Page 19 of Dima
“When it comes to your safety, yeah, I tell you what the fuck to do. You don’t know what intentions another man has for you, and I don’t ever want your safety at risk because of me.”
“I was defending you, Dima.”
He tried to walk around me, but I stood in his way. He acted like I didn’t just stop a man from shooting him. Before I walked up, Tyrus had a gun pointed at him. I had possibly saved his life. Who knew what would have happened if I hadn’t shown up.
“I never needed a woman to defend me. I’m a grown ass man. Trust me, I can handle any heat that come my way.”
“It didn’t look like you were handling it to me. He had a gun in your face.”
“Looks can be deceiving. You should know that by now.”
Dima brushed past me like I was nothing. Like he didn’t just tell me that he would always want to be wherever I was. I understood his anger about me stepping in front of the gun, but what else was I supposed to do?
The gun was pointed directly at his head. If he thought he could outrun a bullet, he had to be out of his mind. The way he had just spoken to me told me that was exactly what he believed. He was crazier than I thought.
I didn’t know why I stood up for Dima, besides every instinct in my body telling me that I should. Dima had saved my life. He protected me when he didn’t have to. It wasn’t his job to be my keeper back then. I had a bodyguard, and that bodyguard should have been on his job, but Dima was.
I owed him my life, so standing up for him was the least I could do. Two people died the night that Dima pulled me out of that club, and one of them very well could have been me if itwasn’t for him. There was no way he could expect me to see him in that situation and not act.
I wasn’t going to let someone accuse him of anything. If anybody was going to have their doubts about Dima, it was going to be me. I definitely had my doubts, but that would be handled in private and only when I had more evidence.
I could understand why Tyrus had his suspicions. I had a weird feeling about Dima since the first day I met him. He was either a psycho or a Fed. Either way, I would be the one to crack this case.
I watched Dima walk over to the race line where everyone else was. He blended in the crowd effortlessly, dapping people up and smiling with that big ass smile as he talked. Dima was sexy as hell and stood out even in a group of men all wearing their same biker colors.
It was almost his time to race. And when he was out there on that tarmac, I would have the time to do what I needed to do. I wanted to get in his truck and look around, because something wasn’t adding up about this man. I couldn’t rest until I found out what that something was.
It wasn’t long before he was called up to race. I headed for his truck as soon as he walked toward the line. I needed to know something today. If I could get into Dima’s truck, I could probably find out more about him and what he was doing here.
I silently thanked God when I tugged on the door handle and it opened. It wasn’t unusual for the men to leave their vehicles unlocked. Everyone here was like family and would never steal from one another. Hell, I didn’t think they’d hurt one another, either, until I saw Tyrus with a gun to Dima’s head.
I started my search in the driver’s side door since I’d been riding on the passenger side and didn’t see anything worth noting. There was nothing in the door except a wallet holding nothing but cash, so I slipped into the back of his truck to searchfor more. His truck was almost immaculate. There weren’t even crumbs in between the seats or dirt in the cupholder.
When I didn’t find anything on the back seat, I climbed over it and into the trunk of his Escalade. It was just as clean as the front of the truck, but there was a black book bag that sat in the corner near the seat. I immediately searched it.
I pulled out gym clothes, a hygiene bag, and tennis shoes before something caught my eye. It was a small black wallet, which was strange because I had just gone through a wallet that was tucked in the driver’s side door. As soon as I opened it, I saw a license with Dima’s face but a whole new name.
Marcus Stewart.Who the hell was Marcus Stewart, and why was a picture of Dima next to his name? I put everything back in the bag just the way I found it, climbed back out of the truck, and made my way back to the race line before anyone had time to notice I was gone. I knew something was off with Dima. Now I had proof.
“Why you so quiet? Are you okay?”
“I don’t know, just tired.”
I sat with my feet tucked underneath me and let my head rest on the window. I didn’t lie about being tired, and I didn’t know if I was okay. Tonight had been long, but I also didn’t really want to talk to Dima. Talking would just lead to me asking more questions and him giving me either half-truths or nothing at all.
Nineties R&B played in the background as we made our way back to the compound. The border meet had ended, and Dima had won his race. At least one of them anyway. He didn’t get tofinish the last one, because hundreds of police showed up to shut it down.
Dima looked like every other man in Durty Boyz, but what happened with Tyrus coupled with the fake ID I’d found in his wallet, and the police showing up at the border right after Tyrus accused him of talking to the cops, had me nervous to even be in the truck with him right now. So many things about Dima didn’t make sense, but now he was just a walking red flag. Still, I was holding on to the fact that he’d saved my life.
“Yeah, I know tonight was crazy, but thank God we all got out of there okay. I hate what went down with the Jack-town JUs though.”
Thankfully, my father and all his men were released without incident, but some of the men from the other crew were arrested. Apparently, they had a lot of guns, drugs, and Lord knew what else on them.
“Yeah, thank God for that. It was also a good thing you were racing during the bust too.”
I hinted at him being in the right place at the right time. It could have been a coincidence. I mean, I was pretty sure he wasn’t responsible for scheduling the races.
“Yeah, that was wild. The finish line was less than a mile away, and they came through and shut it all down. I need my credit for that win though because that nigga was eating my dust.”
