Kissing her had been an unexpected pleasure, not that he would be doing it again. One didn’t kiss one of one’s best friends the way he had kissed her on the boat. He brought his wandering thoughts back to her face.
It was those unique eyes of hers that had always fascinated him. They were a green so pale it reminded him of those days when the ocean looked more green than blue, when the curling waves looked as translucently pale green as her eyes. Those eyes never missed a thing, and right now he knew she was aware that he was looking at her. She didn’t say a word, just sipped her drink and lay looking up at the darkening sky.
Opening his mouth to call her attention to him he was hindered by his phone ringing. Reaching over to where it lay on the table next to the lounger he turned it towards him with a finger and looked at the caller ID then grinned.
“The wicked witch has finally decided to reach out.”
Face turned on her side and watched him as he picked up the phone and answered.
“Winifred, what a surprise, are you calling to wish me well on my engagement?”
She didn’t hesitate to give him her unwanted and vile opinion.
“I really don’t understand your behaviour, Dominick. You have your choice of well-bred women at your fingertips and you choose that ugly mongrel. If you need to crawl around the gutter why don’t you just take her to your bed and get it out of your system? She’s a nobody with nothing to bring to the table except her soiled reputation.”
She gave a derisive snort and continued before he could interrupt.
“I had high hopes that you would choose Annabeth DeLille, she would make the perfect wife. She’s well educated and has been raised to be the wife of a powerful man and perfect for you in every way. I’m aware that like most men you have a type you prefer and Annabeth ticks every single box. She’s petite, blonde, blue eyed with ample breasts and she won’t stand in the way of your ambitions.”
Dominick had to laugh because it was fucking ridiculous. “I have no idea where you got the idea that I prefer blonde, blue eyed, petite women with big tits, Winifred. I’ve dated a lot of women over the years and they have been as varied as the colours in a box of Smarties. You’ve been pushing Annabeth at me since we were teenagers and I’ll tell you what I told her. Listen carefully Winifred because I won’t be telling you again. She was a one night fuck and not a very good one at that. I don’t like her, won’t ever marry her or any of the other marriageable candidates you’ve been throwing at me. Get used to Noelle being by my side. She’s my choice.”
Face made wide eyes at him and he winked as he listened to Winifred raving on in his ear.
“You can’t be serious. You’re the grandson of David Delano Maingarde, you can’t marry some little nobody who is a convicted criminal and has a face no one could stand to look at.”
He was starting to lose his temper but he shoved it down deep. “How strange that you’re calling her a nobody when only a few hours ago Alexander informed her she would be marrying him and breeding his children. Make up your mind Winifred, either she’s good enough for the families or she’s not.”
Winifred snorted angrily. “Alexander will never be more than a foot soldier and you know it. She’s good enough for him but not for you. You will take over from me one day and your wife will be in the public eye all the time. She will be the one representing the families and Noelle Murchison can never be that woman. Not only is she a convicted criminal she has no class or the proper breeding required for the position.”
He couldn’t help it, he had to laugh. “You’re grasping at straws, Winifred. I know exactly who and what my future wife is. If you and Murchison continue with your plans for her I will be forced to take steps you’re not going to like. Don’t push me, Winifred. You know I don’t respond well to being forced into certain decisions.”
With that he was done with her and ended the call.
“You think she’s going to back off?” Face asked, he sighed and shook his head because he knew the old bitch wouldn’t.
He had to be ready to play his part in the slowly evolving master plan. It wasn’t going to be pleasant but he would endure because it meant the freedom of everyone he cared about.
Winifred
Staring out at the twinkling lights below her Winifred stood at the floor to ceiling glass wall in her office and controlled her breathing to keep her temper in check. Her fingers were clenched tight around her phone. Dominick was out of control and she would have to do something she didn’t want to do to get him back in line.
The boy had always been headstrong but this latest insult to her authority couldn’t be ignored. He would have to be forced to come back into line. But how?
That was the question. How to force Dominick Carlysle Maingarde to do what she wanted him to do?
She would have to be very careful of her next move.
She had to accomplish her goal of permanently uniting the Harrison and Maingarde families by breeding a Maingarde-Harrison child. Elizabeth, or Pixie as she insisted on calling herself, was out of the question, she was a vile child with her tattoos and connections to dirty bikers. There was only one choice, Dominick.
Maybe she had overplayed her hand by constantly throwing Annabeth at Dominick, but she had to soften him up to accept her actual choice of a wife for him. She’s had plans to broker a match between Dominick and Juliana Kolinic Harrison for years. Juliana was young, beautiful and headstrong. She had refused to come to Cape Town to meet Dominick because of his reputation. His reputation as a playboy made him an unacceptable choice as far as Juliana was concerned. She would no longer be given a choice. She will marry Dominick and do her duty to the family, giving them the heir they needed to finally get their hands on the vast Carlysle-Maingarde fortunes.
But before she could put them together she had to break Dominick of his bad habits. Habits she had allowed but it now seems it had been a mistake, a mistake she was about to remedy.
Dominick would return to her side once she was done with him.
A little bit more broken but then it was necessary as it had been necessary when he was sixteen.
He was her legacy and would finish the work she had started.
They would use his family’s fortune to take control of the Syndicate and rip it from the useless hands of the boys her brothers had spawned. And he would do it with her at his side as his mentor and advisor. The one who was in actual fact pulling his strings as they took over the world of crime.
That was her dream and nothing would stand in her way of making that dream a reality.
Nothing and nobody.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Hawk
Saturday Night
Sitting in the common room with his old lady on his lap Hawk watched the usual Saturday night shit going on around them. Their women had decided it was time for them to hang out together and that the clubhouse was the perfect place for it to happen. So here they were, his brothers and their old ladies and him and his little bird, hanging out. Fuck.
His mind wasn’t on the conversations going on around him. He was too worried about Kid. His best friend hadn’t reported on how the meeting with War and his family had gone and it worried him. Not that Kid was a talkative fucker at the best of times but since the shit with his parents and Jane went down he had shut down almost completely. He had hardly been speaking to anyone before he left for Cape Town. He had isolated himself from everyone.
Hawk wasn’t the only one who was worried about him, Ice and Bulldog felt the same.
A sharp elbow to the ribs had him looking down into the dark eyes of his old lady and he tried to put his worries behind him and join the conversation.
But it was not to be. His phone started bleating in his pocket and he immediately reached for it.
It was an unknown number. Fuck.
“I have to take this, baby.” He said as he moved DC off his lap, stood then pushed her down into the spot he had vacated. “I’ll be back as soon as I’m done with this.�
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He held his phone up, turned and walked away, answering as he strode down the passage to his office.
“Hawk.”
“It’s me.”
Hawk shook his head. Bloody Dom and the endless games he played.
“I understand congratulations are in order.”
There was a short silence, then a sigh.
“About that. There’s something you need to know. I’m close to uncovering something big and I know there’s going to be a move made against me. I need you to protect my people. The ones I trust all know exactly what to do should anything happen to me and they will ensure my sister, my fiancée and her friends are delivered to you or to your Cape Town chapter. I trust Orca as I trust you.”
Hawk was unsure what the hell was happening in Cape Town but it sounded like it was bad.
“What the fuck is going on down there? Do you need us to step in?”
Dominick was silent for a few seconds before he started talking again.
“What happens next is something that has to happen to ensure the hold of the Syndicate is broken. I will do what I have to do to ensure we all walk away from this intact if at all possible. I need you to keep an eye on Face. She’s a wild card and I can’t always tell what she’s going to do next. The engagement is to keep her relatively safe from the Syndicate and to ensure you don’t abandon her.” He snorted. “Yes, I know, it makes no sense telling you it’s fake but I have my reasons. Our plans are finally coming together and I have everything in place. I’ve been waiting for this opportunity for a long time. The old bitch killed my family and it’s time for her to suffer the same losses, don’t you think?”
“Jesus, Dom, what the fuck are you going to do? Stop talking in riddles and give it to me straight.”
“Sorry, my friend, but this is all I can give you at this stage. Try to keep the real reason for my engagement to yourself until such time as you have to reveal it to your club. Do I have your word?”
Hawk closed his eyes and shook his head side to side slowly then sighed. “Yes, you have my word. I’ll take care of your people should the time come that you need me to do so.”
“Thank you, Hawk. That takes a load off my mind. I have to go but I’ll talk to you again soon. I’m on my way to meet with War and Kid and that’s going to be so much fun.”
Hawk listened to him laugh and then the phone went dead. When he tried to call back he was told the number was no longer in use.
Fuck.
What the fuck was Dominick Maingarde planning? And how were those plans going to impact the club?
Worry gnawed at his gut as he went back to his old lady and his brothers. He would relax tonight but tomorrow they would start digging. Somewhere there had to be a trace or an indication of what was going on. They would find it.
And then the Iron Dogz would be ready to fight.
Kid
He was sitting in War’s office with War, Rock and Spider as they waited for Dominick and Face to arrive. He had insisted that Scar, Buzz and Dizzy had to be on the team waiting to bring them inside. War had allowed it but had given him a strange look. He didn’t care, he didn’t trust some of the Sinners not to try and end Dom and Face as they walked into the clubhouse.
Spider was fiddling with his rings, deep in thought with a small frown between his brows. Kid knew his brother was trying to make sense of the shit going down around them but without all the parts of the puzzle it was impossible to see the final picture.
The sharp knock on the door had them all look at the door.
“Come in!” War called out.
The door opened and a very pissed off Face was the first to walk in followed by an equally pissed off Dom and their bodyguards, Gideon and Bruno.
Now what? He didn’t have long to wait to find out.
“This is the last time my fiancée or I will step foot inside your clubhouse. I will not stand for my woman being called names or being ridiculed by the bastards you call your brothers.” Dominick burst out. “I’m giving you a fair warning those men are as good as dead.”
Fuck. When Dominick Maingarde threatened you had better sit up and take notice and find a way to appease him. But looking at the rage in his eyes Kid knew nothing War said or did was going to be enough.
“I’m sorry, Face, Dominick, I will take care of the problem.” Grabbing his phone War called then waited a few seconds before he spoke. “I want footage of what went down when Dominick and Face were brought into the clubhouse right the fuck now.”
He ended the call before calling someone else. “Wheels, get your fucking ass in my office.”
Throwing his phone on his desk he moved around it and held a hand out to Dominick who took it reluctantly and shook. He then did the same with Face. She shook his hand not saying a word.
“I’m sorry. If those who stepped over the line are my own men they will be dealt with. If they belong to one of the visiting chapters I will turn their discipline over to our National President. I give you my word it will be dealt with.”
“Fine.” Dom snarled. “We’re here. What do you want?”
With Dom now not trusting anyone in this clubhouse Kid knew it was up to him to calm everyone down.
“Dom, good you could make it. I have a few questions if you and your woman don’t mind.”
“Kid, good to see you again. I haven’t spoken to Tori in a while, how’s she doing?” Kid saw that Dom was trying to focus on something else to calm himself down and he gave him that.
“She’s good, man. Beast and her are back together and raising his girls as a family. She’s recovered most of her mobility, it’s only when she’s tired that she has a limp. DC built a dance studio for her in the compound where she teaches ballet to the kids and the fucking strippers. It’s been great for our strip clubs because those bitches now pull in a ton of money.” Kid nodded a head towards Spider. “Ask him, he likes to hang out at the clubs watching them dance, or so he says.”
Spider winked and grinned. “Hey, don’t put a brother down like that. I’m just doing my job. I keep an eye on their progress for Tori because Beast won’t allow her to go to the clubs.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “A pity because I’ve seen what she can do in the studio. Imagine her up on the stage working a pole, now that would be perfection.”
“Beast is going to kill you, you know this, right?” Scar said from where he stood with his back against the wall right next to the door with one of War’s men called Brick on the opposite side. Bruno and Gideon had placed themselves against the wall behind Dom and Face and silently watched everyone.
Before Spider could answer there was another knock on the door and War nodded at Scar to open it. Wheels walked in looking pissed off and stopped in front of the desk.
“You need me, Prez?”
“Yes. Mouse will have some camera footage for you to review. Every single man who disrespected Dominick and his woman are to be taken downstairs. I don’t give a fuck which chapter they are from. Don’t do it on your own. Take Ram and get a team together and take care of it. Once it’s done let me know and let Fox know.”
Wheels gave a short nod. “Got you, Prez.”
With that he turned and left, he didn’t look at any of them, his eyes already focused on the job he had been given.
War was still standing at his desk and he now indicated the chairs. “Dominick, Face, please, have a seat so we can get this done and get you safely back to your side of the wall.”
Dom held the chair for Face, she slowly sat down and he took the chair next to hers. The only ones standing were the men against the walls.
War didn’t beat around the bush. “Your engagement, it came as a surprise and at a very convenient time for Face.”
Dom smile was that of a predator.
“Yes, it might have been a surprise to some people but not for those who know us. I’ve known Noelle for years. Babysat her and Rentia and Pixie a time or two when they were little girls. I kept in contact when they locked her up, arranged som
e things to make her transition from prison to civilian life a bit easier. Despite what Murchison or Winifred might think, she belongs to me, always has, always will.”
Kid didn’t miss the pissed off look Face threw at Dom when he called her his property. Interesting.
“I appreciate the explanation.” War said mildly then turned his eyes on Face.
“Why didn’t you warn us of your connection to Dominick when we spoke earlier? Wouldn’t he have been the best option to help you obtain what you needed to protect your family?”
Face looked at him with distant cold eyes. “He is helping my family. My niece is being given the medical treatment she needs because he arranged it. When we met in the tunnel I went with what I had at the time. An opportunity to approach the Iron Dogz without Murchison getting wind of it. He has spies everywhere. But, by now he most probably knows I’m here with Dom so my plans might be totally useless for all I know.”
War shot forward angrily. “Are you trying to say I have rats in my home?”
Face leant forward and hissed. “I’m not trying to say it, I am saying it. You have rats, big fucking rats. Deal with it.”
“How do you know this?” Rock asked in a tight voice as rage played through his eyes.
“Your chapter is clean, so is Joburg, but some of the others aren’t.” She waved a hand through the air as if it was general knowledge. “My crew and I have been living next door for four years. We’ve kept our eyes and ears open for infiltrators and took care of them when needed. I could not have a spy living right next door, now could I?”
“You took care of them, how?” War sat silently as Rock questioned Face but he was listening intently and not missing a single thing.
An evil glint appeared in her eyes as she narrowed them on Rock. “The usual way, Rock, the usual way.”
She wasn’t going to say more that would incriminate herself or her crew.
“We’ll get to that again later.” War said as he leant back. “We made a partial plan this morning. I think we need to move forward and get it in place as quick as possible. With your engagement to Dominick we can no longer use the seduction ruse we’ve been thinking about. Murchison would not fall for it.”
Neither Black Nor White (Iron Dogz MC, #6) Page 19
