Chapter 21

Whilst Samantha was working on the cars Vince was busy teaching Chloe how to race with Leon's old Skyline. She already had the basic driving skills but she didn't have a clue how to drive with NOS or when she should use it. During the day Brian was busy at the garage working on the cars the paying customers brought in and Leon was getting in Samantha's way. He spent as much time as possible over at Dynamite Graphics 'helping' Samantha with the artwork on the cars. Well, he liked to think he was helping but if you asked Samantha you'd soon realise that he was just there so she had something good to look at!

Every night after dinner Brian and Katy would disappear off to one of the local clubs and Chloe, Leon and Vince would go to the gym. Vince was trying to build up the strength in his arm and get back to the level of fitness he'd been at before the 'accident' and Leon was teaching Chloe self defence. When the boys had found out she couldn't fight they'd insisted that one of them taught her, just incase she got into trouble and they weren't around to help her. As much as Vince hated to be away from her, he knew that he couldn't realistically be with her every minute of every day and he trusted Leon to teach her enough that she could keep herself safe.

By the time the cars were finished Samantha and Leon had grown closer and Chloe was finding she didn't need to spend as much time with him on the beach. Samantha and R.O.A.M. had given him a new lease of life and he was back to his normal happy self. He still had moments when his grief was almost overwhelming but overall Vince was thrilled that he had his friend back.

As soon as Chloe got the call to say the cars were finished she phoned Hector to tell him to expect them at the races that weekend. They had 4 days to get used to driving their cars before they'd be showing them off to the entire LA racing community. Since Dom had fled to Mexico there wasn't one outright King of the Streets. Every race someone different would win, which had made the races a lot more popular. Instead of the previous 2 races a night it wasn't unknown for there to be 4 or 5, as long as the police didn't show up.

When the team went to collect their cars they were stunned into silence by what they saw. They'd seen the computer simulation of what the cars would look like but nothing compared to seeing them in the flesh. The artwork was flawless and the work was well worth the money that Samantha had charged. Chloe would have happily paid double if she'd have known how good they turn out but as Samantha pointed out, she got free advertising on each of the cars so she was happy to charge a lower price than normal.

The team drove away from Dynamite Graphics with a new sense of purpose – they were finally going to be able to put the ghost of Team Toretto to rest and for the boys, they would be able to come out from Dom's shadow and show just how good they were. Brian was the only one who'd really gotten a chance to race and that was only because Dom had wanted to get him earning money for him to pay him back for what he'd put into the Supra. Vince and Leon only got to race at Race Wars which had kind of defeated the whole point of them being a race team and going to the races but what Dom wanted Dom got. That wasn't how it was going to be with R.O.A.M. They only rule they had was that all winnings were split 50/50 between the team funds and the driver. Chloe had made it clear that it was up to each driver if they raced or not, there were no team orders and no-one had to get permission to race. She'd been to the racers one time and seen Vince practically pleading with Dom to let him race, there was no way she'd put any of the boys through that.

When the night of the teams' first race came round everyone was nervous. The boys, because it would be their first competitive races since Race Wars and Chloe, because it would be her first real race. She'd raced Vince a couple of times in practice and she was confident she wouldn't completely embarrass herself but she desperately wanted to win. She wanted to prove that she was more than just the financial backer to the team – she wanted to prove she deserved her place on the team.

Samantha and Katy had come to the house to help Chloe get ready, and then they were going to travel with Leon and Brian to the races. Leon and Samantha had become inseparable since she'd started the paint work and it was obvious to anyone who saw them that they were deeply in love, even if they didn't realise it yet themselves. Brian and Katy were simply having fun, neither of them was looking for a serious relationship but they were totally exclusive. Chloe didn't think Katy had it in her to have a serious relationship and she knew that Brian was still trying to get over Mia. He'd really loved her but when he'd found out how she'd lied to Leon he'd realised he hadn't known the real Mia. He'd fallen in love with the much edited version and he was wary of getting burnt again. Chloe kept trying to tell him that Katy wasn't anything like Mia but he wasn't yet ready to hear that.

For once the girls were ready and found themselves waiting on the boys. Samantha was wearing a red cut off crop top and low slung black leather trousers and Katy was wearing a black halter neck top that stopped just short of her navel and black low slung cargoes. They were both wearing their 'shit stomper' boots and had their hair loose.

Chloe never really paid much attention to what she wore, she just grabbed the 1st thing she found in the morning but she'd put a special effort into getting ready for the races. She was wearing a white halter neck top that tied at the back and neck and stopped just below her breasts and a white leather mini skirt that stopped mid thigh. The sides of the skirt were tied together with silver leather laces and she was wearing 4 inch strappy silver sandals. Vince had once said that he was sure she wouldn't be able to race in heels but when she'd beaten Brian in a race along the freeway he'd learnt to keep his comments to himself. As Chloe had told him, "When you're as short as I am, you learn real quick to drive in heels!"

The girls had been waiting for nearly 20 mins by the time the boys were ready. Brian with his standard t-shirt and jeans, Converses and messy blonde hair and Leon had ditched his traditional basketball shirt for a white tank top and blue jeans. He'd let his hair grow out a little since he'd been back in LA and shaved off his goatee.

Vince had seen what Chloe was wearing and decided to wear a plain black tank top and the black leather trousers she'd bought him. He'd let his beard grow back after Jesses' funeral and spiked his hair a little. He'd never really bothered about what he wore to the races when he went with Dom but he wanted Chloe to be proud of him.

When the girls saw the boys they instantly got the same thought 'maybe we could miss the 1st couple of races.' The boys looked good enough to eat and Chloe was instantly thankful that she wouldn't be travelling in Vince's car to the races – if she had been there'd have been no way they'd have gotten there. She'd have made him pull over somewhere so she could jump him!

"Ok, so how are we gonna do this? With Dom we always drove in some V shit ass formation!" Vince had been thinking whilst he was in the shower about just how they'd arrive at the races. No team member was more important than the other but someone would have to arrive first.

"Well, Leon, Brian and I have already talked about this and we think we should go in order of the team name – so that means you're first up baby." Chloe had pulled Leon and Brian aside earlier in the week to ask them what they thought of Vince leading the team in – they'd instantly agreed, he'd been in Dom's shadow for far too long and he deserved a chance at centre stage.

Team formation decided they got in their cars and drove to the warehouse, none of them knowing exactly what the night would bring but knowing that it would change their lives forever. This really was the end of Team Toretto and the beginning of R.O.A.M. Precision Racing.

When the team pulled up at the Warehouse silence fell over the entire crowd. They'd all heard rumours of a new team in town but no one knew who was on the team, well no one except for Hector and Edwin. Between the two of them they'd put the word around as many racers as possible that there were new challengers in town. A team who could rival Team Toretto for total dominance, only this would be a team effort not just a single driver.

Vince pulled up first and waited to get the all clear on the two-way that Leon had pulled up and parked. Once Leon was parked up the whole team would be there and then they could get out of their cars. Vince wasn't trying to make an entrance; he just wasn't ready to face all the attention by himself.

As soon as Vince got the word from Leon all 4 drivers opened their car doors and stepped out to face the crowds. The crowds had already started talking about the cars so when the team stepped out the crowd yet again fell silent. As Vince was at the head of the line up and closest to the crowd he was instantly surrounded by skanks and fellow racers trying to find out where Dom was and why he wasn't racing for Team Toretto anymore. Leon and Samantha were instantly surrounded by people who wanted to know more about the art work while Brian and Katy wandered off to talk to Edwin.

Chloe had seen Vince get out of his car and then instantly disappear in a crowd of people. She'd once seen how Letty reacted to the skanks that surrounded Dom at the races and for the 1st time she understood why. A very skinny brunette had attached herself to Vince and was trying desperately to stick her tongue down his ear. She knew that he wouldn't do anything with her but she couldn't help but feel territorial, Vince was her man and no one else had a right to touch him. When the skinny skank started running her hands up and down his scarred arm, Chloe knew she had to act. Vince still suffered some pain in his arm and she could tell by the way his back had straightened that was she was doing hurt. He was still too much of a macho man to say anything but she couldn't let him suffer, especially not at the hands of someone like that.

Walking up behind them she gently placed her hand on Vince's back to let him know that she was there. He instantly relaxed and she knew that he realised who it was that was touching him. Chloe looked around for Katy but she was too busy sticking her tongue down Brian's throat to help so she called on Samantha to help her get the 'girl' off Vince.

"Yo! Samantha, you around?"

"Here babe, what can I do for ya?" As soon as Samantha answered she saw what Chloe's problem was – the skinny brunette had moved on from trying to stick her tongue down Vince's ear and rubbing his bad arm, now she was trying to stick her tongue down his throat and her hand down his trousers. Samantha knew Chloe well enough to know that there was going to be trouble if the girl didn't leave Vince alone and if she didn't get to them quickly enough there'd be bloodshed before the 1st race was even arranged.

"OI! BITCH, get your filthy hands off my man." 'Shit, too late' Samantha thought. Chloe had grabbed the girl by her hair and was pulling her backwards, at the same time she'd kicked the back of her knees and forced her down on the ground. "There now isn't this a familiar position, bitches like you seem to spend most of their lives on their knees."

"I don't see any sign on him and he certainly wasn't complaining." The skank wasn't going to give up without a fight, "and who the fuck are you calling a bitch?"

"Didn't you hear me telling you to fuck off?" The racer chasers had never really bothered Vince before, hell Mia wouldn't sleep with him so he got it wherever he could, but this girl had made him feel dirty. He'd told her several times to fuck off, that he had a girl already but she didn't listen and just kept on doing what she was doing. Short of physically removing her and possibly hurting her he hadn't known what to do to get rid of her.

"I won't tell you again bitch, keep away from Vince – I'd hate to have to disinfect him before he gets into bed tonight."

Vince couldn't help but laugh at Chloe's last comment, he'd always known she was protective of the team but he'd never seen her in action like that before. Sure he'd heard her on the phone with Mia but never face to face with anyone. Just as he thought the situation was over a man came out of the crowd towards them.

"Still a complete bitch I see Chloe."

Chloe slowly turned around when she heard the man talk to her. Of all the places he could have chosen to show up this was the last place she expected him.

"Still sleeping with my sister James?"

Vince looked in shock at the man standing in front of him, this was the guy that was responsible for most of Chloe's pain and he was within punching distance.

Chloe saw Vince's face morph into the steely look he'd had when he saw Mr Tran Sr. at Jesse's funeral and she was instantly scared for James safety. It wasn't that she wanted to protect him from Vince but she didn't want Vince to end up going down for assault, and knowing James he'd take great pleasure in pressing charges, anything to make her life miserable.

"What's up dawg?" Leon had heard Chloe's comment and pushed his way through the crowd to stand at Vince's side. Brian wasn't far behind him and within minutes James found himself facing Chloe's new family. 3 strong well built men who could inflict serious pain on him without even breaking a sweat. The obvious threat was the blue eyed thug that was currently holding Chloe's hand and pushing her slightly behind him and into the man who had first come to join him.