The Quarter Mile (Fast and Furious)

.26.

I sat myself on a stool in the garage as Dom finished finally repairs on his car. My hair hung down in its natural waves as I sipped on my water bottle waiting for him to tell me which or part to hand him next. I unbuttoned up my red flannel jacket over my white tank bodysuit and denim shorts. My car was already repaired because I didn't like waiting till the last minute.
"I want you to be careful out there on this job." He said after wiping the grease off his hands with a rag.
"You don't have to worry about me." I shrugged my shoulders as I took another sip of water, "I'll be fine."
"I saw the way Campos was looking at you."
I gave a slight scoff and rolled my eyes, "He isn't going to touch me."
"We wouldn't have to worry about him touching you if you would have stuck to the plan like we discussed."
"I did stick to the plan Dom." My eyes narrowed at him warningly. I really didn't want to get into this tonight.
"No you didn't Charlie, I told you to back down."
"I did back down, thank you very much." I began as I rose up from my seat. "You didn't see me blowing by your ass at the finish line, now did you." I cocked my head to the side before taking another drink. I set my water on a near by table and tide my flannel around my waist.
He gave a slight snort.
"Oh, don't give me that!" I huffed pointing a finger at him, "If it wasn't for Crash and Burn out there I'd have annihilated you at that finish line. Don't think I don't have the capabilities Dom. I did back down. At the halfway point I stalled my car so you could take the lead and win like we had discussed." My chest heaved up and down deeply.
"Yeah, and we discussed me and O'Connor getting jobs on the inside with Braga not you! But as usual you go rogue and do your own thing." His voice was getting louder and he was beginning to use more hand gestures, as he did when he was frustrated.
"Because...." I overemphasized while moving closer to his face. His current 6'3 frame hovering a good distance over my 5'8 figure. I was tall but not quite enough to get on his level. Especially when he wore his boots that gave him a three inch lift, like he was now.
"I'm not going to benched on the sidelines and wait around for you all to "maybe" discover what happened to Letty! I'm in this till the end Dom no matter the outcome. Letty was my family too."
"Why I don't want you involved in this also!" He hollered before chucking his rag to the side. He slammed the hood of the car closed.
"Oh, stop act like you're doing this to protect me. You need my help. And he's only going to slow us down." I gave a scoff before crossing my arms over my chest.
"Well like it or not Brians apart of this."
"Because you let him be!"
"I don't want any problems Charlie." He warned while pointing a finger at me, "We discussed this last night at the club, If you can't cooperate with him then you can damn well bet I'll bench you."
I held up my hands in the air in defense and partial sass, "Oh believe me we won't have any problems. Just as long as your boyfriend stays off my ass." My eyes glared at him hard as I flicked some of my hair over my shoulder. I turned around on my heels and grabbed my water bottle again.
"Hey! You better watch your mouth!"
"Or what?!" I sneered back intensely knowing very well he wasn't going to do anything. I held my arms our wide, "You wanna go?"
He scoffed again, "You always got to do things the hard way don't you."
"At least my way ensures we get out alive."
He raised a brow slightly, "And hows that Angel?" He asked as I took my final drink. I crushed the bottle in my hand and tossed it to the side.
"He's a cop Dom!" I gestured towards the direction of the house where Brian had been on the phone passing intel we learned too the police. "Cops lie. Word, Honor means nothing to them."
"Takes one to know one though, doesn't it?"
His words sent a tension to me.
"What?" I quipped defensively and curiously.
"You know what I'm talking about." He nodded as he took a few steps towards me, "Charlotte 'Valeria' Jadden. O'Conor wasn't the only one the FEDS sent out to investigate me now was it." He smirked slightly as his face hovered directly over mine. My mouth went slightly agape. I felt a mix of fear and pain as I gazed into his deep brown eyes.
"How long have you known?"
"From the beginning." He nodded before stroking a piece of hair back behind my ear, "I know everything that happens with this team Charlie."
"Bullshit." I raised a brow skeptically as I turned my head away from his touch.
"Bullshit nothing, I could smell that FBI propaganda all over you from the moment you came here."
"Oh Yeah bloodhound, well you sure did a good job at smelling it on him." My jaw clenched slightly as memories and familiar pains of the past flooded my mind.
"Yeah, well, he hid it better than you did. FBI also did a poor job at keeping your records and identity from being public."
I continue to look at him skeptically, crossing my arms over my chest defensively.
"I had deeper connections back then."
"So why not throw me out then huh?" I pointed out to the house again, "You tear me down and You give me all this shit for associating with him! And now your asking me to trust him.... You want me to believe that you knew who I was and still didn't cast me away. Nah! It's BS man."
He gave me a soft smile as he took another step closer, "I'm not asking you to trust him Charlie I'm asking you to trust me."
I looked away from him my arms still crossed over my chest. He reached his hand out and grabbed my chin lightly, turning my face towards him.
"It didn't bother me that you were with the FBI because I knew that wasn't who you are or where you belonged."
I swallowed the desire I had to start tearing up, "Do you think it's where Brian belongs?"
"I don't know." Dom shrugged lightly before brushing back more of my hair with his hans, "Guys full of surprises."
"Maybe, but he drives like shit."
Dom chuckled at my bluntness before becoming serious again, "You know everything I do is to protect us. So trust me on this....alright?"
"I do trust you."
"Then there's nothing for you to be afraid of."
"Yes there is." I mumbled underneath my breath not intending for him to hear me.
"He's not that bad of a guy." Dom said randomly. My eyes flickered up from the floor and too him disapprovingly.
"Don't give me that look. You know it's true. Past or not. Lot of things have changed."
"Nothings changed. Nothing between him and I has or ever will change. I don't want to talk about this right now."
"Oh, come on Angel."
"No Dom!" I held up my hand firmly, "I wont go through what I did again. Everything got torn apart because of me. If I had listen to Vince back then none of this would have happened."
"Hey, you don't ever blame yourself. You hear me." Tears began to form in my eyes as he looked at me sternly.
"I cant help it." I said through a breaking voice. He quickly pulled me in towards his chest. I hugged his neck tight. He lifted up off the ground with easy and set me back up onto the stool, "None of this is your fault, alright. It was inevitable. I was going to get caught sooner or later. And I'm not going back. We've made a deal. If they get Braga. We're free. The only reason why I respect Brian is because he's always been willing to put your safety, the team's safety first."
I gave a slight scoff, "Believe me. I'm sure he rather chugging booze or banging skimpy blondes like every other guy on the planet."
Dom gave a slight smirk, "You know damn well he didn't stay to hang with those girls."
"Like you were going too." I witted back in a snarky manner.
"That's not the point."
"Then what is Dom. Why are you trying to defend him all of sudden?"
"I'm not defending him. I've seen his eyes."
I furrowed my brows at him; confused as to where this was going.
"Like Campos said. You can tell a lot about a man by his eyes. And O'Connors, have only ever been on you."
I shook my head in disbelief ready to lay the sarcasm on thick in my rebuttal, "And this just makes you feel what all warm and fuzzy inside."
"No, but I like the idea of someone else being there to take care of you...if I'm not. We don't know how this is going to end Charlie."
"But you said they aren't taking you back?"
"They aren't but there's no guarantee that Braga and his team won't in the process."
I felt tears start to rise in my eyes again but I blinked them away.
"I've already lost Letty, Dom, I don't want to loose you too." He came a placed a hand on either side of the stool. I placed my hand on his exposed shoulders.
"I don't plan on leaving you but if something does happen to me, I want you to know that you'll be taken care of."
I quickly tossed my arms around his neck. He pulled me into a tight hug that lasted a few good long moments.
Suddenly, a noise came from the door of the garage. Dom turned around too look at Brian who was slowly walking in.
"Hey, I just was seeing if you needed a hand."
"Nah. Mines all finished." Dom nodded towards the car, "But we can get started on yours."
Brian nodded in agreement.
"I'll leave you guys too it then." I said casually as I got off the stool and walked towards the door, my gazing holding at the ground as I walked past Brian. I saw his eyes drift over me as I walked past him and could feel an anxious energy radiating off him. I figured I'd be of better use just finishing up some chores inside. More for my benefit than there's. I needed time to processing everything Dom just dropped on me.
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Okay, I really liked writing this chapter it was very natural and around half way through took a direction I wasn't planning or expecting. I love when you write sometimes and it's like the chapter and characters formulate themselves in front of you. 😁😁 Can't wait for y'all to see the events in the next one.
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-Nyx 🤍🖤