Page 10

T he sun was high over the Bahamas, pouring heat like I’d never felt before.

I mean, Miami was hot, but this shit was a different type of hot.

I knew damn well this couldn’t have been the heat our ancestors picked cotton in, ain’t no fucking way.

Me and Carmen had just finished breakfast on the villa terrace.

We had fresh fruit, thick ass pancakes, and imported mimosas.

I wasn’t the kind of dude to drink mimosas but my taste buds ain’t complain.

Carmen had on this soft peach bikini under a silk cover-up that clung to her body in all the right places.

I couldn’t lie, seeing her like that, all happy and glowing made me forget the kind of shit we was really dealing with back home.

For once in my life, I was able to finally get away and just be Dom for a day or two, but I was smart enough to know that paradise didn’t last always.

She laughed at something dumb I said, while brushing her hair behind her ear as we kicked our feet in the pool.

“You really know how to surprise a woman, Dom,” she said, sipping out of her pineapple like she was straight royalty, and she really was.

Carmen was bad, and truth be told wasn’t too many bitches fucking with her.

It wasn’t just about her looks though ‘cause you could have the baddest bitch in the world and her mind might be straight dumpster juice, or her pussy could be trash, or she could be downright fuckin’ dumb.

Some of these bitches didn’t even have one survival bone in their bodies without a man providing it.

Carmen took what I gave her and ran with it.

Even if she ever left the Royal family, she had built her own empire to take care of herself as well.

I leaned back and took a pull from the joint. “I ain’t even pulled out all the stops yet.”

We were finally breathing with no cartel talks, no trenches, no blood sheds, no shadows fuckin’ with us although they were here, they were out of the way.

It wasn’t no talks about El Blanca… it was just us outside of work.

I was in my head with good thoughts, and then my phone rang.

The minute I was his name, I knew something had gone wrong ‘cause Tone would never call while I was on vacation unless all hell broke loose.

I stepped away from Carmen, answered. “Yeah.”

His voice came through deep but with a sense of urgency. “Dom, we got hit.”

My trigger finger began to itch, and I felt that knife in the pit of my stomach as I grit my teeth. “By who?”

“El Blanca’s people. We was leaving the hospital ‘cause Shona had a scare with the baby. I took Victoria with me ‘cause I couldn’t leave her alone. Them muhfuckas sprayed the truck. One of 'em had a tattoo... with El Blanca’s mark on it, that’s how we knew.

For a second, I felt my body heat up. “She good?”

“She took one to the arm but it ain’t fatal, Doc patched her up. But Dom... she said it man… El Blanca tried to kill her.”

Now that was the part I didn’t understand.

El Blanca trying to kill his own niece? What the fuck did he think she knew or may have told that he finally decided to show his hands.

I knew the muhfucka was a snake, but would he really try to take Victoria out?

That shit was insane but not too much of a surprise in this world, and that’s why the Royal family was big on loyalty before dishonor.

I could care less about who did and didn’t love me.

Fuck love, I rather take the loyalty ‘cause people who loved you would still hurt you, but people who were loyal to you would never hurt you and that was just a known fact. I looked out at the clear waters and the crystal blue skies…. Just straight paradise. Yet back home my kingdom was under attack. “I’ll handle it… I’ll be there. ”

“You want me to move her again?” He asked.

“Nah,” I said dryly. “Put extra eyes around her at the spot and get someone inside Blanca’s crew if we can. We ain’t askin’ no more questions.”

“Say less.” He responded.

I simply hung up and just stood there, letting the sun beat down on my burning skin.

Carmen came around the corner with worry all over her face and a brow slightly raised. “What happened?”

I looked at her… my wife, my lawyer, my rider. This trip was supposed to about peace and it was but now it was time to snatch all that shit away and get back to reality. “El Blanca finally made his move with his mask off. He ain’t hidin’ no more.” I told her. “Victoria got hit too.”

She straightened up a little bit and that softness disappeared. I knew she didn’t care for Victoria, but Carmen wasn’t bitter either. “Is she alive?”

I nodded my head. “Yeah. She got grazed in her arm. Tone said it wasn’t fatal.

She’s patched up, but it’s what this means.

.. he really not hidin’ his hand no more…

it’s on now. Fuck them taco, el nacho eatin’ muhfuckas.

El Blanca thought he could have me by the dick but ain’t.

nobody fuckin’ me. If anything, I do the fuckin’. ”

Carmen nodded with not an ounce of fear in her eyes. She simply nodded her head and adjusted her cover-up. “What do you need me to do?” She asked. That’s why I kept her close ‘cause she never folded under pressure even if it cost her life or her freedom.

“We flyin’ out now,” I said. “I’ll need you to file a few things when we land. Some shit need to be smothered on paper while I set some other shit up. You know we never intended on this day to come, but we ready for it. El Blanca ain’t the only one with tricks under his belt. We too powerful now.”

Another thirty minutes later and we were packed up, and my shadows moved with us but still at a distance, but always ready.

Carmen didn’t complain not one time, while most females would have just for the trip being cut short.

We were leaving later on anyway after dinner, just didn’t plan on leaving this early.

She knew the world we lived in, and what was understood didn’t have to be explained.

At the airport, the private jet was already prepped but this time it wasn’t no roses and red carpets and shit.

I made one call, and they added an extra flight attendant for us too, and that’s all that I requested.

It felt wrong to end it this way but the streets ain’t never knock as long as I been in the muhfuckas.

In no time we were in the sky. Inside the jet, Carmen sat beside me, glancing out the window, with an unreadable expression on her face.

I could feel the vibe change because we were back in the game now and the romance was over while strategy took over.

Her laptop pinged breaking the silence and she pulled it open, while furrowing her perfect shaped brows.

“What is it?” I asked.

She didn’t answer right away ‘cause she was too busy slowly scrolling. Then she turned the screen toward me with a ‘oh shit’ look on her face. “It’s Dique’s DNA results.”

I leaned in and read the shit. It was 99.9 percent that Dique was indeed the daddy. “Fuck…” I groaned. That fuckin’ kid is his? I thought to myself. I was mad for the stupid nigga. He needed to keep his dick in his pants from here on out.

“Looks like you got a niece, Dom.” She smirked.

I shook my head, leaned back, and let out a dry chuckle before taking a pull of the joint allowing a thick cloud of smoke to swirl above my head. “That girl don’t look shit like us, but I guess DNA don’t lie.”

“We’ll wait to tell him,” Carmen said. “After he’s back and we deal with this El Blanca mess.”

I nodded in agreeance. “Yeah…. he got enough on his plate right now. I know one thing, bet not no other female pop-up talkin’ bout Dique the daddy or I’m fuckin’ that nigga up my damn self.

” I was as serious as any other time. Carmen chuckled and then she leaned her head on my shoulder, just for a split second.

I kissed the top of her head. “I know this trip didn’t end like I wanted,” I said in a low tone, “But I’ma give you more of this and not no fake peace.

.. I’m talkin’ real shit… one day… I just need you to bear with me. ”

She looked up at me. “You always say ‘one day.’ Just don’t wait ‘til the war ends. It might never happen if one of us gets killed.”

I took that in, but I didn’t respond. Instead, I just looked out the jet window as the Bahamas shrank behind us getting tinier and tinier.

Ahead of us, we were traveling back to the beautiful concrete jungle.

Yeah, war was waiting on us… but this time.

.. I was waiting too ready to kill everything in my way.

The wheels hit the runway smooth, but my mind was anything but that.

Just knowing we had unfinished business had me ready…

because we did. I looked over at Carmen and her eyes were forward, but again unreadable.

Even after a trip like that, she was still in defense mode, and I wasn’t mad at it.

Shit, we were back in the lion's den now. The door of the jet dropped, and I stepped out into the humid Miami air. It was a just a disrespectful heat but even the smell in the air hit different. Three matte black Escalades were lined up on the tarmac, with the engines still running. My hittas were outside, posted like they were doing the mannequin just waiting on the next instructions. All of them were rocking the Royal-issued drip, armed, alert, and ready for whatever. The Royal Cartel didn’t just move and that’s why El Blanca was mad…

we shifted the whole atmosphere when we touched down.

One of my lieutenants, Ruck, nodded at me. “Everything tight, boss. We got eyes from the strip to the muhfuckin’ city.”

I hit him with a chin lift and pulled out my phone. The first call I made was to Dique. “Yo,” he answered, laughing in the background, probably laid up.

“You still in Cali?” I asked.