Page 17 of Dom 5: The Finale
She looked at me for a second, then out across the property. “You handled yourself well in there.”
I laughed. “You sound surprised Chica?”
“I’m not surprised mamacita,” she said. “I’m relieved.”
That made me look at her. She didn’t look away and she didn’t look away. “You have to understand something,” she continued. “Men like that only respect two things. Fear and certainty. If you look uncertain, they’ll mistake it for weakness.”
“I know.” I sighed. “I have eyes, I can see.” I retorted wishing there was a breeze out here with the view but instead, it was humid and I was beginning to feel sticky. I missed my condo back in Miami and wished I could’ve had the strength to stay there.
“Do you?” She challenged me.
I sighed and leaned back against the railing. “Luciana, I’ve had people underestimating me my whole life, even my uncle. I know how to make people regret it if I wanted. I wasn’t just some spoiled princess; I learned how to shoot before I could tie my own shoes.”
That made her smile a little. “I know you do,” she said. “But this is different now. They’re not just looking at you to see if you’re strong enough. They’re looking at you to decide if they want to stay loyal.”
I knew that already too and that was the ugly part. Loyalty wasn’t forever in this world it often shifted and changed and followed whoever looked the strongest in the moment. Some of those men in there would die for me if I gave them a reason. Others would smile in my face while quietly waiting for me to fail.
“Let them watch,” I said quietly.
Luciana looked at me for another second before speaking again. “And the Miami King?”
I looked down into my glass. “What about him?”
She dropped her eyes into tiny slits but not in a threatening way, more in a knowing way. “You still care. Lo amas.”
I let out a soft laugh that had no humor in it at all. “That’s unfortunate.”
“You watched that television like you forgot everybody else in the room existed.”
“I was looking at the news.”
“No,” she said. “You were looking at him.”
That made me get quiet again because she was right. I hated when people were right about me. I looked back toward the television through the open doors and so did Luciana.
“She’s beautiful,” Luciana said after a minute.
I looked at her. “She is,” I agreed.
She continued. “I can see why he loves her.”
Carmen had that kind of beauty that made people trust her without meaning to although she was lethal behind that soft face, pretty smile, and smart mouth. She looked like the kind of woman people underestimated until she opened her mouth and destroyed them and they realized it was too late.
“She almost died,” I repeated what the news said.
Luciana nodded her head. “Yes and if she did, then Miami would be on fire, but that is not our problem or our fight mami.”
“You know he didn’t do it,” I said after a minute.
Luciana looked at me. “Do what?”
“Kill my uncle.” I lied.
She was quiet and I looked down into my glass again because I already knew how crazy it sounded to still defend him after everything, but I couldn’t help it. “He didn’t do it; we have no proof.”
Luciana rested her elbows against the railing. “You still defend him.”
“No,” I said quickly. “I just know that.”
