Page 14

C armen had been long gone and now, here I was with Victoria.

The nurse was gentle, but her hands were too slow for my patience.

She stood over Victoria carefully changing the bandage on her arm like she wasn’t the same woman who’d been on cartel soil all of her life.

This should’ve been easy for her. I was posted up at the kitchen bar with a half full glass of Don Julio.

The bottle sat beside me like an old friend I only called when shit got real, which was often ‘cause that was my go-to on any given day. Tone had already left to check on Shona and he earned that. He had bigger fish to fry at home, but he was still loyal to the Royal. She was carrying his seed and dealing with cramps and scares in the middle of all this shit, and I knew it wasn’t easy.

If it were up to me, I’d have Tone stay home with her until the baby was born, but this life was all Tone knew.

Two of my hittas, Phat and Lou, stood near the door in silence simply watching and posted like statues and shit.

My space stayed protected, even when it felt like the walls were closing in and right now, that’s how it felt.

My eyes shot to Victoria. She was fine as hell, and it was no denying that.

Her skin was still flawless and even under the circumstances, it didn’t take away from that.

Her thick-ass thighs, natural full lips, and perfect had seen too much, too young just like the rest of us.

However, but beauty didn’t mean shit in my world… trust did… and I didn’t trust her yet.

The nurse finished with Victora and then said her polite goodbyes.

After I paid her, she bounced, and I walked out on the balcony.

No sooner than the door clicked shut behind her, Victoria stepped out on the balcony like she’d been waiting for the moment to be alone with me.

The night air was humid and thick as fuck.

I took another slow sip of my drink and waited for her to speak.

She leaned on the railing with one arm folded across her midsection while the other arm rested in the sling.

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do now, Dom,” she admitted in a voice a little softer than her usual.

I could tell she wasn’t playing games, unfortunately this was just her fucked up truth.

I looked her over entire body. Victoria had this raw energy about her.

A bad bitch that still had a story to tell.

But the look in her eyes was deeper than cartel beef or family betrayal.

She waslost and for a split second, I almost gave a fuck…

almost. “You ever seen a lion feed a stray cat?” I asked her.

She slowly turned. “No.”

“Exactly… I ain’t got the time nor the space to keep folks around who don’t know who they are. You wanna live? You better figure that shit out fast.” I said and I meant every word.

In my head, I could’ve easily put a bullet between her eyes and chalked it up as just another casualty of this game.

El Blanca would be tight, but that bridge was already damn near burnt anyway.

Sending her on a flight back was still an option…

if I was feeling generous, but before I could say anything else one of my phones began to buzz and the encrypted line lit up.

The only people that had access to the that phone was my street runners, only the top ones.

“Yo,” I answered with one hand with my other hand already setting down the glass.

“Boss,” the voice on the other end said, “it’s the girls’ man. Carmen and O’Shynn just got snatched up by the Feds.”

It felt like the muhfuckin’ air in my chest stopped moving. It felt like my heart skipped a few beats. I could deal with one of my people getting snatched up, but my sister and wife was a no go. “What?” I growled.

“Yeah, they got picked up outside the club without no warrants, no cause and not even a heads-up. They cuffed them and everything, but it’s some shady shit goin’ on.

That was no regular detain if you ask me.

Carmen looked me dead in the eyes, she knew I’d get the word to you.

You know how them folks operate; they won’t even let them use the phone the first forty-eight hours to notify nobody. ”

I hung up before he finished talking and stood still for two long seconds with my jaws flexing while feeling like my temples were about to explode.

My next move was already lined up in my head.

I didn’t panic though, that wasn’t my style and that’s the same thing I taught my people.

Don’t never panic ‘cause when you panic you die or get caught up in the cross. That’s what separated a king from pawns.

First, I pulled out another phone, the one who had the lawyer on speed dial.

“Yerrr,” the smooth voice, ofEmilio Serrano, one of the coldest and most powerful attorneys in Miami.

Muhfucka wore expensive suits and custom ties.

However, everyone knew he was courtroom killer and also just so happened to be one of Carmen’s mentors from back in her rookie days.

I also so happened to have him on container just in case anything ever happened to Carmen. “What’s the word, Royal?” He asked.

“I need you to meet me down that the federal station, now.” I let him know.

He didn’t bother to ask questions because it wasn’t any need to. He was coming either way and would ask questions later if needed. “I’m already on the way.”

The next call I made was to the Mayor. This is another reason he was on payroll. My hefty donations made it possible for him to keep his job. “Dom,” his voice came in sounding like he already knew he was about to owe me something major.

“Your Feds snatched up Carmen and O’Shynn. You got fifteen minutes to meet me in front of that station or this shit’s gon’ get nasty.”

“I’ll be there.” He replied before hanging up. He was probably over there sweating bullets because if this shit didn’t end well, he could forget about a lot of contributions.

I turned to Phat and Lou and told them, “Get the trucks. I want every vehicle deep and the motorcycles too. This bout to be apower pull-up.”

While they got on the move, Victoria stood frozen behind me, with her eyes wide and her lips parted just a little waiting for me to say something to her. “What happened?” she asked with a face full of concern.

I glared into her eyes. “The women you should be learnin’ from just got pulled into some shit they ain’t even gon’ flinch about.

Now watch how we handle this.” I said to her to get her stuff before we walked out.

The doors flung open behind me as I stepped into the night like I owned the city, because I did.

As we rolled up to the Federal building, the black trucks were in formation, and the engine from the motorcycles roared.

I finally got another call from one of my people on the inside.

“Boss,” my hitta said, “they’re being questioned about a hit.”

I didn’t say shit at first. The only hit they could have been questioning them about was mine when I sprayed that white Escalade and the hit was clean…

too clean and too quiet. They must’ve been Feds in disguise or some informants on a low-key assignment.

Now they were sniffing around and trying to shake down my females thinking they’d get a slip up but the muhfuckas didn’t know Carmen and O’Shynn were trained and loyal to the bone.

I stepped out of the lead truck first and I knew my energy was felt.

Serrano met me at the entrance, adjusting his cufflinks like he was about to go fight for a million-dollar client because he was.

The Mayor stood beside him, sweating through his tie like I knew he would, and the Cartel was behind me.

“You got five minutes to find out what’s goin’ on,” I told them. “I want Carmen and O’Shynnout of that station, or we makin’ this a fuckin’ war zone. I’ll lay my life on the line and die about those two.”

Serrano gave me a nod and walked straight into the precinct like it was a fucking boardroom meeting awaiting him on the other side.

The Mayor scrambled behind him, while stuttering and apologizing to nobody who was listening ‘cause I know I damn sure wasn’t.

I didn’t budge at all. I stayed out front with my crew and we was deep too.

The windows on the trucks were slightly cracked.

Every nigga standing with me was loyal and every chain around a neck had been earned in blood.

The officers on duty outside the station were nervous, their radios buzzing nonstop with chatter they couldn’t control.

They kept glancing over at us, unsure if they should call in backup or just stay out of the storm entirely.

Phat lit a cigar right there on the sidewalk, blowing smoke in the direction of a nervous-looking rookie who looked like he wanted to shit his pants.

Lou checked his phone, then looked at me. “Nothin’ yet.”

“We gon’ wait,” I said calmly. “We ain’t goin’ nowhere till my wife and my sister walk out that muhfucka on their own feet.”

This wasn’t just about family anymore, it was about the principle.

Carmen Royal wasn’t just my wife, she wasMiami’s sharpest female criminal attorney with a respected name in and outside of courtrooms, and they had the audacity to drag her down here onspeculation ?

Nah, fuck that… and O’Shynn ran an empire of her own, and they thought they’d break her because she was pretty and sharp?

Nah... ain’t no way. These Fed niggas forgot who the fuck they were dealing with.

Minutes turned into hours, and the sun got even hotter, burning down on all of us like a spotlight from the heavens.

Sweat ran down my temple, but I didn’t move and didn’t plan to.

I leaned back against the truck with my arms folded cool as a fan on the surface.

I could feel the weight of Miami watching and in that moment everything around me seemed a little smaller.

The civilians passed by slow walking with their eyes wide and phones out but they hesitant to film.

They knew what this presence meant, and the Royal Cartel don’t pull up unless it’s personal.

The glass doors swung open, and I felt like I could breathe again.

Carmen and O’Shynn walked out side by side, calm as hell, draped in trench coats like they’d just walked off a runway instead of being interrogated for damn near twelve hours.

They both had on shades, and both had a little smirk on their faces and in that exact moment,everyone who was watching knew that the Feds lost this round .

I pushed off the truck and met Carmen halfway, eyeing her from head to toe like I needed to make sure she was untouched.

O’Shynn’s savage ass winked at me before flipping her middle finger over her shoulder in the direction of the station.

Carmen slid her shades down just enough for our eyes to lock.

“You okay ma?” I asked low.

She looked at me with those pretty ass eyes and smiled at me. “Yep, better than ever.”

Behind us, the Mayor was trying to save face pretending to answer calls while Serrano lit a cigarette looking like he’d just won his hundredth case.

The presence of the Cartel was strong and the line of black Escalades, along with the motorcycles idling curbside told every single soul on that block the truth about what really just happened…

werun this city, and nobody was about to break what we built.

They’d have to come with a solid case first.