Hey, book bae!
Here’s a look into Dominica’s first chapter. A Thug in Need of Love releases tomorrow. This book will not be on KU. You can preorder your copy at a discounted price here. Price goes up on release day!
Dominica
Shit was off—Dominica couldn’t deny that. What was supposed to be a night of her beau comforting her turned into her spending the night in his bed alone. Naz was the gentleman he’d been since the day they met, but when she told him she wasn’t in the mood for sex, his entire energy shifted. He held her for a while before sitting on the small sofa in his bedroom until she fell asleep.
Had it been any other night, Dominica probably wouldn’t have felt some kind of way about it. But last night… last night was the night of her brother’s funeral. True, her family had been trained to not be overly sad when someone died. They had a week to grieve before they were expected to turn those feelings off. Once dirt covered their loved one’s coffin, that was it.
But Creole was different.
The past few years they were apart, and she thought they were finally about to get back to how things used to be. From here on out, her birthday would be a reminder of his death day. If only he would have decided not to come to her party, he’d still be hidden and alive.
They’d gone through every precaution possible. Only family and close friends had been invited, and they didn’t receive the address until an hour before the party started. Someone was a rat, or they were followed—her family hadn’t figured it out yet. There was no doubt in Dominica’s mind, though, that that person would be handled as soon as they did.
At the sound of his muffled voice coming through the bathroom door, Dominica quietly tiptoed in its direction. They’d been dating for a little over two months, but they’d only been having sex for the past six weeks. She’d made him wait for as long as she could, but Naz was charming, and kind, and always saying and doing the right things.
Dominica’s hand hovered over the bathroom doorknob. When she heard him say her brother’s name, her movements halted.
“Nah, man.” Naz chuckled. “I’m telling you she has no fucking idea. I got her ass sprung as hell.” He paused, allowing whoever he was talking to, to speak. “Aw you already know that. I’m trying to keep her around for life. I like her for real, and I been tryna get her pregnant for the last month. If I can, whether her folks find out I’m the reason that nigga dead or not, they ain’t gon’ kill me.”
His laughter was the last thing Dominica heard before her ears started to ring. Her eyes fluttered as they watered, but she wouldn’t drop a tear. It made sense now. He begged her to let him see her on her birthday. Dominica promised to stop by and see him after the party, but Naz refused to wait. After she sent him her location, he came through, and she met him in the back. After a hug and kiss, Naz gave her the gift he’d purchased, then left.
He was the one who followed the car that Creole was in and assassinated him just a few blocks up.
Dominica’s hands trembled as she looked at her palms. She was sure she’d find her brother’s blood on them because his death was definitely her fault.
To Dominica’s credit, she had no earthly idea who was who in the streets because she kept away from that part of her family. She was sure, though, if her father found out, he would treat her as if she did.
When Naz’s phone call was over he left the bathroom. As soon as he opened the door, Dominica punched him in his mouth. Though just as lethal as her sisters, Dominica didn’t believe in violence. His betrayal, however, warranted it. Naz’s eyes ballooned as he covered his mouth. Before Dominica could prepare, the back of his hand was connecting with her face.
She fell backward, pushing back on her hands as he stalked over to her.
“I wanted to be with you, but you know too much. Now I gotta kill you.”
Naz’s hand gripped a palmful of her hair as she grumbled. Dominica kicked him in the groan, getting a brief second to escape. By the time she’d made it to his bedroom door, he was grabbing her ankle and tugging until she fell on her knees. He turned her over, fist ready to pound the side of her face, until something at the door gained his attention.
Dominica jumped at the sound of the gun going off. Her body froze when Naz’s body crumpled over. Looking up, the sight of Phantom made her let out a clipped whimper in relief.
“Phantom?” she called quietly, not fully believing who she was seeing.
“We have to go.” He tossed a red scarf down to her. “Cover your face with that. Get your shit and leave whatever you can’t grab in one minute or less.”
Dominica stood and hurriedly searched the room for her belongings as Phantom left. She found him outside waiting for her in a black truck. After jumping inside, she tossed her small overnight bag in the backseat as Phantom quickly reversed out of the driveway.
Every time Phantom looked over at her, Dominica’s eyes would close. There was no music playing, so only the sound of passing cars could be heard. As much as Dominica wanted to ask Phantom what he was doing there, she couldn’t… because then he would ask her the same thing.
“Where am I taking you?” he asked after a long bout of silence.
“I don’t know.”
“The fuck were you doing there, Dominica?”
She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. Looking out of the window, Dominica ignored him until he called her name.
“I was seeing him,” she confessed, voice just barely above a whisper.
Phantom’s normally deep voice rose an octave when he almost shouted, “Naz?”
“Yes.” Chin trembling, she inhaled a deep breath and gritted her teeth. “I didn’t know he killed Cre. Not until this morning.”
With a sigh, Phantom shook his head. About a minute passed before he said, “Start from the beginning.”
Dominica ran her hand down her wavy, arm pit length curls. “We met about four months ago. He pursued me for two before we started dating.”
“Did you know who he was?”
Her head shook rapidly as it hung. “No. I’m not aware of who my family’s enemies are. I’m not into that stuff.”
“Okay,” he replied quickly, softly. “So what happened? What did I walk in on?”
“I overheard him in the bathroom talking about how I didn’t suspect a thing.” She scoffed, eyes going back out of the window. “That he wanted to get me pregnant for his life insurance. For some reason he thought if we had a baby together and my family found out he killed Cre that would save him.” Her eyes rolled. “When he came out the bathroom, I hit him. He said he was going to have to kill me because I knew too much. That’s when you came in.”
“I’m sorry he used you.” Dominica caught a tear that slipped down her cheek. “He’s dead now though. What better price to pay for fucking with your heart than his life?”
Dominica looked over at him, unsure if he was serious or not. His tone was, and his face was, but she chuckled anyway.
“You don’t think that’s a bit extreme, Phantom?”
He looked over at her and licked those thick, juicy lips. “Any nigga that fucks you over deserves to be put to death.”
Their eyes remained locked before he broke contact and looked ahead.
“I’m worth all that to you?”
She stared at the side of his face… waiting for him to answer.
“Yeah.” His tone was so casual it made her shiver. “I guess because I’ve never had you, it makes me value you more. If you gave a nigga a chance and he didn’t do everything he could with it…” Phantom’s head shook as he allowed the essence of his thoughts to linger.
Silence found them again. Dominica was too afraid to respond to that. In all of the fifteen years she’d known Phantom he had feelings for her. He’d never outright said he wanted to be with her her, but it was implied. From him staring at her and sticking close when he was a young nigga to him flirting boldly when he came into his manhood.
Dominica may have given Phantom a hard time, but she was attracted to him too. The only people who knew that was her sisters. It may have been a hit to Phantom’s ego every time Dominica rejected his advances… but it was for a good reason.
This moment, if anything, only deepened her feelings for him. Feelings that she knew they’d never be able to fully experience and allow to grow.
“What were you doing there?” Dominica looked over at him.
“I had a detective run the traffic cameras back.” He shrugged, as if that was nothing. “They weren’t in a rush to figure out who’d killed your brother. But your father wanted answers.”
She nodded. “What did you see? Did you… see… me? With him?”
“Nah. We looked from the point of Creole’s departure. Three lights down, we saw three cars surround them. Naz was in the backseat of one and opened fire.”
“So I’m not… no one knows…”
His head shook. “I haven’t told your father he was there for you if that’s what you’re asking.”
“He can’t know. He already looks at me like I don’t belong to him. If he finds out I’m the reason Creole is dead…”
“He won’t,” Phantom assured. “I know you’re not in the family if you create problems for the family. Naz used you. I’m not going to let that be the reason your family disowns you.”
Her shoulders sagged in relief.
“Thank you,” she whispered, emotion lacing her voice. “I want to get out, but not like this.”
“What do you mean?” he asked, pulling into the parking lot of a gas station.
“I um… I decided to finally go back to school.” Chuckling quietly, she pulled her hair behind her ears. “When they find out for what, they definitely won’t want anything to do with me. So I’m just trying to make it through the holidays and make memories with my sister while saving as much money as I can before it’s over.”
Phantom chuckled as he cut the car off. “You have two sisters,” he reminded, as if she needed it, and Dominica’s eyes rolled.
“You know I don’t fuck with Desiree like that.”
Smile lingering, he looked over at her as he unbuckled his seatbelt. “I’m proud of you for going to school. I know that’s something you always wanted to do.”
She nodded. “Yeah, it’s been a long time coming. When Creole left, I felt obligated to stay and prove my loyalty to the family.”
“Law?”
She chuckled, impressed and surprised.
“How’d you know?”
“You only watch law shows and true crime. Wasn’t that hard to figure out.”
Dominica giggled as she removed her seatbelt. “That’s not all I watch. I watch other things.”
“Like what, Dominica?”
Her mouth opened but snapped shut. Here she was having a normal conversation with him like she hadn’t just watched him kill a man. Not just any man… her man.
But he wasn’t her man.
He was her family’s enemy.
Before she could stop herself, deep sobs rose from the pit of her gut and erupted from her mouth. She heard the door open, but Dominica didn’t bother to look up to see what was happening. When her door opened, she looked up as Phantom wrapped her arms around his neck. His arm rested under her ass effortlessly as he grabbed her bag from the backseat.
She watched as one of her father’s men walked over to them, and before she could panic or accuse him of betraying her trust Phantom said, “He’s coming to take the truck. That’s it.”
Dominica sniffled and nodded as he carried her over to his Camaro. It always tickled her when she saw it because he was so large but today she didn’t have the strength to find it amusing. Placing her on her feet, Phantom opened the black door and helped her inside. Once he made it to the other side, she’d wiped her face of its tears.
“I can take you to my place,” Phantom offered. “Give you some time to get yourself together.”
Dominica nodded. She took his hand into hers and kissed it. “Thank you for your kindness.”
Phantom adjusted their hands and lifted hers to his lips. Her eyes fluttered and lips parted when he kissed it tenderly.
“For you… always.”
After what went down with Naz, Dominica wasn’t entirely confident in her ability to read people. Phantom, however, was someone whose character she’d never question. If he said he’d keep her secret, he would. And if he would show grace and kindness to anyone… it was her.