Chapter 23

Over the next few months things R.O.A.M. Precision Racing became the premium garage in LA for custom import work. The guys had never worked so hard in their lives and found themselves in danger of being over-run with work. In the end they decided to employ 3 more mechanics to try to lighten the workload. Chloe stuck true to her word and ran the office and dealt with all of the admin, even signing off the deliveries and Samantha handled all of their artwork. Pretty much every race car in LA had a Dynamite paint job of some description and had had work done at R.O.A.M. Things were really looking up for the team but Vince couldn't help but wonder when the shit was gonna hit the fan.

Despite everything he'd gone through with Chloe he still found himself wondering why she was with him. He loved her more than he'd ever loved anyone but he couldn't help thinking he was going to lose her to someone with more money, or a better job, or better looking. He knew that he was in danger of screwing up his relationship with her if he didn't get his act together so he decided to do something he hadn't done since he was a child. Go and talk to his mum and ask for her advice. He was half way to the cemetery when he knew what he had to do, turning round quickly to head in the opposite direction he headed to the place he swore he'd never return to, to get the only thing of value he'd ever owned.

Chloe was in the hot tub on the back deck when Vince got home. He'd called her to say he'd be late home from work and that she shouldn't wait up for him. After having dinner with Leon she decided to have a soak in the hot tub. Leon was out with Samantha and Brian was 'busy' with Katy so she knew she wouldn't be disturbed.

"Chloe baby, where are you?" Vince had been upstairs and when there was no sign of Chloe he'd gotten really confused. It was nearly 2 in the morning yet she wasn't in bed and the lights were off in the house.

Chloe had heard Vince come in and run upstairs so she sent him a text on his cell, 'in the hot tub' and waited for him to come and join her.

It wasn't long before Vince's naked body slid in beside her.

"We never did get to finish what we started in here, did we?" As soon as Chloe had seen Vince's body all thoughts of asking where he'd been, flew out of the window. She didn't know what it was about him, but every time he was anywhere near her she felt like a dog on heat. She couldn't get enough of him and she was thrilled that he felt the same way about her.

"No, we didn't, did we. The question is can you remember where we were?" Vince could definitely remember when they were – Chloe had her lips around him and he was just about to explode when Katy came bounding in and leapt in the hot tub with them.

"Hmm, I'm not sure. Had I done this yet?" Chloe knew exactly how far they'd gotten before Katy interrupted but she'd seen the gleam in Vince's eyes and knew he wanted to play. Chloe moved so that she was sitting on Vince's lap and kissed his lips gently.

"I think we'd gotten past that." Vince was more than ready to play; he just hoped that Chloe could keep up.

"What about this then? Had I done this yet?" Chloe kissed him hungrily then worked her way across his face to his neck, licking his ear as she came to it, and then working her way back across his neck to the other ear.

"God, yes." Vince was quickly approaching the point where speech was no longer possible, he'd never been one for foreplay before he met Chloe but the things that girl could do with her tongue drove him to distraction.

Chloe worked her way over his chest, kissing and biting him gently as she went until she came to his nipples. Taking first one, then the other in her mouth she licked and nipped at them until they were as hard as her own. Reaching behind her she brought Vince's hands from her back to her breasts and encouraged him to touch and tease her.

Chloe could feel Vince's erection pulsing underneath her and knew that he was enjoying her touch, he had such a sensitive body and she loved making him feel good. Carefully leaning to one side she kissed and licked her way up his dragon tattoo. She'd never been a huge fan of body art but on Vince it really worked. It added to the attraction and she couldn't resist kissing it and caressing it every time she saw it. Once again she found herself thanking God that it hadn't been damaged during the 'accident'.

"Do you like that baby?" Chloe knew that he did, she could hear him growling deep in his throat when she kissed the dragon.

"What about this? Do you like this?" Chloe slid of Vince's lap and carefully took him in her mouth. Vince automatically brought his hands back up to her breasts so he could continue to tease her whilst she was teasing him.

By the time Chloe had reminded Vince where they'd gotten to his head was spinning and he was out of breath. He'd never had sex in a hot tub before but it was definitely something they were going to have to do again.

"I'm sorry I was so late Chloe, I went to see my mum then had a few other things to deal with." When Chloe had sat up, Vince had pulled her back onto his lap and was holding her as tight as he possibly could.

"Are you ok?" Chloe knew that Vince rarely visited his mothers' grave and when he did he was down for days afterwards. It didn't help that Mr and Mrs Toretto were buried just a few rows across from his mother. Vince couldn't ever just deal with one loss when he went to the cemetery he had 3 to deal with.

"I'm ok baby, I went looking for answers but I'd worked them out before I even got there." Vince knew he wasn't making any sense so he wasn't at all surprised by the look of confusion on Chloe's face.

When Vince didn't offer any further explanation of where he'd been Chloe settled back against his chest and let him hold her. She knew him well enough to know that he'd tell her what was bothering him in his own time. If it was anything serious he'd have told her by now so she decided to simply sit and wait it out.

Chloe didn't remember getting out of the hot tub or even going upstairs but when she woke up she was in bed curled up with Vince. She didn't know what had woken her up but when she lifted her head she realised that Vince was awake and looking at her.

"What's the matter baby? Are you sure you're ok?" Vince had a very strange look in his eyes that Chloe didn't understand and if she was honest with herself it frightened her. She'd always known what he was thinking by looking in his eyes but this time she couldn't.

"I didn't mean to wake you, I'm sorry." Vince was still struggling with what he had to say and he knew that it wasn't going to get any easier the longer he left it. "You go back to sleep, I'm gonna go watch TV for a while."

Chloe lay there in complete shock when Vince left the room, he'd never walked away from her like that and she couldn't help worrying. He'd been so odd for the past few days and although she knew he wasn't seeing anyone else she couldn't help but wonder if he as preparing to leave her.

Chloe tossed and turned for the rest of the night and when it was finally time to get up she realised that Vince hadn't come back to bed at all. 'I'll give him one more day' she thought, 'and then I'll force him to tell me what's gotten up his ass.'

Breakfast was a strained affair, Vince was so caught up in his own thoughts that he didn't realise anything was bothering Chloe and Brian decided to keep out of it. Leon had only just gotten home from his night out with Samantha so he'd headed straight to bed. If it wasn't for the huge pile of invoices that Chloe needed to deal with she'd have taken the day off but she had to go into work which meant she couldn't avoid Vince.

By lunchtime Chloe was deeply regretting giving Vince till the end of the day. He was slowly driving her mad. Every time she asked him something he either ignored her or just grunted and when she'd given him a kiss he'd brushed her aside as if she were an irritation.

"What the fuck is up with you, man?" Brian couldn't believe the way that Vince was treating Chloe, he knew how much he loved her yet he was carrying on as if he didn't care about her. When he'd walked in and found Chloe crying in the office Brian knew he had to say something to Vince.

"Nothings wrong. I've just got shit on my mind."

When Brian didn't get the answers he was looking for from Vince he decided to call Leon.

"Hey man, listen can you come down to the garage? Vince is behaving like an idiot and Chloe is crying in the office." When Brian said that Chloe was crying Leon grabbed his keys and ran to his car. He didn't know what had happened but if Chloe was crying it must be bad.

When screeched to a halt outside the garage and ran into the office, completely ignoring Vince and Brian on the way past.

"What's the matter baby, what's happened?" Leon couldn't understand what had upset Chloe, but it was obviously something serious. She'd thrown herself at him and started full blown sobbing as soon as she saw him.

"He doesn't love me anymore, he's leaving me." The more Chloe had thought about it over the day the more she'd realised this was what Vince's problem was. She'd always thought that once he was back on his feet and didn't 'need' her that he'd leave but it still hurt.

"He's what?" Leon couldn't believe it; it was only the previous day that Vince had been telling him how much he loved her. "When did he tell you that?"

"He hasn't come out and said it but I know that's what he's thinking – he's been so distant the past few days and today he's completely ignored me." Chloe was heartbroken, she was hopelessly in love with Vince but he obviously didn't feel that way about her.

"Come on I'll take you home, then come back and talk to him. I'll sort it all out, don't worry." Leon didn't know what to make of what Chloe had told him. He knew she wasn't the type to over-react but Vince kept telling him how much he loved her. One way or another he'd get it sorted out. He'd already lost one family and he wasn't going to lose another.

Vince was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice Leon leaving with Chloe and then returning alone. The 1st thing he knew about it was when Leon dragged him out from under the car he was working on and kicked him, hard, on his thigh.

"What the fuck was that for?" Vince didn't know what's gotten into Leon but he was obviously pissed at him for something.

"You know that the hell that was for, you made Chloe cry you piece of shit." Leon hadn't wanted to believe Chloe when she told him that Vince was planning on leaving her but seeing how he'd totally ignored her when she left the garage he was starting to think maybe she was right.

"What do you mean I made her cry, CHLOE come here a minute and tell Lee I never made you cry." Vince didn't have a clue what Leon was going on about but he knew that Chloe would set him straight. Sure he'd been busy that day but he'd have noticed if Chloe was crying.

"She's not here V, I took here home. What the hell is going on with you today? She says you've ignored her all day and that you left her alone in bed last night"

"Fuck, was she really crying?" Vince couldn't possibly have hated anyone more than he hated himself at that moment. The last thing in the world he wanted to do was upset her and make her cry.

"She thinks you're gonna leave her V, she's thinks you don't need her anymore and you're gonna dump her."

"Fuck, this isn't how it's supposed to be." Vince couldn't believe how things had turned out. He'd never wanted to hurt Chloe but it was obvious listening to Leon that was precisely that he'd done.

"So? What's happening V? Are ya gonna leave her?