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In the warehouse, they were waiting for Roman and Tej to arrive, and Dom felt tension building in his chest. He stood near the makeshift table where they'd spread out maps and photos, watching Brian talk with Han and Gisele. The kid - Dom still thought of him that way sometimes, even though Brian had proven himself a hundred times over - looked calm, but Dom could tell he was eager for his friends to arrive.
It wasn't like he thought Brian would disappear from his life if he looked away for five seconds. He had thought that before, but not anymore. Brian was part of the family.
Even if Brian had another family before.
They heard noise outside, and Brian turned toward the door, that familiar grin lighting up his face. "Rome, Tej! So good to see you again!"
There was something in his voice Dom had never heard before. Pure, simple joy at seeing an old friend. Dom's chest tightened, and he tried to keep his face neutral.
These were strangers who weren't strangers at all.
The first man, Tej, was all easy smiles and relaxed confidence. He grabbed Brian's hand and pulled him into a brief hug. "Couldn't let you have all the fun without us. Besides, Roman wouldn't shut up about it once you called."
Dom stepped forward as Tej turned toward him. This part was easy. This part made sense. Tej held out his hand, and Dom took it, reading the man's character in his grip and the directness of his look. Solid. Someone he could trust. Someone who understood how serious this job was.
"Dominic Toretto," Dom said.
"Tej Parker. Heard a lot about you."
"All good, I hope."
Tej's grin widened. "Mostly."
But then Brian was moving past them, reaching for the second man, and Dom felt the world narrow to a single point of focus.
Roman Pearce was everything Dom had expected and nothing like he'd prepared for. Smooth in the way that came from years of talking his way out of trouble, with the kind of easy confidence that made people want to trust him. When Brian grabbed him in a hug that lasted a beat too long, Roman laughed - a rich, genuine sound that spoke of shared history and inside jokes and a thousand moments Dom would never be part of.
"Look at you," Roman said, holding Brian at arm's length. "Still getting yourself into impossible situations."
"Nah, impossible situations find me. I'm innocent," Brian joked back, and the way Roman bumped his shoulder meant there was something private in that, old memories.
Because Roman was Brian's oldest friend, the one who'd been there through everything - childhood, juvenile detention, the early days when Brian was still figuring out who he wanted to be. The one who knew stories about Brian that Dom would never hear, who had a claim on Brian's loyalty that came before everything Dom thought they'd built together.
They were grinning at each other like they were kids again, and Dom felt something cold and sharp twist in his stomach. He trusted Brian not to leave - but he didn't trust anyone else not to take Brian away from him.
The way Brian's shoulders relaxed, the easy smile that crossed his face when Roman said something that made him laugh. Brian had this way of making people feel like they mattered, like they were part of something bigger. It was one of the things that had drawn Dom to him in the first place - not that he'd ever said it out loud. The way Brian's whole body seemed to come alive when he was happy, the way his eyes lit up like nothing else in the world mattered.
They'd been through too much together for Dom to pretend Brian was just another member of the team. Somewhere between that first day at the Toretto house and the moment Brian had helped free him from that prison transport, things had changed. And now... Dom couldn't say exactly when it happened, but Brian had become essential. Not just to the jobs they pulled, but to the space Dom lived in every day.
Brian turned, still smiling, and gestured toward Dom and Mia. "Roman, this is my family. Dom and Mia Toretto."
Family. The word should have been enough. Should have settled the worry clawing at Dom's ribs. But Roman's eyes landed on Dom with the calculating look of someone sizing up potential competition.
Or maybe Dom was seeing things that weren't there.
Dom didn't hold out his hand. Didn't step forward. Just met Roman's gaze with the kind of steady, unblinking stare that had made better men than Roman Pearce think twice about pushing their luck. Seconds passed in silence.
"So you're the famous Dom," Roman said, and there was something in his tone - not disrespect, exactly, but a kind of casual evaluation that set Dom's teeth on edge. "Brian's told me all about you."
"Has he." It wasn't a question.
Roman's smile sharpened slightly, like he'd caught the edge in Dom's voice. "Oh yeah. Can't shut up about the great Dominic Toretto."
"Roman's solid," Brian said, missing the storm building behind Dom's eyes. "If anyone can handle themselves in a situation like this, it's him." Brian's excitement was infectious - except Dom felt like he was watching from behind glass, everything slightly muted and distant. "Having both of them here... it changes everything. We might actually have a shot at pulling this off."
Dom nodded because it was expected, but his mind was elsewhere. He'd always known Brian had a life before the Toretto family, before the races and the jobs and the late nights talking over beer in Dom's garage. But knowing it and being faced with it were different things entirely.
Brian clapped Roman on the shoulder. "Come on, we've got a lot to go over."
As they moved toward the tables, Tej fell into step beside Mia, already asking questions about the job and their timeline. But Roman stayed back, just long enough to catch Dom's attention again.
"You know," Roman said, voice pitched low enough that only Dom could hear, "Brian never stays in one place for long. Always looking for something else, always looking for the next thrill. I hope your family thing isn't too boring, or he might get restless, you know?" His smile was all teeth before he followed Brian with the easy confidence of someone who'd never doubted his place in Brian's life - even though Dom knew about Roman's arrest and how he'd blamed Brian for it.
Maybe Dom was being paranoid.
Jealous.
But he stood there for a long moment, the heat pressing against his back and something much hotter burning in his chest. When he finally moved to follow the others, his jaw was set and his hands were steady, but inside, he was already planning.
Roman Pearce might be Brian's oldest friend. He might know stories Dom would never hear and have claims Dom couldn't challenge. But this was Dom's territory now. This was his family, his job, his responsibility to keep them all alive.
And if Roman thought he could walk in and stake some kind of claim on Brian - well, he was about to learn exactly why people called Dom's crew family and not just friends.
The look Dom had given Roman in those few seconds of silence had said everything that needed saying. You're here because Brian wants you here. But make no mistake about who he belongs with.
Whether Roman had understood the message remained to be seen. But as Dom joined the crew for the planning session, he was already certain of one thing: he wasn't going to let anyone - not Reyes, not Hobbs, and definitely not Roman Pearce - take away the only thing that mattered more to him than family loyalty.
He wasn't going to lose Brian. Not to prison, not to bullets, and not to old friendships.
Not without a fight.
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END