4

Sometimes the facts in my head get bored and decide to take a walk in my mouth. Frequently this is a bad thing.

Scott Westerfeld, So Yesterday, 2004

Z

We were the last to arrive. What I had thought was a warehouse, I now saw to be an abandoned factory of some type. Two black guys were arguing with two guys who looked Dominican speaking Spanish in the middle of it. A brunette woman who was tall and skinny like a model was standing beside her bike on the edge of the conflict. They didn't hear us pull in.

My heart was pounding in my chest, but after my little moment of weakness in front of Han, I was not letting it show. The closer we got, the harder it pounded. I hated new people, and to make matters worse, these people were part of the legendary Toretto crew. Not only was this a meeting of people who were the best at what we did, it was also Han's family. For some reason, I always screwed up meeting my boyfriend's family. Of course they usually involved the words, "I'm sorry I almost got your son arrested."

"I thought cockfights were illegal in Brazil." Han quipped dryly to me as he put his large hand on the small of my back. The woman glanced at Han and me and looked like she wanted to say something, but was cut off.

"I see you've all met." A deep voice rumbled through the garage. Everyone turned to look at the burly, bald man I knew as Dom from Han's description, and the other two beside him that had to be Brian and Mia from what Dom told Han.

"There he is." Han said when he saw Dom again. The girl walked up to hug Dom with a sexual innuendo that made me almost roll my eyes. I caught it and tried to remind myself that I didn't know their history. Girls that did that still bugged me though.

I was still almost shaking, but with Dom's arrival the tension popped like a bubble and I was able to relax a little. A breathed a sigh of relief when everyone started greeting each other as old friends, even those that hadn't met. I was included in the reunion like an old friend. Han didn't get involved with most of the greetings, but I could feel him watching me as I did. I felt this was a test to see if I could hang with the big dogs, and the thought sent my stomach into a flip.

Han pulled me closer to Dom as another man introduced the two black men. I tried to file their names and why they were here into the back of my brain, but I wasn't sure how much of that would actually stick.

"Nice digs." Han said quietly when Brian was through. I couldn't tell if Han was being sarcastic or not. It was probably sarcasm. I loved the place, but Han was not the type to rough it. The first few weeks in Colombia where hell for me. I finally put six rotating fans around the bed and gave him his laptop to play with.

"Yeah well, the Ritz was sold out." Dom joked back. "I'm guessing you're Eliana." He extended his massive hand for me to shake. "I'm Dom." I couldn't force any words out of my mouth, so I just shook it.

"So what's this all about, Dom?" Han wasted no time in getting to the point.

"Yeah, why'd you drag us halfway around the world?" The lighter skinned black guy asked. His name flitted out of my head the second I heard it, but I remembered he was the computer guy.

"'Cause we got a job." Dom said matter-of-factly. I felt a thrill of excitement pass through my body. I may have hated the Yakuza with every fiber of my being, but I loved some of the work I did. Most of it was just driving through traffic, but occasionally I would have something totally insane and fun. I felt my lips twitch into a smirk at the excitement.

"I know that look." Han muttered in my ear as Brian started walking over to a table to begin working through the plan.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I said smoothly. He chuckled lightly as we followed the rest of the group.

"Alright, so the target's name is Herman Reyes." Brian began. A frown instantly creased my forehead. The name sounded incredibly familiar, but I couldn't remember why. With all the trouble my family stirred up, it might not be a good thing. I missed the rest of what Brian was saying, but the model chic's accent brought me back to attention.

Cash houses? Oh, this was my type of thing. I practically started quivering with anticipation at the thought of the heist. Han noticed, and I could feel his dark eyes on me even though he didn't look away from Brian and Dom.

"Sounds crazy," the darker black guy cut in. I think his name was Rome. "Takes this to a whole 'nother level. You bring us to a whole 'nother country so we can rob the dude that runs it? I thought this was business, but this sounds personal to me. Is that what this is? I got love for ya'll but personal ain't good business. I can't do this, homie."

He started to walk away. Dom followed him with his eyes, and I could practically feel the smirk about to cross his face.

"What this is is a hundred million dollars." He said a little too loudly.

"Say what?" Rome's head jerked around. He stumbled over the words hundred million a few times. "See sometimes I be over thinking," He began. The other guy with him started shaking his head as he stuttered out an excuse.

Dom continued on like he hadn't been interrupted. "So everything we take we split even."

"Ten million apiece? I am down." The tech guy stated emphatically.

"I'm in." Another one of the boys muttered.

"You can't hit ten cash houses for the same mark. You just can't." The chick stated.

"Yeah, as soon as you hit the first he will do anything to protect the others." Han agreed with her.

There was a lot of logic in their statements, but being with the Yakuza had taught me how dangerous people reacted to pressure. There was an uncomfortable pause where Dom seemed to be sizing up their statements.

"That may work to our advantage." Oh my gosh, did that just come out of my mouth? Well, Han's probably embarrassed. Everyone's eyes were on me. The brunette model looked at me like a bug to smush. A smile spread across Dom's face.

"How exactly?" She asked. Obviously an argument was already forming in her brain. I felt entirely too exposed, but being with Kamata had taught me how to hide that.

"What's safer: spreading all of your men out across town in ten different places or one secure location with everything you got on it? With the men spread, there is still a chance that other cash houses will get hit; it's a completely small chance, but it's certainly there. If he puts it in one tightly locked down place, which a guy like him is sure to have, he has the benefit of being able to keep everyone on it and keep a strict eye on it himself. It would take something absolutely insane to pull it off, but it could definitely work."

"And what makes you think that he will put it in one place?" The woman asked. I saw a few people glance around.

"Experience." I unconsciously ran my hand through my bangs that hid my scar from a fight with an Osaka Yakuza. He was trying to take a shipment off our hands and Kamata acted the way I assumed Reyes would. "I'm assuming he knows you know where the cash houses are?" Mia nodded. "Then he knows they aren't safe."

A smile spread across Dom's face. "Exactly."

Z

I tossed my bag on the bed and flopped backwards on it with a groan. I was exhausted after meeting everyone and it was already late since everyone wanted to go over the plan and catch up. Han was eyeing our room in our borrowed house with slight disgust. It was about to be getting on my nerves, but after feeling of the mattress, I knew I was going to be whining too.

"Tired?" Han asked when I didn't move for a few minutes.

"Yeah." I said slowly. I still didn't know how he felt with me around his family.

"You did good today." He stated. Sometimes I hated how transparent I was to him.

"I need to learn to think before I speak." I answered honestly. Han snorted. "What?"

"That'll last two days at the most, then you'll be back to being a smartass. How did you even keep that up in the Yakuza?"

"Day three I told him that the route he had me on was nearly suicidal and he slapped me so hard I got knocked off my feet. Didn't speak after that." I said casually. Han started shifting his weight uncomfortably. "Oh, and by the way, Leo and Santos are not brothers and are definitely from the DR." I said to break the tension.

"What's the difference, they all speak Spanish." He grumbled. I sat up pretending to be offended.

"They all speak Spanish so they aren't different? Really? You Chinese people are so ignorant." I drawled. He pushed my bag onto the floor and leaned over me.

"Korean." He corrected. He put one hand beside me and lowered his head so our foreheads were almost touching. A smirk spread across my lips.

"What's the difference?" I said cockily. I leaned up and captured his lips.