Disclaimer: Apparently I should add a disclaimer because I noticed many people do. I totally own fast and the furious- just kidding. I don't. So, don't sue me. I don't have anything- even a job (still waiting to hear from Obama about that one). I've got like $10 and a dog and I'm willing to fight for the dog…happy reading, AJ

Dom figured it would be easier to ask Letty to use her car because Mia would probably flip out on him. In the end, he thought she would let him use it, but if he didn't have to go through all the bullshit it would be preferable. But, he definitely needed to use whichever car would be a sure win. If he was going to all this trouble he had better win. Somewhere mid conversation with Tran, Vince had decided to go back out and join the rest of the party. This was unusual because typically Vince didn't mind being involved in everyone else's business. He probably just knew how mad it would make Mia and didn't want to give her any other reason to reject him. He found Vince among the crowd that was starting to dwindle down slightly.

"Thanks," Dom said, handing Vince back his phone.

"Do I want to know?" Vince asked him.

"You probably do but I don't really want to tell you," Dom said smiling.

Vince just looked at him suspiciously and gave it a rest. Dom was very glad about that. He didn't feel like explaining and validating his actions. There really was no validation so he knew he'd have to make up some crap so that it would sound better than it was.

"Hey, who's car would be better in a race, Letty or Mia?" Dom asked, trying to move the conversation away from Johnny Tran before it even got started.

"You think Mia would let you race her car right now? You just got out, brother, she's not tryin' to get you locked back up," he said.

"That wasn't my question," Dom clarified. They both knew that it would take a lot of coaxing for Mia to agree to that.

"I think they'd both do fine. I'd go for Letty's to avoid the shit," he said.

"They had any work done on them since I've been gone," Dom asked.

"We added some, uh, special features," Vince said. Dom didn't really understand this description but figured it would suffice for now. Vince had been drinking for a while so unless Dom wanted an hour long play-by-play, he figured he would just leave it at that. Besides, Vince really liked cars and could work on cars at a fairly basic level, but the technical aspects were never really his forte.

"Alright. Well, now I just gotta go work on getting those keys," Dom said smiling and walking off towards Letty.

"Good luck," Vince said as he trailed off.

"Hey, baby," Dom said walking up to Letty and wrapping both his arms around her.

"Where'd you run off to?" she said, falling back into his arms and looking up at him.

"I was just on the phone," he said grabbing an unopened Corona from the cooler next to her and popping it open.

"Captain popular," she mocked.

"You know how it is. Listen," he started to say. He may as well get it out of the way. "You think I could use your car tonight?" He was trying to sound innocent. She just raised her eyebrows at him apprehensively. At this point, he really wished that his car was in racing condition. But, too much was riding on this race for him to take any chances. His car had received zero improvements in the past two years and probably wouldn't stand a chance against other racers.

"Where you goin'?" she asked. He could answer this in a couple of different ways. He could tell the truth, probably the best option but certainly the most difficult. He could make up some completely ridiculous story that she would probably not believe but would have bits and pieces of the truth spread out in it. Or, he could straight up lie. He could not decide which sounded like the best option at this moment.

"Um," he said and then hesitated.

"Um," she repeated skeptically. "No then," she said shaking her head. He knew she was smarter than that. She could tell that he was up to no good. She always could.

"Nah, it's just I was thinking about racing tonight. And, I know that your car is almost as hot as you are," he said. Yes, pouring on a bit of flattery never hurt a guy. With Letty, though, complimenting her car would probably get you further. But, he was rusty. He'd been in prison for two years.

She just started laughing. "You gotta be kidding me with that shit," she said, continuing to laugh.

Dom just shrugged.

"How about you just tell me what's going on and save both of us a lotta hassles," she said freeing herself from his embrace, not in a smug type of way but in a practical, conversational way.

"Alright, look, I just need a car to race tonight. I really want to race. It's been so long and it's just something I need. You can understand that, huh?" he said, really hoping she wouldn't ask him where he was getting the money to enter in a race. At this point, he was definitely telling her the truth. He needed the rush. He had been caged. But now the door was open and he was ready to fly again.

"Oh I can understand it. I just think it's a bad idea," she said looking him right in the eyes. She could always see right through him. He was transparent to her. He loved that. And, this was true, it was a bad idea. But, not nearly as bad of an idea as the second half of his evening's agenda.

"You're gonna come watch me though, right?" he asked putting his hands on her arms and looking back in her dark eyes. He loved the way that her pupils and retinas ran together to create the darkest and most mysterious eyes he had ever seen. He really had missed her.

"You need watching?" she laughed really just making fun of the fact that the girls always flocked to Dom after he won. Well, the girls always flocked to Dom anyway, but especially after he won. He knew that she would go.

"I need you," he said.

"I'll go. Can't miss a race," she said.

"Don't want to miss all those guys, huh?" he joked. He was never one to let too many guys get very close to Letty. At the races he kept a pretty close eye on what Letty was doing and who she was doing it with. He trusted her but he didn't trust any of the other characters there. And, he was pretty sure the scene hadn't changed much. Most of the guys there understood that Letty was his girl and were too scared of Dom to attempt to hit on her. But, he didn't want to take any chances.

"Shoot, I do it for the cars," she said. And, this was true also. Letty more preoccupied with the cars than with the guys. She always had been. Sometimes Dom wondered if they were together just because it was convenient and she was too engrossed in the cars at races to meet anyone else.

He just laughed.

"Where are you getting the money to race," she asked.

Shit, Dom thought. Alright, now he had to think pretty fast. Besides running a skeezy scam for Tran, where else could he get that kind of money?

"I'm actually borrowing it from Hector. So, I really hope I win," he completely lied. It was difficult for him to lie to Letty. He knew that he shouldn't. And when she inevitably found out the truth the situation would be much worse. He always regretted lying to Letty. It made him feel guilty. Their relationship was very honest and real. He knew that lying to her threatened the security they had. But, a quarter mile at a time- he would cross the bridge when he got to it.

She looked at him rather doubtfully. Then just asked, "Are you insulting my car?" She gave him a slight push. Granted, this push did not cause him to move at all but he thought it was cute.

"I would never. I don't want to get my ass beat," he joked. He knew that he was in the clear, for now at least, with Letty.

With all that behind him, Dom started to get pretty psyched up about the race. He couldn't wait to get back behind the wheel. He trusted his abilities enough to know that he wasn't rusty. He may have been unpracticed. But, to Dom, it was like riding a bike- a really, really fast illegal bike. There is no better kind. He decided it would be best if he stopped drinking, though. He also decided that it would be best not to tell Mia. She could just be…surprised.

TBC with a street race, stay tuned

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AJ