Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
It rained all that morning and for much of the day.
Dom had gone to sleep, but I was no longer tired, in fact I was antsy.
A part of me wanted to leave the apartment, to have Dom drive me somewhere, anywhere.
But he needed sleep, and I wasn’t feeling up to traversing the building alone.
Instead, I took a long shower then cooked myself some of the food Dom had brought from my place.
After, I did what little cleaning I could muster before the pain started becoming too much.
I took some pain meds, longing for the pills Andrea had given me as they were much more effective.
Taking a small rest, I tried to do some therapy exercises, yoga and stretches mostly, before I found myself back on the couch.
The rest of the time was me staring out the kitchen window, trying not to think about what had happened last night and failing miserably.
It was hard at first to believe him, but I didn’t want to think Leslie would pull such a stunt on me, not when I was in such a vulnerable state.
He really must have heard me say I wanted him to stay.
And maybe I really had said something. We both hadn’t been clear-headed either so I couldn’t blame him fully for what happened even if I wanted to.
I felt a little guilty even if it had been a mistake.
I wasn’t usually the type to swing guys around like that.
But I couldn’t deny how different Leslie felt.
Unlike Dom’s protective, tender nature, Leslie had been so eager, hungry, and unrestrained.
It was a wonder I hadn’t realized it wasn’t Dom right away.
Things were getting complicated again, and if I didn’t stop this now, I was bound for a repeat of several months ago.
I sat for a long time contemplating what I was going to do. What I needed to do. No matter how much it was going to hurt, I knew I needed to make a decision on how I was going to deal with this situation. Not just with my sister, but with the twins.
When the rain started to disperse and the light of day was beginning to fade, the door to Dom’s bedroom opened.
He stepped out and greeted me with a smile before turning for the bathroom.
I heard the shower run and glanced at the clock, seeing it was already four in the afternoon.
I waited patiently until he was finished.
He came out twenty minutes later and slipped back into the bedroom, returning in a fresh pair of clothes.
He went to the fridge and opened it. As he bent to reach for something inside, he paused then looked over at me, pointing into the fridge then making a gesture for drinking.
“Uh…yeah, about that,” I started. “I might owe you a case of beer.”
He arched his brow. “Drank last night?” he signed.
“A little.”
He took out a can of cola and shut the fridge. Opening it, he took a large swing as he came to sit by me. He offered me some, but I shook my head and he set the can on the coffee table.
His hands moved swiftly to ask. “How are you feeling?”
Resting my arms on my knees, I shrugged. “Still, um…sore. But I think the swelling has gone down a bit finally.”
I nearly jumped as his hand reached up to my face, fingers brushing along my cheek. He took out his phone and typed, “It looks like it has.”
I studied his face. Turning toward him, I opened my mouth, ready to tell him what happened last night. But then I closed it promptly, not sure how to start. I cast my eyes down and watched him type out more instead.
“I want you to know, I’m still doing what I can to look for your sister. I might have some more leads, but nothing concrete.”
“Leads toward what Lez found out?” I asked. “About this Sicaro guy?”
His thumbs flew across the keyboard. “Still looking into it.”
“Your inside man didn’t know anything about that name?”
“He claims not to, but…I’m starting to think he’s covering. The higher-ups in the brotherhood are being extra careful with who knows what information. They probably have suspicions about who’s a rat.”
“Which means?”
He fixed me with a hard frown. “Means my guy is no longer reliable.”
“Great.”
He hesitated before typing more. “We’re going to have to lie low for a little longer. I’ll keep looking online or through my connections, but the more we hunt around for snakes, the more they are going to retaliate, understand?”
I nodded. It was hard to have patience knowing my sister might be tied up or locked away somewhere, but I needed to put my faith in Dom. We needed to move at the right time, when he was certain he knew where she could be or who this Sicaro guy was.
He put his arm around me and I put my head on his shoulder. “Thank you, Dom,” I said. “Really.” His arm tightened. I saw his thumb move across his phone before he showed me.
“I’ll do more searching around. For now, come with me.” Using the arm wrapped around me, he pulled me up from the couch.
I steadied myself. “Where are you going?”
He smirked as he typed. “We’re taking a little drive.”
“Where?”
“You’ll see.”
My brows furrowed, trying to read his face. “Dom.”
He winked at me. Making sure I had my footing, he let me go. “Fifteen minutes,” he signed. “Be ready. I’ll be right back.”
Before I could protest, he was out the door and out of sight.
I stared at the bathroom mirror as I combed out my hair, trying to cover the bruises on the side of my face.
What makeup Dom had brought back from my apartment helped cover some of the dark blotches but only a little.
Nothing was going to hide the cut on my lip or along my eye.
Still, I looked a lot better even if it was all just hidden.
I put on a dark green tank top and a pair of shorts, a simple black pair that showed off a little more of my legs, which also had bruising that I attempted to cover.
I thought about wearing long pants but I didn’t want to be hot and uncomfortable.
Thankfully, my braces helped cover some of the damage too.
By the time I was done scrutinizing my face, Dom had returned.
He wore dark jeans and a black shirt, looking mighty fine with his still slightly damp hair.
I gave myself one last look over before I followed him to the door.
I used only one of the crutches this time to have something to lean against to give my left leg a break.
We slowly made our way to the elevator and took it down to ground level.
Then I followed him again through the strange club which was no longer empty like last time, but had a few staff, and several groups of people, some sitting together in the lounge, others at the bar, several of which were wearing leather jackets with the same symbol on the backs, like the patch I had seen on Lez—twin knives encircled by slash marks. Two of the men looked toward Dom.
“We ridin’?” one said.
Dom nodded. He signed something at them and they got up from the bar, stalking past the open door to the outside and heading for a row of cars. Dom gestured to the bartender who got him a couple waters. He handed one to me.
“You and Lez really own this place, don’t you?” I asked before taking a sip.
He nodded. On his phone, he typed, “The whole building is ours. The bar is new.”
“Got tired of stealing cars and selling weapons, huh?”
He shrugged. “We wanted to do better this time around than when we owned the Serpent Kings. Plus, Micheal said we needed to get off the criminal shit as much as possible.”
“Micheal isn’t wrong.”
Dom smirked. “Can’t say we're a hundred percent though. Gotta keep our income circulating. And our reputation.”
I snorted. “Yeah, of course.” I took another sip of my drink while peering around. “It’s impressive though. Do you have plans for the rest of the building? Besides making it your homebase?”
His fingers flew along the keys before showing me.
“We’re fixing a lot of it up. A few studios and apartments were already renovated when the last owner attempted to turn it into an apartment complex.
Hence why Lez and I have our own spots along with a few of our guys.
Going to rent out some of the other spaces for anyone who needs them, artists, musicians, gamers. Also expand the club.”
“What’s it called?”
“The club?”
“Yeah.”
He typed out one word. “Gemini.”
“Club Gemini?”
“It was Lez’s idea. Neither of us are good with names. It’s also the name of…” he typed then deleted then typed again. “Our posse.”
I gave him a tight smile. “You mean the name of your new gang?”
“We’re still working on the name. Not sure it will stick. Lez thinks it works, I think it’s tacky.”
“Honestly, I think it’s better than Brotherhood of the Serpent.”
Dom smiled, then typed. “I’ll show you around after.”
“After?”
He drank his water and set the empty glass aside before taking my arm.
Leading me outside, we passed the rows of fast-looking cars, all supped up and ready for racing.
There was a group standing near the garage doors where Leslie had been fixing up cars, several I remembered from the day before including the viking-looking guy, Leo, and the redheaded woman.
Leo noticed us and waved at the others to follow.
“Sunset ride, let’s go!” he hollered as he ran over to a dark blue Camaro. The redhead followed, getting into a yellow Honda Civic with black decals along the sides. As the rest got into their cars, I followed Dom to his Mustang. A few yards away, I noticed a group of motorcycles.
I stopped in front of the passenger to Dom’s car as he went around to the driver's side. “We’re really going out on a drive?”
He stopped to text. “You’ve been stuck in my place for a few days. You should get out, get some fresh air.”
I snorted. “Fresh air in this city? Yeah, right.”
He shrugged. “Wanna have a little fun?”