Dom blinked. He couldn't believe his ears. Was this some kind of joke?
"What the fuck? Who threatened to kill me? What?!" he asked incredulously.
He fixed Letty with a stare that could've scared several small children. But she stared right back at him,
refusing to let him get to her.
"Ethan. Ethan Aames. I know you know who he is, don't even try to tell me you don't," she said.
Dom could sense an edge in her voice. Hatred? What was going on? "I'm listening," he said, folding his
arms across his broad chest.
Letty took a deep breath. "After Leon dropped off you and Mia, he took me back to his place. Y'know,
to bandage me up. After the roll, I felt pretty sick, so he was concerned. So he was getting out all the
meds, all the ACE wraps, when the phone rang. He answered it, and I remember just seeing his jaw
clench, and I knew something was up. He was only on the phone for maybe a minute, probably not
even, when he hung up and turned to me. He said that Ethan Aames, the guy that Leon and I had done
business with before was threatening to kill you. He blamed you for Tran's death. Two weeks before we
left, Ethan said he needed us again. When Leon refused, Ethan vowed that we'd be sorry. That day,
he'd said that if Leon and I didn't leave Tijuana to work with him again right then, that he'd kill you.
You, Mia, Jesse, Vince, everyone," she finished, a look of torture masked in the depths of her eyes.
Dom was still processing the information, when questions arose in his head.
"Why did Aames use Mia, Jesse, and Vince as the extra incentives?" he asked, wondering how Ethan
knew who the rest of the crew was.
Letty paused, "Because he knew how much they meant to us. Plus, he intended to get ahead of you in
the racing circuit. So he figured if he took Leon and me, then he'd get in on some of your strategies
and secrets, while hurting you at the same time. By taking away some of your family," she said, adding,
"We're not even supposed to be here, Dom."
It all fit, Dom realized. That's why he'd been getting strange comments from Ethan, never once seeing
his crew with him. Why he'd always gotten the strange feeling about him. Mia had once told him that he
felt uneasy about everybody, but the whole Ethan issue just didn't sit right. He remembered the time
Ethan had strode up to him and arrogantly commented as to why he never saw Dom with the pretty
little dark-haired beauty anymore. And the time he commented as to why Dom had so little of his team
with him, asking if he was missing anybody. Ethan had known the entire time that Letty and Leon had
disappeared because he had been responsible for it.
Dom looked back down at Letty, who seemed to be watching his every move.
She cleared her throat again, "I'm sorry I hurt you, Dom. But I figured that maybe one day, you might
decide, 'What the hell, maybe I'll forgive her'," she said. "In the note, when I said I loved you, I meant
it," she added, looking up with her dark eyes.
Dom could see the sadness in them, and he noted that the entire time while she talked to him, she was
very gentle. Very unlike the way she was usually. As if she didn't want to hurt him anymore than she
already had. And he knew that she knew fully what she'd done.
He stared at her for a little longer, before lowering his mouth to hers, letting her know it was okay, and
that he did forgive her. After a few moments, he pulled away, and instead, took her in his strong arms,
and let her calm down a little. "I'm not gonna let anything happen to you," Dom whispered, a tender
touch to his deep voice.
And with that, he vowed to make sure he'd do just that; by making sure Ethan Aames couldn't hurt
her, or the people he loved ever again.
*~*
After getting re-acquainted, and explaining to the rest of the group why they'd left, Letty and Leon had
decided to go the race that night with them. They needed to know for sure that Ethan was the same
guy that Dom had been talking about, and they also knew they couldn't hide forever from one man.
After all, they'd completed their work for Ethan, but they'd just left prior to his okay.
So as soon as it got dark, Letty and Leon got in their Viper, with the others taking their respective cars
and heading off to where the race would be taking place that night. Once they arrived, they were
greeted by the thick bass of loud music, the smell of oil, gas, and cheap perfume, and swarms of racers
and the race-skanks that had leached themselves to them. The group got out of their cars, with Dom
leading, he went straight to Hector, asking about the night's dealings. After handing over a wad of
cash, he asked the whereabouts of Ethan, and was pointed to a group of people huddled around a
white Supra. Dom put his arm around Letty, before walking over to the group. The people huddled
immediately recognized him, and parted way for him, Letty, and the rest of the team. The sight of Ethan
soon greeted them, with two skanks attached to his sides, as he talked highly of himself and his car.
But his boastings came to a halt when he saw Dom standing, waiting for him to stop talking.
Ethan smiled at Dom, but it faded once he saw Letty, and Leon on the other side of her.
Ethan shrugged of the two women, and stepped forward toward the team, "Well, well. Look what we
have here," he began, edge in his voice. He looked from Dom to Letty, fixing her with a stare. "Letty,
baby. You left me for Dom? What happened to us? And Leon, I thought we were really getting along,
man. Hanging out after we'd finish the robberies and the cars, and go for a beer. What, does Dom buy
a better brand?" he said, before a wide grin crept across his lips.
Letty had seen that grin before. He grinned that way when he finished teasing someone purposely. She
looked up at Dom for a reaction, but his eyes were focused firmly on Ethan, dark with anger. She
recognized the look as fury being held back. Dom wasn't the type to lose his temper in public, and Letty
knew that.
She cleared her throat, "Leon and I are done with you and your dealings, Ethan," she began, not
bothering to hold back the attitude.
When her and Leon were still working for Ethan, she hadn't hesitated to tell him exactly what was on
her mind every moment he tried to make a move on her, or when he'd tried to convince them to stay
permanently, and she wasn't going to change that now.
"There was never anything between us, and you know it. And you and Leon were so far from being
friends, that that aint anywhere near the truth," she said, fixing him with a disgusted and disbelieving
look.
Ethan glared at her, "You never did know when to shut up, did you? Always up in peoples' faces.
Letting your attitude run wild. Loved to piss me off didn't you, Letty?" He was now standing
considerably close to the group. A small crowd had formed around the one that was already there.
But she simply gave him a mockingly-sweet smile, "Sure did."
Her comment didn't go over well with Ethan, for he had raised his hand, ready to smack her across the
face, when Leon stepped forward, shoving him away.
"I think you were the one who was never willing to accept the fact that we hated you, and that we still
do. Never hesitating to raise a hand to a woman. Treating your crew like animals. Being the cocky,
arrogant asshole that nobody liked," he said, letting his fists meet Ethan's face several times, backing
Ethan up to his car.
Dom eventually stepped forward, and grabbed Leon by the shoulder, pulling him back. Not that he
wouldn't have loved to see Leon finish beating the shit out of Ethan, but they had a race ahead of
them. Plus, getting even more police attention than was necessary was never a good thing. And
besides, Hector had just announced that the coast was clear, and that the race was to begin.
Dom looked one last time at Ethan, who was now glaring back at him. "You better fuckin' pray to God
that I find it in me to spare your sorry ass. And don't you EVER threaten my family again, you damn
son of a bitch!" he roared at Ethan, before backing up, and walking over to his car.
