Ten minutes later, a frantic knocking echoed through the apartment.
Hunter opened the door to find a stunning young woman with long, flaxen hair standing in the hallway.
It was Mia.
Their eyes locked for a split second, heavy with emotion. Hunter opened his arms.
Without a word, Mia threw herself into his embrace.
"Hunter..."
"Please... you have to save Dom. He's in trouble!"
It was immediately apparent that the situation was dire. Mia wasn't one to break down easily, but the moment she saw him, she buried her face in his chest and began to sob quietly.
Hunter had always been weak to a woman's tears, especially when they came from someone as captivating as Mia. He gently patted her back, soothing her, and placed a soft kiss on her cheek.
"Easy now," he murmured warmly. "Don't worry. I'm here."
"What happened to your brother?"
"I've been busy job hunting lately. After I warned him last time, I haven't been keeping tabs on him."
Mia kept her face pressed against his chest. She was tall, over 1.7 meters, and in heels, she stood nearly eye-to-level with her brother Dom, who was 1.82 meters. But right now, she curled into Hunter, making herself feel small.
"Thank you."
Mia sniffled, rubbing her tear-streaked face against his shirt before finally looking up. Her large, amber eyes were filled with fear, anxiety, and the repressed joy of finally seeing him again.
Her eyes spoke volumes. Even Hunter, who wasn't exactly an expert on female psychology, could read the desperation and reliance in her gaze.
He tightened his embrace slightly.
The sudden pressure of his arms made Mia acutely aware of the raw power in the man holding her. As her head bumped against his solid, muscular chest, a wave of unprecedented security washed over her.
"Stop crying. You have me now," Hunter assured her. "Tell me everything."
Hearing his gentle voice, Mia's face flushed slightly. For a fleeting moment, her mind drifted back to that wild night over a month ago—the intensity she had felt then.
But she quickly pulled herself together. She knew why she was here.
"Hunter, it's Dom. He's been arrested."
Mia took a deep breath and spent the next few minutes recounting the chaos of the last few weeks.
It turned out that after Hunter had warned Dom over the phone about the FBI surveillance a month ago, Dom hadn't taken it seriously at first.
In fact, just days after the warning, Dom had instructed his girlfriend Letty and a few crew members to fence a batch of stolen electronics through their usual black market channels.
That was a mistake. Letty and the crew were immediately flagged by surveillance—either LAPD or FBI. Shortly after the goods hit the black market, a heavily armed police tactical unit raided several of the fencing shops. A fence who had worked with Dom for years was arrested, exposing part of their network.
A few days later, Hunter had met with Dom personally. He had reiterated the warning: The FBI is watching you.
Hunter had then made a deal with Dom, handing over the intel he had gathered on the undercover agent, Brian O'Conner.
At that time, Brian had already begun to suspect Dom's crew. He was trying to infiltrate their circle, targeting Mia as his entry point to find evidence that they were the highway hijackers terrorizing California.
Brian didn't know that his cover was already blown. Dom had the photos Hunter provided—photos of Brian entering and leaving the FBI building.
So, when Brian made his next move, Dom didn't welcome him into the "family."
Instead, Dom signaled one of his men to teach the "buster" a lesson.
To everyone's surprise, Brian lived up to his FBI training. He was skilled in hand-to-hand combat and managed to drop Dom's enforcer before calmly walking away.
Brian had assumed this display of strength would impress Dom. He thought it would earn him respect and a way into the inner circle, perhaps leading to a recruitment offer given his knowledge of cars and his job at The Racer's Edge parts shop.
He was wrong.
Dom used the fight as a pretext. He sent a group of men to corner Brian inside the parts shop. They beat him senseless.
They didn't stop there. Because the shop owner was suspected of cooperating with the FBI (or at least harboring a fed), Dom's men trashed the place, forcing the business to shut down temporarily.
This violent retaliation forced the FBI's hand.
There had been a faction within the Bureau that disagreed with Brian's deep-cover strategy from the start. They argued that waiting for Brian to gather evidence was a waste of time. They wanted to arrest Dom and his core crew on suspicion and interrogate them until they cracked.
After Brian was hospitalized and a cooperating business was destroyed, the hawks at the FBI won the argument.
The Los Angeles field office decided to stop playing games. They waited for an opportunity to strike.
That opportunity came last night.
Dom and his crew were participating in a major underground street race. Just as Dom's Charger was screaming toward the finish line, the trap sprung.
Dozens of police cruisers swarmed the area.
Dom and his crew, exhausted from the high-stakes race, were caught off guard. The FBI and LAPD had mobilized a massive task force, including several helicopters. There was no escape.
Aside from one lucky crew member who managed to slip away in the chaos, everyone was apprehended.
Dom and the others had been in custody for over twenty-four hours.
Mia knew exactly who her brother was. She knew he led the crew of highway hijackers that the California government and police were desperate to crucify.
Thanks to Hunter, she also knew the FBI had been building a case. She was terrified that this arrest was the end of the line. If the police connected Dom to the hijackings, he wouldn't just be facing a few years for street racing. He would be looking at decades in federal prison.
After a day of panic and helplessness, Mia had broken down.
And so, she had come to find Hunter.
Read ahead with 100+ chapters now with daily updates!
@patreon.com/Authorizz