Dom was approaching Hector with money in his hand. Heath moved forward so as to be included in the conversation. "So Hector, you holdin tonight?"
"That I can do Dom, that I can do."
"You in Trust Fund?" Dom asked scathingly.
"Sure." Heath smirked again.
"What about your girlfriends over there? They racing tonight, or are they just here to hold your hand?" Dom smirked right back.
"Tonight they watch." he answered getting angry. "They watch as I become the king of the streets." he added arrogantly.
Rina watched from the alley. The high powered binoculars gave her quite the view. It had been a year and a half since she'd seen them, but she remembered them all. They still traveled in their vicious little pack. She watched as Heath lashed out at Dom. He was angry. Rina could tell from the set of his shoulders. Dom on the other hand just stood there relaxed and casual. The ultimate show of confidence in one's abilities. The only time Heath had that look was when he was wooing a girl.
Heath was several inches shorter than Dom, and had a muscular compact frame. Chestnut brown hair that had natural curl to it was short all around, but just a tad longer on top. He had green eyes she remembered. That's what had gotten her attention to begin with. His classic good looks. Just went to show that just because someone was pretty on the outside, it didn't make them pretty on the inside. His friends were like muted versions of Heath. Same hairstyle except for Drew. He had straight, shoulder length, blonde surfer hair. Rina thought that out of the group he was the only who rivaled Heath in his viciousness.
She was so tempted to end this all tonight. She had the means, but she wouldn't. No, Rina had plans. They would lose everything. HE would lose everything before it was over. She would make sure that Heath Canton lost everything that might mean something to him. The very thought brought a grin to her face. Anyone who saw it would have been frightened.
The men had gotten into their vehicles. It looked like it would only be Dom and Heath, and from what she'd seen there was more money involved. She watched wanting to see if Dom would beat Heath. Rina watched the two cars jump and speed away. People were running towards the finish line. Dom passed the line well before Heath. Rina wasn't sure if that was due to the car, or the driver, but she had a feeling she knew which one it was.
Suddenly she heard someone cry out, and the whole crowd was scrambling to their cars. Must be the police, she thought with a light shrug. She hopped on her bike and sped away making sure to go in the opposite direction from Heath and his friends. When she pulled into her driveway Dom and his crew were in the process of leaving their vehicles. They stopped as they recognized the bike and rider. Rina had just finished closing and locking the garage when she heard someone behind her.
"You there tonight?"
She turned to see Dom. "Sort of. Saw you win. Good job." She started up the walk to her front door.
"You live here?" he asked curiously.
"Yep."
"We're havin a party across the street at our house if you want to come over." He saw her look at his house, and could practically hear the wheels turning. "Trust Fund and his little friends won't be there." he saw that got her attention. "Just come over and have a beer."
Rina nodded and followed him over. The smaller Hispanic girl was looking at her with anger in her eyes. She didn't know what that was about, and frankly didn't care. Everyone had their own issues. Dom walked straight over to the girl and slung his arms around her shoulders. This seemed to relax the girl a bit. "I never got your name?" Dom asked.
"It's Rina." she answered and wiped sweaty palms on her pants. She was about to enter a house with a lot of people. A lot of men.
"Well Rina, I'm Dom, and this is my girlfriend Letty."
Rina nodded, "A pleasure."
As they entered the house he called out to several people introducing her as they went. "That's Leon. You know him I believe." Leon's face was bruised, but looked better than she thought it would. "That's Jesse." He pointed to the shorter blonde man. "You've met Mia and her boyfriend is Vince." Rina heard an odd note in his voice at that. Like it surprised him or something. "And that's Brian." Brian, the tall blonde man, was currently talking to Vince and Mia.
Letty smirked. "Brian used to be with Mia, but it didn't work. He and Vince used to hate each other too. Amazes me they're all buddy buddy now. A lot can happen in a year and a half."
Rina's head whipped around to stare at Letty her posture tense. Seeing Letty still looking at the group, she relaxed. She turned and stared at the three in curiosity. "I wonder what happened." she murmured.
"Brian chose his team, his family, over everything else. That's enough to change all sorts of opinions." Dom told her staring at Brian. He looked almost proud.
Mia looked bored with the conversation the guys were having and moved over to Dom, Letty and Rina. "Hi!"
"Mia, this is Rina, she lives across the street. Rina this is my sister Mia." Dom left the three women talking and moved to where Vince and Brian stood. "So bike girl is our neighbor. Her name's Rina." Jesse and Leon had moved over to join them.
"You get me a last name and I'll look her up." Jesse told him. "Think she's a cop?"
"I don't know. Not that it would matter anymore. The only thing we do illegal is the street racing."
"I don't think she's a cop. Doesn't seem like one." Brian offered.
Vince snorted, "I guess it would take one to know one." Brian glared at his friend. Vince adopted an innocent smile.
"She doesn't hit like a cop." Leon said morosely which got a laugh from the others.
"I'm not a cop." she said having walked up behind them without them noticing. Letty and Mia were right behind her looking slightly guilty. "So you can quit wondering."
"So it's just coincidental that you stopped by the shop today, and we find out you're our neighbor tonight?"
Rina stared at the group. "I'll admit I was going to come looking for you tomorrow. Heard from The Racer's Edge you'd be the best place to start my search. As for living next door, I bought the place sight unseen from a realtor before I even hit town. It fit my needs. I'll be taking care of my business and be leaving again. You aren't the reason I'm here. You gave me the information I needed today. I won't be bugging you again. If you'll excuse me." she turned and pushed through Letty and Mia. She was out the door before any of them could process what she'd said.
It was the blonde, Brian, who caught up to her. "Hey, we're sorry."
She stopped at stared at him. "Don't be. You're protecting your own. I can see where your conclusions came from."
"It's my fault though. I was a cop. I lied to them, so now they're extra cautious."
"Now you're a mechanic?"
"Yeah, I couldn't keep being a cop. About 18 months ago bad shit went down. I had to make a choice."
"It looks like 18 months ago sucked for a lot of people." she said with a wince. Then she looked at him. "Admirable of you to give up your chosen profession for them."
"Come back in, have a beer. Get to know the group. They're great people."
"I don't form relationships Brian. I should have remembered that before ever walking through that door. Thanks for the invitation, but I'm gonna have to pass." She turned to go inside when he called out to her once more.
"Can I at least ask you a question?"
"Sure." she said looking at him again.
"The words on your arm; what do they mean?"
Her face went hard and her eyes went even darker with some emotion he couldn't name. "It's Italian. I miei ememies cadranno prima di me." she turned away from him again, and her voice rang out clear, "It means, 'My enemies will fall before me'." Rina shut the door quietly behind her.