Chapter 10
Cassie slowly woke up from a deep slumber the next morning, still next to Leon in bed. She became startled slightly when she saw him there, almost forgetting about the night before, but as the thoughts returned she cuddled up to him again, taking in his scent and the peace and quiet. How she missed this.
She looked up at him and found him still sleeping. She carefully slid off the bed and padded her way into the bathroom. She did the regular thing of showering and brushing her teeth, and then changed into a oversized shirt and some baggy jeans. Before she went downstairs she peeked her head back into Leon's room and found him still asleep in bed. She smiled and entered the room, locking the door again, and joining him back on the bed - she slung one arm across his waist and rested her head across his chest, lightly tracing her fingers over the intricate tattoo on his arm.
He blinked his eyes open to the harsh yellows reflecting off of every object in the room, the sun no mercy when it came to daylight and summer. For the first time in a week he'd slept peacefully, and as he looked down at the arm touching him, then at the beautiful body beside him, he realised why. He smiled tiredly, and let his eyes watch her tracing her fingers along his tattoos.
"Morning," he said, his voice gravely and bed ridden.
She looked up and smiled at him, moving out of the way to let him stretch. "Sleep well?" She asked nervously, the last night had been a hard one, and she hoped he would be a bit better this morning.
He grunted a little as he shifted his position on the bed, and moved a hand to lie upon her waist. "The best." He moved in close to her and pillowed his lips against hers momentarily, and as he pulled away, inhaled the sweet scent that was Cassie.
Cassie rested her hand on his chest as he pulled away, "how are you feeling today? I know it was a rough night, but..." she shrugged lightly and then moved her hand to her shirt where she played with the hem.
He thought about this for a moment, and realised what she had meant. He raised a hand to his forehead in realisation and cursed under his breath. "Jess." He inhaled slow and long, and clenched his jaw, knowing that his emotions would once again get the better of him if he let them. He let his hand down and looked at Cass. "It's true, isn't it..."
Cassie never looked up at him from her shirt, she couldn't look him in the eyes and tell him. She couldn't watch his heart break again. She nodded weakly and absentmindedly wiped the tear that fell from her eyes. "I'm here if you need to talk or something. I'm not good with the whole comforting thing... but I can try. You're not alone in this though; so don't think you are. K?" She looked up at him for a second and then focused on something else.
He nodded simply, and inhaled a long breath once again. "Thanks..." He couldn't believe it, that Jesse was dead. It was too much. He wondered if it would ever sink in, and if Jess knew it was coming.
He rolled over and looked into Cassie's eyes. "Did we spend the night together in the same bed? Here?"
Cassie just nodded again, staying silent and still focused on something else. Had he forgotten? Or had he regretted it? She didn't know, and she hoped it wasn't the latter.
"Hey..." he called out, alerting her to him. He moved his index finger to her chin and raised it so that she would look at him, and moved in towards her, pillowing his dampened lips against hers. Kissing her now was just the same as it was before, and he loved it. She was non-invasive, gentle, and sweet. He loved how she wouldn't control him, and he'd try not to either, but they both led each other and it would always be beautiful because it was so natural for them.
Cassie closed her eyes instantly and opened her mouth, letting his explore her. She brought her hand up to rest on the crook of his neck, pulling him closer ever so slightly. She turned her body towards her back slightly, taking him with her so he was pretty much on top of her, and deepened the kiss.
He could feel her chest against his, the rise and fall of it as she respired, and the softness of her hand upon his skin, and it reminded him too much of the past, the feel of her, of everything about her. He deepened the kiss as he lay upon her, and felt his hands beginning to trail her sides, and then rest as they met her slender hips.
Cassie broke the kiss and stared up into his green eyes, always calm and relaxed, but today they seemed broken and, not all there. She grazed the back of her knuckle down his cheek, "are you sure you don't want to stop? I mean, last night... and now..." she licked her lips and paused, waiting for an answer.
He knew she could see through him, but he truly did want this. As much as he hated everything that was going on around them, he wanted for a moment just to feel happy again. And he knew that being with Cassie would give him that. He rested his head upon hers, looking directly into her eyes and spoke softly. "I'm sure about this Cass. I want this, I want you...I mean that." He closed his eyes and pressed his lips to hers again, hoping that she wanted this too.
Cassie closed her eyes and smiled inwardly, "you don't know how long I've wanted to hear you say that." She ran her hands through his hair, pulling him in closer. She adjusted herself on the bed so she was directly under him. She bit down on her bottom lip as his hands wandered over her body. Automatically her hands wandered down further and she unbuckled his jeans, and slid them down, then lifted her body off the bed as he did the same with her shirt and pants. She raised her legs and wrapped them around his waist, pulling him down further, pressing their bodies together as much as possible.
He was already becoming hard at the contact he was receiving from her, and wasted no time in letting her know that he wanted this to happen. He craned his neck to kiss her chest, slowly, calmly. There was no rush.
Cassie arched her back towards him, loving the sensations that were surging through her body; all from Leon's lips on her skin. A moan escaped from her lips as his lips lingered longer. She ran her fingers down his spine and then back up, digging her nails into the back of his shoulders.
He smiled against her body as he felt the results of what he was doing to her, then all at once murmured some unintelligible words and slinked up her body, allowing himself access to her lips. "Sure about this, Cass?" he asked just one more time, before he went in.
Cassie nodded instantly, not being able to find her voice right away. She mumbled out, "god, yes" and let another moan escape as he slowly pushed himself inside her.
He promised himself he wouldn't hold back anymore, and as he pushed in, mentally told himself not to hurry and to relax, he could feel the effect of this all too quickly. A quick moan escaped his lips and he slowly began pumping in and out of her, pressing his hands to the comforter either side of them for support.
She arched her back more as his pace sped up. Her breathing quickened, and she took deeper, longer breaths as her body started to heat up, leaving a trail of goosebumps across her skin. Her moans started to get louder, until she all but screamed. Slowly she could feel the tingling sensation of her release starting and she dug her nails in further.
He could feel her walls beginning to clench against him as he moved within her, as his own approaching orgasm was beginning to come upon him. He remained silent as they rocked together, and eventually could feel himself wondering how much longer he could hold out for.
Cassie moaned loudly as her orgasm washed over her, Leon following. She kissed him passionately as his body relaxed on top of hers, and slowly started to roll off. She curled up next to him again, resting her hand on his stomach as she listened to both their breathing return to a normal state again.
He ran his fingers through her hair and cooled down in her arms, happy they were able to get past everything that had happened the past two days. Although there was one thing that would forever play upon his mind. Jesse had died and he wasn't there to say goodbye. All of his family were away from him, and he wasn't there for him when he needed him.
- -
Dom sat at one of the chairs in the kitchen, between Letty and Faith. Vince took the seat next to Letty, and there were still two seats empty for Cassie and Leon who apparently still hadn't woken up. They had disappeared the night before and nobody had seen from either of them since.
He smiled over at Letty who quietly ate her breakfast. They had had a good chat last night about everything that happened, and even though Dom wasn't absolutely ready to start a relationship again, he would at least try.
Vince took a bite of his toast and chewed on it loudly. He picked up his fork and slipped the handle inside his cast to scratch the itch that had been bugging him all morning. He mumbled something and then continued eating. He looked up at the rest of the table and scratched the back of his head, "anybody seen Leon? I told him 'bout Jess last night - still dunno how he took it." He sighed loudly and rested back in his chair.
Dom just shook his head silently.
Faith rubbed her head as she read the back of the aspirin pack. Takes 20 minutes to take effect. She let it down on the table and cursed under her breath, not realising Vince had asked everyone a question.
Letty shrugged as she sipped off the cool glass of water, and rubbed a hand over Dom's back, knowing anything said about Jess would work up his emotions. Getting close to him right now meant she had to really try. She knew that everything they'd been through was either touch and go or pissy or neutral, and that making a go of things once again would be a tough job, but she was prepared to give it a shot. She sat forward a little to reach for the salt, and started shaking it over the cooked breakfast Faith had prepared for them. She was grateful that they'd been able to find a place to stay and that they'd had food these past few days of being in Mexico, but she didn't so much like the fact that she was relying on Faith to provide them with essentials. She'd seen how pissed she'd gotten last night, and despite her splitting hangover, had gotten up to make them breakfast.
It seemed almost weird. Two days ago everyone was in dispute, annoyed at each other for every little thing, and now it seemed they were all coming together. Maybe it was because of Vince. Letty ran her fingers back through her hair and licked her lips. "What happened to him?"
Vince poked the food on his plate a little with his fork and shrugged, "he just stormed off. I think he came inside. That was the last I saw of him."
Dom ran his hand down the back of his neck, "I'm not surprised. He woulda been hit the worst. Poor guy." He mused and took a sip of the water that was in front of him, not sure if it was his or Letty's but not really caring.
Suddenly, Cassie waltzed into the kitchen and took a seat at the table, looking the liveliest of them all. "Good morning..." she smiled and grabbed a plate for herself.
Letty made a short comment about meaning what happened to Jesse but shrugged it off when she saw Cassie all jolly and fit for anything. She noticed all too well Leon's shirt hanging off her tiny shoulders, and frowned, then pointed, a piece of toast between her fingers. "Wh..." She squinted at Cassie and tilted her head to the side. "Cassie...did you..."
Faith looked up to see Cassie sitting at a chair, and made a noise. "Isn't that Leon's shirt you're wearing?" she said as she chewed on her food, and a couple more heads turned to face Cassie. There was a large silence and her eyes widened. "Wow, did you get yourself some Leon-lovin' last night?"
Letty looked over at Vince. "Sure you told him about Jesse?"
Cassie shrugged and chewed a random piece of food off her plate, but she kept a sly grin on her face the whole time.
Vince and Dom looked just as shocked as the girls as they both raised a brow at Cassie. Vince blinked a few times, "yeah, I definitely told him about Jess. And he wasn't drunk either." Vince mumbled something incoherent and shoved the end of the fork into his cast again.
Cassie shook her head, "leave the guy alone. Nothing happened last night," more like this morning, she thought to herself and continued, "he was feeling down from the news, and I kept him company. Who knows what he would have done if he was alone all night."
Dom shifted his eyes over to Letty in a 'I don't believe her, and I know you don't either' way and then looked down at his plate, staying silent.
Faith chuckled to herself and pushed her plate forward as she chewed up the last of her food. "Cassie, I've known you for five years, that's the sex face bare and basic, you're transparent and I bet you anything they did it this morning."
She felt many eyes on her and looked at them all.
"Cassie's got a thing for the morning sex...says it's better when they do it the morning, it lasts longer..." she looked at her and pulled a face. "Try and wriggle yourself outta that one!" She rose from the table and took her plate with her as she crossed the kitchen to the sink.
Cassie leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms across her chest, "it does last longer in the morning." She nodded towards Letty at the other side of the table and smirked, "who do ya think taught me that?"
Dom looked over at Letty again and raised a brow, and chuckled when she blushed.
"But hey, I'm not sayin' I did, and I'm not sayin' I didn't," She nodded her head defiantly she stuck her tongue out at Faith.
"Damn," Vince started and sighed loudly, and quite overdramatically, "guess I'm the only one who's not getting any. Must be this cast... turns off the chicks." He scoffed and then laughed as he rocked back in his seat.
Faith looked over her shoulder at Vince and winked, then blew him a kiss. "You know I love ya big guy," she told him as she washed up her plate.
Vince held his chest as though in pain at Faith's comment and gave her his famous puppy dog eyes, "aww, I'm loved."
Letty laughed at Cassie's comments and Vince's also, and leaned her head upon Dom's shoulder as it all blew over.
Leon tread the hardwood floor leading into the kitchen as he rubbed his head, his bed hair all over the place and his head hurting a little from the sleep. He tugged on his boxer shorts a little as he ambled into the kitchen, hearing the laughter and the chatter, and sensed everyone was there seated around the table. He looked over at them, and grunted a "Morning," but continued on over to where Faith was, asking her where the glasses were so he could get some water. The moment his back was turned she looked over at Cass and made a little motion between them, causing the others to laugh. Leon didn't see as he headed for the sink and held his glass under the tap. "Had a...good night, Le?" Faith said cheerily as she dried her plate with her towel.
He sipped off his drink and eyed Cassie before nodding, and then headed for the table.
As Leon sat down, Cassie stood and joined Faith at the sink, washing up her plate and drying it. "What do we all have planned for today?" She questioned everybody.
Dom shrugged, "was hopin' while we're here to at least get some work... or something. We can't just sit on our asses while we're here. There was a garage down the road that was lookin' for some help; thought maybe I'll have a chat with the owner today."
Vince glanced over at Dom, "you sure that's a good idea, dawg? I mean, we really should lay low for a bit. We've only been 'ere for two days."
"Yeah, I know," he nodded slightly, "but I gotta do somethin' with my time. You know I can't just sit an' do jack all..."
Cassie butted in instantly, "you wouldn't be doin' jack all. And I wouldn't go down the road to Gabe anyways... he's shifty as all fuck. He'll rat you out in an instant if he got even a whiff of who you were. And trust me ... people know who you are down here."
Faith clenched her jaw as she listened to them all chatting about work, and put her plate in the cupboard carefully, hoping no one would ask anything about her "job." As far as they knew she was working down at the hospital as a receptionist, twelve hours a day for little over minimum wage. That was all bull. But she wasn't about ready to let them all know about her actual job. She put away the things Cassie's had cleaned up also and continued to listen to them, staying out of the conversation all together.
"I was thinkin' we lay low, get Hector to run us down what we had left up at the house, and we'd be able to live off that for a long while," Letty started.
Leon shook his head in disagreement. "What if the cops are all over that money; I mean it's not in an account but if they're keepin' tabs that means we're seeked out and we'll end up with nothing AND in jail. I mean right now we might have nothing be aren't in jail. Dunno about you guys but I'd like to keep it that way."
Letty crossed the kitchen to the counter and leant upon it. "Well what other options do we have? Get a job, get ratted out, go to jail, STILL have nothing..."
"Or risk gettin' ratted out by Hector, they might have tabs on him, I mean we might have our cars down here but who's to say his cousin isn't undercover. Remember Brian?"
Dom shook his head, "Hector wouldn't rat us out. Not after all we've done for him. His cousin maybe... but I don't think so. Hectors family ain't known for their smarts."
Vince agreed and leant forward, resting his arms on the table, crossed over each other on the wooden surface. "We could just lay low for a week or two, see how we go?"
"Hey I got plenty of money, so you don't need to worry 'bout that. And ya know you don't have to worry about payin' me back and shit." Cassie gestured with her hands and leaned against the countertop. "You can join in the races here too. They're rare down here, but a shitload of people show up - all safe and won't be ratting anybody out. Half of them are hidin' out down here so don't wanna risk their own asses to get any of you in trouble. But like I said, you guys are known down here 'bout as much as you are back home... so ya still gotta be careful."
Dom sighed, "so we're laying low for a bit then are we?"
Letty nodded. "Good with me, just as long as obviously," she gestured towards Cassie and Faith. "...We got a place to stay and money to live off- you sure you guys don't mind?" The two girls shook their heads and Faith spoke up.
"I got more than enough room, you guys are free to stay here." She was interrupted by a banging on the door to which she jumped a little. She headed out to the front door and once she pulled the door to, she wished she hadn't. "What are you doin' here?" she said low, glancing over her shoulder to check no one was watching. She pushed the two guys back and stepped out onto the porch, pulling the door closed behind her so that the others didn't find out.
"Carlito said you were keepin' somethin' from him," the first guy started, a little guy, teenager, quite slim and well kept.
The other spoke up, a little bigger, his voice deeper and his accent more apparent. "Yeah, and he ain't happy. Says he wants to see you ASAP. Before he goes AWOL."
"Yeah, and I suggest you bring someone. Just in case he kills you."
She listened to what the boys were telling her and licked over her lips. "Alright, when?"
"Before tonight. He says he's headin' out to New York tomorrow morning and doesn't want this hangin' over him before he leaves."
"Who you got in there you don't want us to see?" the younger boy interrupted, pulling out a cigarette and lighter.
"None of your business..." She pulled the cigarette out of his mouth and pushed it into her own pocket. "You shouldn't be smoking this shit." She lowered her voice. "So what about Pepe, did he...say anything, about..."
"Nah, Pepe's not sayin' much. Oh! But he did have this..." He pulled out a little piece of paper and some money and handed it to Faith, to which she nodded her head to as the older guy dropped it into her hand. He sighed and shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "We better get goin'. You gotta be at Enrique's on Friday?"
She shook her head. "Too risky, tell Pepe gracias, and I'll give him a call. You," she pointed to the little guy. "Stop smoking, and thanks Bernardo, tell Carlito I'll be there, his place, right?"
Bernardo nodded as the younger guy headed out to their car. She lifted a hand to them as they got into the car and drove away. She turned and headed inside, quickly stuffing the money and paper into the back pocket of her jeans and headed back into the kitchen. She smiled briefly at Dom who looked up at her as she entered.
"So how come Mia never came down with you Vince, she doin' okay?"
Cassie raised a brow at Faith, noticing the bulge in her back pocket, but never saying anything. She looked to Vince then, also curious why Mia hadn't come.
Vince ran his hand through his hair, "she's doin' ok. She just... didn't wanna come down. I dunno. She said she was sick of Dom's shit with everything that happened; and after Jesse..." he paused and cleared his throat, then continued, "well you know, she just lost it."
Dom glanced out the window and stared at the waves as they rolled up the beach.
"And, you know... she wanted to finish school." Vince finished as he saw Dom's reaction.
Faith grabbed her cell phone on the counter and shoved it into her other back pocket, quietly listening to what they were all talking about, then reached for her sunglasses.
"Yeah but now she's all by herself, regardless the fact that all this shit happened, how is she supposed to run the garage, and the shop and the house?"
"Well if we still have all that money, we probably won't have to worry about how she'll handle," Leon said, wiping over his mouth and then laying his hand upon the table. "We still got one more problem, though."
The others looked at him as if to ask 'what' and he cleared his throat. "Brian. him and his guys could be on our asses any time, hell knows he could find out where we are as soon as, he's got leads now, from our world, I mean, there's also Tran who's probably dying to nark us out."
"I doubt O'Connor's on our asses. He let me go, whether or not he knows where we are, they ain't gonna let him off scotch free for that," Dom stated.
"Exactly. And... umm... I don't think Mia's gonna leave the shop open. She said something about wanting to find her own job... or something before I left." Vince mumbled out.
"What?" Dom all but yelled, "she can't just close the shop!"
Vince shrugged and raised his hands in defeat, "don't shoot the messenger, man."
Dom groaned and rested his head on his arms on the table.
Letty sighed and flipped a corona cap in her hands as she listened to them. "Ok, you guys..." she told them, trying to calm them down. "The shop ain't the most important thing, right now, I mean we have Mia up in LA all by herself dealin' with Jesse, Tran's guys and whatever O'fuckin Connor's got to offer her. How do we know they ain't pumpin' her ass for information about where we are? V, did she say what kinda job she was lookin' for? It's not exactly safe for her, either, doncha think, it's probably best if she comes down here or at least lays low up there."
Leon rubbed his forehead as he absorbed what everyone was saying around him. "Maybe someone should give her a call?" he suggested, hoping they'd agree with him.
Cassie looked around her room quickly as she dialled the number, then once quickly outside to make sure nobody was around. When the coast was clear she pressed connect and put the phone to her ear. She glanced outside her room once more before she closed the door and paced the room as the other line ringed.
The was a short pause as the person on the other line answered and let out a groggy "hello?"
"Mia? Sorry, did I wake you? It's...err... it's Cassie."
Mia had fallen asleep against her college book upon the dining room table. As she leant against the archway next to the phone, she rubbed her eyes. "Cassie..." she repeated, trying to make sense of what she'd heard. She sucked in a breath, surprised that Cassie of all people would be calling her.
Hearing the sharp intake of air, Cassie knew she had registered who it was. "Sorry about this call, just out of the blue and all... but we have to talk. About Dom and that - Vince told us why you didn't wanna come, I just wanted to hear the reason from you."
She took a deep breath and leant her head back against the wall. "Is this so that Dom can hear from my own voice that I'm sick of all his shit?"
"Nah Mia, this is just between you and me," she paused and scratched the back of her neck and peeked out the door again, "listen, I was heading up to LA for the day tomorrow on some business... thought I might stop by. Talk. Catch up. Whatever."
Mia took a moment to think about what she'd said to her. "Cassie...I...I, dunno," she said, sounding tired.
"I didn't mean to wake you up, sorry. You think about it, I'll give you my number and I'll be up in LA all day tomorrow. I'd like to come see you, if you're free." She said as she waited for Mia to get a pen and write down her number. "Promise you'll think about it?"
Mia sucked in a loud breath and grabbed a pen and piece of paper. "I can't promise anything, Cassie. I know you mean well, but I'm really tired of this." She exhaled and ran her fingers back through her hair. "Is everyone okay?"
"I believe you're sick of all this, but you can't just not talk to Dom. He's your brother, he needs to hear this from you." She sighed and sat down on the bed, "Everybody is... no they're not really ok. Leon's taking Jesse's news badly, and Dom found out about Letty and I don't think they'll ever be the same again."
Mia listened quietly to everything Cassie told her. "They screwed themselves up, you know," she started, her voice dreary, still tired. "It's a good thing you left when you did because otherwise things could've been worse," she explained. "And even though Dom deserved to know about Letty he still has a lot to make up for; it doesn't even compare to what he did."
"Yeah, I know they all pretty much dug themselves into this hole, but they know they did wrong. Especially Dom. He's probably taking it the worst than anybody." Cassie heard footsteps coming from the stairs and quickly went quiet, "look, I can't talk about this right now. Call me tomorrow, k?"
Mia moved away from the wall, looking at the cars driving past in the street. "Uhm...like I said, I'd think about it," she said quickly. "Nice to hear your voice, Cass."
"Good to talk to you too, Mi. Look, we don't even have to talk about the guys... what about we just catch up? It's been a while." She chuckled quietly and cracked the door open slightly to see Leon heading up the rest of the stairs.
Mia sighed a little and smiled. "It has been a while." She glanced at the pile of work waiting for her on the dining room table and rubbed her head. "I better go, I have a ton of work to get through."
"Yeah... I should go. I'll talk to ya later, gurl." Cassie smiled, to herself mostly and hung up. She slipped the phone into her pocket and headed out.
Mia put down the phone, the smile fading from her face. She turned to see the pile of work again, and then looked around the room. It was so silent. Since everybody else left it was like a freedom walking around the house. But she always knew that one element would always be missing.
