Chapter 12

Chloe quickly ran upstairs and threw on a pair of shorts and her 'girl racer, boy chaser' t-shirt. The 'just fucked' look had faded but the marks on her neck were more obvious than before. "Damn boy, he certainly loves to make his presence known." After pulling her hair up into a ponytail Chloe headed back downstairs to take some Corona out to the boys.

When Chloe got back downstairs she found that Vince had already cleared the kitchen and taken a cooler of Coronas outside onto the deck. He, Brian and Leon were sitting around the wooden table deep in conversation.

"Hey boys, can I join in or is this a private conversation?" Chloe wasn't sure whether she'd be in the way or not but she wanted to spend some time with Vince and his friends. It had been a difficult day and she wanted to keep an eye on Vince. Loosing Jesse had been traumatic enough but finding out about Dom and then Leon turning up was more than he was ready to deal with alone.

"Sure babe, come sit." Vince pulled Chloe into his lap and wrapped his arms around her, gently kissing her neck. "We were just discussing what should happen with the garage and the store now that Dom's not coming back."

"Well, I've got a few ideas but it's really up to you guys." Chloe had been thinking whilst she was comforting Leon and had come up with a way of helping what was left of the team without putting any money in Dom's pocket. After the way he'd treated Vince she was damned if she was going to do anything to help him.

Half an hour later Leon, Vince and Brian had decided that they didn't want to work for Dom anymore but they didn't have the cash to start up in business for themselves. Sure Leon and Vince had their share of the money from the heists but they couldn't spend that without making the LAPD and FBI suspicious, not to mention the IRS.

"Maybe we could ask Dom to sign over the garage to us and let him keep the store?" Brian doubted he'd agree to that but it worth a try.

"He'll never agree to it Bri, it's all he's got left of his dad. Besides the mortgage repayments are way behind and the bank will be foreclosing soon." Vince knew that even if Dom did agree to them taking over the garage they'd still have to find the money to pay the overdue mortgage payments which would mean spending the money from the heists. It looked as if there was no way they could keep working together as a team when Chloe spoke up.

"How about we buy a new garage and start from scratch – you guys are all good mechanics so you'd get plenty of business. All we need is someone to do the graphics and we'd be set." Chloe thought that this was the best idea all round, it would give the boys a chance to get out of Dom's shadow and show the world what they could all do, without putting any money in Dom's pocket.

"We don't have the money babe, otherwise we'd do it tomorrow." There was nothing Vince would have liked more than a chance to run his own garage with Leon and Brian but he knew that without legitimate money to start them off they'd never get anywhere.

"Forget about the money for a few minutes, could you do it? Run a garage yourselves and set up a new racing team?" The more Chloe thought about it the more she could see what a great idea this was. She knew that DT and Team Toretto had only been so successful because of it's team members and she had 3 of them sitting in front of her.

"Sure we could."

"No probs, dawg."

"Without a doubt."

Vince, Leon and Brian were all agreed that they could run a successful business and racing team but the problem was still finances – none of them had enough legitimate money to be able to get started and they all knew the bank wouldn't help them.

"When my parents died they left me an obscene amount of money. I'd be happy to bankroll the venture if you're sure you can make it work." Chloe knew that even if she put $1 million into the business it wouldn't make a significant dent in her funds – her parents had left her in excess of $50 million cash when they died and the house was worth a further $7.5 million.

"The only conditions would be that we're all joint owners and that you let me pay off the mortgages on DT, the house and the store. Dom's parents left them to him and no matter how much of a prick he's being it's not right that the bank should have them."

"We can't take your money Chloe. Your parents left you that so you could have a future." Vince wasn't happy about taking Chloe's money, he'd only known her a few weeks and it didn't feel right.

"Vince, you're not taking my money – I'm offering to set you up in a business that you're going to have to work hard to keep afloat. Please think about it, you'll be doing the job that you love with guys that you know – it can't get better than that." Chloe knew that this was the perfect opportunity for the guys, she just hoped that Vince's male pride didn't stand in their way.

Leon and Brian had been quiet whilst Chloe was explaining her idea for the new business – they didn't know what to make of her offer at first but the more they thought about it the more they realised what a good opportunity it was.

"So, we can start everything afresh – no more DT or Team Toretto or working in the store. Just the 4 of us?" Leon had to make sure what he was getting himself into – he loved Chloe's idea but wasn't sure how they could make it work.

"Well, hopefully as business picks up we'll employ some more people but to start with it'll be the 4 of us. I don't know anything about cars but I can deal with the admin side of things." It was almost laughable how little Chloe knew about cars – sure she could drive them, but she'd no idea of anything under the hood.

"What about college?" Vince loved the idea of working with Chloe every day but he needed to make sure she was happy giving up her career in medicine.

"I missed my exams whilst I was in the hospital with you, so it doesn't really matter anyway – honestly it's fine. There's always next year." Having spent the time in the hospital with Vince, Chloe wasn't convinced that she'd survive working in an American hospital – it all seemed so aggressive and fast paced compared to the trauma centres she'd worked at in London.

It took another 2 hours and several cases of Corona before the boys agreed to Chloe's idea – DT and Team Toretto was no more, and they couldn't be happier.