Ch. 3 - The Man Himself

D O M I N I C

The sound of two shots fired echoed across the harbour before the body of a

man thudded lifelessly to the ground.

"And it's that simple," I stated plainly, while holstering my purple and gold

Colt M1911.

It was currently the middle of the afternoon, and the dark waters of the

Atlantic splashed against the wharf as I stood with some of my men

between a large assortment of shipping containers. Presently among us were

a few of my business partners and some of their own entourage.

"I told you he was stealing from you, James," the deep voice of Da'mon

Leconte stated as the large 6ft 7in Haitian towered over everyone.

"Arseways!" Spitting on the dead man's body the Irishman countered, "It's

getting harder to find good help these days."

"Maybe if you spent less time drinking and chasing women, you'd have

noticed that you had a thief in your midst," Da'mon countered.

"Póg mo thóin!" James O'Doherty cursed, telling the man in Gaeilge to kiss

his behind.

"Tèt zozo!" the Haitian retorted, calling the man a dick head in his native

dialect.

Raeni let out an exasperated sigh. The dark-skinned woman's Jamaican

accent was thick as she spoke, "James, Da'mon, can the both of you shut up

now? The man's dead! Let's get on with business!"

"Ah Ms. Dixon, ever the voice of reason among these prattling popinjays!"

I said with a smile, before turning to address everyone else. "Listen, you're

all here because of what you bring to the table. When I first came to

Aelbank City, you were all fighting amongst yourselves, but I showed you

the true potential of what we could achieve if we all worked together."

Suddenly, three silver vehicles with tinted windows pulled up. A tall man in

a dark three-piece suit with shades got out, followed by a few other men.

The top of a dark cryptic tattoo peeked out from the collar of his shirt.

"Tolstoy! So good of you to join us, I trust that you were able to do what I

asked?" I flashed him a big grin.

Rolling his neck until it cracked, Aleksandr Tolstoy took his shades off,

revealing deep blue eyes, "Naturally..."

The left side of my mouth twitched as I walked a circle around the Russian.

Clearing his throat, Aleksandr stated, "The meeting with the Albanians has

been set up as you requested."

"Excellent!" I laughed while flashing a dazzling smile before I went on to

address the group. "So, as I was saying, when you're in charge, whatever

happens is on you. If there's a leak in your organisation, the onus is on you

to fix it. Similarly, if shit were to go south with all the various business

ventures that I control about the city, it's my responsibility to fix it, or I

seem weak and I get replaced..." my voice trailed off as my gaze landed on

the Irishman.

Running a hand through his golden bronze hair, James spoke up, "I get it, I

messed up, it won't happen again."

"See to it that it doesn't yea? Or next time, it'll be your head," I said then

made a clicking sound with my tongue before asking everyone, "I assume

that you all will be attending the party later?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," Aleksandr said with a big smile on his

face.

Raising an eyebrow, I responded, "Of course you wouldn't."

"Our Jade is growing up so beautifully, how could I miss her birthday!" the

Russian added, his face softening slightly.

My eyebrow raised even higher at the man's use of the word 'our' and I did

my best not to lash out at him. I really hated how obsessed the Russian

seemed, but I could not show that it bothered me.

Jade was a liability. Contrary to her belief, she needed protection as there

was no way she could defend herself against the monsters found lurking in

our world.

It was not to say that I did not believe in her abilities to defend herself, but

it would be impossible for her to do so on her own, as within this life that

we lived, it was better to have allies than to do things alone.

Shaking my thoughts away, I let out a ragged breath as I continued to watch

Aleksandr, listening to him gush about the birthday gift he had bought. I

was not sure when it had occurred, but recently, I found that I developed a

deep fondness for her. I suppose with her going off to university, I felt like a

proud older sibling.

Jade, like Vincent and Quintin, was dear to me, and showing affection in

my line of business was dangerous.

Thankfully, Raeni suddenly spoke up, saving me from acting impulsively.

"Woi! Keep it in your pants Aleksandr! I swear, if it isn't James and Da'mon

bickering, you're eye fucking some female. I can't tell who's the bigger

gyalis between you and the Irishman!" she huffed.

"A what now?" James asked in confusion, the blue specks in his green eyes

becoming more prominent.

"Gyalis. Means that you're basically a man-whore," Da'mon clarified with a

chuckle as he stroked his short beard.

I watched as the Haitian gazed at Raeni, respect in his eyes as he admired

his ex-girlfriend. It was more than obvious to me that he was still in love

with her. The Jamaican woman was 6ft 1in, and when she wore her heels,

she towered over most men. Coupled with her no-nonsense attitude, she

was a force to be reckoned with.

Noting the look that Da'mon gave her, Raeni rolled her eyes, "Anyway!

Dominic created this alliance to help us all make more money. It's like he

always says, try not to let negligence and pussy come in and mess things

up!"

"You heard the lady, fellas!" I said with a grin as I clapped my hands once,

"Everyone here has a say, but we all know that there's only one boss. This is

business, you agreed to ally yourselves with me because I owned something

that none of you did. With control over the docks and the police, as well as

having city hall in my pocket, I've managed to build an empire. So, let's all

play nice yea? There's enough hookers, drugs and cash for all of us," I

ended, my smirk wider than ever.

Everyone nodded in agreement before slowly parting ways, arranging to

meet again later. James and his men remained behind, seeing as they were

tasked with the disposal of the body.

Back in the car, Vincent asked as he sat next to me, "Have you gotten Jade

anything as yet?"

"No, she'll tell me what she wants later," I replied while playing with my

switchblade.

Noting how the blade was expertly manipulated, Vincent decided to choose

his next words carefully, "Are you sure it's wise to allow her to ask for gifts

still? I mean she's not going to request things like a purple violin anymore.

She's an adult; and since she's been on break from university, I've seen a

change in her. I know for a fact that she's going to try and push her luck

with you."

"In what way?" I asked, my blue eyes never looking away from the blade.

"Come on Dominic, you know what I mean. We've all seen the way she

looks at you lately. I get the feeling that the familial love she has for you is

going to slowly evolve into something less platonic as time passes..."

Vincent's words trailed off, while the fingers of his right hand strummed his

right knee.

Scoffing, I shook my head, "Nonsense! Jade has never been interested in

that lovey-dovey crap. Thankfully, she's always been focused on her school

work and training."

"Yes, but times change, people change," Vincent insisted.

"What do you know? You're asexual!" I fired back at him, my frown

deepening.

The tone in Vincent's voice was level as he said, "Just because I lack having

sexual feelings towards people, doesn't mean that I don't understand what

attraction looks like. Besides, you and I both know that I've never been

wrong with my assumptions."

"You're right. Sorry that I offended you," I said, rolling my eyes, "I mean,

I've known you most of my life, those eagle eyes of yours never seem to

miss a thing," I chuckled, the unique sound filling the back of the car as I

went on to say, "you're not my second in command for nothing."

Lately, I knew that Vincent found it entertaining to watch the way the I

would become slightly unsettled by the sound of Jade's voice, especially

when she was being a brat.

There were very few things that could illicit such a reaction from me, for I

did not bend my will for anyone. However, I clearly had a soft spot for

Jade.

The attachment was not obvious, but Vincent was being paid for more than

just his skill with a gun. He was four years older than myself, and his

astuteness was beyond reproach. Not to mention the fact that the man knew

me well enough to know what certain actions meant.

In reality, Vincent was the only person within my ranks whom I allowed to

speak as freely as he did. We had been best friends since we were children,

having suffered similar traumatic experiences.

Vincent had never once disrespected me, and had always told the truth,

whether I wanted to hear it or not.

It was something that I had always been grateful for.

Noting that I had not really answered his question, Vincent probed, "So,

what are you going to do when she asks you to kiss her later?"

The knife in my hand suddenly stopped spinning, "What? Jade wouldn't

dare!"

"She will. She's more fearless than you realise. I'll bet you the purple

Maserati that she does," Vincent challenged.

Sneering, I responded, "And what do I get if she doesn't?"

"You can order me to do whatever you want, and I can't refuse," he

countered.

Arching an eyebrow, I looked at him in amusement, "Don't I do that

already?"

Vincent's face contorted in a slightly sour expression, though he remained

silent, knowing fully well that I would probably come up with something

heinous.

"Oh... Oh!" I suddenly laughed in realisation, "Well, since you haven't been

taking my suggestions to do something about your personal life... Asexual

or not, in the event that I win, I order you to ask Ms. Agosti out on a date!"

His brown eyes suddenly widened slightly, "The head chef? Shit! I thought

you might have forced me to put on that stupid black tie that we're all

supposed to wear. But to ask Chiara out, damn Dominic, you really are a

sadistic fuck!"

All the men within the Calvetti organisation were required to wear black

suits with a white shirt and a black tie that came with a purple tie pin.

Everyone complied except for Vincent. The man hated ties with a passion,

and I let it slide as it made him stand out among the other men, which was

fine seeing as he was my second in command.

I chuckled at the horror on Vincent's face, knowing full well his distaste for

the middle-aged woman. She could be very handsy when she was ready,

and I knew for a fact that she had a crush on him.

Needless to say, I would enjoy his discomfort with great pleasure.

Vincent took a deep breath in order to regain his composure, then said,

"Deal, because I know I won't lose."

The conviction in the man's voice unnerved me slightly.

Vincent had yet to be proven wrong about anything that he had ever

counselled me on. However, this time, I hoped that my number two was

mistaken, as I had no idea what I would do if Jade asked me for a kiss.

As I turned to look out the window, I got lost in my thoughts.

Deep down, I knew that Vincent was right. Since Jade had been on summer

vacation from university, I had noticed the change in her body language

these past few weeks. But it was just unfathomable for me to believe that

she was developing any real feelings towards me.

Even if she was, I am sure that it was just some silly little crush.

She would get over it.

Of course, Jade's beauty had not gone unnoticed by the men around her,

much to my annoyance. She knew that she was gorgeous, and often used it

to her advantage to get the men in my mafia to do her bidding.

The little minx!

One would think that she was the boss, the way they scampered to please

her.

I scoffed as I remembered one recurring activity that involved asking one or

two of the men to make late night grocery runs to get her favourite icecream, when their time could be used doing something more productive.

Jade would claim and tell them that she had her period and that the frozen

treat helped with her painful cramps.

Unfortunately, I let it slide, even though at times I knew that she was lying.

Clearly, I was part of the problem as well, seeing that I often spoiled her

myself.

Thankfully, I had managed to keep her recent overly affectionate advances

at bay. I was not about to cross that line with her, I simply could not.

As I continued to fiddle with my switchblade, I let out a soft sigh. What if

Jade really asked me to kiss her?

Furrowing my eyebrows, I muttered, "Fuck!"