Chapter 25

As the team pulled through the gates of Race Wars every one of them was battling with their emotions. The boys were thinking back to the previous year – it had all been such a disaster and had been the beginning of the end of Team Toretto. Samantha was worried about Leon but she couldn't help but be excited. She'd got her own tent this year, last year she'd just been handing out flyers and she couldn't wait to show off her new designs to the crowds. Katy had never been to Race Wars before and couldn't wait to have a look around. Brian had promised her that he'd let her ride with him for one race and she couldn't wait. She'd been with Chloe on a practice run once and she didn't stop laughing for almost 10 minutes. She couldn't wait to find out what it was like in a proper race situation with NOS.

Chloe was excited to be there but she was also terrified. The previous year had been a complete disaster when Team Toretto was concerned and she wasn't sure if the boys were ready to face it all again. Vince had been very distant for the past few days and she knew that he was worrying about being back in the dessert. His nightmares had returned and she'd spent most of the past week holding him and reassuring him that everything would be ok. She was glad that Katy had moved downstairs with Brian as Vince's screams were enough to wake the dead. She had moved past her hatred of Dom and Mia for what they put Vince through but listening to him reliving it all again brought her feelings back to the surface. She couldn't help but hope that Team Toretto showed up at Race Wars, she was really looking forward to venting her anger.

R.O.A.M. drew the usual crowds as they pulled up to their camping area. There weren't that many R34 Skylines in America and to have 4 with matching paint jobs was a real sight to behold. Samantha had brought her truck, so that she could tow the trailer, and she'd painted it to match the Skylines. The only difference was she didn't have 'Mad Scientist Designs' anywhere on her truck. That honour was saved for the race cars.

The team weren't due to race until the following day so they decided to use the time to help Samantha in the Dynamite Graphics tent and soak up the atmosphere.

It was almost 2am when the team decided to call it a night – they'd been working for nearly 14 straight hours and Samantha had so much business that she wouldn't be able to take a day off for the next 9mths. She'd got so much work off the back of the advertising on the R.O.A.M. cars that she was already working flat out.

As Chloe and Vince walked back to the trailer she couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching her. She'd felt someone staring at her all day but she'd convinced herself she was being paranoid, of course people were looking she was prancing around in almost nothing advertising Samantha's artwork, but this time it felt different. She could feel the hatred pouring off whoever was staring at her.

As the couple were approaching the trailer a figure moved from the shadows and stood between them and the door, effectively blocking their path.

"Vince – it's good to see you man."

"What the hell are you doing here Dominic?" Vince couldn't believe his eyes; Dom had just greeted him as if nothing had happened. The way Dom was acting you'd think it was a couple of days since they last saw each other not a year and certainly not having parted in such traumatic circumstances.

"We came to see you and Leon. See how you are." Dom was expecting Vince to be a little off with him when he first saw him but nothing had prepared him for the anger that was rolling off him. Surely he couldn't still be upset about the events of the previous year; it wasn't as if anyone had been seriously hurt. Sure Jesse had been killed but that wasn't his fault that was all down to Johnny Tran.

"Who's we?" Chloe had kept quiet up until Dom mentioned that he hadn't come by himself. She was almost certain that she knew who'd come with him but she needed him to tell her.

When Chloe spoke Dom just glared at her, he was still smarting from when she'd turned him down that time at the beach. He'd never been turned down by anyone until she came along and he'd hated her ever since.

"Me, Chloe. I came back with Dom."

Mia stepped out from the shadows behind Dom as she spoke. She'd relived every moment of the last conversation she'd had with Chloe all the way up from Mexico and she was terrified. Chloe had been so full of rage that she wouldn't be at all surprised if she ended up with a black eye at the end of this encounter.

"Why am I not surprised to see you? I should have known that where ever your dumb ass brother was you'd still be following along behind like a stupid dog." As soon as Chloe heard Mia's voice she'd felt all of her hatred for the girl returning – she'd abandoned V when he'd needed her the most and she'd never forgive her for that. "There's no way you'd have had the guts to do something by yourself."

"She's not worth it baby, just let it go." Vince knew exactly what Chloe was thinking and as much as he wanted to see her punish Mia for abandoning the team the previous year he also knew that Dom wouldn't stand for it.

"You'd better keep your woman under control V; no one talks to my sister like that."

"She might be my woman but no one controls her Dominic, and she's just saying what the rest of us are thinking." Vince had worked hard over the year that he'd been with Chloe to keep his temper under control. He wanted to be more than just a thug, an enforcer and felt that by not fighting anymore he was showing Chloe that he really was leaving Team Toretto behind him.

"What do you mean, 'just saying what the rest of you are thinking? We're your family V; you don't turn your back on your family." Dom wasn't happy with the new Vince, he was dressing differently, he held himself differently and he wasn't defending Mia as he always had.

"You have got to be fuckin' with me? You don't turn your back on your family! This coming from a man who ran off and left his best friend alone in hospital, his younger 'brother' dead and then lied to another friend about what had happened. You really are living in a dream world aren't you Dom. What's the matter? NOS fumes addled your brain? I mean where the hell do you get off talking like that? You ran to save your own skin and left V to take the fall for everything, you're just a coward." Chloe had moved away from Vince and was now standing toe to toe with Dom. He was a little shorter than she remembered but he still outweighed her by about 130lbs. One punch and she'd be in hospital for about a week but she was confident in her assumption that he wouldn't hit a woman.

"You're nothing Dom, you know that nothing. The only way you get any respect is by terrorising people and as for you Mia, you're just weak. You left me a fuckin' message on my answer phone telling me that Vince had been hurt. He looked after you for 2 years whilst Dom was in Lompoc but you never even called the hospital once to check up on him. Then you have the cheek to go on about family!" Chloe was really getting into it now, ranting and pacing whilst she shouted at Dom and Mia. Vince was aware they were drawing a crowd but unless security came over he wasn't going to do anything to stop her.

It reminded him of the time she'd flown at Dr Matthews in the hospital and he couldn't help but chuckle at the look on Dom's face. For once in his life he was speechless and Vince couldn't help but feel pride in the fact it was his woman that had gotten the better of Dom.

"What's going on dawg? We can hear Chloe half way across the site." Leon, Samantha, Brian and Katy had joined Vince and were standing watching Chloe go off at Dom and Mia.

"Shit, what're they doing here?" Brian couldn't believe it, the last time he'd seen Dom was when he handed over the keys to the Supra and although he'd spoken to him since then he was still more than a little afraid of what Dom would do to him when he saw him.

"Don't worry Bri; we've got your back." Vince knew that Brian was nervous about seeing Dom, after the way he'd tried to take him down but he also knew that Brian had done what he had to do and he'd defend him to the death if he had to against his former friend.

"Are we gonna stop her or are we just gonna stand here and let her go off at Dom all night?" As much as Leon was enjoying the show he knew that they had a busy day ahead of them and as Chloe was racing first thing she'd need a good nights sleep.

"We'd better get her, she'll still be here at sun up if we don't." Katy had witnessed one of Chloe's epic rants before and she knew that Chloe would keep going for hours if she wasn't stopped.

"I'll get her dawg; I want to say a few things to Dom myself." Leon had been carefully planning what he was going to say to Dom and now that he knew he wanted to get it over with so they could all get to bed. If he didn't get it over with he'd be up all night worrying.

Leon walked up behind Chloe and snagged her round the waist, pulling her close into his chest so he could whisper in her ear, "V's getting tired babe, he won't admit it but the day has really taken it out of him. I'll finish up here, you take your man to bed."

Dom wasn't sure what Leon had said to Chloe but her face instantly changed. Gone was the almost murderous anger, in its place was love and concern.

"Thanks Lee, I'll see you in the morning." Chloe gave Leon a soft kiss on his lips and turned to walk back towards Vince. He did look tired, it had been nearly a week since he'd slept properly and with all the hours he'd been putting in at the garage it was no wonder he was done in.

"Oh, I see how it is; you've got Leon running round after you as well have you? Let me guess, you're sleeping with Brian as well?" Mia was fuming, she couldn't believe it that Chloe was walked in and taken over the team the way she had. Mia had expected to be able to walk straight back in and be the most important female in the boys' lives and she wasn't at all happy that Chloe now had that role.

"You bitch." Mia's last comment pushed Chloe over the edge, she'd just about managed to keep herself under control until then but when Mia started spouting shit about Leon she lost it.

"Do you have any idea what you stupid little games did to Leon? You lied to him for 3 weeks about Jesse, and then when Dom decided to come clean you tried to stop him. Leon and Jesse knew each other a hell of a long time before you knew either of them yet you decided not to tell Leon about Jesse and Tran. He never even had a chance to say goodbye because you decided he didn't need to know. Well, let me tell you something Mia Toretto, if you ever try any of that shit with any of my boys again I'll beat you down so damn hard you won't get up for a week."

As much as Chloe wanted to hit Mia she also knew that she couldn't drive with a broken hand and the races were more important that shutting Mia up. There'd be plenty of time to slap Mia after she'd beaten her ass over the quarter mile.