Page 33 of Dom 4
The ride to the courthouse stayed quiet, but not uncomfortable. Dom sat beside me in the backseat with one hand resting on my thigh and his thumb moving in slow circles like he was just thinking while watching the world outside through tinted glass. Rell drove today and another two shadows followed behind in an unmarked SUV. We didn’t do too many shadows trailing us because we didn’t want anything to draw attention to us. We only wanted clean and controlled movement, plus a lot of the cartel would be here disguised anyway.
When we turned the corner toward the courthouse, the energy shifted immediately. The crowd was already there with press, supporters, protesters, and onlookers, even some law students. Everybody was thirsty for a moment to saythey were there.Cameras were raised before the car even stopped.
Dom’s strong hand gently squeezed my thigh, and we waited about three seconds after the car stopped because timing mattered. Leaving the car too fast made you look reactive and too slow, made you look hesitant. Dom got out first standingtall with his black shirt open at the collar. He didn’t look like security. He didn’t look like a spectacle. He looked like everyone knew his name, so it didn’t even have to be said.
The crowd immediately shifted the way crowds do when something serious steps into the space and they wanted the first glance. He came around my side of the car and opened the door for me extending his hand. I took it and I stepped out slowly keeping my balance as the cameras lit up like fireworks. The flashes weren’t frantic, but they were ridiculousand just wouldn’t let us live because for me, I wasn’t just the attorney anymore. I was the woman the city had whispered about for weeks and couldn’t keep my name out of their mouths. I was the one standing next to the man they didn’t know how to define. Dom didn’t touch me possessively because he didn’t have to. His presence around me said everything. The courthouse didn’t allow guns, and everyone had to be scanned but Dom always had his ways.
We walked forward together with Rell and the shadows blending into the crowd instead of around us, butaround the space.Security wasn’t in front of us nor behind us, buteverywhere attention wasn’t looking.
A reporter yelled my name first. “Carmen! Carmen, do you believe your client is being unfairly targeted due to his background?”
Another voice shouted over them. “Dom! Is your presence meant to intimidate the prosecution today?”
Dom didn’t answer as the cameras pushed closer. My chin lifted high, just enough to let them know this was my show. “This is a court of law,” I said with my voice stern enough to let them know I meant business. “Everything will be addressed where it should be, in the courtroom.”
I didn’t need to give any extra words or emotions and no leeway for them to pull narratives from. Dom didn’t look at themat all. He didn’t even blink in their direction. That was what made them more afraid than if he had. He scanned rooftops, windows, street eagles’ views, and entry points as well as exit points. His attention was on threat, not spectacle and everyone felt it. Inside the courthouse doors, the noise settled down.
Dom leaned in just enough so only I could hear him. “I’ll be right here,” he muttered.
I nodded with my eyes set forward and levelheaded. By the time we reached the double doors to the courtroom, everything felt good to me even air because I knew I could beat this case. Dom stayed one step behind my shoulder, making sure he wasn’t overshadowing but anchoring instead. Rell and the shadows blended into the room before we crossed the threshold as they claimed seats without needing direction to do so. Nobody pointed and nobody whispered names, but the room recognized power when it entered.
Kilo was seated at the defense table already wearing a dark suit and a fresh cut with his shoulders back and he wasn’t wearing chains at all. The only thing he had was his ankle monitor outside of his clothes and shoes. He looked up when the doors opened and the judge’s bailiff announced our entrance. His eyes hit Dom’s first and he didn’t have a look of surprise and not fear either… it was just a look of respect.The kind of respect real men gave each other when they understood exactly who they were dealing with.
Then his eyes landed on me and the shift was immediate almost like he was relieved I lived another day to be able to show up. Kilo trusted me with his life right now because truth was, it was surely in my hands. He stood up when I reached the table because that’s how I trained my clients to greet me with respect the same as I’d do them.
“Morning,” I smiled.
“Boss lady,” he said with a slight nod. “You look like you came to bury somebody.”
“I did,” I replied smoothing my hands over my blazer sliding into my seat. “And it isn’t you.” I winked.
A slight smile spread on his face before he leaned closer using a tone that only I could hear. “They whispering ‘bout yo’ husband being here.”
“He is, and he isn’t going anywhere.”
“You think that’s gon’ draw heat?” he asked.
I clicked my pen so the ballpoint could pop out. “Everything draws heat. The question is who gets burned.”
Kilo nodded, sitting back. The prosecutor walked in next all sharp wearing a navy suit with too much confidence for someone who’d been losing all week. His eyes scanned to Dom in the room and stayed there half a second too long as he swallowed hard. The judge entered, and everyone stood up.
It was time for the closing arguments to begin, and the prosecution went first. He talked loud while trying to paint Kilo as unpredictable, dangerous, and a ‘known gang-affiliated offender’ which were words meant to scare the jury. He kept looking over at Dom as well like he wanted to imply something but didn’t have the balls to say it. The jury listened but their faces didn’t move. They were tired of the same speech. He sat down sweating and I stood. The room seemed to shift with me at the same time. I didn’t raise my voice because as usual I didn’t have to just to get a point across.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,” I began stepping forward with one step. “The prosecution has spent two weeks trying to convince you that this case is about reputation, rumor, and the history of this city but we are not here to try gossip. We are here to try evidence and the evidence, if we’re being honest, has holes so wide you can walk the entire state of Florida through them.”
I took my time and allowed a few seconds of silence before I continued. “They want you to fear him,” I said, gesturing to Kilo. “Which is interesting, considering they failed to prove he even stepped foot at the scene. There are no fingerprints, no weapon recovery, no real motives grounded in facts. And their star witness? A deal-making informant who changed his story three times depending on who he thought was listening? That says enough.”
A lot of muttering rippled through the room causing the judge to bang the gavel once for order and I didn’t flinch. Instead, I continued. “The state is asking you to convict a man based on assumption, on narrative, on a story they hope you’ll believe because they said it loud enough and long enough, but reasonable doubt isn’t optional, it’s the law, and the law applies to everyone, even him.” I paused and let their eyes linger on Kilo. I let them see a man not a myth. I then finished clean. “Return a verdict that reflects truth, not fear and a verdict of not guilty.” I reflected and then I sat down.
The judge recessed us and the jury left. The room immediately started buzzing with reporters scribbling, voices rising, and heads focused on Dom like they had just witnessed a new moon or something.
Kilo leaned in again. “You just saved my life,” he told me in a voice steady but full of worry.
“We’re not done yet,” I reminded him. “The verdict seals it and once that hits, you and I are going to have cameras in our faces before we hit the courthouse steps. So, breathe and stay still. Don’t respond to anything unless I cue you. Let me carry it.”
He nodded his head and locked his jaws. I exhaled slowly with my hand resting on my belly without thinking and I hated how much it was a reflux now. I looked over my shoulder. Dom was watching me and me only, not the judge, not the DA, not the press… just me.
The room felt small suddenly and not in a claustrophobic way but in a way that made everything outside of the next few minutes irrelevant. We were on the edge of something and in my heart, it felt like maybe a win in the headlines and whatever came next, we'd face it together.
