Chapter 11 United We Stand

Dom's talk with Leon and Jesse went better than he thought it would. Both men were grateful to Dom and the team for taking them under their wing. Leon and Jesse knew they contributed to the team, but they were also well aware that without the team, their lives would have turned out much different.

They listened as Dom explained their previous dealings with the Trans. Both Leon and Jesse knew that Dom and Vince had side business that funded the team much more than just racing ever would, but neither knew the specifics before now.

Neither man was surprised to hear that Dom and Vince had been transporting stolen car parts across the border. Neither man was surprised to find out that their leader and his right hand man, boosted cars for delivery to a chop shop. The two things that did surprise them, however was that Dom was working for Johnny Tran and that he and Vince had ran.

Dom explained that the last job for Tran was an exchange. Dom and Vince boosted the two cars they were told to collect and headed for the meet. They were supposed to take the cars to the chop shop across the border and bring back a semi full of stolen parts to the buyer in LA. He and Vince got the cars and crossed the border. When they got to the chop shop; the Trans weren't there, just Johnny's cousin Lance and his goons. Dom and Vince both agreed that something didn't feel right. They refused to drive the shipment back. Long story short, Dom and Vince barely escaped getting shot stealing Lance's Honda Civic, which they drove back to LA.

Apparently Lance tried to complete the deal without them. A couple of his goons were caught with the tractor trailer full of stolen parts and the buyer was never identified. The chop shop was raided and the Trans, while never charged, lost millions.

Now the senior, Tran was demanding Dom reimburse him for those lost millions.

"And time is running out. Tran is expecting the first payment in a couple of weeks. If we don't deliver…he's promised to start executing members of the team. And since he needs us to get the jobs done, he will probably make his first moves against the girls." Dom rumbled staring down at the wood grain of the table, unable to meet the other men's eyes.

Dom felt his gut twist with guilt as Leon and Jesse sat still and silent as statues. Dom took a deep breath and pressed on, "We need your help. We have an opportunity. We have a plan, but V and I can't do it alone this time. We need you guys."

Leon sat silent, staring at Dom's hands on the table top.

Jesse was the one to speak up this time, "Whatever you need Dom, I'm there."

After a long moment, Leon raised his eyes and growled, "Yeah, Dog. Whatever it takes."

Dom nodded, "Okay, here's the plan."

The team was unusually quiet most of that day. Leon and Jesse seemed preoccupied with their own thoughts all day. Jenna noticed Dom staring at Letty several times that day with a scowl on his face. Letty would catch his eye and give him a little smirk and roll her eyes, like she thought he was ridiculous or something. Everyone seemed jumpy and grouchy, and Jenna couldn't help wondering if it had anything to do with her outburst at breakfast.

Vince was the only one who seemed relaxed. Which, in it's self was just as weird as the stress the rest of the team seemed to be dealing with.

Just before lunch, Mia arrived at the garage, and Dom immediately took her to his office and closed the door. Jenna wandered over to Leon, who was bent over the engine of a Toyota.

"Hey Le, are you okay?"

Leon jumped slightly at her voice so close, but carefully schooled his features before looking up.

"I'm fine."

"Look about this morning. I'm sorry I went off on you like that."

"Nawh, girl. It's cool. I shouldn't have said stuff the way I did. I forget you're not a baby anymore."

"Or a nun?" Jen asked with a smile and a shrug.

"Yeah, I guess, I'll have to take that habit I bought you back to the nunnery." Le snickered.

Jenna laughed, happy to see some of the tension fade from Leon's face. Leon smiled at Jenna for a moment, before it faded to a look of concern.

Reaching out, Leon held Jenna's upper arms lightly in his grungy hands, "Just promise me you will be careful. Steer clear of guys the team doesn't associate with, okay. Until you get to know people around here, just stick close to the team, okay?"

"Okay. Stick close to the team, don't talk to anyone, and dress like a nun. Anything else?" Jenna asked sarcastically, completely forgetting that she was trying to make up with her brother.

Leon closed his eyes and counted to five, before he tried to follow Dom's advice, "Let's compromise, okay. You wear clothes that cover more skin than Letty's, but less than a nun's habit. And in crowds, like at the races, you stick close to one of the guys. And anybody you date has to come to the house for dinner first. Deal?"

Jenna sighed, "Deal. God! You sound like an actual parent!"

Leon hugged her tight chuckling softly.

Jenna used a creeper to join Vince under a Mazda RX-7, where he was working on the exhaust system.

"Hey. Need a hand?"

"Not really, but you can keep me company if you want."

Jenna smiled, ridiculously pleased that he wanted her to stay. It was a nice change after days of being pushed away. "Yeah. It's strange; you seem to be the only one around here in a good mood today. It's like I woke up in bizarro world this morning, or something."

Vince grunted, "You want me to be grouchy? I can be grouchy."

Jenna gave him a wide smile, "No, I definitely don't want you to be grouchy. I have had quite enough of 'Grouchy Vince,' thank you."

"Well then, quit ch'a complaining." Vince growled, as he reached out with the hand closest to her. He cupped her chin and brought her mouth up to meet his at an awkward angle.

Jenna strained her neck muscles, trying to get closer to his soft lips that were nipping at her bottom lip. His beard tickled her nose and Vince's head was upside down from her point of view, but the strangeness of the angle struck Jenna as being sweet, almost innocent.

She melted. Vince's tongue traced her lips, teased her mouth, with quick light darting flicks along the soft interior of her bottom lip. The texture of his tongue felt new and exotic as the rough surface brushed against the taste buds of her own.

Vince sipped from her mouth patiently, slowly savoring every touch, every taste. He two discovered that the odd angle created different sensations. The exotic nature of the kiss, combined with the danger of being caught at any moment made it even more exciting.

The angle and cramped conditions of the car on top of them prevented the use of their hands. Their body's only touched at their joined mouths. Vince wanted more, the best he could do was to push an inch closer, strain his neck just a bit more, and thrust his tongue deep into Jenna's sweet mouth.

Vince barely suppressed a groan when Jenna met him just as aggressively, straining closer to him. The kiss was deep and slow. No frantic tongue trusting, just a languid rolling of flesh meeting and teasing and exploring.

Vince retreated slightly, letting his lips nudge hers, slick and wet. This allowed them to catch their breath, while still kissing. Jenna captured his lower lip, between her teeth, sucking and scraping at it lightly.

A shot of electric current seemed to run from his captured lips through his body, straight to his groin. Vince felt his already tight jeans stretch taunt over his swelling erection, and shifted his legs, hoping to hide the budge from wandering eyes.

A loud clatter and crash echoed through the shop suddenly, starling both of them.

Jenna accidentally bit down on Vince lower lip, when her body jerked in fright. The sudden noise and pain caused Vince to smack his forehead into the undercarriage.

Luckily Dom's yelling and swearing covered up Vince's hissed cussing and Jenna's apologies.

"Oh! V, I'm so sorry. I swear, I didn't mean to bite you."

Vince lay there with the heel of one hand pressed to the swelling on his forehead. The other hand had three fingers pressing his bleeding lip against his tongue. Vince took a moment to just lay there with his eyes clenched tight against the pain.

Finally he moved his hand from his mouth, testing the damage with his own tongue "Nah, Jen, it's alright, not your fault. Hell in the right moment a little love bite is good, but in this case, at least it took care of the tent in my jeans before your brother walked by. I'm fine."

Vince turned back toward Jenna and removed his hand from his forehead. Jenna could see the red circle and the knot of swelling. His lower lip was a little puffy, but the skin on the outside wasn't broken, and his beard would hide any bruising.

"Awwww, you poor baby. Would a kiss make it feel better?"

"That's what put it there in the first place." Vince said grinning.

"You sir, are absolutely right! No more kisses for you!"

"Well now let's not be hasty." Vince said trying not to grin

Jenna kissed Vince's boo-boo lightly, thinking that this was much better than the last time she had lain under a car with Vince. She silently prayed that whatever was bothering the team, didn't affect Vince's happy attitude and willingness to be with her.

Dom and Letty left the garage early that afternoon. When the last customer paid, the guys drove their cars into the garage bays. Jesse left his Jetta out back and pulled Dom's RX-7 inside.

The guys spent several hours going over their cars with a fine tooth comb, making sure everything was perfect or racing later that night. Mia and Dom came back, to pick up Dom's car. Dom sent Jenna back to the fort with Mia, so the guys could talk.

Vince carefully closed the hood of his Maxima, and asked "Letty pissed?"

Dom sat on a stack of tires, scrubbing a hand over the top of his head. "Yeah. But she's in. She has a strong sense of self preservation."

Jesse spoke up "You two have been off lately. You sure you should trust her?"

Dom looked at Jesse for a long time. If either of the other two had asked that question, he would have been throwing punches by now, but this was Jesse. So Dom just shook his head and admitted to himself that Jesse never missed a thing. No matter how small, Jesse analyzed everything. Jesse's big picture was filled with little details that most people never noticed.

"Like I said, she has a strong sense of self preservation. She will do what she needs to, regardless of how pissed she is at me.

"I've been thinking about this plan all day. V, man, it is just too dangerous. We need to come up with a better plan." Leon said softly, Letty was not his concern. He agreed with Dom, Letty would do what was best for Letty, and right now this job was all that stood between her and Tran's revenge.

Vince nodded slightly, more to himself than in acknowledgement of Leon's concern. "It's the only plan we got, Le. I know the risks. I've accepted the risks. End of discussion."

"What about Mia and Jen?" Jesse asked quietly.

Dom answered, "I talked to Mia. She doesn't know details. Just that a business deal went bad and the Trans lost a shit-load of money. I told her about the threats. She'll keep and eye on Jenna. She knows we are planning something, but she doesn't know what."

"I told Jenna to stick close to the team. That's all. She agreed." Leon said.

Dom sighed, "Alright. Let's just try to forget about it for a few hours. Let's go race!"

A couple of hours later the guys were sitting in the living room, showered, dressed and ready to go, yelling at the three girls to "move your asses"

Letty came down first wearing low slung black leather pants, her black g-string visible between the top of her pants and the bottom of the shirt, a red see thru tank over a black bra, her flame boots , dog tags, and red and black rubber bracelets on both arms. The guys whistled and cat called as usual. Instead of going straight to Dom she stopped on the third stair and looked back.

Mia emerged wearing almost an identical outfit. The main difference being Mia's bright silver jewelry and spike heeled boots. Again the usual catcalls and whistling ensued. Mia passed Letty, but stopped on the second step, and both girls looked back.

Jenna came down the stairs, her outfit also matching the other two girls. The most noticeable difference was that instead of a black bra under the see thru tank, she had opted for a small plain black half tank under the red, a red g-string peeking. The only jewelry she wore was a pair of silver beaded shoulder dusters and a silver tinkling belly chain looped through her belly ring. Jenna passed both girls and paused on the bottom step. Waiting.

She didn't have long to wait. Jesse wolf whistled once and Leon exploded.

"You are not going to the dressed like that. Get back up stairs and put an actual shirt on, and find so pants that cover your entire butt."

Vince and Dom looked at each other. They had not missed the united front the girls represented, or the fact the girls were all wearing matching outfits.

Jenna very calmly said, "Le this morning, you told me you wanted me to dress more like Mia. So, I did. I dressed exactly like Mia, and I have less skin showing than Letty, so what is the problem?"

Leon looked helplessly at Dom. Dom gave him the 'let it go' look.

Leon threw his hands up, and said, "Fine, but you stay with the team, no wondering off, no talking to strange men, you don't get in the car with anybody, but us. Understand?"

"Yes sir! But you forgot one very important thing. Don't take candy from strangers."

Jenna kissed Leon on the cheek and threw a grateful smile to Mia and Letty. The team all headed out the door. Dom and Letty ignored each other as they moved off in the direction of their own cars. Mia went with Letty in her Nissan. Dom rode alone. Jesse ran for his Jetta with a whoop.

Leon opened the driver's door of his Skyline, before he paused to look for Jenna. He opened his mouth to yell for her to hurry up and get in the car, but his voice died in his throat as his eyes fell on Vince.

Vince stood next to the passenger side of the Maxima holding the door open for Jenna. Leon watched as Jenna smiled as she slid into Vince's car. Vince stared Leon down as he calmly closed Jenna's door and walked around to the driver's side. Vince paused, before opening the driver's side door, giving Leon a chance to act.

Leon took a step away from his car toward Vince. He watched as Vince seemed to swell before his eyes. Muscles bunched and his eyelids lowered as he waited for Leon.

Leon hesitated. He knew Vince well, and he could see that he was prepared to fight for the right to have Jenna in his car. Leon clenched his teeth and took another step, consciously bunching his muscles and lowered in his head too.

Another step toward Vince and a flash of Vince's body lying broken and bloody on the side of the highway flashed in Leon's brain. Leon hesitated, suddenly feeling queasy.

'Two weeks,' whispered in the back of his mind.

Another flash. This time it was of Jenna smiling softly as she watched Vince from across the garage. Then the sadness that flashed in her eyes as she watched Vince hit on that skank last week.

Dom's words from that morning echoed in Leon's brain. The memory of Vince and Jenna sitting side by side on the picnic table, invaded his thoughts

'He's willing to die to protect her,' Leon thought.

The sound of a car door opening, jerked Leon from his thoughts. He glanced back to see Dom, out of his car and walking slowly toward them, stopping a few feet away.

The three men stood, watching each other. Waiting.