beside Thunder Claw.
Maxim’s shift started at eight in the morning, so it was just me taking Sophie for her training here.
Well, Maxim would drop Sophie off at four in the morning if I asked, but that was just an excuse to see Samaira.
Sophie stared at me from top to bottom. “What’s up with the suit? It’s six in the morning.”
I love how Samaira looks at me in my suit. “I have to go to work directly from here.”
As we neared the bar, we encountered other women walking into the entrance.
Two ladies noticed us and gave Sophie a big smile.
She instantly smiled back and joined them.
Ever since she had started learning to fight, Sophie had begun to smile again.
She’d set up a huge boxing bag at our parents’ place, and according to Mom, she had taken to hitting it at all hours of the day.
Her posture had improved significantly, and her arms were starting to develop muscle definition .
I followed the ladies through the entrance.
There, grabbing a coffee at the bar, was the woman who tortured my every waking and sleeping moment.
She was smiling as she chatted with the server when her eyes met mine.
They widened, and her lips stretched into an even bigger smile, sending my heart galloping in my chest. I moved closer to where she stood. "Good morning."
Her gaze made a slow sweep over my body, from my shoes to my neatly styled hair. I was tempted to flex my muscles in the suit, but I knew she’d just laugh at me. "Good morning to you as well."
I ordered my coffee and turned to Samaira. She was in her sweatpants and a dark red tank top, showing off her tattooed tiger sleeve. One day, I was going to thoroughly worship that tattoo with my mouth. “I’m surprised you’re not teaching the class today.”
Once I got my coffee, she led me to one of the booths at the back of the restaurant where she’d set up her laptop. “Sloane and Tara can handle it today. I actually found some pretty damning evidence that I wanted to show you.”
Excitement shot through my system. The darkness and the ever-simmering rage to tear apart those scums bubbled through my veins. “Show me.”
We took a seat on the bench against the wall, and she opened her laptop.
“So I decided to go through the voice recordings of Thomas Cooper Sr. first since he sounded a bit too sketchy. And you wouldn’t believe how loose his tongue got after we left.
In the time that we placed the recording device, he’s had three extremely incriminating phone calls. ”
She had wired earbuds connected to a laptop. She gave me one earbud as she placed another in her ear. She leaned closer to me, making it more comfortable to share the earbuds, her scent of fresh oranges and honey flooding my senses and soothing my frayed edges.
As soon as she hit Play, the voice in my ears crackled a little before I heard the one-sided conversation that Thomas seemed to be having on his phone.
“Boss, we might have a problem. I thought the matter was resolved months ago, but it seems the problem has resurfaced. We couldn’t have taken care of the problem then.
It was too risky. Yes, boss. I agree it was Tommy’s responsibility. I’ll take care of it, boss.”
My hands were clenched into a fist as blood roared through my ears at the phone call.
While it didn’t provide much confirmation, it didn't sound good. Samaira must’ve sensed what I was thinking because she jumped forward to the next flagged conversation.
“This could be anything, but listen to this conversation with Tommy.”
She hit Play, and Thomas Cooper’s voice rang in my ear. “You idiot. You had one job, and you couldn’t do that right…I don’t want to hear it, Tommy. Do you know how much trouble we’re in? No, you’re in? I don’t care if she raised a hand on you…”
My eyes snapped to Samaira as Thomas continued to speak. “No, you stay in Amsterdam. People are starting to ask questions and inquire…I’ll handle it here…I’ll let you know when it’s safe for you to return…I don’t know, dammit, probably a week or two.”
Samaira paused, and I instantly pulled off the earbuds. “It is him, isn’t it?”
She chewed her lips as she nodded. “Seems that way to me. Now, this is the last recording that seems relevant. He’s again talking to the boss.”
I put the earbuds back in. “Boss, I’ve talked to Tommy and asked him to stay put in Amsterdam…He’ll handle the delivery there, and I’ll have one of my trusted men handle the shipment here…He does regret the insubordination, boss…I understand…Understood, boss.”
She hit Stop, and silence ensued as I tried to get my breathing under control. I handed her the earbuds and ran my hand through my hair. “Tell me we’re going to Amsterdam to handle him.”
She rubbed her eyes and took a sip of her coffee.
“As much as this conversation feels like they’re talking about Sophie, we don’t exactly have a confession or clear proof of what he did.
I’ll ask Tara to track Tommy in Amsterdam.
We need to get some visual confirmation that he’s indeed in Amsterdam.
Let’s give it a week to figure out his location, see if it’s better to wait for him here or grab him there. ”
I nodded, but waiting wasn’t one of my strong suits, and the urgency to get Tommy and exact my revenge on him was tearing me up from the inside.
Despite not having a confession or concrete proof, my gut told me it was Tommy.
Something in the way Thomas Cooper Sr. looked at me, his gaze boring into me to figure me out, had put me on edge.
As easy as it might be to grab him in the city as opposed to Amsterdam, I needed Samaira to know that we didn’t lack in resources.
“Samaira, if it’s about the resources, you will have whatever you need to get him from Amsterdam.
Private jet, security passes, hiring a team in Amsterdam. Whatever you need, you got it.”
“Oh, I know. But it's not just money and logistics. We can figure that out. It’s about whether he is indeed your culprit. While we don’t mind bringing in a person for questioning, Tommy is the son of the state attorney.
Are you ready to make an enemy of such a person?
He would certainly have more people in his pockets, and he could prosecute you without much proof, given the threat you pose to him and his son. ”
My mind spun at the risks that I’d be putting my family under by going head-to-head with the state attorney. But what choice did I have? I needed Tommy to be buried and wiped from the face of the earth, no matter the consequences.
My eyes burned with resolve as I looked at Samaira. “Whatever it takes, Samaira.”
Her eyes softened with understanding, and slowly, as if she were afraid I’d move away, she reached out her hand toward mine, the one that was resting on my thighs. I sat still, not wanting to spook her but needing to feel her skin against mine.
My heart thudded in my chest with the raw need coursing through me, the need to feel her closer, to find that support in her.
Her fingers merely grazed my knuckles, and just that slight touch shot an electric zing through my body.
She quickly pulled away, clenching her hand in a fist. My heart sank at the loss, and I nearly whimpered.
I barely held myself in check as her breath hitched, our eyes meeting.
Something akin to disappointment shone in hers, which I was sure reflected in mine.
Not wanting to spook her further, and knowing I didn’t have the permission to touch her, I took a sip of my coffee, swallowing the ever-growing urge to hold her.
I cleared my throat, trying to steer us toward a safer topic. “So if we’re waiting for Tommy to return or for more concrete evidence, what are your plans?”
She shrugged. “Get some training in. Help the girls with their missions. The usual.”
I wanted to ask her more about her missions when the door leading to the basement opened, and women from the classes downstairs started to make their exit. “Guess they’re done,” Samaira muttered.
Sophie appeared at our booth in the next minute, sweat running down the side of her face and a bright smile lighting up her eyes. “You guys are still busy?”
Samaira quickly shook her head, a soft smile on her face. “We were just finishing.”
Need screamed inside me as she started to get up from beside me. “How about we grab some breakfast?”
One side of her lips tugged up in a smile. “We do serve pretty good breakfast here, you know. We could’ve ordered it.”
Sophie met my gaze, and by the mirth in her eyes, I knew she understood what I was trying to do. “Samaira, Dom and I have a really special place where we usually grabbed breakfast together when I lived in the city. We would love to take you there.”
Her eyes widened. “Uh…now?”
Sophie gave a soft chuckle. “Yes. Of course now. C’mon, Samaira. Please? It would be fun.”
Knowing that there wasn’t a person on earth who could refuse Sophie when she got all cute, I let her do her thing as I hid the smile that was threatening to slip on my face.
I kept my eyes innocent and hopeful as Samaira looked between the two of us, her conflicted expression nearly undoing me.
Before I could say she didn’t have to come, she sighed. “Fine. Let’s go.”
She closed her laptop and gave it to the woman at the reception desk, asking her to hand it to Sloane. We walked to the car, with me leading the way. Sophie talked to Samaira about the moves they had learned that day, a few steps behind.
As soon as I unlocked the car and got in, I saw the two of them shuffling around outside. I was hoping against hope that Sophie would do right by me. My wish came true when the front passenger door opened, and the tigress slipped into the seat right beside me.