I tilted my head, wearing a slight smirk. “Still your spot?”
Dino flicked his nose in frustration and embarrassment, then gave his boys a tight nod. They dipped fast, like they were grateful for the excuse.
I gave my men the same gesture.
Now it was just us.
The room felt smaller with only two heartbeats in it.
I shut the door, slid the bolt, and started shrugging off my coat.
Dino tried to soften immediately, hands half-raised as if we were negotiating instead of disciplining.
“Domino, man… look,” he started, voice shaky. “I ain’t mean no—”
I held up a hand, silencing him as I slid my coat over a chair, rolled up my sleeves, and pulled the brass knuckles from my pocket.
“Man… hold up! Dom—Domino… what’s this about?”
“It’s about you swerving into lanes you don’t belong in.”
I stepped close… very close.
“You talk a lot for somebody with a nose that fragile. Lucky for you, I’m about to reinforce it.”
I watched the bravado leave and fear crawl into his eyes.
“Don’t worry,” I added, leaning in just enough for him to smell the danger. “The first visit is free.”
My fist connected with his nose in one clean, vicious, and merciless hit.
CRACK.
Dino’s whole face snapped back, a spray of blood hitting the table behind him. He screamed—high, sharp, and ugly—and dropped to one knee, hands cupping his face like he was trying to hold it together. Blood poured through his fingers.
“The fuck, Domino!”
I walked toward him slowly, then wiped my knuckles on his shirt like it was a napkin.
“That,” I said calmly, “was for the disrespect.”
He whimpered something that might’ve been “sorry,” but honestly? Who cared.
“You knew better than to talk slick to me. But you wanna know why I’m really here?”
I grabbed him by the collar and yanked him upright just enough so he could see my face clearly.
“You opened your mouth to a girl who wasn’t supposed to hear certain things yet! You told Ajori she was a mule! Not to mention, you flirted when you should’ve shut the fuck up. That alone earns you this ass-whooping!”
Dino's eyes widened right before I hit him again, not the nose that time, but right under his eye.
Another clean shot… another crack… another scream.
He collapsed forward, coughing, shaking, nose crooked, and eye already ballooning.
“Damn,” I taunted, hands on my hips. “Two hits and you look like you lost a title fight… didn’t even make it out the first round.”
He whined through bloody teeth. “Domino, please—”