Page 10 of Dom 4
I shut the tablet because love or not, the world just decided to make our business their entertainment. I straightened my blouse, looked at my reflection in the glass, and fixed my hair. If they wanted a show, they were about to get one, but it would be onmyterms.
“Pregnant, married, and still undefeated,” I whispered to myself with a small smirk. “They can write whatever they want.”
Then I reached for my phone and called my next client. “Mr. Watkins, I’ll see you in twenty minutes and before you say it, yeah, I saw the headlines. I’m still the same woman who wins.”
By the time the door opened again, my nerves were buried deep under the cool calm that always came right before a case. The chaos outside didn’t matter right now to me. Not thepaparazzi, not the trending posts, and not even the fact that my husband’s name was being whispered in every courthouse hallway from Dade to Broward at this very moment. All that mattered was the man stepping into my office looking like trouble.
Trent “Kilo” Watkins walked in wearing a wrinkled designer tracksuit and too much cologne, nearly choking me as his eyes darting from corner to corner like the walls had ears or something. He had gold teeth that flashed when he tried to smile, but the tension in his jaw wouldn’t allow him because this wasn’t a friendly visit. I motioned for him to sit as I closed the office door myself.
“Sit down, Kilo,” I said, sliding into my leather chair behind the desk. “And next time you step foot in my building, don’t bring a phone. I don’t care if it’s off. You don’t bring one.”
He swallowed hard and nodded. “Aight, Mrs. Royal, my bad.”
“Good.” I opened his file, already stacked with printouts from the last time I represented him. “Now you said this is a murder tied into your Rico?”
He nodded again, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, they tryna say I ordered a hit on a nigga who was tryna flip. I didn’t though, I swear to God. They say they got a witness, but the DA won’t tell me who.”
“Of course they won’t,” I replied. “That’s called leverage.”
I leaned forward with my elbows resting on the desk. “You’re already facing a conspiracy charge under federal RICO. Now they’re adding a body on top. That means the Feds and the state are tag teaming this one, and you’re the target.”
He groaned and put his head in his hands. “That’s why I called you. I can’t trust no other lawyer with this. You the only one that ever got me off clean.”
I nodded slightly. I’d gotten him off two years ago on a trafficking case with circumstantial evidence. It wasn’t easy, butit made my name ring through every corner of the city. Now they came to me like I was the last line between freedom and death row and I really wasn’t, but I always gave it my all.
“Alright,” I said, clicking my pen and sliding a sheet across the desk. “My retainer for a case like this starts at two hundred thousand and it’s nonrefundable. I’ll need the wire by five p.m. today. If I have to go to court within the next seventy-two hours, that number doubles.”
Kilo blinked a few times. “Two hunnid?”
I didn’t flinch. He could act surprised all he wanted, but Kilo had it. “You wanted the best, didn’t you?”
He opened his mouth, but the look on my face shut him right up. He nodded, mumbling under his breath, “Aight. I’ll make it happen.”
“Good,” I said, tapping the paper. “Now tell me everything. Start from the beginning. I don’t want no street version of the story either. You tell me what really happened, or I’ll walk away from this case before I file a single motion. Don’t have me going in blind.”
He looked at me, hesitated, then leaned back with a deep sigh. “Alright… the night it happened; I was at the studio. My lil cousin Dre was the one out in Opa-Locka handling drops. I told him to lay low ‘cause I heard the Feds had somebody on payroll. Next thing I know, dude who was supposed to make a delivery ends up dead. Police say my voice on a call tellin’ Dre to handle it, but I never made that call. Somebody spoofed my number, I swear ta God they did.”
I scribbled notes as he spoke, keeping my expression unreadable. “You got an alibi?”
He nodded real fast. “Hell yeah, the producer, my engineer, two chicks that was there. They all saw me. I was writin’ raps and gettin’ my dick sucked. I ain’t do that shit.”
“Then that’s where we start,” I said, already spinning my legal pad around to jot down strategy notes. “First thing I’ll do is file a discovery request for the phone data and the witness list. If there’s a voice recording, I’ll have it analyzed. If the Feds are building a conspiracy, I’ll tear apart their timeline and find where it breaks.”
Kilo nodded again with his eyes filled with relief. “Damn, you make it sound easy.”
“It’s not,” I said, flipping the folder shut. “But it’s my job to make it look like it is.”
He nervously chuckled rubbing his hands together. “Man, Dom lucky as hell.”
That made me pause for a second. I lifted my head slowly. “Excuse me?”
He held up his hands. “I ain’t mean no disrespect. I’m just sayin’… you smart, fine, got power. Most men can’t handle that.”
I leaned back in my chair with a smirk. “That’s why I didn’t marry ‘most men.’”
The tension in the room eased a little but my mind was still running. Every case like this was chess, evidence, motives, and leverage. I already saw the next five moves. If the witness was dirty, I’d find it. If the phone call was doctored, I’d prove it.
I rose from my chair and circled behind him grabbing a folder from the credenza. “Sign this agreement, wire my retainer, and tell whoever your people are to keep quiet. I’m not fixing chaos if you start running your mouth, Kilo.”
