No Greater Loyalty (6 page)

CHAPTER 9

Nikki moved protectively in front of her sister, blocking Raven from Hawk's intense stare. "I thought you were in a meeting with my husband."

Reluctantly pulling his attention away from Raven, Hawk met Nikki's glare. "I was, but I stepped out to make a phone call."

The corner of his mouth twitched in amusement when he noticed how angry she truly was. Nicole and Raven were definitely sisters. He'd only met Nikki once when he, his brothers, and his father were here to see Angel, but it had been enough to see she possessed the same fire he'd witnessed in Raven. 

At the time, Hawk had been baffled by Angel's choice of a wife because Angel had the same taste in women as he and his brothers. They normally kept company with females who knew their place, which was normally naked and in bed. The only skills they needed to possess were looking beautiful and keeping their mouths shut, but Nikki was different.

True enough, Nicole LaCroix was a gorgeous woman, but that's not what puzzled Hawk about Angel's choice; any woman Angel claimed as his own would be beautiful, no doubt. No, what mystified Hawk was that he'd chosen a woman with an obvious stubborn streak that wasn't easily controlled.

The Pattels had watched with interest the day she stormed into Angelo's upstairs office with Raven and all but demanded her husband hand over their son whom Angel had been holding in his arms throughout the meeting. Of course, Angel had deftly deflated the attitude she’d come in there with, but the fact that she even had the nerve, hell the
courage
to challenge Angel was not a good look for a man in Angel's position. It hadn't surprised Hawk when they'd separated weeks later. He'd been sure a divorce would follow soon after, but it hadn't.

Hawk had seen the look on Nikki's face earlier when he and Lucas joined them for brunch. She hadn't been pleased, but she'd hidden her displeasure and been a gracious hostess to her guests. That was definitely progress compared to the woman who had barely been able to hide her disgust at their first meeting.

"Hawk, where's Dominick?" Keisha asked.

Hawk's eyes went past Nikki and Raven to Keisha, another strong-willed woman who was apparently allowed to do as she chose. Hawk had met Dominick on a couple of occasions, and by association, he'd immediately been shown respect. After interacting with him in the meeting, Hawk had to admit he was impressed. Dominick hadn't backed down or looked to Angel to step in and fight his battles. Hawk admired that, but still, a man's woman was a reflection of him, and the scene Keisha had made earlier was disrespectful.

"He's still talking to my brother and Angel. I think they're going to be a while," Hawk answered.

"But...
”

"Excuse me. I really need to make that phone call." Hawk had divulged all he intended to say. He wasn't about to stand here and be questioned about matters Keisha had no business bringing up in the first place. Looking at Nikki, he asked, "Is there somewhere I can make a business call in private?"

Nikki gave him a tight smile that Hawk noticed didn't extend to her eyes. "Of course. You can use the sitting room. I'll show you the way."

He nodded his thanks, letting his eyes flicker to Raven one last time before he turned to follow Nikki. They walked across the huge foyer and turned down a spacious hallway until they got to the room Nikki had mentioned.

"You'll be able to have privacy here," she told him.

Hawk gave her a charming smile, but Nikki's demeanor remained aloof.  Walking past her, he shook his head and was about to close the door when Nikki stopped him.

"May I ask you a question?"

Stifling a sigh because he had an idea what the question would be, Hawk nodded. "Of course."

"Exactly what do you want with my sister?"

"I'm afraid I don't know what you mean."

"Hawk, please don't insult my intelligence and I promise not to insult yours."

"Nikki..."

"When it comes to matters regarding business dealings you and my husband share, that has nothing to do with me. But my sister is a different matter altogether. Every time I've witnessed an exchange between you and her, I've sensed an undertone of something much deeper on your part."

Genuinely amused now, Hawk's teeth flashed brilliantly across his smoothly shaven face. Right then and there, he decided that he liked Nikki LaCroix. She didn't pull any punches and said what she meant which was a trait he greatly admired in a person, be it a man or woman. Maybe that's why he found Raven so attractive.

"Are you sure what you’re seeing is one-sided, Nikki?"

"So I'm right. I
’d guessed you had a hidden agenda. That surprises me."

Hawk angled his head to the side, a slight frown on his face. "What does?"

"I thought you were the type of man who was upfront and honest about your intentions when it came to women."

"And you think I'm being just the opposite with your sister." Hawk verbalized what she was none too subtly implying.

"You tell me."

Hawk's shoulder lifted in a nonchalant shrug. "Is it so surprising that there's an attraction between Raven and myself? Your sister is a very beautiful woman."

"Yes, she is, but she's also the Assistant District Attorney in the city where you and your family have been investigated several times for various crimes. You can understand why I'm suspicious."

"Touché. It's admirable the way you look out for your sister."

"I’m very protective of her as well as my entire family. Please remember that." Her eyes didn't stray from his, letting him see she meant every word she said. "Now, I'll let you get to your phone call."

Hawk watched her walk away before closing the door. To put it mildly, the Randolph sisters were fascinating women, especially Raven. He could honestly say he couldn't remember the last time a woman had held his attention the way she had.

Hawk chuckled to himself as he pulled out his phone. Things had suddenly become a whole lot more interesting. 

Angel, Dominick, and Oscar were in Angel's office after the Pattels left to catch their flight back to New York. As Angel and Oscar talked business, Dom's mind remained on the purpose of his visit today.

The meeting had been a long one, but Dominick was more than satisfied with the strategy that had been put in place to rescue his son. He was under no illusions that things would be easy for Armando, but he was one hundred percent committed to doing whatever it took to make sure the transition went as smooth as possible.

Family. Enough said.

"Nick. Dominick..."

Hearing Oscar call his name, Dom shook off his musings. "Sorry, Oscar. What was that?"

"I asked about my niece and nephew. How are they? It's been some weeks since I've seen them."

"They're fine. Great, actually. Samantha is turning into a young lady right before my eyes," Dom said with a proud half-smile on his face.

Angel's face softened. "She looks more like Ma every day."

Dominick nodded in agreement, "Yeah, she does."

"Your mother was a beautiful woman," Oscar commented.

They were all quiet for a moment, each lost in their own thoughts of Angel and Dominick's parents. Dominick still missed them and he knew Angel did as well. Finding out that Angel’s biological father had been responsible for the car wreck that had, up until that time, been ruled accidental had opened up old wounds even more painful than before.

"And Christian? Both of my nephews and my niece are extremely accelerated learners," Oscar boasted with an expression of pride that was mirrored on Dom's face.

"He's becoming so independent, Oscar. Christian just started walking a couple of weeks ago and he's a little pro already," Dom laughed, thinking about his son. "I promise to bring them to see you soon."

"Good. And what about Keisha? How's she taking everything?"

The light in Dom's eyes dimmed somewhat as if a switch had been turned down. Oscar looked at Angel with a frown before fixing his attention on Dominick again. "I take it not very well."

"Not really."

"You have to remember that this has to be quite a shock to her. She'll come around, son, just give her time."

Dominick seemed doubtful. "Yeah, well I'm afraid time is a luxury we don't have."

Angel had been quiet up until now. He watched Dom closely. He heard what his brother was saying, but it’s what he didn't say that had Angel worried. "Dominick, I know you're trying to be sensitive and understanding. I get that, but enough is enough."

"Angel..."

But Angel shook his head. "No, listen to me. You have to get your house in order, and soon. The last thing we need is for you to be distracted by problems in your marriage when all of your attention should be on taking care of this business with Melania."

"Angel's right," Oscar added. "If you insist on going to Mexico and being involved in this operation, your entire focus will need to be on the task ahead."

Dominick snapped. "Enough, alright? What I
need
is for you both to stop telling me what to do."

Annoyance turned his brown eyes into burning pools of anger as he divided the brunt of his irritation between the two of them. He and Angel locked eyes for a moment, and as quickly as his fury surfaced, it died down because Dom knew they were right.

Sighing heavily, he leaned forward, elbows on his knees and rubbed the back of his neck. Suddenly it hit him how tired he was. He'd been working long hours at the office for the last couple of weeks overseeing a multi-million dollar project his firm was in the running to land, then all of this happened. He'd basically been running on adrenalin up until now, but could feel himself crashing hard.

He stood up and dug in his pocket for his keys as he walked towards the door. "Look, I think I'm gonna head out. Keisha's probably still at Darrell and Jerra's house with Nikki so I'm on my way there to get her and the kids then going home."

Dom paused and glanced over his shoulder at Angel and Oscar. "Hey, I...I didn't mean to bite your heads off, it's just that..."

"Don't worry about it," Angel cut in. "Go home, get some rest. You look like crap."

"Thanks," Dom answered in a voice full of sarcasm, but he smiled and gave them a wave. "Talk to you soon."

When Dom opened the door, Angel's lieutenant, a man by the name of Carlo Lewis was walking up. Carlo was the type of man one might pass on the street and not even notice. He blended in without calling attention to himself, but was actually one of the most dangerous men in Angel's operation and would kill without hesitation.

Carlo was also fiercely loyal to Angel and had worked his way up in the ranks from a foot soldier to his current position. He reported directly to Angel and Oscar. Carlo accepted no excuses from anyone in his crew because poor performance from his men reflected badly on him. If someone fucked up Angel looked to him for an explanation. The best thing to do was to make sure no fuck ups happened at all, because if they did, heads would roll.

Looking at Dom, Carlo shook his hand then stepped aside to let him by. "How's it going, Dom? You alright?"

"Hey, Carlo, yeah, I'm good."

"We gonna bring ya
’ li’l man home. It's as good as done."

"I already know. Thanks, man."

"No thanks necessary. He's family. Family takes care of family, yo."

Dominick nodded and slapped Carlo on the back before walking off.

Carlo looked at Oscar then Angel. "Okay to come in, Boss?"

Angel waved him in, but his attention was on Oscar. He'd been preoccupied ever since he came in. "What's wrong with you, old man? If you're worried about Dominick, he'll be fine. You know I won't let anything happen to him."

Oscar sighed. "That's part of it. I don't like this, Angel. If he finds out what I did all those years ago, he’ll think I betrayed him."

"You did what was best at the time and I agreed with it. There was no reason for him to know then and he doesn't need to know now."

"What if Melania decides otherwise?"

"Fuck Melania. She's living on borrowed time, and I'm about to collect. She crossed the line when she began throwing around threats as if she's forgotten what I'm capable of. Her fate was sealed before I walked out of that hotel room the other night. Believe me, Melania Cruz is an inconvenience I'll be ridding myself of very soon."

"Which brings me to our next issue."

Something in Oscar's tone told Angel that he wasn't going to like what came next. Still swiveling casually in his chair, Angel
’s attention switched to Carlo, who was standing beside his desk with his hands clasped respectfully in front of him. Just the fact that he was here meant something was up other than this business with Melania. 

Angel lifted his brow questionably and said to Oscar, "Okay. And what issue might that be?"

"It seems several members of the Alliance are in disagreement with the decision you've made regarding Melania. They've called a meeting later this evening to discuss it."