Ch. 5 - Party Favours

D O M I N I C

Watching Aleksandr hold on to Jade longer than necessary was beginning to

unnerve me. The way she pressed her body into the large Russian man was

borderline inappropriate.

Sensing my growing agitation, Vincent leaned over and said, "Relax boss."

Exhaling softly, I nodded slightly, immediately regaining control of my

senses. I watched as Jade and her best friend Blaire said hello to everyone

else before going to sit by another table that had been reserved for the

birthday girl and her closest friends. Jee-min stood near them along with a

few other body guards, while Quintin sat next to Jade.

"Wow!" James said before addressing me, "You actually let her leave the

house like that?"

Aleksandr commented almost immediately, "What's wrong with what she's

wearing? She looks fantastic!"

"She's jail-bait," Raeni interjected.

Running a hand through his dark brown hair, Aleksandr stated, "She's not!

Sure, she might look young, but Jade is perfectly legal, she's turning

nineteen for fucks sake!"

I wanted to shoot the Russian's head off. The muscle in my jaw ticked

before I spoke, "What did we just talk about earlier?"

"Don't let pussy interfere with business," Da'mon answered.

"Kiss ass..." Aleksandr muttered to the Haitian, while adjusting the lapels of

his jacket. He then turned to Raeni and said, "I swear, some of you

Caribbean people are just too strict! You should give your young adults

more freedom. I feel sorry for your younger sister."

Rolling her eyes, she replied, "And some of you white people aren't strict

enough! Just because your children turn eighteen doesn't mean that they can

do anything that they want. Especially if they're not paying any damn bills!

My younger sister is growing up just fine, thank you very much! Sex and

booze will still be there when she's of age, there's no reason to rush these

things. If she doesn't like the rules under my roof, she's free to leave when

she turns eighteen in two years' time."

"Again, you always over-react for the simplest of things, Raeni," Aleksandr

huffed as he sat back in his chair.

"She's over-reacting? Ha! Clearly, you're forgetting how you got on when

James was hitting on one of your girls?" the tall, dark-skinned man

interjected, his Caribbean accent thick.

Scoffing, "That situation is different Da'mon! She was one of my best call

girls, and by James monopolising her, he was costing me money!"

Aleksandr narrowed his eyes as he shot the Irishman a pointed stare.

"Hey! I paid you with interest!" James spoke up, defending himself.

"Only after Dominic threatened to put a bullet in your head! I swear, it

wouldn't surprise me if this alliance dissolved because of something petty,"

Raeni said in a disgruntled tone.

"Wars have been started for less," Vincent stated, his stoic expression

unchanging.

"Heh!" I laughed softly before adding, "Gangsters are petty assholes, so

someone will always screw something up."

Everyone at the table grudgingly agreed, and James took the opportunity to

return to the previous subject, his eyes full of mischievous intent.

"Back on the topic of younger sisters, Raeni, where's that gorgeous–" the

Irishman never got to finish his sentence.

Knowing exactly where James' question was headed, Raeni slapped him on

the upside of his head cutting his speech off, "What have I told you about

mentioning my sister's name?"

"I didn't even get to say her name! Damn! So feisty!" James exclaimed as

he looked at Da'mon and asked, "How did you ever make out being her

boyfriend?"

"It was a long time ago," he replied, his eyes warning the Irishman to

behave, "let's leave the past in the past, yea?"

With an impish smirk on his face, James moved his chair a bit, putting some

distance between himself and Raeni. I shook my head, knowing that he was

up to no good, and waited for the chaos to unfold.

Thinking he was safely out of reach, James then added, "Kiyana is such a

beautiful name though."

"Boy!" Raeni suddenly stood, drawing her gun, her dark brown eyes

blazing as she pointed it at him.

Da'mon chuckled softly, "Come on James, enough with the jokes, you know

that she will shoot you."

"Oh no Ms. Dixon, by all means, put a hole in that goofy-looking face of

his," I joined in with a soft cackle as I leaned forward in my chair.

"Shit!" James eyes widened as he looked up at Raeni, his hands went up in

surrender as he defensively said, "Don't shoot! Look, you know I like to

talk shit, I'm sorry!"

"Keep talking shit and see what happens! With yuh likkle leprechaun self!"

she fumed then sat back down, a bit of Jamaican slang escaped her anytime

she got really mad.

"Little? Leprechaun?" sputtering James argued, "But I'm 6 feet tall!"

"You can't round up your height, it doesn't work that way!" Raeni replied

with a cheeky sneer, rubbing it in his face that he was the shortest of us all,

at 5ft 11in.

The laughter that erupted from around the table instantly calmed the

atmosphere, and the altercation was immediately forgotten. We, the mafia

leaders, often used festivities like this as a means of relaxing, since going

out together, celebrating gang members' birthdays and such was an attempt

to strengthen our bonds with one another.

Seeing as we were all in our thirties, we each had various things that we

wished to accomplish, wanting to prove ourselves to the generations that

came before us. In a way, I felt like this motivated and helped to keep the

alliance intact.

This club was one of many that I owned in Aelbank City. However, our

business was not all fun and games.

Myself and the others had our hands in everything; from money laundering,

illegal gambling, drug trafficking, weaponry, extortion, to pornography and

prostitution. Although, my personal favourite was arson, but that was

something that I did more on my own time, though I never hesitated to use

it for business.

If you want to get fast answers, just light a fire under someone's ass,

literally!

You see, as a young boy, I had enjoyed setting fires. It had started out at

first with just a simple box of matches that I would carry around in my

pocket. While the other children played together, not wanting me to join

them, I would sit outside alone, strike them and contemplate.

Observing the compliant flame, I would watch it flicker in the wind,

besmirching the wood, converting it to charcoal at my command. An

uncontainable smirk would spread across my gaunt features, though my

smile never reached my eyes. After some time, I had progressed to burning

the belongings of those who had upset me.

I would often daydream while watching the different hues that the flames

emitted. Sometimes, I became transfixed until the smoke had started to

suffocate me.

Over time, I had then advanced to dousing items in nail polish remover in

order to accelerate the burning. For that brief moment in time, as the fire

danced, consuming wildly, I would become almost serene.

The darkened remnants had gratified me temporarily, but my cravings

returned soon after.

I recognised a similar demon within Jade, one that may very well be darker

than my own, as she was beyond fearless and often very volatile. Which is

why I did not want her joining the mafia.

If I was being honest with myself, I feared that she would just be too good

at it and I did not want her to be fully consumed by the darkness that I saw

within her just waiting to be set free.

Shaking my thoughts clear, I refocused my attention.

As the night progressed, myself and the others played a few rounds of

poker.

Every so often, I would glance over to Jade, and her smile struck me from a

mile away. This warmed my heart, seeing her so happy, especially as her

and Quintin had such a rough start in life.

Even though I may not have been around much, I was proud of the

individuals they had grown into as I knew first hand how damaging a

traumatic childhood could be. Which is why, when I had found them a little

over thirteen years ago, I could not just throw them into the foster care

system, not after what they both had been through. Perhaps it was because I

also saw a bit of myself in them.

Nonetheless, I was happy that they did not let their past hold them back.

When it was midnight, I found myself at Jade's side and she hugged me

tightly as I expressed my birthday greetings to her and kissed her cheek.

She was ecstatic and her eyes never left mine, as everyone sang Happy

Birthday.

When it was time to cut the large purple cake, as always, she did it with

Quintin. The gifts she received were placed somewhere securely so that she

could open them later.

Once the cake had been shared out, everyone resumed dancing.

I could feel myself becoming more irritated as time passed. Aleksandr and

James were currently on the dance floor, as always, flirting with the

prettiest women in the room.

Unfortunately, tonight, that meant Jade and Blaire.

Quintin and Jee-min were never too far away, always keeping an eye on the

birthday girl. While I was itching to yell at them, I knew that tonight, more

than ever, Jade would do as she pleased and there would be no reasoning

with her. She would only listen to me and I was not about to ruin her night,

even if I was against some of her behaviour.

Vincent and I stood by the balcony, talking to each other, while looking

down at the dance floor. Blaire was all over James, grinding herself into the

Irishman's lean body as they sloppily made out.

But that was not what had my blood boiling though.

There Jade was, her back pressed against the front of Aleksandr's chest. The

large Russian was gripping her intimately by her hips, the fingers of his

right hand dangerously close to the cut-outs by her pelvis.

Jade's hands rested on top of Aleksandr's forearms, her hips pushing back

into him. The Russian's face was buried in her neck, no doubt smelling her

skin. However, Jade's face was tilted upwards, her eyes searching until she

found what she was looking for.

Her mouth burst into a wide grin as she saw me looking down at her.

I watched as she bit her bottom lip. The look in her eye was almost defiant.

Though, from the way her gaze fixated on me, there seemed to be a silent

plea hidden among the beautiful green depths.

"What did I tell you. Fearless..." Vincent said, his impassive expression

momentarily breaking as he looked somewhat impressed by her boldness.

"Shut up!" I hissed, my eyes darkening once more, "Send her up to the

office," I snarled as I took off my gloves and stormed off.

As I made my way to the elevator, I watched out of the corner of my eye as

Vincent took out his phone and made a quick call. Jee-min could be seen

pulling his phone out of his jacket pocket and looking up onto the balcony

as he answered. Nodding in understanding, he made his way over to Jade,

pulling the large Russian off of her before proceeding to drag her through

the crowd towards the private elevator in the back.

I patiently waited in my private office, leaning against the edge of my desk.

A few minutes later, Jade entered and closed the door behind her. I walked

towards the large floor-to-ceiling glass panels and motioned for her to join

me, which she did immediately, a big smile on her face.

My eyes narrowed at her gleeful expression and I made quick work of

wiping away her grin, a gasp escaping her lips as I roughly pulled her

against my chest.

"What the hell were you doing with Tolstoy?" I questioned as I stood

behind her, my voice eerily calm.

Instead of answering me, I felt her lean back into me, wiggling her buttocks

against the front of my pants. I growled softly, then pushed her against the

wall of tinted glass, pressing the front of her body against the cool, smooth

surface while creating some space between our pelvic areas.

The sound of the music could barely be heard from the club below, though

we could feel the rhythm vibrating against the glass.

Sighing softly, Jade tilted her head back to look at me, "I was dancing,

obviously."

"The fuck you were, you were all but dry humping him!" I replied as I

tightened my grip.

Much to my dismay, Jade moaned softly, "I didn't realise, I was simply lost

in the music, dancing for my muse and then suddenly he was behind me."

"Uh huh..." I raised an eyebrow then asked, "Who were you dancing for?"

Licking her lips, she boldly said, "For you, who else?"

"Jade, Jade, Jade..." I whispered as I turned her around.

Using my left hand to hold her wrists securely above her head, I pressed her

back into the thick glass pane, as my right hand pulled a switchblade from

my pocket. Upon seeing the knife, her breathing deepened.

Taking the blade, I started from her exposed collar bone, dragging it

diagonally down the front of her dress, over the cut-outs. Moving the knife

along the hem, I took my time before moving the weapon higher, resting the

flat part of the blade against the skin on the side of her neck.

I silently wondered where she got such a dress and made a mental note to

have a talk with Jee-min later. No doubt she probably smuggled it into the

residence somehow, she was crafty like that.

My eyes never left hers as I pressed the cold steel against her throat, "You're

playing with fire, Jade, and we all know how much I love to burn things."

Visibly swallowing, she trembled at my words, the chill of the knife against

her heated skin no doubt making her shiver. Although, from the way Jade's

eyes pleaded with me for more as she softly whimpered, I got the

impression that the sight of my blade excited her, which had not been my

intention.

Huffing, I quickly withdrew the switchblade and placed it back into my

pocket.

I could feel her minty breath against my lips as she replied, "Well, it's my

birthday, so I figured it would be worth getting burnt tonight. Speaking of

presents, you haven't given me one as yet."

I laughed softly, "That's because you have yet to tell me what you want."

"I think you know what I want, Dom. I want you to kiss me," she stated

boldly, her eyes piercing mine as she slowly leaned forward.

Reacting quickly, I moved my head back, my gaze dropping to her lips, the

colour reminding me of a pink rose blooming in the spring. Using my free

hand, I tightly grasped her chin before unconsciously swiping my thumb

gently across her bottom lip.

By now Jade's breathing was somewhat ragged, her mouth somewhat

parted, silently begging as her tongue shamelessly came out to lick at the

pad of my finger, causing me to growl in slight aggravation.

She had always been a bold one, always pushing the boundaries to see what

she could get away with, testing the patience of those around her. However,

the brashness that she was openly displaying tonight, I had to confess,

caught me off-guard.

I was tempted to ask her if she had taken her medicine today, but I knew

that she did. It was something that I could say with confidence that Jade

took seriously. Which meant that her behaviour was caused by another

reason, one that I was unsure if I really wanted to know.

Abruptly removing both my hands from her, I shook my head as I regained

some composure and said, "Jade, you know that I can't."

"Can't or won't?" she frowned as she went on to say, "It's just a kiss,

Dominic! What's the big deal?" Jade paused before smiling, "You can just

think of it as a party favour."

Snarling softly, I took a few steps back, putting even more distance between

us, "You know why... This isn't a game, Jade. Ask me for something else,

anything else! But do not ask me to cross a line that we both know I

shouldn't!"

The tone she used was an attempt to entice me as she moved to arch her

body into mine as she begged, "Please?"

I took another step back, then ran a hand through my silver white hair and

gripped at the strands before I unclenched my fingers. I shook my head and

stalked towards the door. Opening it roughly, I exited the room, visibly

exhaling.

Turning to Jee-min, I instructed, "See to it that Aleksandr stays away from

her for the rest of the night. I'm leaving."

Jee-min nodded as I took the private elevator and left the building for the

remote parking lot. There was Vincent, leaning against one of the black

SUVs, clearly waiting for me it would seem.

With a huff, I walked over, "Don't you dare fucking say shit!" I commanded

while throwing the keys to the purple Maserati at him.

Catching the item, "Did you–" Vincent began to ask about the kiss no

doubt.

"I said not a word! Not now!" my nostrils flared as I cut him off.

Yanking open the door to my matte purple and black Bugatti, I growled as I

gave him one last annoyed expression before slamming the door shut.

The engine roared to life before the tires squealed as my car left the

premises.