Page 12 of Dom 3
Back to the spa? I thought to myself as my head spun. Why the hell did my uncle want me dropped off there right where he’d kidnapped me from? My heart pounded even harder in my chest, but I kept my face cool. No way I’d let these idiots see me sweat. Another guy shoved a phone into my hand, and I didn’t need to guess who it was. That voice sent chills down my spine.
“Victoria…” My uncle dragged out my name like he owned me or something, like he was getting a kick out of this. “I’ll ask you one last time, are you ready to come home, to stand with your blood, have you learned your lesson? Or will you keep throwing yourself at a man who will never choose you?”
My voice got caught in my throat for a split second it’s like I was right there in his face instead of here in Miami. I was a little girl again in Cuba, the weight of this life wason my shoulder, but he was the only family I thought I had left. I remembered the safety, the control he carried, the way I mistook his dominance for love, but then that image burned away, replaced by everything I’d built here. Dom had given me a chance, something El Blanca never would have. He gave me my condo, my job, my freedom, my future… a life.
My voice shook, but I held it steady. “If it makes you happy to see me dead, then do it,” I said flatly. “But I’m not yours anymore. I have my own life now.”
The guy closest to me shoved another phone in my hand and this one was bigger and heavier. I could tell right away there was a tracker hidden in it. They were planning to keep tabs on me until I broke. As quick as they took me, they drove me back to the spa and when they finally dumped me out of the van behind the spa, my legs felt like jelly, but my brain was already working overtime. Right then, the garbage truck rolled up, squealing as it grabbed the bins. I stood back for a few seconds and waited for the right second, then ditched the phone in a pile of trash bags when nobody was watching. My heart was pounding so loudly, I was sure someone would hear it.
When I walked back inside the scent of lavender and eucalyptus hit my nostrils again and my head was pounding. I faked a smile for the front desk and told them I was sick and needed to bail early. They just nodded, without asking many questions about it or showed any concerns of where I’s been. On the outside, the black truck waited on me, with tints so dark, I couldn’t see inside. I hopped in and got comfortable into the leather seats, trying not to look too shaken up. The driver did a couple loops around the block, and down random streets like we were in some movie, making sure no one was tailing us as two of Dom’s people sat on the side of me and one behind me without saying a word; the one closets to me kept gritting his teeth like he knew something. I leaned against the window, watching Miamipass by. It was such a beautiful place… the palm trees, the ocean, and just the aesthetic. I didn’t want to leave this beautiful place. My uncle’s voice kept bouncing around in my head, with every word hanging. He was close, too close. I wasn’t gonna let him run me like some puppet, but the question was, should I let Dom in on this mess, or just keep it to myself for a while longer?
The sun was barely breaking through the clouds, because the city was still half asleep, but I was already in the streets because I couldn’t get caught slipping. My people were holding down every angle of the city in blacked out trucks posted up or roaming the streets keeping their eyes open on whatever was moving weird. I didn’t do lazy mornings when shit like this was going on; I was out here before the birds, checking my blocks, businesses and buildings because respect didn’t come easy. I stepped out the penthouse in a crisp suit today switching it up with my Cartier shades gracing my eyes letting out a light yawn. I had spent the whole day and half the night with Carmen before I made it home.
Tone was already in the garage, posted with the regulars, looking at me like he was waiting on the green light to tear some shit up and Dique walked up with his chains swinging, talking about some shit going on, on the west coast before he slid into the Escalade like he paid the note himself with his elbowhanging across the arm rest. He didn’t have that smirk on his face this morning. We rolled through our spots without much talking. The first stop was to the main office just to make sure our faces were seen with all this shit going on.
The Valet dudes gave us head nods from the little side hustle spot where we also ran paperwork when it got too hot on the other ends. In these kinds of moments, I learned to listen more than I talked, because that was the only way that I’d hear the whispers in the streets. I discovered a few mishaps this morning but nothing major besides a missed drop at a warehouse and somebody jumping the line on a shipment from Indonesia. It was petty shit, but that’s how you knew something bigger was taking place because we never had mishaps. As we were leaving, my phone rang showing the manager’s number from the spa. The same one I planted there because she knew how to keep her eyes open for flaky shit.
“King,” she said the second I answered, “You need to come to the spa now. I got something.”
“What it look like?” I asked without knowing what was going on, all I knew was when she called, it meant something.
“I was reviewing the footage from the back camera, like I always do, and I noticed something with your girl Victoria. There was an incident. Honestly, it shook me up. I didn’t want to watch it by myself.” The uncertainty in her voice was unmistakable, I’d heard a hundred voices tremble like that before, but I only respected the ones that came with a fucking plan. “I sent it to you, check it out.”
“Well keep it steady, don’t mess with the footage, you hear me?” I told her. “Tone, Dique slide through the spa with me.” I told them as I ended the call.
Dique hollered in the back like he thought this was the time to joke always finding a way to start clowning. He was back there talking about getting fresh at the spa on some godfather shitwith champagne and a blunt. Tone just laughed it off. That’s just how we rolled and that was Dique’s way of coping but when it’s real, he kept his head on a swivel, and I trusted him with my life.
The Escalade glided down the highway eating up the rough streets while Miami flashed by. I always watched the city the way I watch cards on the table: only the ones was worth it made me come out and play. Dique was on the phone with some chick as he tweaked the joint and cradled the phone between his ear and shoulder while Tone and me were in our own heads.
The spa stood out on the corner like it was the most luxurious place on the block with all glass and spotless white tiles that made some people forget what was going on, on the outside world as soon as they stepped into paradise. I walked in like I owned the joint, because I did and wasn’t shit nobody could do about it. The main receptionist hit the buzzer for the back room like she did whenever she saw my face. My girl Sylvia was waiting for me with the laptop open on the counter, but her eyes were asking me to keep it cool and not blow up the spot.
She spun that shit and I ran the tape back slowly, because videos will fool you if you didn’t pay attention to every detail. The clip showed the alley in broad daylight, then jumped to later as some bum ass delivery dude walked in with the flowers and left. Next a busted van rolled up, two fools hopping out like they were running shit, but we all knew wasn’t nobody running shit in the south besides the Miami King. One dude was quick and slick with it, like he been doing this for a long time. The other clown paused, tried to snatch her up thinking she’d fold easy, but she wasn’t having it and put up a fight. I saw when she became a little woozy. I watched all of it without a word. They used the kind of care that said they had time and power, but they weren’t really trying to hurt her. The clip jumped to later with her walking back inside the spa after she tossed something. The van sped off like it never took her.
“She here?” I asked flat. “I already knew she was, just needed clarification.”
“Yeah, I saw her today, but she left early after the incident yesterday.”
The smoke from my joint swirled around hanging and no one moved. Dique leaned in forward with his chain swinging, waiting to see what was up. Tone was quiet like a thief in the night.
“So, she been lyin’?” Dique asked, because he wanted answers ready to kill Victoria.
“She lyin’ or she’s hiding.” I answered him. There was a difference because lying meant betraying you, while hiding meant protecting something or someone, but both could break you in different ways depending on the circumstance.
“If she keepin’ secrets…” Dique started as he sat back with his smile now gone. He rubbed his hand across his chin like he was wiping something. “Man, secrets kill or get muhfuckas killed and she ain’t no fuckin’ different, I don’t give a fuck how fine she is. She’s not our blood, not our fight. She only here cause she wanna choke on yo’ dick anyway thinkin’ she gon’ get a crown man.”
Just as I was getting ready to reply another one of my phones lit up with a call from Victoria. I stared at the screen until it stopped ringing, answered it. Her voice came through sounding like something was wrong too.
“Speak,” I said.
“Dom,” she replied sounding hesitant. “I need to speak with you. Please.”
“Where you at?” I asked. I already knew the answer, it was ironic for her to be calling me now while I was at the spa instead of her calling me when the fuck she should have.
“At the spa. I can come out,” she said. “Please, I need to talk and it’s really important.”
“I don’t have time for these fuckin’ games Victoria,” I growled. “You know exactly where the fuck I am.”
“Do she know about that footage?” Dique questioned.
