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Diamond in the Rough

Chapter 2: Staking Claims and More to Lose

By: LoveInk

"Doesn't that bother you?" Letty asked Alex from her place against her car. They were at the races waiting for Dom and the rest of the racers to square away their bets so they could race.

Alex looked in the direction Letty's head was turned to find Vince chatting up two gorgeous blonde girls. She shrugged a shoulder nonchalantly. "Not really. They're just talking."

"Vince is just talking. Those skanks are trying to get in his pants," Letty clarified just as one of the girls set a manicured hand on his bicep. She smiled triumphantly when a brief look of jealousy flitted across her face. It was gone just as quick as it came and replaced with a confident smile.

"As long as they're trying and not succeeding, I don't mind. I trust him and I don't want to accuse him of something he hasn't done. He would not appreciate that just like I wouldn't appreciate it if the situation was reversed."

Michaela scoffed. "Please Lex, you know better than I do that if my brother caught you talking to another guy, he'd beat the crap out of him."

The corners of Alex's mouth turned up in a smile. "Yeah, here. But I have guy friends and he has yet to kill any of them. And yeah, if I caught him flirting with a normal girl at the store, then I'd probably intervene. But not here. This is routine to him, and as long as I'm the one in his bed at night, I don't really care."

"I'm just glad Lee works the scanners all night," Michaela stated with a grin. "He's too preoccupied to even think of other girls."

Letty rolled her eyes. "Please, Mickey. It just makes him easier to find."

The look on Michaela's face told them she'd never thought about it like that before. "I'll be back later."

"Sucker," Letty said, laughing as she watched Michaela push her way through the crowds toward Leon's Skyline. She knew very well that no girl ever ventured out to the yellow Skyline; It was too much work to go find it and Leon was usually too focused on the scanners to give them much notice.

"That was mean," Mia commented, glaring at Letty. "No one ever bothers Leon."

Vince spotted Alex standing against his car talking with Letty and Mia. Two blondes flanked his sides, one as dumb and vapid as the other. As they jabbered at him, he studied his girlfriend. Her dark hair was in a low, messy ponytail. A pair of short cut off shorts hugged her hips stopping an inch below her belly button which was exposed by her too short Rolling Stones tank top. Somehow, she'd managed to make it past Mia with dark brown cowboy boots on. At some point in his study, she must've noticed him since when he finally got to her face; her dark green eyes were staring back at him, one eyebrow raised in silent question.

He gave her a cheeky grin and shrugged his shoulders as if saying 'so what'. A small smirk turned up the corner of her lips as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Excuse me," he said to the two blondes.

"We aren't done talking to you, handsome," one blonde had the nerve to say.

Vince glared at her and nodded. "Uh, yeah, you were," he said before heading toward Alex. Mia and Letty stepped back as he approached, walking away to continue their conversation elsewhere. "Howdy cowgirl," he teased, pulling on a strand of her hair that had fallen into her face.

She wrapped her fingers through his belt loops and pulled him closer, rolling up on the balls of her feet so her face was closer to his. "Howdy," she whispered into his ear in a low, sultry voice.

He felt his hair stand on end as she placed a hot kiss just below his ear. His hands reached up to cup her face before he caught her lips with his own. He pressed her against his car, deepening the kiss as her hands travelled up and down his back. He felt the blast of wind from the speeding cars as they passed them, but he didn't bother to look. He already knew who the winner was anyway.

"Ew gross," Michaela said as she drew near. "Can you guys stop?"

Alex pulled away first, her hands coming up to Vince's chest to playfully push him away. "Sorry," she said, her cheeks turning a light shade of pink.

"Way to stake your claim. I thought you didn't need to do that," she mocked in response.

"It doesn't hurt," Alex said on a shrug as she leaned into Vince, her back against his chest. He wrapped an arm possessively around her waist, staking his claim in his own way. "How's Leon?"

Michaela grinned evilly. "I scared the crap out of him. Let was wrong, no one visits him. Ever."

"Well good. He should be watching the scanners, not flirting," Vince commented under his breath.

"COPS!" a loud voice bellowed amidst all the blasting speakers.

Michaela smiled proudly. "That's my man."

Dom caught Vince's attention as he entered the party with Alex on his arm. They made eye contact before he nodded his bald head toward the basement door. Vince sighed, running a hand over his hair; he really didn't want to leave Alex alone. He'd already caught a few guys eyeing her and he didn't want to leave her unprotected. "Tiny, I gotta talk to Dom," he said, watching Dom disappear down the stairs. "You good here?"

Alex gave him a reassuring smile and nodded. "Sure, big guy. Go ahead, have your manly pow-wow."

He wasn't surprised she hadn't missed the exchange; Alex caught everything. "Don't talk to strangers," he advised.

"But what if they have candy?" she asked, a teasing smile on her face.

Vince chuckled before catching her lips in a possessive kiss to ward off any guys who were even thinking of trying to flirt with her. The kiss was a long one that left her weak in the knees. After giving her a wink, he headed toward the basement. He shut the door behind him and jogged down the stairs, not at all surprised to find Leon and Jesse sitting on the couches with Dom sitting in a chair facing them. "What's up Dominic?" he asked, sitting on the arm of the couch.

"I'll get right to it," Dominic said as he cleared his throat. "The store and the shop are in the red, boys. We're going to lose them if we don't find cash soon."

"Well, Race Wars is comin' up in a few months, Dom. We get tons of cash there," Jesse suggested.

Dom shook his head. "We can't wait a few months."

"What you got, Dom?" Vince questioned. He knew Dom well enough to know that he hadn't called the meeting to brainstorm ideas; he already had one.

"Trucks."

"Trucks," Vince repeated, an eyebrow raised. "What do you mean like driving trucks? Picking up dirty parts..."

"Jacking them."

Leon chuckled and shook his head. "You're crazy. How the hell would we hi-jack trucks?"

"I got a friend who says it ain't hard. They'll provide everything. The cars, the spear guns, new radios, everything."

Jesse nodded slowly. "I see it," he said, his voice enthusiastic. "We get two, maybe three cars, use a spear gun to hook them, have one of us jump onto it, stun or tranq the driver, and voila! We got ourselves a truck!"

"Oh yeah, sounds great Jess! Not dangerous at all," Leon commented sarcastically. Vince nodded in agreement. Not only did it sound dangerous, but it was also incredibly stupid.

Dom rolled his eyes. "We'll have protective gear for the jumper and stuff."

"Great! See, not so dangerous," Jesse exclaimed, clapping his hands. "So who's doing what?"

"Lee, you're the best at the scanners so we'd have you on that. We need one man to pop out the window…"

"I got it," Jesse volunteered, his knees bouncing up and down with excitement. "It'll be awesome."

Dom smiled; glad somebody was ready and willing to go with his plan. The other two men looked hesitant. They'd be the hardest to win over. Dom knew if Vince agreed to do it, Leon would too and he had a feeling he could get his best friend to agree to it. "Let is good at precision driving so she'll take that car and I can do the driving of the other car if…" He looked up at Vince expectantly.

"You want me to jump the trucks," Vince finished flatly.

"V, you're the only one who knows how to drive semis."

Vince snorted, that was complete bull. He and Dom had learned how to drive trucks together. In their high school years, they'd wanted to master every moving land vehicle they could. Trucks, buses, race cars, you name it, they tried it. "What about you? You know how too. You scared, Dominic?"

He shook his head no in response. "No," Dom said through clenched teeth. "I just have more to lose than you," he claimed easily as though he'd thought of it before.

This pissed Vince off. Who did Dom think he was saying shit like that? "Oh yeah? What the fuck do you have that I don't?"

"I've got my sister, the love of my life, the garage, the store, the house. What do you have, V? Michaela has Leon...and Alex? You really think she's going to stick around once she learns more about you? We both know she's better than this scene. Than us. Stop kidding yourself."

"Fuck you, Dominic! What the hell do you know about her?" he exclaimed, standing up angrily from his seat. "You know what? Fuck it. I'm out. Go find someone else to push around," he growled heading for the steps.

"Vince! This is your family we're talking about," Dom barked after him, his voice deathly calm. Vince didn't turn around, but he did stop his trek up the stairs, a sign that he was listening. "We're the ones who are going to have your back if shit goes down. You think she will? You think she'll have your back a few weeks from now when you're jobless? The garage is going to close if we don't pick up the money soon and then what? What are you going to do? I'll lose the fort, you'll lose your house, they'll take the cars, everything. Then what will you have?"

Vince clenched his jaw. Dom was right. If the garage fell through, he would be left jobless. He didn't have any official training or a degree or anything that might lead to a job that he'd actually enjoy. He'd be stuck. He'd lose the house, he might lose his car, and he'd probably lose Alex. His life would fall apart. "Fine," he growled, finally turning around to face his friends. "Let's do this."

"Good," Dom said, turning his back to Vince. "We start next month."

This one is a bit shorter than the last, but I hoped you liked it!

Leave me a review and let me know what you think! ;)

~Love Ink