Chapter 36
“Domino”
Alejandro stood before Luis Carranza, a worker who had clearly found himself entangled in a web of deceit. He was quiet, composed, and almost bored, but it was the kind of calmness that made men unravel.
Luis was already sweating through his shirt… and not from the heat, but from knowing he got caught.
Finally, Alejandro broke the silence, his voice and even, measured tone that held an underlying threat. “We trusted you with the docks,” he began, a frown creasing his otherwise impassive face. “Inventory comes in, inventory goes out. It’s simple.”
Luis's eyes widened as he shook his head fervently. “I ain’t steal nothing! I swear!” he denied.
“You did,” Alejandro interjected. “And even worse… you thought you’d get away with it. You’ve been shaving weight off every shipment—a little here, a little there—thinking we wouldn’t notice.”
Luis’s eyes darted between us. “It… it wasn’t like that! I was gonna put it back!” he stammered, his eyes pleading.
“Tú no me tomas nada prestado (You don’t borrow from me),” Alejandro gritted, his tone never rising, but somehow hitting harder.
“Por favor… tengo hijos.” (Please… man, I got kids.)
Alejandro didn’t even look at him when he spoke again. He just stepped aside slowly, like he was clearing the stage. It was a calculated move; a way of passing the weight of the moment onto me.
“Domino.”
That was it… just my name.
I stepped forward, rolling my sleeves back, slow, unhurried, letting Luis see exactly who was about to handle him.
The dread washed over his face immediately, panic tightening his features. “Nah… nah. Not him! Please! I’ll fix it! I’ll fix everything!” he begged, his voice cracking with desperation.
“Should’ve thought about them before you touched money that wasn’t yours,” I responded, my voice devoid of any pity.
There was no need for a gun—my presence was enough to instill fear. Instead, I grabbed the metal bucket sitting off to the side and dragged it across the floor. The sound alone made him flinch.
“What… what are you doing?” Luis asked, his voice trembling with rising panic.
I didn’t answer.
I tipped the bucket forward slightly, allowing him a glimpse of its contents.
Clear, cold, and unforgiving water.
Luis’s breathing quickened as realization dawned on him. “No! Please no! I beg of you!”
I grabbed the back of his head before he could move, forcing him forward.
“Relax. This part only feels long if you fight it,” I murmured, a dark calmness settling over me.
Luis screamed, thrashing in a desperate attempt to escape, but his struggles only served to tighten my hold on him. My fingers pressed down on his head, pushing his face into the water. His body jerked violently, the flailing of his limbs a frantic dance against the inevitable.
I held him there, feeling his resistance weaken, lifting him just enough when his body began to give out, allowing a gasp of air before plunging him back under.
Again… and again, each submersion shorter and quieter than the last..
. until the fight left him completely. Finally, I released him, his body slumping forward, water coursing down his face, lifeless.
Silence filled the room.
Alejandro adjusted his cufflinks before finally addressing the clean-up crew. “Clean it up,” he instructed.
Then, we turned and walked out of the warehouse, our footsteps echoing in the silence left behind, as if it were just another day at the office.
Because to us, it was always just business.
Top of Form
As soon as we made it back to Alejandro’s office, he wasted no time, going behind his desk and pouring himself a drink.
He took a sip, then said, almost to himself, “I think people would be more appreciative of life if they knew exactly when it’s going to end for them.”
I didn’t respond right away.
He glanced at me. “Seriously, if people woke knowing the date of their death, most would move differently… value things differently.”
I leaned against the wall slightly. “Or panic.”
A small, devilish smirk appeared on his face. “That too,” he agreed. “But one thing they surely wouldn’t do?” Alejandro set his glass down. “Is steal from me… not if they know how close they’ll be to losing everything.”
I nodded. “Some people don’t think that far ahead.”
“Some people don’t think at all,” he corrected, then waved his hand lightly, like he was done with the subject. “You can take the rest of the day off.”
I frowned slightly. “You sure? It’s still early.”
Alejandro leaned back in his chair. “I’m sure… unless something comes up.”
I nodded. “Aight. Call me if you need anything.”
I turned to walk out, hand already reaching for the door, but I stopped.
Bottom of Form
I rubbed my face, breathing hard.
I broke the code by touching what I shouldn’t have. And even if Alejandro never said Ajori was off limits, he didn’t have to; that shit should’ve been understood.
I lived by loyalty, and that was damn near betrayal.
I turned around slowly. “I need to talk to you… man-to-man.”
Alejandro tilted his head. “Man-to-man? That’s a first. That serious, huh?”
“Yeah.”
He didn’t interrupt, just waited.
“I slept with Ajori,” I revealed. “I ain’t gon’ lie or spin it. It happened, and I take full responsibility. I ain't blaming her, or saying it was a mistake, but I do know she’s your daughter, and I owe you the respect of saying it to your face before anybody else tries to.”
Alejandro leaned back in his chair, glaring at me. “You fucked my daughter, Domino?”
I didn’t flinch. “Yes, sir.”
He stood up real slowly; the type of slow that had me questioning if I was about to get hugged, hemmed up, or if that was the last time I’d be breathing.
He walked toward me and stopped just inches away… then he smirked. “I knew it wouldn’t be long.”
That caught me off guard. “Huh?”
He laughed, low and rough. “Domino, I’ve been around long enough to know when two people done crossed that line.
You think I ain’t seen the way you look at her?
The way she looks at you? She came down to breakfast looking like she’d seen God, and you was avoiding eye contact like a teenager.
I ain’t blind. I’m old school, and we watch before we speak. ”
I chuckled awkwardly, but I was still tense.
He got serious again. “No worries. I’m not upset.
You came to me like a man… that’s why I ain’t kill you where you stand.
I respect a man who owns his shit. That being said…
you have my blessing. But hear me when I say this.
I love you like a son, Domino. You already know that.
But that girl? That’s my mija you touched.
I already failed Ajori by not being around when she needed me.
She doesn’t need another man with a name and a story breaking her in pieces and possibly fuck her up worse.
If you hurt her—emotionally, physically, mentally, I don’t give a damn what kind—I will hurt you.
I’ll bury our bond, our history, and our loyalty six feet deep.
That girl is the last thing I got to make peace with this life I built, and I will not let you fumble that. ”
“I won’t hurt her,” I promised.
“I mean it, Damari,” he added. “You love her like a man is supposed to, or you leave her alone… no in-between. She doesn’t need confusion or secrets, and she damn sure doesn’t need you second-guessing her because of your loyalty to me. You’re loyal to her now.”
I nodded slowly. “I hear you, sir.”
“No, son. I need you to feel me.”
Then he clapped my shoulder hard like a rite of passage had just taken place.
“I’m powerful, but I ain’t eternal. And if the day comes where I ain’t good no more, somebody gotta hold it down.”
My face hardened. “Say it plainly.”
“It’s clear that Ajori doesn’t trust easily, but if she gave you her most prized possession, then she obviously trusts you… even if it’s just a little. Which means, whenever I’m gone, I need to know she isn’t left in no fuckin' ruins.”
“You think I’d let anything happen to her?”
“I’d hope you wouldn’t. Still, don’t let feelings make you soft, and don’t let her sweet face distract you from the kind of wolves that’d love to rip her apart just to get to one of us.” Then he smirked. “Now let’s go celebrate.”
I blinked. “Celebrate?”
He took a sip of his drink. “Yeah. Who knows? I might get to see my daughter fall in love before I leave this world.”
That hit me like a sucker punch.
It wasn’t what he said, it was how he said it.
“You talkin’ like you’ll be leaving me soon. You good? You need me to handle something?”
Alejandro looked me over and smiled that unreadable mafia-don smile. “What I got to handle, you can’t solve with a gun, Domino.”
“So talk to me then.”
“Soon. Not today.” His voice turned low and cool. “Today, we celebrate. I need to make a call first. I’ll reach out when I’m ready.”
I nodded, then stepped outside, needing air after that convo.
I found Marcos by the back of the SUV, checking one of the rifles like he was just killing time. As soon as he looked up, I could tell he was already reading my face.
“You good?” he asked.
I shook my head. “I don’t know. Something about Alejandro ain’t sitting right with me.”
Marcos lowered the gun, giving me his undivided attention. “What you mean?”
“The way he was just talkin’ and how he’s been moving lately. He said some shit about hoping to see Ajori fall in love before he die, like he knows something we don’t.”
Marcos frowned. “You think he’s sick?”
“That crossed my mind.”
Marcos shook his head, dismissing that thought as quickly as it came. “Nah. If Alejandro was sick, like that, I’d think he’d tell you before anybody. You like a son to that man.”
I nodded. “That’s what I was thinking too.”
The worry still sat there like lead in my chest.
Before either of us could say more, Ajori appeared in the doorway, wrapped in a soft robe.
“Hey, Marcos.”
“Sup, Ajori?”
She faced me. “When you get done, can you come to my room? We need to talk.”
“Yeah,” I replied, curious.
Ajori responded with a polite head nod, then she turned and disappeared back inside.
The second she was out of earshot, Marcos’s head snapped back to me. “Come to her room? That’s what we on now? That,” he said, pointing toward the house, “didn’t look like no regular conversation; that looked like after conversation.”
I didn’t answer.
Marcos’s eyes widened. “Hold up. Bro, are you fuckin’ Ajori?”
I sucked my teeth. “Lower your damn voice.”
He stared at me like I lost my damn mind. “You are, huh?”
“Yeah,” I confessed.
“Yo… are you serious right now? Dom, that’s the boss’s daughter!”
“Calm down!” I hissed. “You acting like I don’t know that shit. And before you blow a gasket, Alejandro already knows.”
Marcos blinked. “He knows?”
“Yeah. I told him myself…. right before coming to holla at you.”
“And he ain’t kill you?”
I let out a short breath. “I’m standing here, ain’t I?”
Marcos shook his head slowly. “You got some big-ass balls, my boy.”
“And a bigger dick attached to them,” I bragged. “But I also got respect. That’s his blood. I wasn’t about to let him hear it from somebody else. He gave me his blessing, though. But made it real clear. If I hurt her, he’ll kill me.”
Marcos let out a bitter laugh and rubbed the back of his neck. “That sound about right.”
“He said she’s already been hurt enough by his absence, and that she don’t need to feel used by the one person who makes her feel safe.”
Marcos didn’t say anything for a second, then, “You gon’ be able to handle that?”
I met his eyes. “I already am.”
“You were moving differently the moment yo’ ass laid eyes on her.”
“I guess you can say that.”
“Nigga, please. You was changing routes and schedules like she was an employee with work restrictions. I guess that love at first sight shit do be real?”
“I guess so.”
“My pops always said you’ll know within the first five minutes if it could be real.”
“Sounds like a wise man.”
Marcos studied me for a long moment, then his voice dropped. “So you serious about her?”
“I wouldn’t have touched her if I wasn’t.”
He nodded once. “Then do right by her, Dom. I mean that.”
“I plan to.”
Marcos stepped closer, jabbing a finger lightly into my chest. “’Cause I’d hate to be the one that gotta take you out if you fuck her over.”
I smirked faintly. “You’d have to catch me first, nigga.”
He laughed, then pulled me into a quick one-arm hug. “Go talk to her.”
I nodded and turned toward the house, heart thumping harder than any mission ever made it beat.
That wasn’t business; it was personal. And that scared me more than anything.