Chapter Two

Dom was leaning towards the scantily clad blonde in front of him, fighting the impulse to say to her what was really on his mind. She had sauntered past the tent about five minutes ago, probably trying to catch some notice, but ended up grabbing Dom's attention instead.

He was repeating himself to the girl but he couldn't help it given the distraction a few feet away. Letty had just returned from smoking some asshole in a race. By the grin on her face, he was pretty sure she'd won a good amount of money off him for her trouble. He had been tracking her as she inched in line, waiting her turn, and a quick glance at the car her opponent was driving told him she'd have no problem dispatching him in the most embarrassing way possible. His girl had crazy skills; even on a bad day he'd bet everything he had on her against pretty much anyone. Whenever she won, he would hang back and enjoy the fact that, by her choice, this woman was all his.

She'd hate hearing that last part, probably. His fiery, independent lover wasn't about being anyone's object.

Letty walked towards the tent, not fast, not slow but confidently decked out in a pleasing combination of leather, sheer cotton and deliciously sweaty skin. She paused to acknowledge a friend of hers before continuing to walk towards the tent where all of their supplies and lounge furniture were set up.

When she leaned over to grab a beer, he paused and tripped a little over his words. Real smooth. But that's what the sight of her did to him, especially when he could stare at the curve of her body and let his mind wander about what he could do to her ... or what he had done only hours before. He'd been tense thinking about the job they were doing tonight. A long massage for his girl and a return of the favor hadn't done the trick like it usually did. In the end, though, she'd won him over and succeeded in taking his mind off their impending job and back onto pleasing her.

The memory instinctively elicited a smile. All the boobs and bitches he was surrounded by and Letty could stop him dead without even knowing it.

Turning his attention back to the blonde, he caught her smirking with humor as she watched him watching Letty. Now focused again on their conversation, he went seamlessly back into finishing what he had started when he'd pulled her aside.

He noted and then ignored Vince's return, seeing him flop down next to where Letty was enjoying her beer and contemplating the cars and drama surrounding them. His boy was likely to venture in and out of their area in the pursuit of as much pussy as he could manage in a day. Vince loved cars just like the rest of his crew but racing wasn't something he was ever that serious about. Having a fast ride and knowing what to do with it was more about the thrill and the girls and the crew for him.

Watching Vince slink away from another hookup amused him and made him wonder if his best friend would ever grow up. He was a dog even when he didn't have an occasion to go on the prowl; it was why he didn't want Vince anywhere near his little sister. But he got especially needy when he was nervous and they had a big job coming up tonight, probably the biggest of this whole damn crazy plan of theirs.

He didn't want to think about that right now though.

There'd be plenty of time to get ramped up and go over what they needed to do. For now, he needed to relax and, for him, that meant taking control and running the show like everyone expected of him, even out in the middle of nowhere at Race Wars.

Dom did his best to listen to what the woman in front of him was going on about, finally able to focus on her knowing that Vince and Letty would entertain themselves for a while. He was glad his best friend and his girl got along so well. Even when they ganged up against him, he could appreciate it for what it was. They were a lot alike, which was the source of a lot of their bickering. But they had also been friends a long time and were loyal. They were all a tight crew but when push comes to shove, Jesse and Leon were his boys. They'd back him up no matter what. Vince, on the other hand, had no qualms calling him out on his bullshit, especially when it came to Letty. It was his best friend that became his worst enemy when it involved treating Letty right, not that he had to test that very often. Vince wouldn't let any dude disrespect Letty, even his oldest friend. Dom had nothing but appreciation for that.

When he looked back over at his friends a few minutes later, he noticed a funny-looking dude had joined them, someone he'd never seen before, either at the street races or at Race Wars. Neither Letty nor Vince looked particularly on their guard, although Letty was clearly annoyed much to Vince's amusement.

Dom gave the guy a once-over: short, dreaded, no style and no game from the looks of his body language. It was clear now that his interest was squarely on Letty.

Oh, hell no.

Dom tensed. The woman in front of him followed his gaze and then laughed at him and raised a challenging eyebrow.

It's not that he felt threatened by anyone when it came to his relationship. It wasn't macho bullshit, or rather, it wasn't just macho bullshit. Most people had no idea what he and Letty had been through to be together and neither one of them was going to throw it away over anything petty. He may flirt and wind the girls up a little too hard for Letty's liking. She may run his life a little too much sometimes for his liking. But they were solid.

However, letting some asshole drool all over his girl was another matter. Dom realized he was a hypocrite about that with as much as he let the racer hoes fawn all over him. He didn't claim to be perfect.

Vince and Letty then exchanged amused glances over something the guy had said and Dom relaxed, but only slightly. Letty was clearly playing this dude. He found that sexier than he should have, probably. As the guy continued talking, Dom saw Vince crack up while Letty fumed next to him. It looked like this punk's luck with her had just run out.

He was well aware Letty could handle herself. And he knew this guy was pretty much harmless—not only could Letty kick his ass but Vince was right there to back her up. He really needed to finish what he'd started with the woman standing in front of him, laughing at his flared temper and soothingly stroking his shoulder.

But screw being rational about this shit. This was about a principle. It would not do to allow some asshole to talk up his girl, period, but especially not when he was only a few feet away.

Removing the woman's hand, he started stalking towards the group.

"Is there a problem here?"

The new guy was so focused on Letty that he hadn't even seen Dom approach. Letty and Vince knew what was up though and they were both failing miserably to hide their laughter.

TBC ...