Twisted Obsessions (SIN CITY HEAT SERIES Book 2)

by K, S

  Keisha could only nod as tears rolled down her face. She wanted to die on the spot. Dominick must hate her now. She watched as he walked over to the couch and sat down as if in a daze.

  “Dominick….I’m…so….sorry…"

  Dominick slowly shook his head, still trying to grasp the ramifications of what this all meant. “You talked to her….when?”

  Keisha sniffed, wiping her eyes, trying to compose herself. “She - she called me after you left. She told me she had emailed something to me. After I saw what she’d sent, I called her back. And that’s when she told me what she wanted. She’s truly crazy.”

  Keisha still couldn’t believe it herself. She didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t lose Dominick, but...how could she stay and risk Rochelle making good on her threats. How could she risk being the reason his daughter was taken away from him?

  “Okay, she called you after I left. And then you called…Jerra and Aleesha?”

  Keisha quickly looked at him. He was staring at her with an unreadable expression, but if Keisha knew him the way she thought she knew him - he was angry, yes, but for a completely different reason. “I….yes. I didn’t know what to do….”

  Dominick stood up. “And you didn’t think to call me? Were you even gonna to tell me Keisha?”

  “I don’t know! Dominick, I don’t know! I could barely think, I don’t even remember getting here. I know you’re angry, and I know you must hate me, but I didn’t know what to do….!” By now Keisha was screaming and crying.

  Dominick’s voice rose a couple of decibels, and this time he didn’t try to restrain his anger. “You didn’t know what to do?! You should’ve fucking called me! I should’ve been the first person you called! Instead, you hurry and leave before I come home, and run to Aleesha and Jerra?!”

  “You don’t understand. We…”

  “Oh, I understand perfectly, Keisha. I understand how close you are, I do. And I know you’ll always be close. But Jerra is married to Darrell now, Aleesha is engaged to Marcus, and you have me.” He stopped, waiting on her to look up at him. When she did, he continued, lowering his voice. “I know you three will always be close, and the bond you have in unbreakable - it should be but…”

  He walked up to her and stared at her with a forthrightness that refused to let her look away. “Do you love me?”

  Keisha met his eyes and without hesitation said, “Yes.”

  “And I love you too. That means from now on, we come first with each other. If there’s a problem you come to me, then we’ll decide what to do - you and I. Do you understand what I’m telling you?”

  Keisha’s lashes fluttered down. Her mind wasn’t letting her believe what her heart already knew to be true. She looked at him again. “You’re not leaving me?”

  Dominick stared at her and shook his head at her question. “Keisha, love is being there through the good times and the bad - and the unthinkable. This is definitely unthinkable, but I’m not going anywhere. I don’t intend to lose you and I damned sure ain't losin’ my daughter.”

  Keisha let out a cry as he pulled her to him. She squeezed him tight as she broke down. “I’m so sorry, Dominick. This is all my fault. I should never have even set up anything like that for us …”

  Dominick held her away from him so that she could see the truth of his words. “Don’t, Keisha. Stop it. This is not your fault. We didn’t do anything wrong. We’re consenting adults, and anything we choose to do behind closed doors is our business. I don’t care what it is. If this thing were to go to court, it should be thrown out without a second thought, but I know that wouldn’t be the case. The way our society is, people always want to judge and stick their noses into things that are none of their business. If I should be judged at all, it should be on the type of father I am, and how much I love and care for my little girl….that’s why we’re not going to let it get that far.”

  Keisha looked up at him. At this moment he looked like a completely different person. She shivered at his cold expression. In fact, he looked like he was picking up the gauntlet Rochelle had thrown at their feet.

  “I don’t know who in the hell this lunatic is, but she’s messing with the wrong person. If it were just me, I wouldn’t care if she chose to circulate those pictures around all of Las Vegas, hell she could send them to the fucking White House. But nobody - and I mean nobody - messes with my family."

  Dominick turned to stare out the window with his arms folded. “If she wants to play in the big leagues, I hope she’s prepared for the consequences because it won’t be pretty….”

  They were both silent. Suddenly, Dom’s cell phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and saw it was Darrell.

  “Yeah…”

  “Dominick. Jerra just told me what’s going on. I’m here at home. What do you need?”

  Dominick was quiet for a moment. Darrell’s question was a sign of true friendship. He didn’t skirt the issue, or try to talk around the obvious with meaningless bullshit. Dominick knew he was gonna be right there for him, and Marcus too when he found out. They had his back, no questions asked.

  “I’m on my way over to your house to drop Keisha off. I’ll pick you up when I get there.” After Dominick hung up, he put a finger over Keisha’s lips as she began to protest. “Keisha. I don’t want you at home by yourself, and you can’t come with me. Baby, don’t argue. We only have forty-eight hours to take care of this. Trust me. Okay?”

  Keisha hesitated then nodded. “I do trust you, Dominick. With my life.”

  Dominick looked at her for a moment, then leaned down and softly kissed her before taking her hand. “Let’s go.”

  Fifteen minutes later, they were outside of Darrell’s house. He swung the door open before they could ring the doorbell and stepped aside to let them in. He gave Dominick a quick hug and pulled Keisha to him. She clung to him for a moment, before moving back, then looked over and saw Marcus, who walked over and enveloped Keisha in his arms.

  “I thought you had to work tonight.”

  “I did, but Darrell called me and told me I needed to get here right away. I told them I had a family emergency. Someone’s covering my shift for a couple of days.” He squeezed her hands as he looked at her. “Everything’s gonna be okay. You know that, right?”

  Keisha looked over at Dominick who was talking to Jerra. She believed in him implicitly and had no doubt he would take care of this mess. She looked back at Marcus and nodded. “I know.”

  Dominick walked over to Keisha. “Jerra’s going to get started on the legal end of this with the club. She’s already made some phone calls and will be there first thing in the morning to meet with their lawyers. Apparently, they’re as anxious as we are to handle this quickly and quietly.” He looked over at Marcus and Darrell who were waiting for him. “I want you to stay here

  until I come back.”

  “Dominick, where are you going? It’s almost midnight. Don’t you think you should wait until morning?”

  Dominick was shaking his head even before she finished speaking. “We don’t have time to wait.” An inscrutable expression settled on his face. “Besides, the people I’m going to see never sleep…" He kissed her before she could ask any more questions, then they were out the door.

  Aleesha and Jerra came over to Keisha and put their arms around her. “Don’t worry sweetie. They’ll be okay. They’re together and will make sure nothing happens to each other.”

  As soon as they got in the car, Dominick pulled out his phone and dialed a number. When the call connected, he said, “Its Dom. Let me speak to Angel…”

  A few minutes later a familiar voice came on the line. “Hello. Nick??”

  Dominick paused. It had been over ten years since he’d heard this voice but he would have recognized it in his sleep. “Yeah, it’s me. I need to see you. Now.”

  “Of course. I’m at….”

  “I know where you are. I’ve always known…”

  There was a pause on the other end of the phone. “
Yeah. Same here. I’ll be waiting.”

  Dominick hung up the phone then started the car. He was disturbing a part of his life he swore he’d never touch again. But under the circumstances, he didn’t have a choice.

  Chapter 26

  For the most part, the three men rode in silence. There wasn’t anything to say. Marcus and Darrell knew this was Dominick’s call. They were there to back him up no matter how he decided to handle this.

  They drove on the interstate for about forty-five minutes. Dominick took several exits and turns until they entered Southwest Las Vegas. A little while later, they drove up to a set of security gates. Beyond the gates they could see multi-million dollar homes nestled safe and secure within.

  Dominick pulled up to the gate with his ID ready. When the guard saw three young black men in the car, he cautiously walked over and peered inside. His hand slipped to the butt of his gun…just in case.

  Seeing the gesture, Darrell muttered under his breath, “Stupid mutherfucka…”

  The guard leaned down and suspiciously gazed through the window at each one of them. “Can I help you?”

  Dominick handed his license over. “I’m here to see Angelo Lacroix.”

  The guard's expression immediately changed to one full of respect. “Oh! Mr. Spain…yes sir! Mr. Lacroix told me to be expecting you.” He returned Dominick’s license and walked to the guard shack to open the gates. “Please. Go right in.”

  “Damn,” Darrell said. “His attitude changed real quick…” He looked at Dom for an explanation, but Dominick just gave him a quick smile and remained quiet.

  As they entered the wealthy gated community, Marcus whistled softly through his teeth. “So this is how the other half lives.”

  Dominick quietly answered. “Nah, man…this is beyond the other half. This is the select few.”

  As they continued driving, to the left they saw a world class golf course behind a gigantic building that looked to be some type of clubhouse. It was huge. Dominick estimated that it had to be over 40,000 square feet. He knew it included several dining rooms, a gym, and Golf Pro shop - all the amenities. In fact the whole community was designed to be self-sufficient. The residents need never leave this safe haven if they didn’t want or need to.

  Dominick shook his head. He could never live isolated and cut off from the real world like this.

  After a few more turns, Dominick finally came to the address he was looking for. The mansion was a three story monstrosity…the largest in the area. Behind it, mountains and the Vegas skyline provided a perfect, picturesque background.

  Unable to hold his curiosity in any longer, Darrell turned to Dom. "Who in the fuck lives here, bruh??” Dom still said nothing.

  After they were buzzed through the black, wrought iron gates, they drove up a paved road. Towards the back of the compound, a large man-made lake had been beautifully created. Trees and a garden grand enough to be in a state part surrounded the lake.

  As they pulled up the winding, circular driveway, Dominick brought the car to a stop and turned the ignition off. Darrell and Marcus followed Dom's lead and started walking up to the large wooden double doors of the mansion, but before they had taken two steps, four men called out for them to halt.

  Dominick bristled as they came forward and tried to pat them down. He shoved the man's hand away. “Hold up, get the fuck back…”

  The one in charge stepped towards Dominick. “We either pat you down or you get back in your car and leave. I don’t give a fuck who you are.” The other men placed their hands under their jacket…waiting.

  Dominick looked the man in the eye refusing to back down. “Johnny, we ain’t leavin’ and hell fuckin' no you ain’t searching me or my friends. What you will do is move the fuck up out of my way.”

  Johnny glared at Dominick with dislike clearly evident on his face. “Look Dominick, you may think you can just stroll back in after all these years and order people around, but you ain’t in charge here. Don’t make me…”

  “Johnny! Step down!” An older Hispanic man walked towards them with long, angry strides. “I told you Dominick was on his way! What the fuck is wrong with you!”

  The man got up in Johnny's face and pushed him in the chest. Johnny’s mouth tightened, but he remained silent. Finally he averted his eyes and took a step back. The man gave him a cold stare which told Johnny he would definitely hear more about this later before turning to the three men.

  “Nick…good to see you. Come here.” He pulled Dominick to him and gave him a long hug. “It’s been too long, my friend.”

  “How are you, Oscar?”

  “I’m fine, I’m fine. Come on. He’s waiting on you.” With his arm still around Dominick, he turned towards Marcus and Darrell and gestured for them to proceed to the house.

  As Dominick passed Johnny, he slowed down. “Good boy,” he goaded. Dom smirked as Johnny sent him a furious glare.

  Oscar laughed. “Same old Nick. Come on.”

  Once inside, Oscar led them through the long, vast foyer. There was a grand, circular stairway which went up to the second floor and ran the length of the entire room.

  “He’s waiting for you out here.”

  As they followed Oscar, they went through one room after the other, the next more grand and opulent than the previous until finally they came to an indoor pool area. Beautiful, scantily clad women frolicked poolside on the loungers, while others laughed and played naked in the water.

  Oscar stopped at a table where a man sat surrounded by another set of stunning women even more beautiful than the last. Darrell and Marcus looked around, taking note of the men scattered throughout the room who looked much the same as the ones who met them outside.

  Marcus and Darrell exchanged looks. Could have sworn dude’s last name was Obama the way he had security scattered all over the place.

  The man stared at Dominick with an intensity which was almost palpable. A dangerous aura surrounded him, alerting them to the fact that he didn’t take any shit.

  He was very handsome and looked to be about ten years or so older than Dom and was very fair skinned. His dark hair was straight and cut low, his build athletic and muscular, yet not bulky.

  But his most arresting feature were his eyes. At first glance, they were hazel, brown with flecks of green buried in. However, as he stared at Dom, they slowly changed colors to become a warm, greenish brown. Without taking his eyes off of Dominick, his finger quickly and imperceptibility lifted. The small movement would’ve been missed by anyone else, but the women quickly got up and left them alone.

  The man stood up and enclosed Dominick within a tight embrace and after a moment, Dominick returned the hug. The man moved back to look at Dominick.

  “Nick. How are you?”

  Dominick hesitated. He wasn’t here for pleasantries. “I’m fine Angel. These are my friends...”

  “Marcus and Darrell.” Angel cut him off. “Yeah. I know who they are. Sit down…please.”

  Marcus and Darrell’s wore identical expressions of confusion. Dominick could sense them staring at him but kept his attention on Angel. Grimacing, he didn’t even have to ask how he knew who they were. He was sure Angel made it a point to know everything about Dom.

  After they sat down, Dominick got right to the point. “I need your help. I have a…situation, and not much time to resolve the problem.”

  Angel immediately leaned forward with a concerned look covering his face. “What’s wrong?”

  Dominick told him how Keisha was being blackmailed, and about Rochelle threatening to use the information she had to make him lose custody of his daughter. When Dominick mentioned that his daughter was involved, Angel’s green eyes turned a cool, mint color and his face contorted in rage.

  “Samantha. Someone is threatening to hurt her?” he asked in a controlled voice.

  “Inadvertently, yes.” Again Dominick wasn’t surprised that Angel knew about Sam. It had been over a decade since they’d seen each other, but he’d al
ways known in the back of his mind that Angel was close by and watching.

  “What‘s this woman's name and where does she live,” Angel demanded.

  Dominick hesitated. Seeing this, Angel stabbed him with a piercing gaze. He started to continue but paused and shifted a guarded glance towards Marcus and Darrell.

  Interpreting the cause of his hesitance, Dominick responded, “It‘s okay. You can speak freely in front of them.”

  “This woman is threatening your family. Now is not the time to second guess your decision in coming here. This needs to be dealt with swiftly.”

  “Angel. I just want you to find her and bring her to me. I'll deal with her myself.”

  Angel stared at Dominick for a long, unsettling while before a mocking smile crossed his face. “You never did have the stomach for this life, did you?”

  Dominick’s face hardened. “This was never my life, it was yours. That is until you dragged me into it.” Dominick held Angel’s stare until Angel dropped his eyes and looked away. When Dominick stood up, Darrell and Marcus did the same. “Just do what I’ve asked you to do….” Dominick’s eyes narrowed. “You owe me.”

  “Fine. But afterwards, we put the past behind us.” His tone was clipped and clearly perturbed. Sitting back he raised his chin and the women came back over to drape themselves over him like beautiful accessories. “I’ll be in touch.”

  “Angel…”

  “Nick, I said I’ll be in touch.” His tone told Dominick it would do no good to argue.

  Still Dom hesitated then nodded. Oscar led them back to the front door, and once again hugged Dominick. “It was good to see you Nick. You look good.”

  “So do you Oscar.” As if torn by emotions he had yet to deal with, Dominick reluctantly asked, “How is he?”

  Oscar shrugged. “The same as always. You know.”

  Dom nodded. When they passed Johnny, Dominick's expression dared him to utter a word. Johnny turned his head, ignoring him.

  As they were pulling out and driving back down the long driveway, Darrell fixed Dominick with an unwavering stare. “Alright. Who in the hell was that.”