“It was the way he laughed, and the way he worded it, like not that she took off, but that she had been taken off, and then put in a hole. You hear the difference, Dominic? You see what I mean? It’s like she’s in a grave.”
“I hear it, baby. I’m not gonna argue it with you. It doesn’t sound good. Did you go to the cops? If you think… Just, what did you do?”
“No. No. No cops. I—we—we can’t go to the cops, Dom. That’s not—that’s—we never—no cops, Dom. No cops.” I was hyperventilating and clutching at his chest. I was nearly panicked at the thought that he might now insist on dragging the police into this, which was the very last thing I needed. The police were not an option in my life, in Tania’s life. That was a complete no-go zone, and Dom needed to get that. ASAP.
“Whoa. Okay, baby, relax. Calm down. Breathe, all right? No cops. I hear you. I promise.”
I held his eyes, looking for truth, and finding it. My breathing started to deepen again, though it was still jagged and rough. I just kept trying to calm myself, to get control again.
“Okay. You’re doin’ good, Sienna. Just keep breathin’. You feel like you can keep talkin’ right now, baby? Tell me how you’re feelin’.”
“Yeah, I’m okay. I’m okay.” I took a sip of water, which turned into several gulps.
He gave me a few minutes more to settle, then asked again, “Who did you see when you dropped her off at the warehouse? Do you know which MC guy he was talkin’ about?” It was a little weird, because his voice was tight, guarded. I looked into his face, reading his tension, but not knowing where it came from.
“I’m not sure. There were a couple of guys by the door, at the lot when I dropped her off that morning. One was a Latino guy, I think. I don’t know his name. Tall, good-looking, maybe your age? Late twenties? Um, he had black hair, coffee-creamy skin. Athletic. I remember he smiled at us. He had a really nice smile, big, you know? I haven’t seen him around either, since that day, so maybe… I don’t know. Maybe he had something to do with it? But I never met him, don’t know his name, and I can’t be sure.
“The other guy was older, with the salt-and-pepper hair tied back, goes by Clad or Clab? Something like that. He always seems real important around here. I think he’s, like, important in your MC? And he scowls a lot. You gotta know who I mean. He’s not approachable, and every time I catch his eye he looks like he wants to kill me. So I never asked him. I stay away from him. I don’t know, maybe he’s the one Ronn was talking about.”
Dom’s eyes hardened. Again, he was processing all this, and he didn’t respond or do anything more for a few minutes.
Finally, he said, “Shit,” under his breath. I looked at him more sharply, wondering if maybe he knew something, like what I had just told him answered some questions he had knocking around in his head.
But he shook it a little, left and right, tightened his lips around a sigh through his nose, and hooked my eyes with his own. “Babe, you gotta promise me somethin’. You gotta promise me you won’t do anythin’ about this, and you won’t say anythin’ about this to anybody else, at least for a few more days. There is more goin’ on, and I gotta figure this shit out, and it is not safe. Promise you’ll keep your cool, and you’ll tell me if you hear anythin’ more. And you don’t plan anythin’ without me. You gotta let me take this on for you. Okay?”
“No way, Dom. I can’t do that. This is my sister we’re talking about. I can’t just let it go, and I can’t just let you deal with it. I have to do something. I have to make Joey Ronn pay, because I know in my heart that he did something really bad, really evil to her. So he has to pay for it. I can’t not do anything.”
“I hear you, Sienna, but I need you to hear me. This is not just about your sister. There is somethin’ more goin’ on here, and I need to handle it. I need you to let me do that. I need you to trust me on this. I need you to give me that. Step down, Sienna. And I’m not askin’. I’m tellin’.”
“No fucking way, Dom.” I shook my head.
He shook his head. “You and your fucking mouth, Sienna.” His eyes softened, though, and he said it as though my swearing had brightened the moment, lifted him out of the darkness into which we had been plummeting.
And he kissed me. Not very gently, but not roughly, either. Just smoothly, like it was the natural formation of us and he was just laying the parts back together. Our tongues intertwined and our breaths melded, and my body, of its own accord, turned into his for most contact.