Chapter 61 - Not what he seems
Dom started up the mustang and backed it up out of the parking spot. He slid the shift into D and started forward.
"An automatic too. Oh Dom. I've never seen you drive so cautiously. You must really be goin mad." Torrie laughed at his misfortune.
"I'm getting there. It's horrible. I keep going to clutch and not finding the pedal. I really can't wait to have my own car back."
"How's the teaching thing going?"
"Great!" Dom answered her. She giggled at his exuberance. Dom just wasn't the exuberant type.
"That's good." She answered him.
"What's funny?" Dom asked her, shooting her a look.
"Just you. I've never seen you excited like this. I can't remember the last time you looked so excited about anything."
"I looked excited the first time I saw you." Dom looked at her out of the corner of his eye.
"You did not you big suck up." Torrie giggled.
"Yes I did." Dom stuck to his story.
"Not this excited I bet. You remind me of a kid at Christmas." Torrie really couldn't believe how happy Dom was. "You're not thinking of staying here to do this full time or something are you?"
"No! I couldn't stand to live up here. Too cold and the racing scene is the pits. There's no one to race and it's not nearly as organized as in California."
"So are they calling you the king of the New York streets too?" Torrie asked. She'd bet they were. No one beat her man at racing but her, she thought with a giggle.
"Of course." He answered with a cocky grin. "Like I said there's no competition and you didn't honestly think I could give up racing for a month did you?"
"Of course not, but you have me very curious what you run in. Not this I should think." Torrie looked puzzled.
"I race in RX-7's from my course, of course." Dom answered her with his famous Toretto grin.
"Do you turn race nights into field trips?" Torrie grinned at the thoughts of the king of the LA streets taking a bunch of college kids to go racing.
"No, but if a few of my students figure out where races are and want to tag along I can't stop them." Dom looked very proud of himself. They arrived at Dom's hotel and got out of the car. He carried her bag up to his room for her and they walked into the room. It was big. It had a kitchenette, bedroom, bathroom and living room with a big TV.
"This is nice." Torrie told him as she explored the living room.
"You haven't seen the best part yet." Dom said as he walked up behind her.
"Oh yeah, what's that?" Torrie expected him to say the view from the balcony, which was spectacular from in the room; she could only imagine what it would be like out on it.
"The bedroom." Dom smiled and held out his hand.
"Is that all you ever think of?" Torrie asked, but smiled while she did.
"All I ever think of is you love. You're it." How could she resist such a gorgeous man when he said such lovely things? She took his hand and followed him into the room.
"She's landed in New York." The voice of John was no longer friendly and open but cold and hard.
"You've seen her?"
"Yes, I sat beside her on the plane." John laughed.
"Why is she still alive?" The disembodied voice came across the cellular line, sounding evil.
"She never turned her back on her food or drink. There was nothing I could do. But don't worry; I'll get her over the weekend. She's practically not an issue."
"Good. Made sure that it can't be tied to you or to me or you know what will happen to you."
"Of course. It's a non issue."
"Call me when your job is done."
"I will...Oh, what of the man?"
"He's inconsequential. Do away with him if you need to but we only care about the girl. She must not make it back to California."
"As I said it's as good as taken care of." John moved to hang up the phone.
"You better watch your back around the man. He's dangerous. He has a temper, and well, you've seen him. Don't turn your back on him. You'll need to take care of things from a distance or very cautiously."
"Hum, but you say that he is inconsequential, so if he dies too then you're ok with that?"
"Yes, as long as the girl never makes it out of New York."
"I'm clear. I'll call you when the job is done."
"Do so." Both men hung up their phones and John walked up to the gleaming black BMW 735 that was waiting for him. He had a murder to plan.
Around 9pm Torrie realized she was starving when her stomach growled. All she'd eaten was half of Vince's sandwich and it was time for supper. Plus Dom had helped her work up a good apatite.
"You hungry?" Dom asked sleepily from beside her.
"Yeah, all I had to eat yet today was half of V's sandwich. I was too nervous about flying to eat much."
"You fly all the time, the way you drive. But we can go eat now if you want."
"It's not the same and you know it. I'd never been 30,000 feet up. But let's go eat now. I'm starving."
"Ok. Well, you get dressed and then we'll go."
"You need to get dressed too. I'm not goin anywhere with you if you're nekkid. Where are you taken' me?"
"It's a surprise." Dom winked at her.
"Dommmm. I need to know what to wear."
"Wear as much or as little as you want to." He leered at her.
"Dom, be serious for one second. Dressy, casual. What kind of place is it?"
"Well, wear something that you would feel comfortable eating in a semi fancy restaurant in and something that you'd be comfortable going out in too." Dom said and turned to leave the room so she couldn't question him further.
"You're evil. You know that right?" Torrie asked as she stood up and started to paw through her suitcase. Dom just laughed. So, dinner and out to a mystery location, she thought. She pulled on a pair of low rise black pants with slits up the sides that were held closed with buckles and her white top that had the sides cut out and was held closed by criss crossing strings. Then so she'd feel comfortable in a nice restaurant she pulled on a black shear button up shirt over top but left it open. She put on her boots with buckles up the sides to her knee then brushed out her hair. She went to find Dom. He was back to being dressed the way she knew him. Kaki pants and a black wife beater with his silver chain and black boots. "Will I do?"
"Yep, let's roll." Dom answered and they left the room. He wrapped his arm around her waist as they left the room and headed down the elevator.
They were in the car park walking toward Dom's car. It was a large hotel and Dom hadn't been able to get a close spot so they had a bit of a walk ahead of them. Just as they started across to the second row of cars a loud squeal was heard and a black sedan came flying down the row, headed straight for Torrie, who had already started to cross.
When Torrie saw the car coming she froze in panic. She figured she was done for. She couldn't make her limbs move. She wanted to run, to scream, but all she could do was stare at the huge black car bearing down on her.
"Torrie!" Dom shouted and pulled her out of the way just as the car whizzed by. "What an asshole!" Dom shouted after the car. It had gone by too fast to get the plates and Dom was sure the driver had both seen Torrie, and sure the driver hadn't planned on stopping. He would have run Torrie down in the isle.
"Dom. He wasn't gonna stop. He was gonna hit me." Torrie started to shake. She knew how close she had just come to getting run over. Dom pulled her against his chest.
"Just someone in a rush who thought you'd move. I'm sure they didn't think you'd freeze up like that baby. Just some random jerk." Dom tried to reassure her. It wasn't like anyone would be trying to hurt Torrie, he reassured himself. It must have just been someone who thought they had the right to drive however they wanted.
"I'm sure you're right Dom, and I'm still hungry. Let's go." Torrie tried to put it out of her mind. She drove kind of crazy herself at times but she'd like to think that she wouldn't run down a person in the road.
They got into the mustang and headed off to dinner.
"Lucky bitch." John snarled out loud, despite being alone in the car. His granite look was cast in an eeiry green glow from the dashboard lights. The girl's stupid boyfriend had saved her at the last second. Now he'd have to come up with another plan. He was glad his car was nondescript. He should be able to follow them easily in traffic without them noticing him.
They pulled up to a small restaurant and got out of the car. As they walked in Torrie sniffed the air. "Italian. I shoulda known." She smirked at Dom. "Wait till I tell Mia you miss her cooking so much your favorite restaurant in New York is an Italian restaurant."
"Well, I was homesick and then I saw this place and it was like Mia's cookin' so yeah, I guess you could say that. But the owner has a daughter he keeps trying to hook me up with too. So he takes good care of me. You know, he wants a nice Italian boy for her." Dom tried to keep a serious look on his face.
"Well, if he wants a nice Italian boy he'd better keep looking. Or we could fly V out here. Then he'd get a nice Italian boy." Torrie tried to keep the same serious look on her face.
"Really funny Tor." Dom laughed, he couldn't help it.
"Dominic!" A very Italian voice called out.
"Alfonso!" Dom answered, taking the man into a manly hug.
"You are here for a late dinner today my boy. You're in luck, my Bianca is here today." The restaurant owner said with a smile.
"You'll have to play matchmaker with someone else today Alfonso. This is my girlfriend I told you about. She finally decided to put me out of my misery and come visit me." Dom pulled Torrie forward from where she was shyly hiding behind him. This was a side of Torrie Dom had never seen. She was acting much more reserved now then she ever had in California. Even when she'd met the team for the first time she hadn't seemed quite this shy.
"Hello." Alfonso greeted Torrie. Then he spoke to Dom. "She's a pretty girl, but she's not Italian. You need an Italian girl; you're a fine Italian man." But they could tell he joking. That brought out Torrie's backbone.
"I'll have you know my father is just as Italian as you are." She mouthed back at Alfonso. "He just came back this month from a year long visit to our family in Italy." She gave him a small smile.
"But with your skin tone and eye color you are not Italian looking." Alfonso looked puzzled.
"Well, my mother was as Irish as my father is Italian. I look like her." Torrie smiled. "Besides, you want a nice boy for your daughter. My Dominic isn't a nice boy." Torrie and Alfonso laughed and Dom looked embarrassed.
"He's a good boy." Alfonso told her as they headed back to 'Dom's' table. Alfonso sat them down with menus and left them. Neither of them saw Alfonso seat a single man at a table on the other side of the restaurant.
"I think you could charm anyone." Torrie told Dom as they looked over the menus.
"I didn't try to charm him. He's a good man. Do you see anything you want?"
"You know what's good, you pick for me." Torrie told Dom. She wasn't in the mood to try and remember any of the Italian her father had taught her and she knew Dom was fluent.
A waitress came over to take their order. She was a beautiful, slightly shorter, slightly darker version of Mia. "This is Bianca. Bianca, this is my girlfriend Torrie that I told you about." Bianca smiled at Torrie but the smile didn't quite reach her eyes.
"Nice to meet you." The woman turned back to Dominic and gave him a very genuine smile. "What can I get you?" Torrie thought to herself, 'So that's the way it is.' Maybe the other woman's father liked to joke about hooking her up with Dom, but the girl had her heart set on him, joking or not.
Dom smiled up at her and gave her their order and she bounced off with a smile tossed over her shoulder for Dom's benefit. "So the father and the daughter both think you're the nice Italian boy she should settle down with eh?" Torrie felt catty but she hadn't seen Dom in two weeks just to find out he had the perfect example of the woman his parents would no doubt approve of catering to his every whim.
"No. Bianca doesn't like me like that. She's just as embarrassed as I am when her dad tries to push us together. Besides that, he'll stop now that he's met you. I think they thought I was making you up because I made you sound too good to be real." Dom looked embarrassed.
"You really tell them that much about me?"
"Of course. So, how's the garage?"
"Your precious store is fine." Torrie wouldn't have expected anything less of Dom then to worry about how the garage was after he worried about how she was for a moment or two. "And I've been keeping your rex company too. Nice car to drive." She laughed at the stunned look on Dom's face. "What, you expected me to leave that fine car all alone and lonely while you took off for a month. Hey, I've been doing you a favor. The car can't sit unused for a whole month and it was me or V or Leon. Who would you pick?"
"You've been using my car?"
"Of course. I kicked Edwin, Jose, and Jordan's butts in it last Saturday night. It was quite a rush. The amount of kick from the NOS in that thing is unreal." Her grin got bigger as his face got even more stunned.
"You won races in MY car?" Dom looked like he couldn't believe it and he didn't know if he was pleased about it or not.
"Yep. I can't have everyone think that just because you do most of the driving I can't race anymore. So I decided to show them I was the real deal. What better way to do it then to race in a strange car and win."
"I'm not sure I like the sound of that. I'm gonna come home to find out LA doesn't have a king of the streets anymore, it has a queen."
"Well, duh. You didn't expect me to give up racing for a whole month did you?" She threw his own line back into his face. Bianca arrived with their food.
Dom smiled and thanked her and she left with a smile and a flirty walk. Torrie tried not to let her displeasure over this show to Dom but it did piss her off. Dom started to eat and so did Torrie. A lot of her displeasure faded when she realized that the dish Dom ordered for her included some of her favorite foods. He knew her so well.
"I didn't expect you to give up racing but I didn't expect you to drive my car in races without telling me either." Dom said to her and she realized he was actually mad at her about his car.
"Well, it smells like you in that car and it was nice to drive around in it. It made me feel closer to you." She said with a lost little girl look up at him from under the black fan of her lashes.
"You know how to play me girl. I don't know how you do it." He couldn't stay mad at her when she gave him that look. "But you didn't have to race my car to drive my car." She looked at him with one black winged brow cocked up.
"But where's the fun of just driving a car like the 8?"
"I see your point."
They finished eating and Bianca brought the check. Torrie stood up to excuse herself to go to the washroom. She didn't see the man from the other side of the room get up at the same time.
John positioned himself behind a half wall where he could easily get to the washroom undetected and took aim at the cord of the huge chandelier with his 9mm silenced weapon. He patiently waited for Torrie to pass under the light fixture. When she was about to step under it he took careful aim and shot the cord, severing it and starting the fixture plummeting toward Torrie's head.
Torrie heard a strange noise and looked up to see the chandelier falling toward her at an alarming rate. She dove out of the way just as it crashed into the floor. While everyone was rushing to her side to see if she was ok John slipped quietly back to his seat in the dark back corner.
"Torrie!" Dom called as he ran up to her. "Are you ok?"
"I think so. I can't believe that almost fell on me." Torrie said from her seat on the floor. She was in shock. She didn't know what would have happened if the light had landed on her head but she knew it wouldn't have been good. "It could have killed me." She started to get upset thinking of the close call she'd just had.
"It's ok Torrie. It was just a freak accident. You got out of the way. It's ok." Dom helped her up and took her into his arms. "Come on. Let's go." He started to lead her out of the restaurant. Alfonso ran up to them.
"I don't know what could have happened. I'm so sorry."
"It's not your fault Man. You couldn't have known. She's ok." Dom tried to reassure the other man. Alfonso was clearly very upset about the incident.
"The light was old, it was here when we moved in. I should have gotten it checked out."
"It's really ok." Torrie tried to reassure Alfonso. She was fine, if shook up and she was feeling better every minute. It had just been an accident, after all.
"You're too good to me to forgive me for this."
"Don't mention it. Like Dom said, you couldn't have known. It was just a accident." Torrie smiled and taking Dom's hand she left the restaurant.
"The bitch has 9 lives like a fucking cat." John said under his breath. Watching her walk away from every plan he threw her way was getting very old, very quickly. He waited till he knew they'd be gone from the curb in their car and then got up with a smile for the waitress, paid and left. He was done trying to kill the bitch for the evening, he'd have another go at it the next day. He knew where she was staying. He left in his BMW, easily sliding into the center of traffic unnoticed.
"You still ok to go out somewhere else baby?" Dom asked Torrie in the car.
"Sure. I'm fine." She answered. She wasn't fine, but she didn't want to ruin Dom's plans or sit around and dwell on the evening's events either. "Where you taken me?"
"It's a surprise. Just sit back and enjoy the ride." Dom grinned and turned the car off to their destination. They pulled into the parking lot of a large dance club.
"You're taken me dancing?" Torrie asked. She couldn't remember Dom ever wanting to go out dancing. He danced with her at home and there was that one time he came to the club to punish her but he never wanted to go out just to go out.
"Yep. Let's go." Dom got out of the car then came around, helped her out and they walked up to the door. They bypassed the line and went right it. It seemed that Dom was more well known then Torrie had even figured. He was already something of a celebrity.
"Dom!" A group of people yelled from a table off to one side.
"Who're they?" Torrie asked.
"People from the class. Come on, I'll introduce you." Dom took her hand and led her toward the table. "Hey guys." Torrie hung back behind Dom. She was still scared his New York friends wouldn't like her or they'd think she was stupid or not good enough for Dom. Dom was like gravity and he did pull people in. Sometimes he pulled them in so far they overlooked all his flaws. She was scared they'd see Dom as perfect but see all her flaws and find her wanting.
"Hey Mr. T. Who's the pretty lady?" The guys from Dom's class all knew his girlfriend was in California. They didn't know that she'd been coming up to visit. They thought that Dom had picked up some girl for the night. They did wonder why she was hanging back behind Dom and looking so shy. The guy who'd spoken was one of the most confident guys in the class.
"This is my girlfriend. Finally got her to come visit me." Dom smiled. He tried to pull Torrie up in front of him and she moved with reluctance and stood with her back against Dom and tried to keep the smile on her face.
"How'd a guy like you get a girl like this huh? She'd be better off with me." One of the students said, joking around. "What'dya think sweet thing?"
"Depends." Torrie grinned. This guy's teasing was putting her at ease.
"On what sugar?"
"If you could beat me on the street of course. I couldn't be with a man who couldn't beat me on the street. Dom's the only one who's ever been able to." Torrie winked up at Dom who laughed.
"She's been racing my RX-8 too, without telling me, the little witch."
"And winning I might add." Torrie looked up at Dom.
"Let's go dance." Dom said, looking down at Torrie. He wanted to show her off to his friends. He didn't know how insecure Torrie was about what his friends would think of her.
"I don't know Dom."
"You know you wanna dance with me. You always want to dance with me. You get mad at me for not wanting to dance more. So let's dance. Let's show these guys how it's done." The group started to cheer. They didn't think that someone the size and shape of Dom could be much of a dancer and they were ready to see their teacher make a fool of himself. Torrie looked around the group and saw that sentiment on their faces.
"Ok, let's go dance." Torrie grinned up at her man. They were gonna show these people a thing or two. She took off her over shirt, tossed it to the cocky kid who'd called her sugar and allowed Dom to lead her onto the dance floor. The rhythmic sounds of an R and B song filled the club. Torrie knew what Dom had in mind in that second. Salsa. He'd taught her how to salsa dance over the course of the time she'd been with him. She'd taken to the dance easily and she knew that it looked good. Well, she thought that anyone could look good dancing with Dom.
He pulled her against him and the song got underway. Dom spun and dipped Torrie and slowly people stopped dancing just to watch them move together. They moved in perfect grace together and people couldn't help but notice how well matched they were. As Dom spun Torrie around again her hair made a simmering curtain as it moved and flowed around her. They flowed together like water in a stream. The song ended with Torrie pulled with her back against Dom's front. There was a rousing round of applause for them and Torrie blushed at the attention. They made there way back over to the group.
"Wow man. You weren't kidden when you said you and your girl could dance." The same cocky kid said.
"You're a great dancer." The only other girl in the group said to Dom. Torrie realized there was yet another New York girl who had a crush on her man.
"Naw, Torrie's the great dancer."
"He's just being modest for once. Dom taught me that dance. I'd never have been able to do anything like that without him." Torrie took a seat. Dom went off to use the bathroom and get a drink. The other girl shot her a look that Torrie couldn't read. "So, are you taking this course?" Torrie asked her.
"Yeah. What of it?" The girl asked snidely. "You think all women should cook and clean and grow their hair out long and spend all day primping at home? You don't think women can be mechanics?" Torrie knew that was a shot at her. This other girl thought that Torrie did nothing but sit at home and wait for Dom to come to her all day long. She couldn't just let that go.
"Um, no. I work in Dom's garage at home actually, and own a performance auto parts store with my dad. I was just curious. I was going to ask you what made you interested in RX-7's specifically.
"Chill out Karen." Cocky kid answered. "Just cause you have a crush on the big Dawg doesn't mean you should be mean to this lovely woman. Wanna dance wit me while you wait on Big D sugar?" Now that Torrie knew the kid was harmless she didn't see any harm in it. She wanted to get away from Miss Attitude too.
"Sure. Let's dance." Torrie stood up and allowed herself to be led onto the dance floor. She danced two dances with Dom's student till 'the big Dawg' himself cut in on them. She and Dom danced several more songs then they said good night and left for the hotel. They went to bed exhausted as soon as they got back.
Dom started up the mustang and backed it up out of the parking spot. He slid the shift into D and started forward.
"An automatic too. Oh Dom. I've never seen you drive so cautiously. You must really be goin mad." Torrie laughed at his misfortune.
"I'm getting there. It's horrible. I keep going to clutch and not finding the pedal. I really can't wait to have my own car back."
"How's the teaching thing going?"
"Great!" Dom answered her. She giggled at his exuberance. Dom just wasn't the exuberant type.
"That's good." She answered him.
"What's funny?" Dom asked her, shooting her a look.
"Just you. I've never seen you excited like this. I can't remember the last time you looked so excited about anything."
"I looked excited the first time I saw you." Dom looked at her out of the corner of his eye.
"You did not you big suck up." Torrie giggled.
"Yes I did." Dom stuck to his story.
"Not this excited I bet. You remind me of a kid at Christmas." Torrie really couldn't believe how happy Dom was. "You're not thinking of staying here to do this full time or something are you?"
"No! I couldn't stand to live up here. Too cold and the racing scene is the pits. There's no one to race and it's not nearly as organized as in California."
"So are they calling you the king of the New York streets too?" Torrie asked. She'd bet they were. No one beat her man at racing but her, she thought with a giggle.
"Of course." He answered with a cocky grin. "Like I said there's no competition and you didn't honestly think I could give up racing for a month did you?"
"Of course not, but you have me very curious what you run in. Not this I should think." Torrie looked puzzled.
"I race in RX-7's from my course, of course." Dom answered her with his famous Toretto grin.
"Do you turn race nights into field trips?" Torrie grinned at the thoughts of the king of the LA streets taking a bunch of college kids to go racing.
"No, but if a few of my students figure out where races are and want to tag along I can't stop them." Dom looked very proud of himself. They arrived at Dom's hotel and got out of the car. He carried her bag up to his room for her and they walked into the room. It was big. It had a kitchenette, bedroom, bathroom and living room with a big TV.
"This is nice." Torrie told him as she explored the living room.
"You haven't seen the best part yet." Dom said as he walked up behind her.
"Oh yeah, what's that?" Torrie expected him to say the view from the balcony, which was spectacular from in the room; she could only imagine what it would be like out on it.
"The bedroom." Dom smiled and held out his hand.
"Is that all you ever think of?" Torrie asked, but smiled while she did.
"All I ever think of is you love. You're it." How could she resist such a gorgeous man when he said such lovely things? She took his hand and followed him into the room.
"She's landed in New York." The voice of John was no longer friendly and open but cold and hard.
"You've seen her?"
"Yes, I sat beside her on the plane." John laughed.
"Why is she still alive?" The disembodied voice came across the cellular line, sounding evil.
"She never turned her back on her food or drink. There was nothing I could do. But don't worry; I'll get her over the weekend. She's practically not an issue."
"Good. Made sure that it can't be tied to you or to me or you know what will happen to you."
"Of course. It's a non issue."
"Call me when your job is done."
"I will...Oh, what of the man?"
"He's inconsequential. Do away with him if you need to but we only care about the girl. She must not make it back to California."
"As I said it's as good as taken care of." John moved to hang up the phone.
"You better watch your back around the man. He's dangerous. He has a temper, and well, you've seen him. Don't turn your back on him. You'll need to take care of things from a distance or very cautiously."
"Hum, but you say that he is inconsequential, so if he dies too then you're ok with that?"
"Yes, as long as the girl never makes it out of New York."
"I'm clear. I'll call you when the job is done."
"Do so." Both men hung up their phones and John walked up to the gleaming black BMW 735 that was waiting for him. He had a murder to plan.
Around 9pm Torrie realized she was starving when her stomach growled. All she'd eaten was half of Vince's sandwich and it was time for supper. Plus Dom had helped her work up a good apatite.
"You hungry?" Dom asked sleepily from beside her.
"Yeah, all I had to eat yet today was half of V's sandwich. I was too nervous about flying to eat much."
"You fly all the time, the way you drive. But we can go eat now if you want."
"It's not the same and you know it. I'd never been 30,000 feet up. But let's go eat now. I'm starving."
"Ok. Well, you get dressed and then we'll go."
"You need to get dressed too. I'm not goin anywhere with you if you're nekkid. Where are you taken' me?"
"It's a surprise." Dom winked at her.
"Dommmm. I need to know what to wear."
"Wear as much or as little as you want to." He leered at her.
"Dom, be serious for one second. Dressy, casual. What kind of place is it?"
"Well, wear something that you would feel comfortable eating in a semi fancy restaurant in and something that you'd be comfortable going out in too." Dom said and turned to leave the room so she couldn't question him further.
"You're evil. You know that right?" Torrie asked as she stood up and started to paw through her suitcase. Dom just laughed. So, dinner and out to a mystery location, she thought. She pulled on a pair of low rise black pants with slits up the sides that were held closed with buckles and her white top that had the sides cut out and was held closed by criss crossing strings. Then so she'd feel comfortable in a nice restaurant she pulled on a black shear button up shirt over top but left it open. She put on her boots with buckles up the sides to her knee then brushed out her hair. She went to find Dom. He was back to being dressed the way she knew him. Kaki pants and a black wife beater with his silver chain and black boots. "Will I do?"
"Yep, let's roll." Dom answered and they left the room. He wrapped his arm around her waist as they left the room and headed down the elevator.
They were in the car park walking toward Dom's car. It was a large hotel and Dom hadn't been able to get a close spot so they had a bit of a walk ahead of them. Just as they started across to the second row of cars a loud squeal was heard and a black sedan came flying down the row, headed straight for Torrie, who had already started to cross.
When Torrie saw the car coming she froze in panic. She figured she was done for. She couldn't make her limbs move. She wanted to run, to scream, but all she could do was stare at the huge black car bearing down on her.
"Torrie!" Dom shouted and pulled her out of the way just as the car whizzed by. "What an asshole!" Dom shouted after the car. It had gone by too fast to get the plates and Dom was sure the driver had both seen Torrie, and sure the driver hadn't planned on stopping. He would have run Torrie down in the isle.
"Dom. He wasn't gonna stop. He was gonna hit me." Torrie started to shake. She knew how close she had just come to getting run over. Dom pulled her against his chest.
"Just someone in a rush who thought you'd move. I'm sure they didn't think you'd freeze up like that baby. Just some random jerk." Dom tried to reassure her. It wasn't like anyone would be trying to hurt Torrie, he reassured himself. It must have just been someone who thought they had the right to drive however they wanted.
"I'm sure you're right Dom, and I'm still hungry. Let's go." Torrie tried to put it out of her mind. She drove kind of crazy herself at times but she'd like to think that she wouldn't run down a person in the road.
They got into the mustang and headed off to dinner.
"Lucky bitch." John snarled out loud, despite being alone in the car. His granite look was cast in an eeiry green glow from the dashboard lights. The girl's stupid boyfriend had saved her at the last second. Now he'd have to come up with another plan. He was glad his car was nondescript. He should be able to follow them easily in traffic without them noticing him.
They pulled up to a small restaurant and got out of the car. As they walked in Torrie sniffed the air. "Italian. I shoulda known." She smirked at Dom. "Wait till I tell Mia you miss her cooking so much your favorite restaurant in New York is an Italian restaurant."
"Well, I was homesick and then I saw this place and it was like Mia's cookin' so yeah, I guess you could say that. But the owner has a daughter he keeps trying to hook me up with too. So he takes good care of me. You know, he wants a nice Italian boy for her." Dom tried to keep a serious look on his face.
"Well, if he wants a nice Italian boy he'd better keep looking. Or we could fly V out here. Then he'd get a nice Italian boy." Torrie tried to keep the same serious look on her face.
"Really funny Tor." Dom laughed, he couldn't help it.
"Dominic!" A very Italian voice called out.
"Alfonso!" Dom answered, taking the man into a manly hug.
"You are here for a late dinner today my boy. You're in luck, my Bianca is here today." The restaurant owner said with a smile.
"You'll have to play matchmaker with someone else today Alfonso. This is my girlfriend I told you about. She finally decided to put me out of my misery and come visit me." Dom pulled Torrie forward from where she was shyly hiding behind him. This was a side of Torrie Dom had never seen. She was acting much more reserved now then she ever had in California. Even when she'd met the team for the first time she hadn't seemed quite this shy.
"Hello." Alfonso greeted Torrie. Then he spoke to Dom. "She's a pretty girl, but she's not Italian. You need an Italian girl; you're a fine Italian man." But they could tell he joking. That brought out Torrie's backbone.
"I'll have you know my father is just as Italian as you are." She mouthed back at Alfonso. "He just came back this month from a year long visit to our family in Italy." She gave him a small smile.
"But with your skin tone and eye color you are not Italian looking." Alfonso looked puzzled.
"Well, my mother was as Irish as my father is Italian. I look like her." Torrie smiled. "Besides, you want a nice boy for your daughter. My Dominic isn't a nice boy." Torrie and Alfonso laughed and Dom looked embarrassed.
"He's a good boy." Alfonso told her as they headed back to 'Dom's' table. Alfonso sat them down with menus and left them. Neither of them saw Alfonso seat a single man at a table on the other side of the restaurant.
"I think you could charm anyone." Torrie told Dom as they looked over the menus.
"I didn't try to charm him. He's a good man. Do you see anything you want?"
"You know what's good, you pick for me." Torrie told Dom. She wasn't in the mood to try and remember any of the Italian her father had taught her and she knew Dom was fluent.
A waitress came over to take their order. She was a beautiful, slightly shorter, slightly darker version of Mia. "This is Bianca. Bianca, this is my girlfriend Torrie that I told you about." Bianca smiled at Torrie but the smile didn't quite reach her eyes.
"Nice to meet you." The woman turned back to Dominic and gave him a very genuine smile. "What can I get you?" Torrie thought to herself, 'So that's the way it is.' Maybe the other woman's father liked to joke about hooking her up with Dom, but the girl had her heart set on him, joking or not.
Dom smiled up at her and gave her their order and she bounced off with a smile tossed over her shoulder for Dom's benefit. "So the father and the daughter both think you're the nice Italian boy she should settle down with eh?" Torrie felt catty but she hadn't seen Dom in two weeks just to find out he had the perfect example of the woman his parents would no doubt approve of catering to his every whim.
"No. Bianca doesn't like me like that. She's just as embarrassed as I am when her dad tries to push us together. Besides that, he'll stop now that he's met you. I think they thought I was making you up because I made you sound too good to be real." Dom looked embarrassed.
"You really tell them that much about me?"
"Of course. So, how's the garage?"
"Your precious store is fine." Torrie wouldn't have expected anything less of Dom then to worry about how the garage was after he worried about how she was for a moment or two. "And I've been keeping your rex company too. Nice car to drive." She laughed at the stunned look on Dom's face. "What, you expected me to leave that fine car all alone and lonely while you took off for a month. Hey, I've been doing you a favor. The car can't sit unused for a whole month and it was me or V or Leon. Who would you pick?"
"You've been using my car?"
"Of course. I kicked Edwin, Jose, and Jordan's butts in it last Saturday night. It was quite a rush. The amount of kick from the NOS in that thing is unreal." Her grin got bigger as his face got even more stunned.
"You won races in MY car?" Dom looked like he couldn't believe it and he didn't know if he was pleased about it or not.
"Yep. I can't have everyone think that just because you do most of the driving I can't race anymore. So I decided to show them I was the real deal. What better way to do it then to race in a strange car and win."
"I'm not sure I like the sound of that. I'm gonna come home to find out LA doesn't have a king of the streets anymore, it has a queen."
"Well, duh. You didn't expect me to give up racing for a whole month did you?" She threw his own line back into his face. Bianca arrived with their food.
Dom smiled and thanked her and she left with a smile and a flirty walk. Torrie tried not to let her displeasure over this show to Dom but it did piss her off. Dom started to eat and so did Torrie. A lot of her displeasure faded when she realized that the dish Dom ordered for her included some of her favorite foods. He knew her so well.
"I didn't expect you to give up racing but I didn't expect you to drive my car in races without telling me either." Dom said to her and she realized he was actually mad at her about his car.
"Well, it smells like you in that car and it was nice to drive around in it. It made me feel closer to you." She said with a lost little girl look up at him from under the black fan of her lashes.
"You know how to play me girl. I don't know how you do it." He couldn't stay mad at her when she gave him that look. "But you didn't have to race my car to drive my car." She looked at him with one black winged brow cocked up.
"But where's the fun of just driving a car like the 8?"
"I see your point."
They finished eating and Bianca brought the check. Torrie stood up to excuse herself to go to the washroom. She didn't see the man from the other side of the room get up at the same time.
John positioned himself behind a half wall where he could easily get to the washroom undetected and took aim at the cord of the huge chandelier with his 9mm silenced weapon. He patiently waited for Torrie to pass under the light fixture. When she was about to step under it he took careful aim and shot the cord, severing it and starting the fixture plummeting toward Torrie's head.
Torrie heard a strange noise and looked up to see the chandelier falling toward her at an alarming rate. She dove out of the way just as it crashed into the floor. While everyone was rushing to her side to see if she was ok John slipped quietly back to his seat in the dark back corner.
"Torrie!" Dom called as he ran up to her. "Are you ok?"
"I think so. I can't believe that almost fell on me." Torrie said from her seat on the floor. She was in shock. She didn't know what would have happened if the light had landed on her head but she knew it wouldn't have been good. "It could have killed me." She started to get upset thinking of the close call she'd just had.
"It's ok Torrie. It was just a freak accident. You got out of the way. It's ok." Dom helped her up and took her into his arms. "Come on. Let's go." He started to lead her out of the restaurant. Alfonso ran up to them.
"I don't know what could have happened. I'm so sorry."
"It's not your fault Man. You couldn't have known. She's ok." Dom tried to reassure the other man. Alfonso was clearly very upset about the incident.
"The light was old, it was here when we moved in. I should have gotten it checked out."
"It's really ok." Torrie tried to reassure Alfonso. She was fine, if shook up and she was feeling better every minute. It had just been an accident, after all.
"You're too good to me to forgive me for this."
"Don't mention it. Like Dom said, you couldn't have known. It was just a accident." Torrie smiled and taking Dom's hand she left the restaurant.
"The bitch has 9 lives like a fucking cat." John said under his breath. Watching her walk away from every plan he threw her way was getting very old, very quickly. He waited till he knew they'd be gone from the curb in their car and then got up with a smile for the waitress, paid and left. He was done trying to kill the bitch for the evening, he'd have another go at it the next day. He knew where she was staying. He left in his BMW, easily sliding into the center of traffic unnoticed.
"You still ok to go out somewhere else baby?" Dom asked Torrie in the car.
"Sure. I'm fine." She answered. She wasn't fine, but she didn't want to ruin Dom's plans or sit around and dwell on the evening's events either. "Where you taken me?"
"It's a surprise. Just sit back and enjoy the ride." Dom grinned and turned the car off to their destination. They pulled into the parking lot of a large dance club.
"You're taken me dancing?" Torrie asked. She couldn't remember Dom ever wanting to go out dancing. He danced with her at home and there was that one time he came to the club to punish her but he never wanted to go out just to go out.
"Yep. Let's go." Dom got out of the car then came around, helped her out and they walked up to the door. They bypassed the line and went right it. It seemed that Dom was more well known then Torrie had even figured. He was already something of a celebrity.
"Dom!" A group of people yelled from a table off to one side.
"Who're they?" Torrie asked.
"People from the class. Come on, I'll introduce you." Dom took her hand and led her toward the table. "Hey guys." Torrie hung back behind Dom. She was still scared his New York friends wouldn't like her or they'd think she was stupid or not good enough for Dom. Dom was like gravity and he did pull people in. Sometimes he pulled them in so far they overlooked all his flaws. She was scared they'd see Dom as perfect but see all her flaws and find her wanting.
"Hey Mr. T. Who's the pretty lady?" The guys from Dom's class all knew his girlfriend was in California. They didn't know that she'd been coming up to visit. They thought that Dom had picked up some girl for the night. They did wonder why she was hanging back behind Dom and looking so shy. The guy who'd spoken was one of the most confident guys in the class.
"This is my girlfriend. Finally got her to come visit me." Dom smiled. He tried to pull Torrie up in front of him and she moved with reluctance and stood with her back against Dom and tried to keep the smile on her face.
"How'd a guy like you get a girl like this huh? She'd be better off with me." One of the students said, joking around. "What'dya think sweet thing?"
"Depends." Torrie grinned. This guy's teasing was putting her at ease.
"On what sugar?"
"If you could beat me on the street of course. I couldn't be with a man who couldn't beat me on the street. Dom's the only one who's ever been able to." Torrie winked up at Dom who laughed.
"She's been racing my RX-8 too, without telling me, the little witch."
"And winning I might add." Torrie looked up at Dom.
"Let's go dance." Dom said, looking down at Torrie. He wanted to show her off to his friends. He didn't know how insecure Torrie was about what his friends would think of her.
"I don't know Dom."
"You know you wanna dance with me. You always want to dance with me. You get mad at me for not wanting to dance more. So let's dance. Let's show these guys how it's done." The group started to cheer. They didn't think that someone the size and shape of Dom could be much of a dancer and they were ready to see their teacher make a fool of himself. Torrie looked around the group and saw that sentiment on their faces.
"Ok, let's go dance." Torrie grinned up at her man. They were gonna show these people a thing or two. She took off her over shirt, tossed it to the cocky kid who'd called her sugar and allowed Dom to lead her onto the dance floor. The rhythmic sounds of an R and B song filled the club. Torrie knew what Dom had in mind in that second. Salsa. He'd taught her how to salsa dance over the course of the time she'd been with him. She'd taken to the dance easily and she knew that it looked good. Well, she thought that anyone could look good dancing with Dom.
He pulled her against him and the song got underway. Dom spun and dipped Torrie and slowly people stopped dancing just to watch them move together. They moved in perfect grace together and people couldn't help but notice how well matched they were. As Dom spun Torrie around again her hair made a simmering curtain as it moved and flowed around her. They flowed together like water in a stream. The song ended with Torrie pulled with her back against Dom's front. There was a rousing round of applause for them and Torrie blushed at the attention. They made there way back over to the group.
"Wow man. You weren't kidden when you said you and your girl could dance." The same cocky kid said.
"You're a great dancer." The only other girl in the group said to Dom. Torrie realized there was yet another New York girl who had a crush on her man.
"Naw, Torrie's the great dancer."
"He's just being modest for once. Dom taught me that dance. I'd never have been able to do anything like that without him." Torrie took a seat. Dom went off to use the bathroom and get a drink. The other girl shot her a look that Torrie couldn't read. "So, are you taking this course?" Torrie asked her.
"Yeah. What of it?" The girl asked snidely. "You think all women should cook and clean and grow their hair out long and spend all day primping at home? You don't think women can be mechanics?" Torrie knew that was a shot at her. This other girl thought that Torrie did nothing but sit at home and wait for Dom to come to her all day long. She couldn't just let that go.
"Um, no. I work in Dom's garage at home actually, and own a performance auto parts store with my dad. I was just curious. I was going to ask you what made you interested in RX-7's specifically.
"Chill out Karen." Cocky kid answered. "Just cause you have a crush on the big Dawg doesn't mean you should be mean to this lovely woman. Wanna dance wit me while you wait on Big D sugar?" Now that Torrie knew the kid was harmless she didn't see any harm in it. She wanted to get away from Miss Attitude too.
"Sure. Let's dance." Torrie stood up and allowed herself to be led onto the dance floor. She danced two dances with Dom's student till 'the big Dawg' himself cut in on them. She and Dom danced several more songs then they said good night and left for the hotel. They went to bed exhausted as soon as they got back.