Page 1 of Dom 4
Soon as we pulled back up to the penthouse after that appointment, my head was still stuck on that heartbeat. That shit was still echoing in my ears because it made it real now. That was my blood inside Carmen. My whole body felt different, like my chest was too tight and my thoughts just couldn’t chill.
Carmen was glowing in a way I’d never seen before. She had her purse hugged tight with those ultrasound pictures like they were gold right now. The minute we got inside, she said she wanted to lay down for a little bit so I kissed her forehead and let her rest, but I couldn’t rest for shit.
Instead, I poured a glass of Hennessy and walked over to the balcony. The streets below were moving slow right now, as the heat bounced around with no mercy. Everything looked normal, but I knew better because normal in my world never lasted long. Just like I knew Victoria had a couple more hours to make her decision. If it were up to me, she would be out of my hairs andoff my dick for good, but since I had to move smart, I practiced patience.
I pulled out my phone and called Dique’s number. It was ring after ring with no answer, so I tried again and still nothing. I frowned wondering where he was at praying like hell he didn’t back track and end up in Keondra’s bed last night because I couldn’t think of any place he would be where he simply didn’t want to answer. It usually didn’t matter what female Dique was laid up with, my calls always got answered, but since he wasn’t picking up, in the meantime I switched to the other line, and dialed one of my Cubans named Mateo…the one I sent back home to get eyes on what was happening in Havana.
He answered quick on the first ring. “Boss, I got something for you.”
“Talk to me.” I muttered.
He spoke fast but calm. “I been on the ground since last night. It’s official, El Blanca’s body made it back to Cuba early this morning. They brought him in quietly through a private strip outside Cojímar. It wasn’t much noise or press either, it was just his people and family.”
I leaned on the glass railing still watching traffic and my people who were always in position. “Who running it now?”
“One of his old generals, Toro. He’s a big dude and mean as hell, but the crew don’t respect him like they did El Blanca. He’s trying to hold it down until somebody new steps up, but the streets down here aren’t feeling him. They’re saying he isn’t built for that throne.”
“What about the rest of them?”
“Split,” Mateo said. “Half ready to leave, half talking revenge but nobody giving orders. The whole cartels lost right now. They don’t have any real structure left, and boss…” He hesitated. “They know it was us. Word in the streets says The Royal Cartel took him out. El Blanca’s soldiers are already talking aboutretaliation, but they don’t have any real plan yet. They have to get him buried first and decide who will rule.”
That made me smirk. “Good, let them come looking. They step wrong; they gettin’ buried next to him.”
“You got it. You want me to stay here?”
“Yeah. Stay low and stay quiet. I wanna know everything. I want to know who Toro talking to, who coming in and out and who paying for what, and if somebody starts sniffin’ around Miami again, I want names before they land.”
“Understood.”
I hung up and slid the phone in my pocket, taking another sip of the drink. The liquor burned down my throat, but it didn’t calm the weight sitting on my chest. Blanca’s people were mourning now, but I knew that grief turns into greed real quick. Somebody always wants to be the next man.
Inside, I heard Carmen moving around right before she came out the bedroom barefoot in that little black dress she’d worn to the appointment, with her hair up, holding the sonogram in her hand like she couldn’t stop looking at it.
She smiled at me. “You still thinking about it too, huh?”
“Yeah,” I said, with my eyes locked on her. “That heartbeat sound different when it’s yours. I thought you was tired?”
Her smile softened, and she walked closer, resting her head against my shoulder. “You did good today. You handled that whole appointment like you weren’t even nervous, and I was tired, but I think I’m just too anxious right now.”
“I wasn’t nervous,” I said, smirking.
She laughed under her breath. “You a lie.”
I slipped my arm around her waist and rested my hands on her hips. For a second, all the noise in my head went quiet. Then the phone vibrated. I let her go gently and picked it up. The message was from one of my Miami lieutenants:Shit heating upin Cuba. Toro trying to gather Blanca’s lieutenants. Might be moving product again because that’s the only way they can eat.
I clenched my jaws. “They don’t learn,” I muttered.
“What happened?” Carmen asked.
“They trying to rebuild too soon,” I said. “I’ma let them and watch everything too.”
She nodded, quiet for a second, then smiled a little. “You really can’t sit still for one minute, can you?”
“Not when the streets moving funny like this,” I said. “Peace ain’t permanent wifey, you know that.”
She leaned up and kissed my cheek. “Then you make sure you protect what is.” She winked always having my backs even if it was times she didn’t agree she played her position like a piece on the chessboard and her words always hit a little different.
I brushed my thumb across her cheek allowing my eyes to fall back to that sonogram. “I plan to but if it were up to me, I’d put all this shit on pause so you can have a smooth, relaxing pregnancy and I can experience that with you. I need a fuckin’ break I never felt like this until now. Having a child on the way feels different, in a way that want to allow me to focus solely on that. The baby isn’t even here yet and I already feel attached. My trigger finger itches just from the thought of somebody targeting and harming our baby. My eyes burn just from me imagining what I’d do to a nigga if anything ever happened to mine, and I would never allow that. I don’t know Carmen; this shit just hits different and I give a fuck in a way I never had to.”
