Lala made her way outside with Brian, to find her crew moving towards the two new cars provided by customs. She had her fingers crossed that Jimmy could figure out some way to get them off of her boys' asses long enough to form a backup plan.
"It's so hot and humid, I can't even wear drawers." Rome overshared while they walked. He definitely had a point though so Lala unzipped the hoodie that had been covering her bathing suit.
"Tell me about it." Brian's eyes glazed over her body and landed on her chest with a ghost of a smirk on his lips. "Yo Jimmy, you ever seen anything like this before?"
Lala came up next to Jimmy and looked under the hood. It was nothing like she's ever seen before which wasn't good because if she's never seen it then neither has Jimmy.
"No. Both of them are wired like I never seen before." He locked eyes with Lala who closed hers in irritation. He leaned over and whispered to her, "Vi, these are hot hot."
"They got us wired with GPS." Brian spoke shortly.
Lala stood up and turned to them. "That's why Markham and them knew y'all were at the impound lot."
"You the Master Mechanic. Can't you just yank that shit out?" Rome questions Jimmy then looks at Lala. "You know everything possible about engines - can't you?"
She simply shook her head at them and pulled Rome off to the side while Jimmy explains the engine to Brian. "Even I can't figure it out, they put a bunch of decoy wires under there it would take days for me to find the right shit without tipping them off." She spoke lowly to him and he ran a hand over his head.
"So they're tryna screw us over? I ain't going back in there, Lo. It ain't happening." Rome spat out in stubbornness as Tej, joined by Suki, questioned Brian about the cars.
"You're not." She insisted and stepped back over to the others.
Suki mused over the cars in excitement. "They're hot."
"Hey they hot, wired so hot that anyone tracking them knows if you wear your seat belt." Jimmy condescended Suki's compliment with a huff. They were so screwed.
"Just do what you can do, bro." Brian shook hands with Jimmy.
Jimmy nodded and Lala cut in. "Whatever you can do, JJ. Even if it's not much." She pat his back encouragingly.
"I got you." He smiled at them and went back to the hood of the car. Lala ran a hand through her hair and sighed lightly. Brian wrapped his arm around her waist and guided her over to Rome. He moved to stand behind her with his arms around her torso.
"Check it out, see that Cadillac across the street?" He motioned with his eyes, the other two took notice of the car - immediately recognizing it. "They've been on us since we left Verone's house."
Lala rolled her eyes, "I can get rid of them." She started to pull away but Rome cut her off.
"Nah, girl. I got this one." Rome stated shortly and walked away to the garage. He emerged seconds later with a rag and spray bottle. "Pull the car up."
Brian grinned and pulled her over to the car before helping her in. He hopped in himself and pulled out to where Rome was harassing Carter's men.
"Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!" Brian shouted out to Rome after they witnessed him setting their car on fire.
"Oh shit..." Lala climbed over onto the center console as Rome hopped in. He put his arm across her lap as Brian took off to keep her in place. "You're fucking crazy, Pearce."
"Not as crazy as white boy over here." He joked and she laughed, shaking her head.
-
Soon enough they pulled up to the abandoned building that was being used as a meetup spot with Bilkins and Markham. Brian turned to Lala and gave her a stern look.
"Baby, stay here." He kissed her quickly before climbing out of the car. Him and Rome walked inside, leaving her bored out of her mind.
She tapped her fingers on the dashboard and after about five minutes decided to just go inside to meet up with them. Lala was involved so she figured it was completely fucking useless for her to sit on her ass while they were talking about the case.
Lala walked into the building just as Rome was bringing up Monica and Carter's relationship. He had a point though because there was no way they weren't sleeping together.
"Glad you decided to join us, Miss Violet." Markham stated before turning to Rome, "That is crap."
Brian looked over at Lala in slight annoyance that she didn't stay put, yet again. Lala on the other hand kept a solid glare on Markham. Why the fuck did he keep calling her Violet? Her name has always been Lolita.
"What you talking about? We know what we seen." Rome sassed back at him. Lala set a hand on her hip and cleared her throat.
"There's definitely something happening there, I know dirty when I see it fellas." She defended his accusations with confidence. Her eyes caught Brian's already looking at her with nothing but guilt in them.
"What do you think, O'Conner? You think she's compromised? You should know." He spat out begrudgingly at Brian and Lala stepped slightly in front of him.
Sure, Brian fucked up but he knew that already. She didn't much care for this Markham guy continuously putting him in the position of being a bad guy. It was bullshit.
The atmosphere shifted as Rome spoke up. "What does that mean?"
"Nothing. Dro-." Lala interrupted quickly only to get cut off rudely.
"Your pal O'Conner didn't tell you? He flipped on Bilkins in L.A. He gave his mark his car keys and let him disappear. Including leaving out vital information that would have his little girlfriend here in jail." Markham motioned to Lala with distaste causing Brian's jaw to clench in anger. He balled his hand into a fist and Lala set her hand over it.
"Just keep an eye on her, you absolute jackass." Lala glared at them and motioned for Rome to get up so they could head out.
"We're out of here." Brian stated sharply before leading them out of the building. Both him and Lala hoped that they wouldn't have to hear about this from Rome but that'd be a false hope.
Rome silently seethed in confusion and irritation. "Let your man go?"
Brian gritted his teeth from the other side of Lala. "Drop it, I don't wanna talk about it."
Lala nodded in agreement with his statement, "Ro, there's a time and place but this isn't it. Let's just drop it."
He shook his head and gave her a look before turning his attention to Brian. "Drop it? Hell, I want to hear about this, homey."
"I said forget about it, cuz." Brian sneered out and Lala rolled her eyes at his slang. He was one that could adapt to his surroundings without issue but sometimes he sounded straight up goofy to her.
She stopped and leaned against the passenger door with a sigh. "So let's go over everything real quick. We got Monica in bed with Carter, Markham trying sure as shit to blow y'all's cover, and we're stuck with two wired cars."
Rome nodded, "ones that are no better than that ankle bracelet of mine. I'll tell you bruh, you let Markham do that again in front of Verone...that'll be our asses!"
"I know man, it's getting thick real quick. We need a way out, gotta come up with an exit strategy." Brian rubbed his hands against Lala's hoodie.
"Exit strategy?" Rome questioned while Lala furrowed her brows at his words. Brian nodded and grinned at them. "I like the way that sounds, what you got in mind?"
Lala's phone buzzed in her pocket and she pulled it out, internally groaning at the message. She unintentionally blocked the rest of their conversation out.
'need u @ carters - m'
"You game, 'lita?" Brian's nudge snapped her out of her distraction. "We need you if we're gonna beat these guys."
"I can't join y'all tonight. Monica needs me at Verone's." She handed him the phone with an exaggerated frown. "I'll gladly give y'all some pointers first."
-
Lala drove her newfound baby, Dom's old red 1993 Mazda RX-7, into the garage at Carter's estate. She didn't have a good feeling about the random message to join at his home from Monica but she needed to build their rapport before it was too late. She climbed out of the car and looked around before spotting Monica by the entrance.
"Hey, V. I need your help getting ready for the club." Monica greeted and Lala had to fight rolling her eyes. This is why she called me here? She thought to herself. To help her get ready for Carter's stupid club?
"Show me the options." She forced a smile on her face and followed Monica inside. As they walked she scanned the halls and rooms around her, anything that she could snag she would. Her hand traced along the dresser inside the bedroom. It was a rich oak material and cold to the touch - very fitting for Carter Verone.
Monica pulled out a few different dress options and hung them on the lounge chair in the corner of the room. "There's one for you that Carter insists on you wearing. I tried to find something...less revealing but he wouldn't budge."
The thought of Carter Verone picking out her dress made her stomach churn with disgust. The audacity that he had to insist on what she wore was somehow worse than his looks this morning. Her skin crawled and she wanted nothing more than to be back at the garage with Brian.
Monica held up her own dress options and raised a brow at her. "Well?"
"This one for sure." Lala pointed out the dress on the right and smiled, a genuine one this time. "I'll do your hair for you."
An excited laugh left her mouth. Monica hasn't had any girl friends or friends in general while working this case. She was happy to have somebody that's on her side for once.
"I'll be right back, yours is the black one over there get changed." Monica grabbed her dress and rushed out of the room.
Lala looked at the little black dress and bit her lip. She hadn't dressed up much since she had Leticia. Wearing a bathing suit versus dressing up for a club were two different wavelengths in her mind. She quickly got out of the shorts and bathing suit she'd worn this afternoon and pulled the dress on.
Almost instantly she felt a surge of confidence power through her body. Smiling to herself, she fixed up her hair in the mirror and beamed at her reflection. Monica re-entered the room in her chosen dress and a makeup back.
"You look stunning!" Monica complimented her while setting everything on the vanity. Lala turned and did a pose for her.
"B is going to lose his mind when he sees me." She gushes as Monica sits down and plugs in the curling iron.
"So you and Brian? Are you two serious?" Monica inquires while brushing out her hair. The question caught Lala off guard for a second, most people knew not to question their relationship.
She nodded and sprayed her hair, "yeah, kinda. We have a long history and we're working on fixing what was broken between us."
"I've heard stories about him from Markham and Bilkins. Is it true that he let Dominic Toretto and his crew of rejects go?" Monica asked while Lala started the curls in her hair.
"I wouldn't word it exactly like that but yes, he did let him go and the crew wasn't caught either." She spoke lightly while curling.
Monica laughed drily, "I can't imagine how far you have to fall in order to let your mark go. Must've been a girl."
She rolled her eyes at the remark. "I don't think that's what it was. I think it was a moral obligation."
"Nah. It was definitely a girl, hate to break it to you but guys like Brian O'Conner will always let a girl between him and his goal." Monica tapped her arm reassuringly. "Look at it this way at least you know he'd chose you over the job. Right?"
Lala remained silent while Monica babbled away with her word vomit. Her mind wandered off while finishing Monica's hair for her. For the remainder of getting ready, she gave short answers and pivoted away from Brian as a subject.
An hour or so later, one of Carter's men came to collect the girls, Lala swiped lipstick on her lips and grabbed her bag. She shot a quick text to Brian letting him know they were heading over to the club.
As much as she didn't want to admit it - Monica was right about Brian. He was the type of guy to let a girl in between him and the job. He did it with her, Mia, and now it looks like he's doing it with Monica as well.
All she could do was hope that he wouldn't find a way to inevitably push new boundaries yet again. She loved him with everything in her and nothing would make her question his loyalty to her. Or at least that's what she thought until Monica opened that floodgate in her mind.