Chapter Seventy

**

�You gonna stick by me?�

�Maybe�.�

**

�Where the hell are we going now?� Letty asked as I pulled onto the freeway, still headed the opposite direction from home.

She was still annoyed with me�obviously. Couldn�t really blame her - I knew she�d been wanting to get revenge on Julie for a long time, and I�d just taken all of that away from her. Still, though, I didn�t regret the truce with Johnny. If we didn�t put a stop to everything right then, I knew it would just keep escalating� I knew the Tran family wouldn�t hesitate to press charges against us�and the last thing I needed was Letty in jail. I don�t think I could handle that.

�You�ll see,� I said softly, looking over at her.

�Fine,� she huffed, pulling away from me slightly.

I had to keep myself from laughing. Letty was so upset that she wouldn�t be able to go after Julie, she hadn�t even realized what it all really meant.

Eventually, she fell asleep again.

I didn�t wake her up right when we got to the pier, just sat there watching her sleep until she stretched, turned towards me and opened her eyes.

�Hey,� I said lowly, �you okay? You�ve been sleeping a lot lately��

�Yeah,� Letty answered, running her hands through her hair as she sat up. �I�m fine. Just tired, you know?�

I nodded. I�d been tired too - hell, all of us were. We needed a break�something to get away from it all and just chill for a while. I was thinking of taking the team down to Mexico as soon as Letty was done with school�Cozumel or Cancun or Puerto Vallarta�some crazy resort town. Or maybe even some sleepy little village no one�d ever heard of. But that would have to wait�

�Where are�� Letty started before interrupting herself. �Dom!� she went on after a minute, �this is Santa Monica!�

�Yeah,� I said, grinning at her, �it is.�

�What are we doing in Santa Monica?� she asked, a shocked look still on her face.

�Well,� I said, laughing a little, �I remembered how you always used to beg to come here, so� Thought we could use some fun time.�

Letty grinned at me, and quickly leaned over to kiss me before jumping out of the car. �I am so going to kick your ass at skee ball!� she shouted over her shoulder as she headed towards the pier.

By the time I caught up with Letty, she was feeding money into one of the change machines in the arcade.

�Hey,� she said, still focusing on the machine, �you got any dollar bills? I only had a few��

�Yeah,� I said, reaching into my wallet, �I�m pretty sure I do�or a five, at least��

Smiling to myself, I stepped behind Letty and reached around her to put the money into the machine, stopping to kiss her neck first. She leaned back into me for half a second, and then stiffened up.

�Dom!� she hissed, �What do you think you�re doing? I mean�I know we�re in Santa Monica and all, and it�s not very likely that anyone Johnny knows would see us out here, but��

�Let,� I shushed her, bending down a little to pick the quarters up out of the machine and dump them into her front pockets, �it�s okay��

�Okay?� she said, turning around to look at me.

�Letty,� I laughed, �you still don�t get it, do you? It�s over�we don�t have to worry about Johnny any more. The paternity test came back, and there�s no way in hell I could be the father of that kid��

�Well, I knew that!� Letty protested.

�I know,� I said, still laughing. �But now we have proof. Proof that�s good enough for the courts, proof that�ll stand up against anything else Julie tries to pull� Johnny�s not gonna be trying to come after us anymore, I don�t have to worry about him trying to hurt you or anyone else I love�.�

Letty just looked at me blankly, like she was still trying to process everything I�d told her.

�We don�t have to hide anymore, baby,� I said, leaning down to kiss her neck again. �We don�t have to pretend we�re not together,� I continued, whispering into her ear as she shivered beneath me. �I can kiss you,� I said, pausing to do just that, �without having to worry about who�s watching��

�We� We don�t have to stay home all the time? We can go out and actually do things together? I don�t have to just sit there and watch while all the sluts at the races throw themselves at you?� Letty asked, breaking into a smile.

�Yep,� I nodded, grinning back at her.

�Dom!� she squealed, jumping into my arms, wrapping her legs around my waist and kissing me.

�C�mon,� I laughed, when she finally broke the kiss, �we don�t want to get thrown out of here this quick, do we?�

�Nah,� Letty said, leaning against me, �after all, I still have to beat you at skee ball��