“I know. But I wasn’t planning to.”
Alejandro stretched his legs out. “Now… this new girl. I meant to ask… how did she do on her first run?”
Pride rose in my chest before I could stop it. “She exceeded expectations,” I replied too quickly… and too proudly.
I cleared my throat, forcing my tone back to a more professional level.
“She’s been on three more since then—no mistakes, no panic. She’s picking up the rhythm faster than anyone we’ve had in years.”
Alejandro tugged at the tiny hairs on his chin, seemingly impressed. “Good. We need reliable people right now. Anything else I need to know about?”
“There was a small situation in Spartanburg,” I told him. “One of the distributors thought he could skim off the top and blame it on transport delays. I handled it, though. He won’t make that mistake again.”
Alejandro chuckled lightly. “Of course you did.”
He stood up, stretched, and brushed off his pants.
“Handle Dino before the week is out. I’ll be around if you need me."
I nodded.
As soon as he walked out, I pulled out my phone and booked a seat on our jet to pay Dino a visit. He was about to learn the difference between a warning and me.
***
Dino’s stash spot smelled like smoke, sweat, and bullshit.
He grinned when he saw me walk in. “Domino? Shit, man. What you doing out here?”
I looked around the room, counting bodies and guns.
“Clear the room,” I ordered.
Every head snapped toward me.
Dino’s smile drained right along with his people. “Say what now?”
“I said… everybody out.”
Dino scoffed, throwing out his chest. “Hell nah!” he barked. “This my spot. Ain’t none of my men gotta go nowhere. You want privacy? You ask nicer, nigga.”
He stepped closer, chin high.
“And don’t walk up in here on some authoritative shit,” he added, jabbing a thumb toward the floor. “You run shit in Mexico, not here, nigga. This my city… my building… my people. Ain’t nobody clearing out ‘cause you snapped yo’ fingers. And last I checked, we ain’t in no debt to y’all. So, unless you came here to drop off more product or renegotiate numbers, I don’t know why the fuck you even here.”
Dino stood there puffed up, talking reckless, acting like his name had the same weight as mine. That nigga had no clue that he’d just signed up for a dental realignment without insurance, a nasal reconstruction,a black eye package, and a week of breathing through his mouth… courtesy of me.
No deductible… no co-pay… just pain.
I laughed, quietly and dangerously. “That’s cute… real cute. You done, though?”
Dino opened his mouth to keep running it, but I didn’t give him the chance.
I snapped my fingers, not loud, just sharp.
On cue, my men poured in through the side door, dead silent, carrying high-grade weapons with suppressors and laser sights; equipment Dino’s whole crew couldn’t afford even if they pooled their tax returns.
Dino’s eyes jumped from one rifle to the next, then back to me. That was the exact second he realized his mouth had written a check his face was about to cash.