Chapter 17

It seemed that the time to get rid of one of the threats had finally come. It wasn't going to be easy but with the man trusting Roberto and Enrique the way he did as well as Monica it was a given he would end up dead on their first stop. Both Roberto and Enrique knew that Monica was working for the Customs, but it would be easy to make her stay silent. Especially if they got her corporation in order to bring down De Angelo. It was something that the Government wanted the most, to know that Dante De Angelo was a citizen and they still had no leads as to how to pursue the man would be something they wanted. He was even sure that they would overlook that Carter Verone was gone with no trace left behind. At the end of the day though, he would be happy to have Brian O'Conner and his family safe from De Angelo.

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Dom watched as Brian moved around the kitchen, the blond man seemed to be oblivious to the fact that he was being watched. Dom stayed silent though, it had been a while since he had seen Brian moved around the kitchen so freely. The last time he had seen the blond act that way was back in Los Angeles, about a six months after they had moved in together. Mia had found it funny that the blond man loved to cook so much; while Vince and Letty teased Brian like there was no tomorrow. There had been a time that Dom wanted to stop the two and asked them to not tease his lover in such a way; that was until he noticed that Brian always seemed to hide a smile after Letty or Vince stopped teasing him in order to eat.

"You know it still weird to see you look at me like that while I'm cooking," Brian said as he turned his blue eyes to look directly at Dom.

"It always amazes me how at home you seem to be in the kitchen, it's like watching you build a car from scratch," Dom countered with a smile.

"Well Mister Toretto, you will find that I have many talents and not just cooking and building cars," Brian answered with a small smirk forming on his lips.

"Well Mister Pretty Boy, I hope to find and know all of them," Dom said his smile growing at the blush that appeared on Brian's cheeks.

"I used to hate you calling me that," Brian said softly surprising Dom. The blond man had never seemed to mind the nickname. "Until I had to run and then you coming here and only calling me Brian is when I noticed that it was one of the things that I missed the most."

"I won't stop calling you like that Brian, I just wasn't sure it was okay to call you, Pretty Boy, when it appeared like you didn't really want me here…" Dom took a deep breath. "I missed you so much after you left and I was so angry too because I thought it was because of something I did. Then when I found out someone had heard of you here and I came only to see you being hugged by another man… it wasn't easy."

Dom watched as Brian nodded in understanding but neither man said anything knowing that they were okay now. It didn't matter that at one point they blamed each other, now they could only work for their future.

"I just want all this with De Angelo to end so we can go back home and be a family there," Dom said as Brian finished making their food.

Brian smiled slightly but didn't say anything; it was something they would have to keep talking about later. When everything was back to normal… or normal as it would be with them.

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Jesse watched as things seemed to ease between Brian and Dom, he knew that things would start to heat up once everything with De Angelo begun to take place. He just hoped that they would come out alive and safe. He wanted his friends to be happy once more, to be the couple they were in Los Angeles. While everyone thought that it would be hard to get back to that point, Jesse had faith that his friends would reach it once more; especially with the new addition to the family. He also knew though, that if something happened to the baby neither Dom nor Brian would be able to forgive themselves.

"You seem to be in a state of deep thoughts since we got here," Leon's statement made Jesse jump and turned around to look at the man.

"Not my fault I'm constantly in a state of wonderment and confusion by those two," Jesse retort as he turned to look at Brian and Dom once more.

"Want to go for a drive to clear you head?" Leon asked softly.

Jesse stayed silent for a moment, before sighing and nodding at the man that always seemed to be looking after him. He always wondered the reason, but he was unsure if he was right in his assumption so he said nothing. He was waiting for the man to talk first and he wondered if he was doing the right thing, but Jesse didn't want to risk the friendship he currently had with Leon only to find out if his thoughts were correct or not. After notifying both Mia and Rome about where they were going Jesse and Leon left the house without saying anything else.

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Roberto and Enrique looked at each other before nodding in agreement; they watched as Monica kept distracting Carter to make sure he didn't really suspect anything. They knew not to underestimate the man as he had proven he was a dangerous man. As they kept driving they knew that one of the things they would have to make sure was to not have any other witnesses besides Monica to keep any suspicion off them. Next would be to make sure that Carter didn't bring any unnecessary attention towards them in his attempt to escape his fate. As they approached the small house they had rented in order to be their first stop Roberto looked towards Carter as if looking to make sure the man agreed with the house they would be stay the night at.

"I'll check if there is any danger," Roberto said as he got off the car and inspecting his surroundings as well as entering the house and making sure everything was as he had requested.

After checking everything twice Roberto exited the house and gave the signal; not long after everyone exit the car they had traveled in. He knew that the other two decoys would serve well, and that everyone would notice the truth too late to do anything. Once all four were inside the house Roberto made a sound that got Carter Verone's attention; turning out the man found himself face to face with three guns pointing at him.

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Dante looked at Michael as the man kept checking each room as if making sure that Carter and his men were actually gone. He watched as the man bought everyone else upon telling all of them that it was either betraying their boss or ending six feet underground. It wasn't a hard decision after that, especially by ending the real loyal ones. Dante had to smirk at the knowledge that once everyone knew that he had taken over Carter's place they would try to either make new deals with him or simply continued the same way and hope they stayed alive.

"Everything seems to be falling into place," Michael said looking at his boss. "It seems that soon enough you will be not only in control of Verone's business but of possession of O'Conner and Pearce."

Dante nodded but said nothing; he knew that Michael was stating the facts and nothing more. De Angelo knew that the only man he could trust was in front of him. Michael had proven to be on his side again and again no matter what.

"We should get confirmation on Verone's death in an hour; depending on how far the men I sent to kill him wish to finish him," Michael said looking at his watched.

"Trustworthy men I hope," Dante said looking at the man in front of him to see his reaction.

"You can't really trust anyone boss, but with enough money you can get anyone to be loyal to you. Especially if I made sure to put the fear in them in what would end up happening if they fail," Michael answered with brutal honesty that Dante was used to.

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Brian looked out the window when he heard two cars leaving, a small frown forming on his face. His blue eyes tracking the cars until he was unable to see them anymore, his hand going to the bracelet he always wore on his wrist. He had a feeling that something big was about to happen and he didn't know how to react. He wondered if Leon would finally confess his feelings to the younger man. Brian was able to see the confusion and sometimes the wary look Jesse sent towards Leon. It was something that was done unconsciously that Brian wasn't sure if Jesse even noticed he was doing it. Leon on the hand seemed to be searching for a way to always be near Jesse and would sometimes open his mouth as if he would say something but stopped himself at the last minute.

"Penny for your thoughts," Vince's voice made Brian looked towards him, and gun pointing at the man. "Not going to kill me are you?"

"Don't sneak up on me like that V, next time you might not be so lucky," Brian warned but he was able to see that Vince trusted him not to kill him. While the man might be on Dom's side most of the time he always seemed to find a neutral ground which he would use to his advantage to speak with Brian. The blond man knew that whatever they spoke of would never get to Dom's ear unless it was something that Brian would do against himself. He had learned that not too long after meeting the Team.

"So what has you so deep in thought?" Vince questioned changing the subject and allowing Brian to relax once more.

"I have a feeling that something is going to happened today and I'm not sure if its good or not… but before I could warned you guys Jesse and Leon decided to leave and now I'm not sure what to do," Brian confessed a frowned returning to his face and turning to face the window once more. "I wonder if Roberto and Enrique are fine."

"I'm sure everything will be fine," Vince reassured as he embraced the blond man for a moment before leaving him alone once more.

"I hope you are right," Brian whispered as he put a hand against the window.

Anaki: Well here is Chapter 17, and I ask for forgiveness for making it a week instead of a day to update. I tried to update this chapter the day after Fighting Together but things kept coming up and I was unable to finish typing the story. But here it is and I hope the wait was worth it. So please tell me what you think in a Review/Comment.

Until Next Time :) :) :)