Dirty Secrets (Get Dirty 4)

Dominick turns around in the shotgun seat, reaching back to lay a hand on my knee, looking back at me. “Allison, this is my world. This is who I am, what I am. Evil, perhaps, but a necessary one. You need to see, and you need to know.”

I want one more moment of innocence, one more taste of who he is right now before my image of him is forever tarnished. I lean forward and he meets me. I kiss him softly, and it feels like a goodbye. In a way, it is. A goodbye to the delusion I’ve been allowing myself. His lips move against mine for a moment, soft and sweet, but all too soon, he pulls away, and I can see the mask come back on, his eyes going ice-cold and hard.

Undoing his seatbelt, he looks at Logan, his voice hard. “Stay with her, Logan. No matter what.”

Logan dips his chin once and Dominick gets out. I can’t hear, but I see him greet and shake hands with an older guy in a suit and give a nod of greeting to the three other men holding guns on the guys on the ground.

But when Dominick says something to the two guys on the dirty asphalt, they both look up.

One of them I don’t know. The other is . . . TJ.

Before Logan can say anything or do anything to stop me, I’m out the back door of the car, running to him. “TJ! Oh, my God. What the hell is going on?”

TJ looks at me, obviously surprised at seeing me here. “Allie? What the fuck? Get out of here!”

I should do what he says, but in that moment, my eyes involuntarily turn to Dominick, looking for his guidance. I’m in way over my head here, and I don’t know what’s happening, but on some level, I trust that Dominick isn’t going to hurt me.

The next instant, Logan is at my side, holding me back from TJ. Pulling me away, he growls lightly in my ear, “Settle down, Allie. Watch, learn, and understand.”

Logan’s the sort of man who always sounds hard. It’s part of what makes him a good bouncer, but in the time I’ve known him, I’ve learned to read his rumbles. This time, there’s no bullshit, no compromise. He’s as intense as he can be, and I know if he has to, he’ll pick me up like a child and drag me away.

I stop fighting him so that I can stay, though I’m not sure if it’s for TJ or for Dominick. Maybe both, to some degree. I stand on my own quietly, and he slowly lets go. Logan and Dominick have a quick, silent conversation with their eyes, and whatever else is passed, I know that from this moment on, Logan is personally responsible for my safety. Knowing Logan, that means he’d lay his life down in the process and not even think twice about it.

My interruption settled, Dominick returns his attention to the man in the suit, though TJ is still begging me with his eyes to run like hell.

“Pete, this is Allie. Allie, this is Pete. He’s the man on the South Side. A good boss.”

Something in the way he says it makes me hear the lower-case ‘boss’ instead of the upper-case Boss I’ve heard others whisper when they talk about Dom. He doesn’t tell Pete who I am, and I wonder if that’s because Pete already knows or if that particular piece of information is something he doesn’t need to know.

Usually, I’d shake hands with an introduction, but my gut tells me to stay where I am. Dominick is on edge, and while the signs of his stress are very well-disguised, they’re there. His right hand is half-clenched, and the little wisp of hair just above his right temple is out of place.

I’m probably the only person in the world who would notice that, though. Instead, everyone else would likely see that his shoulders are down and tension-free, his breathing is slow and even, and by all accounts, we could just be having a casual meeting with friends about helping out with apartment moving tomorrow.

Except for the guns and the guys on the ground.

TJ on the ground.

I look down at him again, hating that he’s in this position and not understanding why. He’s still screaming at me with his eyes, anguish and apology in their depths.

I want to jump in and demand answers, but Logan’s words flash in my mind and I wait. Dominick glances at me, and though he doesn’t say it, I can see the gleam in his eye, telling me I’m doing the right thing. Telling me to trust him.

The kind flicker is gone when he looks back to Pete. “Pete, as you were saying?”

Pete swallows, eyeing my presence carefully, but he clears his throat and continues. “Yeah, so I got word a shipment was coming through. Knew you hadn’t authorized it or you would’ve let me know, and it would’ve been my guys, not these assholes. So I had my guys stop the truck, and here we are.”