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Chapter 43-Rude Awakening

Vince's POV

We drove back to the house in a comfortable silence. Sasha's car was parked in the driveway.

"You gonna talk to her?" Jayden asked.

"What's the point? It's not like she'll listen to me," I replied, shutting the car off.

"It's worth a try," she responded, getting out of the car.

I sighed and followed suit. When we entered the house, Sasha was sitting in the floor, changing Desmond's diaper. Jayden greeted them both, then walked to the stairs. I tossed my keys on the coffee table.

"What'd the doctor say?" I said, trying to make conversation.

"He's as healthy as can be," she replied, picking him up from the floor. I nodded and took a seat on the couch behind her.

"You hungry?" I was dieing to get back in her good graces. I know the things I did were unforgivable but I was hoping she'd let me try to make it up to her.

"Already ate, but you can feed Desmond," she replied, handing me Dez. I took him willingly.

"Daddy," he said, smiling at me. That made me smile wide.

"Hey kid," I replied, grabbing his diaper bag from the floor. I followed Sasha into the kitchen. I sat Desmond in his baby seat and pulled out jars of baby food from the fridge. Sasha made herself a drink.

"How you feeling?" I asked her.

"Well lets see. I was cheated on, smacked, and completely humiliated by my husband. How the hell do you think I feel?" she snapped, shifting all her weight to one leg.

"I deserved that," I responded, putting the spoonful of carrots in Desmond's mouth.

"That's not even half of what you deserve," she said with so much venom in her voice.

"Give it a break already Sasha!" I yelled back. I was tired of this shit.

"Give what a break Vince? You didn't give me a break. Not once," she replied, gulping down the rest of her apple cider juice.

"Look, I'm sorry for hitting you okay," I said, trying to calm myself.

"But you're not sorry for cheating on me? You're one selfish bastard Vincent," she replied, stomping out of the kitchen. I sighed heavily and continued feeding Desmond.

xxx

No POV

On the other side of town, Dom was in the office of the garage trying to figure out the books. Balancing the books was usually Mia's job, but she was at the hospital, a long with Senia, feeling in for a co-worker. The garage didn't have much service, considering it was a Tuesday. Not many cars came in on Tuesdays. In the garage, Letty and Leon were arguing over something on a car. Roman and Brian were talking amongst each other in the back. Probably about Carter being released from prison sometime next week. Lillian was over in the store with Diana. Dominic gave both Sasha and Vince the day off, considering they hadn't really been in the working mood lately. The kids were all at the park with Uncle Jesse and Cousin Jessica.

"Hey Letty!" Dominic called from the office. A pissed off Letty entered the room. He only shook his head. "Wanna get away from Leon for a while?" he smiled, hopeful she'd agree.

"If you're referring to me doing the books, then no," she responded, walking back out the office.

"Letty please!" he yelled again, standing from the table. She walked slowly back into the room. Dominic smiled at her with begging eyes.

She caved and walked back into the room, shutting the door behind her. He grabbed her by the waist and slammed her down on the desk in the office. She smiled seductively and wrapped her arms around his neck. He crushed her lips with his, darting his tongue in and out of her mouth. She moaned inwardly, wrapping her legs tighter around his waist. Dom unbuttoned Letty's work shirt, all the while, keeping the kiss passionate. She grabbed the hem of his wife beater and yanked the top off. She ran her fingers down his chest, momentarily pausing on his hard rock abs. Dom planted kisses down Letty's neck, giving most attention to right below her ear; the spot he knew made her weak. She let out a moan, which caused Dom to groan in response. Dominic continued his journey down her chest, licking and nibbling at her breasts. Letty moved her hands down to the button of Dominic's pants, undoing it. As soon as she got the zipper undone, there was a knock at the office door.

"Ignore it," Dominic whispered as he traced his tongue down the middle of her belly, something he knew she loved.

The knocking continued.

Dom continued kissing and licking, until he got her to pants, where he paused to unzip them. The knocking got louder. Letty huffed and pushed Dom in the chair behind him and jumped off the table. She tossed on her shirt, not bothering to button it back up. She stomped to the door and flung it open.

"The fuck do you-" she yelled until she noticed who was standing there. "Hey Jayden, what's up?"

"Sorry to interrupt. We just got here and there's some drama next door," she said, turning a deep red in the face.

Dom groaned and stormed out the garage, Letty and Jayden hot on his heels. He walked out the building and looked over at the garage. There were a group of girls and several boys screaming at Chrystal. Dom walked over to where she was standing and tossed an arm around her shoulder.

"What's the problem?" he growled at the group of people.

"Back off asshole. This doesn't concern you," one of the boys screamed.

"Well it concerns Chrys, so yes, it concerns me. And him," Dominic pointed to Vince, "and those three," he pointed to Leon, Brian, and Roman, who was holding a wrench in his hand.

"Sorry Toretto, this isn't your fight. Your girl's causing a lot of trouble around with my crew," another guy, who seemed to be the leader, stepped up. He was tall and had spiky hair. He looked to be Asian.

"Like what?" Dominic said, tilting his head to the side.

"I stole her car," Chrystal said proudly, pointing to another girl.

"Why'd you still her car? And where is it now?" Dominic asked, turning his glance on Chrystal.

"'Cause she was talking shit about you guys. Said you guys are washed up racers and couldn't touch them in the race world now. I got sick of it. Stole her car and smashed it up. It's somewhere on the other side of town," Chrystal said, a smirk on her face.

"You guys race huh?" Dom asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We're the best around. Better than you guys would ever be," the leader said, causing his friends to laugh. The whole Toretto Team mocked them, making them stop immediately.

"Real funny. How much you wanna bet we can beat you?" Rome asked, juggling the wrench from hand to hand. Just like Rome to get us in some shit, Brian thought.

"Better yet, how much you wanna bet SHE can beat you?" Sasha said, pointing to Chrystal.

"How 'bout you bet your precious little girls? I can find something more constructive to use with those little mouths of theirs," the leader said, his crew laughing.

"How 'bout you toss up some cash?" Letty said, approaching the group.

"Okay. Five grand, and your girls. Friday night at the warehouses," one of the boys said.

"Deal," Dominic said instantly. "Now get off my property before I kick your ass," he growled. The group had one last laugh before jumping into their cars and pulling off.

"Dominic, what the hell did you just do? Can you even race?" Brian yelled.

"Hell yeah she can race. This girl can probably beat Vince," Sasha said, glaring at him. He snorted and stormed into the garage.

At that moment, Ricky's Focus zoomed up to the store. The car was barely stopped before she jumped out.

"Lily called me. Chrystal what'd you do this time?" Ricky was pissed.

"Calm down, your sis just got us back into the game," Leon said, smiling.

"What do you mean?"

"Dom just bet her and Jayden in a race. Chrystal's racing," Brian said, turning on his heels and walking back into the garage.

"YOU DID WHAT?!" she yelled, getting in Dom's face.

"Look, she made the trouble, she's gonna get herself out of it. I applaud her for taking up for us, but we settle things on the blacktop here," Dominic said, backing up from the angry woman in front of him.

"Dominic you can't bet my fucking sister in a race! Especially one you're not in!"

"Hey, it wasn't my idea that she race, it was your girl's. You talk to her," Dominic said, pointing to Sasha. Everyone returned to their places, except Chrystal, Jayden, Sasha, and Ricky, who were still outside of the store.

"What the fuck Sasha? How could you do that?" Ricky screamed. It wasn't often that she was pissed, so when she was, it was intimidating.

"Look, your sister can race and you know it," Sasha replied, walking over to the store. The girls followed.

"She doesn't have a license, a car, and she's on probation as it is!"

"Look, half of the racers in this city don't have licenses. And she can race my car," Sasha said, nudging Chrystal.

"No fucking way!" she yelled in excitement. Ricky smacked her in the back of the head.

"I don't know about that Sasha. What if she loses?" Ricky asked.

"She ain't gonna lose. I'll train her some more this week. The race isn't until Friday. Just trust me alright?" Sasha unfastened Desmond out of carrier.

xxx

In Miami,

"Carter Verone, it's your lucky day," a guard at the Florida Department of Corrections Facility yelled.

Carter stood from his cell and fixed his suit on his body. He checked his reddish-brown hair and goatee and stood by the opening cell door. He followed the guard around to the lobby of the prison to collect his belongings. He received his things and jumped into a prison truck. The truck drove several hundred feet to the gate that would be holding his freedom. He jumped out the truck and nodded to the guard. Waiting for him across the street was a Rolls Royce Silver Seraph. Standing by the car was Enrique and Roberto in their usual Hawaii-type button up shirts and khakis.

"Good to see you again Mr. Verone," Enrique said, opening the back door for him.

"It's been a long time Enrique. How's the house Roberto?" He asked, fixing his suit before sliding in the car.

"Well the cops trashed it after you were arrested sir. But we got a few guys to clean it up," Roberto replied.

"We do have a little problem though boss," Enrique said, as they pulled off from the prison.

"What is that?" Carter said, wearing his usual smirk.

"It's Ralph. He and Jeremy got in with some kid and tried to take over. The kid's former team came in and caused us some problems," Roberto explained.

"Oh yeah, and where are Jeremy and Ralph now?"

"Ralph is on the run and Jeremy's dead. This kid and his crew started a lot of shit. I think O'Conner and his loud mouth friend were involved," Enrique informed as they pulled up to Carter's mansion.

"Well we'll deal with that later. Get me some information on this kid. Their in for a rude awakening," Carter said, entering the mansion.

xxx

"Why'd you make that comment back there?" Vince asked Sasha as he passed her in the kitchen.

After the incident at the store, everyone was pretty much on edge. Dom and Letty because of the sexual tension; Ricky because of her sister racing; Brian because of Carter; Jayden was on edge because of Chrystal racing too. Everyone just needed a break.

"What comment Vince," she said exasperatedly, feeding Desmond some baby food.

"You know what I'm talking about. Why can't you just let me talk to you for two seconds without you resorting to being a smart ass?" he asked, leaning on the counter across from her.

"Talk Vince, I'm all ears," Sasha said, tossing the empty jar in the trash. Vince took a seat on the stool across from her.

"Okay. Look, I know I fucked up big. I never meant to hurt you. You know, hell everyone knows, I'd never EVER put my hands on you. That, I'm truly sorry for. I don't know what I was thinking," Vince started, struggling to find words to explain how truly sorry he was. Sasha sat up, finally intent on listening to what he had to say. "Here's how the whole thing went down: when we got to Mississippi, we stopped at this fancy hotel. It had a bar, pool, poker, movies, the works. After everyone went to bed, I went down to the bar to think. I just wanted to have some drinks because I was miserable. I missed you and Desmond so much. I was so worried when you called me. Why do you think I asked you that if everything was fine with us? I was so fucking scared Sash," he said, his voice stricken with pain. Sasha furrowed her brows, trying to let everything he was saying sink in.

"I met this woman at a bar. Now I had to intention on doing anything with her. She was having marriage problems also. Her husband was beating her. We were just talking. I don't even know how I could do that to you Sasha. I care about you more than anything and you know that. I would never think of hurting you. I was drunk, and I know that's not excuse, but I would never do that to you. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," he finished, two tears falling from both his eyes.

"Why do we do this to each other V? Why do we have to be so stubborn?" Sasha asked, tears forming in her eyes.

"It's our way of loving. We're the only ones who know how to tame each other," he said, a smiling curling on his face. She couldn't help but smile.

"C'mere," she said, nodding to her. Vince nearly bolted off the stool and over to her, hugging her tightly.

"I'm so sorry. I love you so much," he whispered in her ear, tears still falling from his eyes.

"I know V. I love you too," she pulled back, wiping the tears from her eyes. Vince smiled and picked Desmond up, spinning him around in the air. "Look, just because I forgave you, doesn't mean this is forgotten. It'll take a while to win my trust back Vince," she said in a matter of fact tone. Vince smiled and nodded, but frowned when he felt something warm on his shoulder. "Oh yeah, you shoulder never spin a baby after he's done eating. Have fun cleaning that up," she laughed, pointing at the throw up on Vince's shoulder. Vince grunted and sat Desmond back on the counter top.