The room hung heavy with silence. Dominic's jaw flexed, rage simmering beneath the surface — a pressure building with nowhere to go. Across from him, Arthur and Ghost read the tension like a live wire ready to snap.
Dominic hated betrayal. The quiet between him and the others wasn't peace — it was the kind of stillness before a storm. His hands shifted behind his back, knuckles whitening.
Arthur caught the motion, his tone low and calm. "Hold," he murmured to Ghost, the slightest hand signal to stand down. He knew that expression — Dominic looked blank on the outside, but inside, the fuse was already lit.
All it would take now was a spark.
Don't move, Han told himself, eyes cutting to Gisele. Stay measured. Read angles. Exit left, pillar cover, three-count—
Arthur took a slow step forward. "I can promise you this," he said evenly. "Within a year, your records are wiped. You walk clean. No extraditions, no heat. You want money? You'll have more than you can burn. All I need is your loyalty — when I call, you show."
The offer hung in the air like a loaded weapon.
Han and Gisele exchanged a glance — wordless, weighted. The idea of freedom, of walking away from a life on the run, flickered behind their eyes. They'd done their time in the shadows; maybe it was time to stop running.
Arthur saw it immediately. Hooked. Both of them.
The two stepped forward, slow and cautious, toward Arthur. He raised a hand behind him — a silent signal to Ghost: DON'T ENGAGE.
Dominic's expression didn't move, but the tremor in his shoulders said everything. The air thickened.
Then — BOOM!
Dominic ripped a pistol from behind his back and fired point-blank. The round punched straight through Han's chest.
BANG!
Han went down hard, eyes wide. Not like this… Gisele— Breath left him.
"Han!" Gisele screamed, dropping beside him. Blood spread across her hands. Hold on. Please—
Dominic's breathing was ragged, wild — a man consumed by rage and betrayal. He swung his gun toward Gisele—
CRACK!
Arthur's shot split the air, tearing through Dominic's hand. The pistol clattered away.
Arthur didn't finish him. She deserves the choice, he thought, eyes on Gisele. She deserves the kill if she takes it.
Brian snapped out of shock, yanked Dominic back behind a pillar, heart pounding.
The roar hit a beat later.
RATATATAT!
A wall of lead shredded the passage as Luke Hobbs stormed in from the far corridor, a light machine gun braced against his shoulder. Brass poured out in waves.
"MOVE!" Ghost barked, pulling Gisele up as Arthur grabbed her other arm. The three sprinted through the debris field, bullets ricocheting across stone.
Luke kept firing, covering Dominic and Brian's retreat. "You good?" he shouted over the roar.
Brian nodded, voice tight. "You just missed the bloodbath."
They regrouped by the exit — three survivors standing over three bodies. Luke stared down at them, jaw tight. "I'm sorry, Dominic," he said quietly. "It was me who got them killed."
Dominic said nothing, staring at Han. Family, he thought. Always the weakness. Brian didn't correct Luke. He didn't say who pulled the trigger.
They got in the car and disappeared into the night.
Across the rubble, Arthur, Ghost, and Gisele emerged from the far corridor, weapons still hot. Everything had gone exactly to plan. Han's death wasn't collateral — it was catalyst.
The mission's fracture point was necessary.
Ghost gave a curt nod toward the exit. "Extraction window's closing."
Arthur holstered his sidearm. "We're done here."
They regrouped outside with Ross's unit. Toll Road was down — nothing anyone could've done. Arthur clasped Caesar's shoulder once, firm. "We'll take care of his people
Caesar only nodded. No words needed between soldiers.
With the explosions still echoing behind them, they loaded into the convoy. Arthur slid into the driver's seat beside Gisele, who stared out the window — eyes hollow, voice low.
"I killed your boyfriend," Arthur said, flat.
Gisele shook her head. "He wasn't my boyfriend… not yet. In Hong Kong, he wanted to tell me. I was ready to say yes." Her voice caught. "He told me that after this, he'd walk away from this life. And I was ready to walk with him."
She turned toward Arthur. "Then Dominic brought the police down on us — forced us back into the game. Everything stopped after that."
Arthur said nothing.
She turned forward again, tone hardening. "He may not have been my boyfriend, but he was my best friend. I will make Dominic pay."
Arthur studied her, noting the fire behind her grief. Good, he thought. Let the hate sharpen her.
He hadn't expected that twist — that they hadn't even been together yet. It didn't matter. Han's death had lit the fuse exactly where he needed it.
When she killed Dominic herself, she'd be his — fully.
⸻⸻
Morning. Back at Owen Shaw's hideout.
Letty sat restrained under guard. Gisele had delivered the intel: Letty was the leak.
Cole wasn't surprised — he'd expected it. Owen had moved fast, locking her down before dawn.
When Cole finished briefing Owen on the previous night's events, the older Shaw nodded, jaw tight. "Only Brian and Toretto left," he said. "They're not the threat anymore. Luke Hobbs is. He's got authority and pull. After this, he'll come for blood — and he won't come alone."
Cole's eyes went to Letty. "What'd she say?"
"She recovered her memory a week ago," Owen replied coldly. "Exposed herself deliberately — wanted Toretto to find her. Then she played both sides, feeding him intel while pretending to work for us."
Owen's tone dropped, ice in every word. "I saved her life. And she turned on me."
He didn't look at her again.
Cole's gaze lingered on Letty — calm, assessing. Family. Loyalty. Betrayal. Same equation, every time. He turned away, voice level. "Then we finish this."
"In this case, then..."