Chapter 18
"Jesse!" Gina yelled while she was finishing up dinner.
"Yeah," he replied while lying on the couch playing a new racing game.
"You want to eat there or at the table?"
"Where do u want to eat?"
Gina walked into the living with her hands on her hips, "Jesse you are the one who can barely walk brother, where do you want to eat?"
The young man smiled up at her and said, "right here, then you can try to beat me at this game."
She nodded then went back into the kitchen.
Jesse went back to playing his game but stopped when the door opened. Brian walked in and after shutting the door, he shook Jesse's hand.
"How's it going Jesse?"
"Fine, Gina's cooking supper you want some?"
Brian smiled down at Jesse then walked to the kitchen.
"Hey Gina."
She turned and smiled over at Brian, "What you up to today?"
"On nothing just finished up with the feds on the Tran case."
"really, everything work out?" she asked then went back to fixing Jesse a plate of food.
"Yeah, so Jesse said I could stay and eat."
"Fix a plate then," she told him as she walked past him.
Brian went ahead and fixed a plate. Since everything had happened he made sure to be around to help Gina with Jesse. It became regular for him to hang around. He'd kept his job and made detective for the help he gave to the FBI. Gina on the other hand quit her job in Chicago and took care of Jesse full time. He'd gotten better that soon he'd be back to normal. They decided to open the garage back up and start all over.
~~~~~~~
Vince sat looking out of the window and thinking about Gina. He was still in love with her but she betrayed him. It helped that he and Mia had become closer. Since being in Mexico they'd become more than friends. He looked at her like a little sister now more than ever. She'd talk about Brian then he'd talk about Gina. There moments together were the only ones spent speaking about what happened. Both Vince and Mia never brought up the subject with Dom. The pain was still too real for him.
The day arrived for them to leave. They pilled up in their vehicles and headed back to Los Angeles.
~~~~~~
Gina woke up to the sound of footsteps downstairs. She jumped out of bed and started bitching to herself.
"Damnit Jesse!" she hissed as she walked downstairs.
When she reached the bottom of the stairs she froze when she saw Dom, Letty, Leon, Mia and Vince all standing around the living room.
"What's going on?" Jesse asked as he hobbled out of the kitchen.
"Jesse!" Leon yelled as he ran up to his friend and picked him up.
"Leon." Jesse said while laughing.
"Oh my god" Letty said as she ran up to Leon and Jesse.
Vince and Mia walked over and hugged Jesse. Dom stood there with no expression on his face. He looked at Gina and went over to Jesse.
Everyone stood around Jesse smiling. He beamed with happiness. Dom walked up to him and smiled.
"You ok Jesse."
The young man laughed then hugged Dom. When he pulled back her said, "Gina took care of me. Where have you guys been?"
"Mexico," Leon piped in.
Gina watched the happy reunion then turned and went back upstairs. She crawled back into bed and went to sleep. No words could come to her, she didn't know how or what to say to any of them. She wanted to wait until the morning to deal with whatever was going to happen next.
~~~~~~
Dom sat alone at the kitchen table. When Gina walked in he raised his head to look at her but said nothing. She stopped for a moment then continued to the coffee maker. After she made her cup of coffee she turned around and leaned against the counter.
"Why?" Dom asked without looking at her.
"What?"
"Why?"
Gina put her cup down and walked up the table, she placed her on the edge of the table and looked down at Dom.
"Why, to save your ass that's why."
When Dom looked up at her, he saw the anger that filled her eyes. He slowly stood up as he never took his eyes off her.
"We didn't need your help," he barked down to her.
"Oh really big brother cause if memory serves me well, you needed me when Vince was hanging off the side of that truck and lets not forget Jesse who is still getting over being shot."
"That don't make a FUCKING thing you did right Gina. You're a cop. You and Brian lied to us to get information to possibly use against your family. Should I be grateful that you came and saved that day, well I ain't."
~~~~~~~
The voices coming from the kitchen caused Letty to come down stairs. Leon had been sleeping on the couch but when Letty came to stand next to him, he sat up and looked up at her.
Vince had been sitting outside on the front porch. He walked in also cause of the yelling.
"What's happening?"
Letty said while looking over her shoulder at him, "Dom and Gina."
He nodded his hand than walked towards the kitchen. Letty grabbed his arm and tried to stop him.
"V don't."
"Letty let go," his tone very serious.
She let go and shook her head.
~~~~~~~
Vince stood in the doorway of the kitchen and watched Dom and Gina yell at each other. It was strange, he could understand where both of them were coming from.
"How could you do this to your family?" Dom screamed while pointing his finger at Gina's face.
"How could I? How could you put your family in jeopardy, Dominic? You started this god knows how long its been going on. What were you thinking about?" she yelled back at him.
"Gina you should have..." he said but stopped when Gina stepped closer to him.
"I should what? Be a fucking criminal like you. Not that you know any better. I should have let myself put you back in jail where you belong."
Dom placed his hands down on the table and took in a deep breath. He looked up and at her then overturned the kitchen table up side down.
"Don't ever call me that!" He yelled down at her.
A laugh escaped her lips before she said, "Can't take the truth huh Dom."
Vince rushed up to Dom and grabbed his hand before he slapped Gina. "Whoa Brother."
"Not let him!" Gina yelled. "Let him. Seems he become that kinda of man. What Dom, you need to hit people to make them do what you want. You're such a control freak that it always has to be done your own way."
Vince turned and looked at Gina, "Gina, come on stop it."
"Oh this is getting even better. Why should I stop Vince, when stuff is starting to make sense?"
"God DAMN it Gina just drop it!" Vince yelled before looking back at Dom. "Just calm down Dominic."
Dom shook his hand then stepped back from Vince. He looked around his friend at his sister and said in a cold manner, "Be gone by tomorrow. I don't ever want to see you again."
When Dom stormed out the kitchen Gina laughed again. Vince turned around and looked down at her.
Dom was about to go upstairs when Mia ran down and pushed him as hard as she could.
"What the hell are you doing Dom?" she yelled at him.
He stared down at her but didn't say anything.
Vince and Gina walked out from the kitchen to stand next to Letty and Leon.
"Come on Dom!" Mia yelled again.
"Not right now Mia," he told her before trying to walk past her.
"Answer the question Dominic?" Mia screamed as she stepped in front of him.
"How could you do this? How could you tell her to leave? She's our sister, our family. Who would have taken care of Jesse, not you!! You left him here without knowing if he was going to be ok."
"I didn't do any of this Mia, she did." Dom said then pointed at Gina. He turned back to Mia then said, "and your boyfriend"
Mia slapped Dom as hard as she could. "No one is to blame but you."
Dom stepped away from Mia and glared over at Gina. Mia wasn't finished with him so she started back in on him.
"Why are you blaming her? She only did it to protect us and Brian. He was doing his job...yeah its sucks he had to lie to us and things won't ever be the same. Deal with it Dom. You couldn't deal with what happened to daddy all those years ago so you've been trying to control everything ever since. There was nothing you could do to save him or mamma."
Gina came next to Mia and put an arm around her. Mia fought back the tears in her eyes but was determined not to cry.
"Dom," Letty said as she came to stand behind him. "This needs to end now."
He looked down at her and shook his head, "I can't."
He stormed out the house and no one followed.
~~~~~~
Dom drove around all day and night. He couldn't get past what Gina did to them but deep down he knew this wasn't all her fault. The years she'd been away was his fault. He should have worked out their problems and been more apart of her life. Instead of being there when she needed him, he pushed her away. Guilt filled him. How could he have let her stay away for so long? And Jesse, he hated himself for leaving without knowing if he would be all right. I had to leave he told himself. Thank god Gina had been there. When he finally got home, he found the house dark. He walked in and found Vince sitting in the kitchen.
"V?"
"She's gone. Mia came downstairs and woke us all up...Gina's gone." V said before getting up and leaving Dom alone in the kitchen.
Dom laid his head down on the kitchen table and felt like screaming. His life had gone completely out of control. One day everything was on track and the next day everything was spinning out of control. He hated that Gina had felt that her being a cop was something to hide from them. She'd always been so fearless about everything. Why had she lied to them?
"Dom"
He looked up to see Jesse standing in the doorway.
"You need something Jess?" Dom asked while getting up.
"No," Jesse said while sitting down across from Dom.
"What's up?"
Jesse ran his hands threw his hair and took in a deep breath.
"Dom, I knew Gina and Brian were cops. I've known about Gina for a while now. I been keeping up on her making sure she was all right. I know you're mad but I couldn't say anything. Things were getting out of hand, we needed to stop. It was too dangerous."
Dom watched as his friend lowered his eyes and stared down at the table. The strange thing was that he wasn't mad at Jesse. Everything he'd said made sense. It was getting more dangerous, Jesse wasn't the only team member to feel that way. When the young man looked back up at him, Dom saw tears in his eyes.
"I'm sorry Dom," Jesse said trying not to cry.
Dom stood up and walked around the table. He knelt down at Jesse's side and hugged him.
"It's all over brother."
When Dom let Jesse go. Jesse took this chance to say some more stuff about Gina.
"Dom, she took care of me. She stayed at the hospital until they let me go and she was with me every minute. Gina saved me."
Dom smiled down at Jesse then patted his shoulder. He sighed then walked out the kitchen and went upstairs to his room. He was hoping he could get some must needed sleep.
~~~~~~~
Gina sat on the couch at the garage staring at the floor. She had no where else to go. Her brother hated her, the man she loved hated her and so had no idea how to fix it or if she could fix it. The way they all looked at her. Letty had barely said two words to her the entire day. Leon sat playing video games with Jesse paying her no mind. Mia had spoken to her but she knew it would take time to fix what she had broken. Then there was Vince, he'd only said anything to her when she and Dom where yelling at one another. The hurt in his eyes cut through her heart. His trust wasn't given lightly and now she could never say she was sorry enough. Her love for him only strengthen while he was away. Even though she had no idea if she would ever see him again, Gina cared for Vince without a doubt. Now seeing him caused her both joy and pain.
When she finally went to sleep she dreamt of him. The dream filled her with such happiness that when she woke the following morning she had tears in her eyes. She tried to go back to sleep but couldn't. A realization came to her as she sat up and looked out at the world outside.
He's a dream that I'm always going to wake up from.
~~~~~~~
TBC
"Jesse!" Gina yelled while she was finishing up dinner.
"Yeah," he replied while lying on the couch playing a new racing game.
"You want to eat there or at the table?"
"Where do u want to eat?"
Gina walked into the living with her hands on her hips, "Jesse you are the one who can barely walk brother, where do you want to eat?"
The young man smiled up at her and said, "right here, then you can try to beat me at this game."
She nodded then went back into the kitchen.
Jesse went back to playing his game but stopped when the door opened. Brian walked in and after shutting the door, he shook Jesse's hand.
"How's it going Jesse?"
"Fine, Gina's cooking supper you want some?"
Brian smiled down at Jesse then walked to the kitchen.
"Hey Gina."
She turned and smiled over at Brian, "What you up to today?"
"On nothing just finished up with the feds on the Tran case."
"really, everything work out?" she asked then went back to fixing Jesse a plate of food.
"Yeah, so Jesse said I could stay and eat."
"Fix a plate then," she told him as she walked past him.
Brian went ahead and fixed a plate. Since everything had happened he made sure to be around to help Gina with Jesse. It became regular for him to hang around. He'd kept his job and made detective for the help he gave to the FBI. Gina on the other hand quit her job in Chicago and took care of Jesse full time. He'd gotten better that soon he'd be back to normal. They decided to open the garage back up and start all over.
~~~~~~~
Vince sat looking out of the window and thinking about Gina. He was still in love with her but she betrayed him. It helped that he and Mia had become closer. Since being in Mexico they'd become more than friends. He looked at her like a little sister now more than ever. She'd talk about Brian then he'd talk about Gina. There moments together were the only ones spent speaking about what happened. Both Vince and Mia never brought up the subject with Dom. The pain was still too real for him.
The day arrived for them to leave. They pilled up in their vehicles and headed back to Los Angeles.
~~~~~~
Gina woke up to the sound of footsteps downstairs. She jumped out of bed and started bitching to herself.
"Damnit Jesse!" she hissed as she walked downstairs.
When she reached the bottom of the stairs she froze when she saw Dom, Letty, Leon, Mia and Vince all standing around the living room.
"What's going on?" Jesse asked as he hobbled out of the kitchen.
"Jesse!" Leon yelled as he ran up to his friend and picked him up.
"Leon." Jesse said while laughing.
"Oh my god" Letty said as she ran up to Leon and Jesse.
Vince and Mia walked over and hugged Jesse. Dom stood there with no expression on his face. He looked at Gina and went over to Jesse.
Everyone stood around Jesse smiling. He beamed with happiness. Dom walked up to him and smiled.
"You ok Jesse."
The young man laughed then hugged Dom. When he pulled back her said, "Gina took care of me. Where have you guys been?"
"Mexico," Leon piped in.
Gina watched the happy reunion then turned and went back upstairs. She crawled back into bed and went to sleep. No words could come to her, she didn't know how or what to say to any of them. She wanted to wait until the morning to deal with whatever was going to happen next.
~~~~~~
Dom sat alone at the kitchen table. When Gina walked in he raised his head to look at her but said nothing. She stopped for a moment then continued to the coffee maker. After she made her cup of coffee she turned around and leaned against the counter.
"Why?" Dom asked without looking at her.
"What?"
"Why?"
Gina put her cup down and walked up the table, she placed her on the edge of the table and looked down at Dom.
"Why, to save your ass that's why."
When Dom looked up at her, he saw the anger that filled her eyes. He slowly stood up as he never took his eyes off her.
"We didn't need your help," he barked down to her.
"Oh really big brother cause if memory serves me well, you needed me when Vince was hanging off the side of that truck and lets not forget Jesse who is still getting over being shot."
"That don't make a FUCKING thing you did right Gina. You're a cop. You and Brian lied to us to get information to possibly use against your family. Should I be grateful that you came and saved that day, well I ain't."
~~~~~~~
The voices coming from the kitchen caused Letty to come down stairs. Leon had been sleeping on the couch but when Letty came to stand next to him, he sat up and looked up at her.
Vince had been sitting outside on the front porch. He walked in also cause of the yelling.
"What's happening?"
Letty said while looking over her shoulder at him, "Dom and Gina."
He nodded his hand than walked towards the kitchen. Letty grabbed his arm and tried to stop him.
"V don't."
"Letty let go," his tone very serious.
She let go and shook her head.
~~~~~~~
Vince stood in the doorway of the kitchen and watched Dom and Gina yell at each other. It was strange, he could understand where both of them were coming from.
"How could you do this to your family?" Dom screamed while pointing his finger at Gina's face.
"How could I? How could you put your family in jeopardy, Dominic? You started this god knows how long its been going on. What were you thinking about?" she yelled back at him.
"Gina you should have..." he said but stopped when Gina stepped closer to him.
"I should what? Be a fucking criminal like you. Not that you know any better. I should have let myself put you back in jail where you belong."
Dom placed his hands down on the table and took in a deep breath. He looked up and at her then overturned the kitchen table up side down.
"Don't ever call me that!" He yelled down at her.
A laugh escaped her lips before she said, "Can't take the truth huh Dom."
Vince rushed up to Dom and grabbed his hand before he slapped Gina. "Whoa Brother."
"Not let him!" Gina yelled. "Let him. Seems he become that kinda of man. What Dom, you need to hit people to make them do what you want. You're such a control freak that it always has to be done your own way."
Vince turned and looked at Gina, "Gina, come on stop it."
"Oh this is getting even better. Why should I stop Vince, when stuff is starting to make sense?"
"God DAMN it Gina just drop it!" Vince yelled before looking back at Dom. "Just calm down Dominic."
Dom shook his hand then stepped back from Vince. He looked around his friend at his sister and said in a cold manner, "Be gone by tomorrow. I don't ever want to see you again."
When Dom stormed out the kitchen Gina laughed again. Vince turned around and looked down at her.
Dom was about to go upstairs when Mia ran down and pushed him as hard as she could.
"What the hell are you doing Dom?" she yelled at him.
He stared down at her but didn't say anything.
Vince and Gina walked out from the kitchen to stand next to Letty and Leon.
"Come on Dom!" Mia yelled again.
"Not right now Mia," he told her before trying to walk past her.
"Answer the question Dominic?" Mia screamed as she stepped in front of him.
"How could you do this? How could you tell her to leave? She's our sister, our family. Who would have taken care of Jesse, not you!! You left him here without knowing if he was going to be ok."
"I didn't do any of this Mia, she did." Dom said then pointed at Gina. He turned back to Mia then said, "and your boyfriend"
Mia slapped Dom as hard as she could. "No one is to blame but you."
Dom stepped away from Mia and glared over at Gina. Mia wasn't finished with him so she started back in on him.
"Why are you blaming her? She only did it to protect us and Brian. He was doing his job...yeah its sucks he had to lie to us and things won't ever be the same. Deal with it Dom. You couldn't deal with what happened to daddy all those years ago so you've been trying to control everything ever since. There was nothing you could do to save him or mamma."
Gina came next to Mia and put an arm around her. Mia fought back the tears in her eyes but was determined not to cry.
"Dom," Letty said as she came to stand behind him. "This needs to end now."
He looked down at her and shook his head, "I can't."
He stormed out the house and no one followed.
~~~~~~
Dom drove around all day and night. He couldn't get past what Gina did to them but deep down he knew this wasn't all her fault. The years she'd been away was his fault. He should have worked out their problems and been more apart of her life. Instead of being there when she needed him, he pushed her away. Guilt filled him. How could he have let her stay away for so long? And Jesse, he hated himself for leaving without knowing if he would be all right. I had to leave he told himself. Thank god Gina had been there. When he finally got home, he found the house dark. He walked in and found Vince sitting in the kitchen.
"V?"
"She's gone. Mia came downstairs and woke us all up...Gina's gone." V said before getting up and leaving Dom alone in the kitchen.
Dom laid his head down on the kitchen table and felt like screaming. His life had gone completely out of control. One day everything was on track and the next day everything was spinning out of control. He hated that Gina had felt that her being a cop was something to hide from them. She'd always been so fearless about everything. Why had she lied to them?
"Dom"
He looked up to see Jesse standing in the doorway.
"You need something Jess?" Dom asked while getting up.
"No," Jesse said while sitting down across from Dom.
"What's up?"
Jesse ran his hands threw his hair and took in a deep breath.
"Dom, I knew Gina and Brian were cops. I've known about Gina for a while now. I been keeping up on her making sure she was all right. I know you're mad but I couldn't say anything. Things were getting out of hand, we needed to stop. It was too dangerous."
Dom watched as his friend lowered his eyes and stared down at the table. The strange thing was that he wasn't mad at Jesse. Everything he'd said made sense. It was getting more dangerous, Jesse wasn't the only team member to feel that way. When the young man looked back up at him, Dom saw tears in his eyes.
"I'm sorry Dom," Jesse said trying not to cry.
Dom stood up and walked around the table. He knelt down at Jesse's side and hugged him.
"It's all over brother."
When Dom let Jesse go. Jesse took this chance to say some more stuff about Gina.
"Dom, she took care of me. She stayed at the hospital until they let me go and she was with me every minute. Gina saved me."
Dom smiled down at Jesse then patted his shoulder. He sighed then walked out the kitchen and went upstairs to his room. He was hoping he could get some must needed sleep.
~~~~~~~
Gina sat on the couch at the garage staring at the floor. She had no where else to go. Her brother hated her, the man she loved hated her and so had no idea how to fix it or if she could fix it. The way they all looked at her. Letty had barely said two words to her the entire day. Leon sat playing video games with Jesse paying her no mind. Mia had spoken to her but she knew it would take time to fix what she had broken. Then there was Vince, he'd only said anything to her when she and Dom where yelling at one another. The hurt in his eyes cut through her heart. His trust wasn't given lightly and now she could never say she was sorry enough. Her love for him only strengthen while he was away. Even though she had no idea if she would ever see him again, Gina cared for Vince without a doubt. Now seeing him caused her both joy and pain.
When she finally went to sleep she dreamt of him. The dream filled her with such happiness that when she woke the following morning she had tears in her eyes. She tried to go back to sleep but couldn't. A realization came to her as she sat up and looked out at the world outside.
He's a dream that I'm always going to wake up from.
~~~~~~~
TBC
