A/N: I think once I finish this story, I want to rewrite it, but focus more on Dom's POV.

Previously: "It doesn't matter anymore. This is where he wants to be. With you."

Slowly, she raised the knife in her hand to the opposite wrist.

"Cara!" A very Dominant voice commanded from behind Letty.

Part XXI

Dom!

Cara?

Cara froze, the knife pressed into her small wrist. A small trickle of blood fell downwards towards her fingertips. It wasn't deep enough to harm her severely, but if Dominic hadn't stopped her, Letty was sure there would have been a body on her living room floor. Cara's brown eyes shot to Dominic's face and she immediately fell to her knees. Head bowed. Hands clasped perfectly in her lap.

This is how he likes them, Letty remembered from her time in his pleasure room.

"Leticia, go down to the car."

"No."

"For once, just listen!"

"I said no." Letty defied once more.

A small inhale of breath came from Cara. She was scared for Letty. And Letty noticed. Was she really afraid of Dominic? Why? He could be overbearing for sure, but certainly not abusive. Maybe he was darker than she was willing to admit to herself. In his defense, he had warned her long before they truly began.

"Get her out of my apartment." Letty commanded.

She watched as Dominic crossed the room, taking his satin handkerchief from the breast pocket of his suit. He crouched beside Cara and took her bleeding wrist, gently wrapping the soft fabric around it. Her blood immediately soaked through and Dominic held it tightly. He moved his lips to Cara's ear, murmuring something that Letty practically strained to hear. Cara's body shook before she released a heart wrenching sob. He whispered something else and she shook her head in the negative.

Seconds later, he was picking Cara up, honeymoon style and headed towards the front door. Letty waited until she heard the door shut before she let a single tear fall. She was in shock. She was hurt. She was confused.

What the fuck was that?

Hours had passed and Letty hadn't heard from Dominic. She honestly wasn't sure if she wanted to. There was so much to figure out. Something Mia had once said to Letty rang loudly through her mind.

"Well, I hate to say it, but," Mia paused, trying to phrase her next statement delicately, "it seems like the only person with the answers is your boss."

She didn't want his answer. At least not now. Now, she wanted to just stop thinking about Dominic fucking Toretto. So, Letty picked up her phone and called the one person she knew that could help.

"Hey… Gisele? I know, long time, no speak." Letty said into her phone. "Hey, by any chance are you free tonight?"

The Oviatt, Los Angeles, 1:54AM

If she wasn't dead, he was going to kill her. He tried her phone eleven times. No answer. In fact, he'd begun to suspect that she had blocked his phone number.

Dominic had gone back to her apartment and when he discovered she was gone, he went into full protective mode. Calling, texting. He'd even called Mia to see if Letty went to her place to vent. No such luck. By eleven that night, he decided that Letty would be furious and she would probably burst into his office at the Oviatt to give him a peace of her mind. Or she'd be sad, and burst into his office at Oviatt to try to break up with him… again.

So, back home he'd gone, still calling and texting. But to no avail.

It was past midnight and he was getting more and more anxious with each passing minute.

Where the fuck was she?

His phone chimed loudly and he looked down at it.

Letty!

"Hello?"

It was loud. Music. People chattered loudly in the background. Glasses clinked together.

"Letty, where are you?"

Then the line went dead.

"Gisele, will you give me back my phone?"

"No, I just saved your life. Friends don't let friends drunk dial, especially when they're upset."

Letty huffed. "He sounded mad."

"So what? If anyone has the right to be mad, it's you!"

Letty hadn't told Gisele the whole story; she had only said that an ex of Dominic's showed back up out of the blue. She did mention that the girl seemed unstable and in order to de-escalate the situation, Dominic suggested he and his ex go talk. Gisele was already annoyed enough at that scenario, Letty couldn't imagine how she'd react if she'd known the full truth.

"Look, you asked me to give you a girls night out, and that's what I'm doing. No men. Just shots, dancing and hangovers."

"Fine." Letty acquiesced. "Let me pee before this next round of shots though."

"Fine. I'll watch our drinks."

Letty put her hand out for her phone. "I won't call him. I promise." She marked an 'x' over her heart and Gisele, albeit reluctantly, released the phone into Letty's care.

In the bathroom, Letty slowly eased her way to the front of the line. Two girls later, and it was her turn. Disgusted, she locked the sticky bathroom door and tiptoed around the stray pee and fallen toilet paper to the toilet. Just as she unbuttoned her pants, her phone vibrated in her hand.

Dom!

"Hello?"

"Where the hell are you?" He demanded. She could practically picture his little nostrils flaring and his brows furrowing. He was probably pacing his office, a glass of scotch in his free hand.

"Out."

"Where? With who?"

"Just," Letty felt her temper rising, "...out!"

"With who?"

"A friend. Why does it matter?"

"Leticia!"

"Dominic!"

"God, I just want to—."

"You want to what?" She sassed back.

"Spank you." He growled.

"Oh."

Well, that wasn't what she expected. Nor was the change in his tone.

"Yeah, oh." He mocked.

"I'm not the one who should be punished!"

"You've been ignoring my calls."

"With good reason." Letty argued. "If anyone should be punished, it's you."

"Then tell me where you are and I'll come to you. You can punish me as you see fit."

...yeah, she didn't expect that either.

"I knew you couldn't be trusted!" A voice above her head shouted over the excited chatter in the bathroom. Letty's head shot up to see Gisele peering over the stall.

"Hang up right now." She commanded.

"Let, just tell me where you are."

"Don't make me come in there." Gisele told her.

Between her friend and her… Dominic… Letty's mind was torn.

"Give me the phone, Letty!"

"I have to go." She told Dominic.

"But—."

She didn't hear what he said after that.

She'd hung up.

XXX

"Hey."

"Hey."

"I hear you're ignoring Dominic."

"Yup."

"Good for you."

"Huh?"

"I mean, he loves you because you stand up to him. He's used to getting his way all the time. Even with our Dad and his mom. He has weird burning intensity that's also dark and mysterious. Dom thinks that's going to get him everything he wants in life. So far it has, but, if he isn't careful, it's what will make him lose you." Mia explained over the phone.

Letty shrugged as if Mia could see her. "He's just got a lot to answer for. That's all."

"Well… have you asked the questions?"

"I'll ask them when I'm ready for the answer."

"Fair enough."

Three days later…

The hardest thing about refraining from seeing Dominic was that Letty knew she wouldn't get the answers she so desperately wanted. She went to work, quietly got through her day and then went home to an empty apartment.

She thought.

A lot.

About everything. Mostly Dominic.

At the end of day three of her self-imposed Dominic drought, Letty made a decision.

They were going to do this together, they'd decided. Each person willing to be versatile in their relationship and sometimes that was going to mean that she had to step up and demand what she wanted. So, it was with that thought that she made her way to The Oviatt Building. Pressed "PH" on the elevator and soared to the lair of Dominic Toretto. The glass and gold box dinged her arrival and when the doors opened, she came face to face with Hobbs.

A knowing smirk was on his face this time, a far cry from the once resting bitch face she was used to.

"Luke."

"I was just thinking about that time you fell out of the elevator, all scattered papers and no confidence." He remarked. "Look at you now."

Letty had only a brief moment to comprehend what he was saying when Dom entered the foyer. Hobbs cleared his throat, about to announce Letty's presence, but Dominic beat him to the punch.

"Take the rest of the night off, Luke."

"Sir, what about—?"

"We'll handle it tomorrow."

"Very well, sir."

"Have a good night, Luke."

Dominic's brows furrowed. He did not take too kindly to Letty being on a first name basis with Hobbs.

"And to you, too, Miss Ortiz."

Once he'd taken his leave, Dom and Letty stood in the foyer in an awkward, yet relieved, silence.

"I missed you." He told her, honestly.

She replied with just as much truth, "I wanted to hate you."

"I know."

"There's a lot we need to talk about."

He'd heard that before. The last time she came to talk about them, he'd ended up alone. Abandoned, once again. The pain he felt when she'd quit and left him was worse than the pain he felt when Elena left him. The thought of Letty leaving him again was pure suffering. He went into defensive mode, internally panicking. Before Letty knew what had happened, he was on his knees before her, head bowed, hands clasped perfectly in his lap.

"Dom?" She questioned. He didn't answer. "Dom, what are you doing? What is this?"

Squatting down in front of him, she put her hands on either side of his face and brought his eyes to hers. "This is crazy. What are you doing?"

"Please don't leave again."

Letty couldn't not hide her surprise. "Leave? What are you talking about? Stop this. I'm right here. We have our problems, but I'm not going to leave you."

When he didn't budge, Letty pushed his hands from his lap and climbed into it, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I thought about it. I thought about a lot of things, but I just needed some time. That's all."

They stayed that way, Dominic's face buried in her neck and hair, for awhile. Eventually, she convinced him to come with her to the kitchen where she started to prepare tea for them.

"Cara is sick." He said as she handled the tea kettle. Her movements faltered for a second before she continued on. "She was the last submissive I had before I met you. I thought she'd moved to Arizona with this incredibly vanilla man and settled down. From what I gather, she was on medication, thought she was getting better and stopped taking them. Her delusions started again and led us here."

"Where is this 'incredibly vanilla man' now? Is he still in her life?"

"He has been looking for her for a few weeks. She just up and disappeared one night."

"Where is she now?"

"Hobbs and I found a psychiatric treatment facility for her."

"In Los Angeles?"

"Yes."

"Will you be visiting her?" Letty asked, setting down two teacups with more force than she intended. Dominic noticed.

"I don't think I will, no."

"What kind of delusions was she having?"

"From what I gather, she thinks we are in a committed relationship and that I was cheating on her with you."

"She must love you deeply." Distracting herself, Letty went to the lightly whistling tea pot, turning off the stove.

"On some level, I suppose that's true. She was the first one to ask me to give her more than just a few hours a week. So; I gave her two full days. And then she wanted more than that."

"More days?"

"More of me."

"Oh." Letty set a cup of hot water in front of him, sliding over a clear jar of different tea selections.

"You pick." He suggested. And so she did. Chamomile and lavender black tea.

"And Vanilla Guy?"

"He's now here in LA, visiting her during the allotted hours."

Letty nodded, sipping from her tea. As she let the hot liquid slip down her throat, her eyes closed involuntarily. It was a brief moment of relaxation. When she opened her eyes, Dominic was staring at her mouth. Busted, he quickly trained his focus on the cup of tea in front of him.

"And what about now?" She interrupted their silence.

"I don't know what you mean."

"Is it still hard for you to give more of yourself to someone?"

He looked at her as if she had two heads. "I'm sitting here drinking tea at nearly eleven at night, praying that you'll stay so I can finally sleep peacefully with your hair in my face and your warm body against mine. I haven't slept since you went ghost on me, and I've made it clear that I'm in love with you. What do you think?"

Letty blinked, unsure what to say.

"I'm sorry this happened. I would never have forgiven myself if anything happened to you or Cara. To know I was the cause of all of this madness, it—." He stopped himself, he was sharing too much. Losing too much of his mystery.

But Letty knew. And she wouldn't let him off the hook.

"Hurts?"

"Like a bitch." He admitted. "Please stay."

Letty stretched, yawning. "For how long?"

"Forever."

Mid-stretch, Letty paused and looked him in the eyes. "What?"

"Stay. Here. Forever." Dominic stood from his seat and rounded the island to stand in front of her. "Move in with me."

"You're nuts."

"Well, yeah, but you already knew that."

"Do you want me to move in because you want me here or because you're terrified of me leaving you?"

"Because I want you to stay forever. I want to go to bed and wake up with you. Eat breakfast, lunch and dinner with you. Exercise with you. Relax with you. Read books by the fireplace with you. Take you on every surface in here." His eyes darkened and Letty could tell he'd just imagined her body beneath his own. To her surprise, he composed himself and she stood straight, crossing her arms.

"Moving in with someone is a big step."

"You're telling me, of all people?" Dominic reminded her.

Letty nodded her head and made a face as if she was considering his words. "How about two weeks here and two weeks at my apartment per month?"

"Are we bargaining?"

Letty shrugged one shoulder.

"Fine. One week at your apartment, the rest here and I'll make breakfast for you every weekend."

"Two weeks, breakfast weekends and Monday."

"You're going in the wrong direction."

Letty shrugged again. "I didn't carry my ex-submissive out of my girlfriend's apartment."

"Which is another reason why I would think you'd like a change of scenery."

Letty simply stared at him.

"Fine." He sighed. "Eight days at your apartment, breakfast Mondays, Wednesdays and weekends."

"What's in it for you?"

"You. I'll sacrifice one-hundred-and-ninety-two hours away from you. If it makes you happy."

Petty's eyelids fluttered.

"And I'll count the seconds until you're back in our home, in our bed, under me."

"Or on top of you."

Tension crackled between the pair.

"Drink your tea while it's hot." Letty told him, taking her mug into her hands.

"Yes, ma'am." Dominic followed suit, taking a sip as well.

Three a.m.

"So, wait, Elena was literally giving you submissives?" Letty popped a slice of strawberry into her mouth and shifted her legs as she sat on the kitchen counter.

"I mean, there's not really a listing for them in the local paper."

"Sarcasm duly noted," she said as she chewed the fruit, "and unappreciated."

"Apologies," he said before he continued, "anyway, Cara was practically born to be a sub. We met at a BDSM party. One much like The Underground where you met Elena."

Letty nodded, acknowledging the memory.

"She immediately attached herself to me. She didn't ask questions, didn't defy me at any turn and she trusted that I would keep her safe."

"So, if she was such a great sub, why did it end?"

"I told you, she wanted more. She began to ask me my opinions on marriage, children. I could sense what was happening. So, I broke off our arrangement. She was devastated, naturally, but I kept tabs on her. I encouraged her to go back to school, get a degree. She did. Cara got a great job offer in Arizona and then got married. I felt like my job, so to speak, was over after that."

Letty poked at a green grape with the fork in her hand. "It's hard hearing about your past relationships. They seem intense. But, I understand this wasn't your fault. None of it is."

"Whose fault, then?"

"Elena's."

Dominic smiled. "Never letting that go?"

"Not on your life, Toretto."

"I'll admit, you've been opening my eyes to many things, but there are darker evils in the world."

"Still, she's pretty dark."

Dominic rounded the kitchen island and stood at the counter in front of Letty. She looked up to him, her eyelids fluttered and her heart skipped a beat.

God, he was handsome. And so broken.

"Can we go to bed? I just… need to," he quietly finished, "to hold you."

Putting down her fork, she put her arms up like a child asking to be picked up. Dominic was taken aback for a moment.

But they both agreed, they'd give each other what they needed. Letty could be submissive when necessary. Except this time, for Letty, it didn't feel like she was being submissive. She felt like she needed this too.

Dominic picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist and arms around his neck.

He carried her through her new home, and towards their bedroom. He placed her gently in bed and turned the lights off before climbing in bed, facing her and pulled her close.

"I'm sorry all of this happened. I truly am. I failed to protect you and I'm sorry. I don't think I'll ever forgive myself for that."

"You're not a god, Dominic. You can't be everywhere at once. You can't stop everything bad from happening. You're just as human as the rest of us."

He was quiet. Dominic was used to snapping his fingers or raising his voice and things happening. That kind of power could make any man forget who they truly were. It was clear he was still learning just how human he truly was.