Chapter 34
The sound of the alarm rang through the room. Vince stretched his tight muscular arms towards the ceiling. He hadn't slept well that night worried about Sky. He rarely had ever seen her so upset. She kept her cool much better than most. He found himself in a difficult predicament, on one hand he had his cousin that was more like his sister and on the other hand he had a guy that had become one of his best friends. Why the hell the two of them hooked up he would never know. They were so different.
Reluctantly, Vince pulled the sheets back and crawled out of bed. He walked over to the still ringing alarm and pounded it with his fist. The alarm sounded once more then faded in defeat. A crumbled piece of paper caught his attention. At once he recognized the handwriting and he could feel the growl forming deep in his throat. "I'm gonna fucking kill her."
Leon woke to the sound of Vince's tirade. On and on, Vince ranted about Sky taking off with his car. He had to laugh, Sky had warned V to put the car where she couldn't get to it. Guess he'll listen next time. Leon pulled the pillow from under his head and wrapped it around his ears trying to get a few more minutes of rest. The bedroom door flying open interrupted his peace. A very angry looking bear of a man stood in his door screaming, "This shit is all your fault. If you didn't go fucking around on her, she wouldn't of wrecked her car and she sure wouldn't be stealing mine. You owe me brother."
Leon pushed the pillow back and sat up, "Yeah dawg. I'll take to you to Fat Burger for lunch ok. Save you from Mia's cooking."
"Hey I heard that." Mia yelled from the hall. "For that you can handle dinner for the next week. Talk about my cooking like that. Who the hell does he think he is? Brainless excuse for a man." She continued to mouth off as she walked back up the stairs.
"Guess we eating out this week cause I sure the hell don't know how to cook." Leon joked.
Vince stomped off to his room to finish getting dressed.
Jesse popped around from the front of the car and nearly scared Sky out of her skin, "Time to go to Harry's. I want you to pick out a few things there. Want to make sure the car has some of your personal touches too."
"Thanks Jess. I really appreciate all the help. I made a mess of the car. From now on if you see me drinking take my keys away."
"Oh I will. Cause when I'm finished with this car it'll be deadly even when you're sober much less when you're drunk."
"Jess how did you get to be so smart, I mean with cars and all?"
"It's the only thing besides women that can hold my attention. Used to spend hours looking through magazines learning all I could. Then my dad bought me a junker to practice on. It's like a puzzle that I need to figure out, making the car go as fast as possible. I probably sound like a dork." Jess looked down and kicked at an imaginary pebble on the ground.
"Not at all Jesse. I'm amazed at how much you know. You're brilliant."
He looked up and smiled sweetly at her. "Well let's go then. Got lots to do today."
The cars pulled up to the garage. Vince breathed a sigh of relief to see his car in the driveway in one piece. He jumped out of Leon's car and caressed the back quarter panel of the Maxima. The team sat back and laughed at the sight of the big guy feeling up his car. "Hey boy get a room," Letty popped off.
Dom walked into the garage followed by Letty, Leon and a lovesick Vince. "Alright guys as usual we've got a long list of shit to do. Let, I need you to handle the tune-up on the Integra."
"Got that." She patted him on the ass and headed to the back to get the tools and parts she would need.
"Nice." Dom winked in Letty's direction. "Yo Leon?"
"Yeah man. What ya need?"
"Got a trans overhaul on the Crapalier, I mean Cavalier sitting out front. Get Vince to help you push it into the garage. God I hate domestics."
"I'm on it." Leon sprinted out of the garage and out to the Cavalier. It was light enough for him to get it moving on his own, but he needed Vince to get it over the driveway lip. Just in time Vince came up from behind and they got it in.
Dom headed off to the office. He sat down and stared at the books. The shop and the store were both in the red. He had mortgaged the house, shop and store to raise capital to go into business with Johnny Tran. Three million dollars he invested into the project, building a street team that could make high speed, well coordinated deliveries. The money was all spent and the business deal fell through when he found out that they would be delivering illegal weapons. He couldn't risk being sent back to prison. Inside, he knew that he would never survive another stint in the pen. The first two years almost killed him. Somehow, he would need to find the money to save everything his dad worked for. Just didn't know how.
Jess pulled up to the Racer's Edge and hopped out of the car like a kid on his first trip to the amusement park. Sky had never imagined someone could be that excited about auto parts. He opened the door for her and she strolled in. Harry was standing behind the counter lost in thought or sleeping with his eyes open. Sky couldn't decide which.
"Hey Harry." Jesse belted out loud enough to echo.
Harry stood up looking frazzled, "What's up Jess? What can I do for you? Good morning Sky."
"Good morning Harry." Sky waved to him and then turned her attention back to the wheel display.
"Harry I have a list of parts here. I need whatever you can get me today and the rest I'll need overnighted from wherever you can get them. Oh and anything she picks out." Sky turned around and smiled at them.
"Will this be going on Dom's account?"
"No." Sky answered for Jess. "I'll be paying for it myself. This isn't going to cost more that $400,000 is it Jess?"
Stunned, Jess didn't know how to answer, "Uhhh no. Shouldn't be more that $20,000. Is that good?"
"Hell yeah. Just wanted to make sure. Harry I want to get a nice roll cage too. Something that won't add too much weight to the car, but will keep me safe if I find myself in trouble. Jesse can pick it out for me."
"Sure thing Sky. Is there anything else I should add to Jesse's list?"
"I think that will do for now." Sky said and then placed a kiss on Jesse's cheek. "I'm sure he covered everything."
"Rollin'." Played loud on the Jetta's radio, the bass pumping strong. Jess and Sky screamed along with the song bouncing to the beat. They were having entirely too much fun for ten o'clock in the morning. When the song stopped Jesse turned the radio off and looked over at Sky, "Hey would you teach me to dance like you and Leon? I wanna catch someone's attention."
"Anyone in particular?" Sky questioned with a smile.
"Nah. Just any girl's attention would be nice."
"What are you talkin' about? There are plenty of girls looking at you, but yeah I'll teach you how to dance if you like."
"Awesome." He reached for the radio and turned it back on. They bounced all the way back to the shop.
The team heard the car and Jess and Sky singing a block away. Vince ran out of the garage to give Sky a piece of his mind, but when she stepped out of the car laughing and smiling he didn't have the heart to yell.
"Hey V." She walked up to him and put her arms around him burying her face in his chest.
Softly, he put his hand on her head and kissed her crown, "I was worried Princess."
Her gray eyes peered up at him, "Sorry. Just needed to get away."
"I understand." He pulled her closer and gave her a great big hug. "No more tears. I'll make sure of that."
The sound of the alarm rang through the room. Vince stretched his tight muscular arms towards the ceiling. He hadn't slept well that night worried about Sky. He rarely had ever seen her so upset. She kept her cool much better than most. He found himself in a difficult predicament, on one hand he had his cousin that was more like his sister and on the other hand he had a guy that had become one of his best friends. Why the hell the two of them hooked up he would never know. They were so different.
Reluctantly, Vince pulled the sheets back and crawled out of bed. He walked over to the still ringing alarm and pounded it with his fist. The alarm sounded once more then faded in defeat. A crumbled piece of paper caught his attention. At once he recognized the handwriting and he could feel the growl forming deep in his throat. "I'm gonna fucking kill her."
Leon woke to the sound of Vince's tirade. On and on, Vince ranted about Sky taking off with his car. He had to laugh, Sky had warned V to put the car where she couldn't get to it. Guess he'll listen next time. Leon pulled the pillow from under his head and wrapped it around his ears trying to get a few more minutes of rest. The bedroom door flying open interrupted his peace. A very angry looking bear of a man stood in his door screaming, "This shit is all your fault. If you didn't go fucking around on her, she wouldn't of wrecked her car and she sure wouldn't be stealing mine. You owe me brother."
Leon pushed the pillow back and sat up, "Yeah dawg. I'll take to you to Fat Burger for lunch ok. Save you from Mia's cooking."
"Hey I heard that." Mia yelled from the hall. "For that you can handle dinner for the next week. Talk about my cooking like that. Who the hell does he think he is? Brainless excuse for a man." She continued to mouth off as she walked back up the stairs.
"Guess we eating out this week cause I sure the hell don't know how to cook." Leon joked.
Vince stomped off to his room to finish getting dressed.
Jesse popped around from the front of the car and nearly scared Sky out of her skin, "Time to go to Harry's. I want you to pick out a few things there. Want to make sure the car has some of your personal touches too."
"Thanks Jess. I really appreciate all the help. I made a mess of the car. From now on if you see me drinking take my keys away."
"Oh I will. Cause when I'm finished with this car it'll be deadly even when you're sober much less when you're drunk."
"Jess how did you get to be so smart, I mean with cars and all?"
"It's the only thing besides women that can hold my attention. Used to spend hours looking through magazines learning all I could. Then my dad bought me a junker to practice on. It's like a puzzle that I need to figure out, making the car go as fast as possible. I probably sound like a dork." Jess looked down and kicked at an imaginary pebble on the ground.
"Not at all Jesse. I'm amazed at how much you know. You're brilliant."
He looked up and smiled sweetly at her. "Well let's go then. Got lots to do today."
The cars pulled up to the garage. Vince breathed a sigh of relief to see his car in the driveway in one piece. He jumped out of Leon's car and caressed the back quarter panel of the Maxima. The team sat back and laughed at the sight of the big guy feeling up his car. "Hey boy get a room," Letty popped off.
Dom walked into the garage followed by Letty, Leon and a lovesick Vince. "Alright guys as usual we've got a long list of shit to do. Let, I need you to handle the tune-up on the Integra."
"Got that." She patted him on the ass and headed to the back to get the tools and parts she would need.
"Nice." Dom winked in Letty's direction. "Yo Leon?"
"Yeah man. What ya need?"
"Got a trans overhaul on the Crapalier, I mean Cavalier sitting out front. Get Vince to help you push it into the garage. God I hate domestics."
"I'm on it." Leon sprinted out of the garage and out to the Cavalier. It was light enough for him to get it moving on his own, but he needed Vince to get it over the driveway lip. Just in time Vince came up from behind and they got it in.
Dom headed off to the office. He sat down and stared at the books. The shop and the store were both in the red. He had mortgaged the house, shop and store to raise capital to go into business with Johnny Tran. Three million dollars he invested into the project, building a street team that could make high speed, well coordinated deliveries. The money was all spent and the business deal fell through when he found out that they would be delivering illegal weapons. He couldn't risk being sent back to prison. Inside, he knew that he would never survive another stint in the pen. The first two years almost killed him. Somehow, he would need to find the money to save everything his dad worked for. Just didn't know how.
Jess pulled up to the Racer's Edge and hopped out of the car like a kid on his first trip to the amusement park. Sky had never imagined someone could be that excited about auto parts. He opened the door for her and she strolled in. Harry was standing behind the counter lost in thought or sleeping with his eyes open. Sky couldn't decide which.
"Hey Harry." Jesse belted out loud enough to echo.
Harry stood up looking frazzled, "What's up Jess? What can I do for you? Good morning Sky."
"Good morning Harry." Sky waved to him and then turned her attention back to the wheel display.
"Harry I have a list of parts here. I need whatever you can get me today and the rest I'll need overnighted from wherever you can get them. Oh and anything she picks out." Sky turned around and smiled at them.
"Will this be going on Dom's account?"
"No." Sky answered for Jess. "I'll be paying for it myself. This isn't going to cost more that $400,000 is it Jess?"
Stunned, Jess didn't know how to answer, "Uhhh no. Shouldn't be more that $20,000. Is that good?"
"Hell yeah. Just wanted to make sure. Harry I want to get a nice roll cage too. Something that won't add too much weight to the car, but will keep me safe if I find myself in trouble. Jesse can pick it out for me."
"Sure thing Sky. Is there anything else I should add to Jesse's list?"
"I think that will do for now." Sky said and then placed a kiss on Jesse's cheek. "I'm sure he covered everything."
"Rollin'." Played loud on the Jetta's radio, the bass pumping strong. Jess and Sky screamed along with the song bouncing to the beat. They were having entirely too much fun for ten o'clock in the morning. When the song stopped Jesse turned the radio off and looked over at Sky, "Hey would you teach me to dance like you and Leon? I wanna catch someone's attention."
"Anyone in particular?" Sky questioned with a smile.
"Nah. Just any girl's attention would be nice."
"What are you talkin' about? There are plenty of girls looking at you, but yeah I'll teach you how to dance if you like."
"Awesome." He reached for the radio and turned it back on. They bounced all the way back to the shop.
The team heard the car and Jess and Sky singing a block away. Vince ran out of the garage to give Sky a piece of his mind, but when she stepped out of the car laughing and smiling he didn't have the heart to yell.
"Hey V." She walked up to him and put her arms around him burying her face in his chest.
Softly, he put his hand on her head and kissed her crown, "I was worried Princess."
Her gray eyes peered up at him, "Sorry. Just needed to get away."
"I understand." He pulled her closer and gave her a great big hug. "No more tears. I'll make sure of that."