Mama Knows Best
Character pairings: Steph and Ranger of course!
Warnings:
Summary: Steph catches Morelli cheating after they move in together, and she has nowhere to go. With Ranger in 'the wind' the Merry Men let her stay on the seventh floor, but what happens when Ranger's Mama arrives with a plan to get Ranger to admit his true feelings.
Maria's POV
I walked into Rangeman and smiled at Bobby, who was manning the front desk. He saw me approaching and smiled back as he stood up and gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"Mama Manoso, long time no see. How are you?" he asked.
"Ah, Bobby I am good, and you?"
Yeah, just peachy. I got shot in the foot last week and Boss man stuck me on desk duty. Speaking of Boss man, are you here to see Carlos, coz he's kinda in the wind at the moment."
I simply shook my head. "I am sorry about your foot, dear, but no I am not here for Carlos. I am actually here to speak to Stephanie, and I was told she was staying at his apartment."
"Yeah, the poor thing. She moved in with her on-again-off-again cop boyfriend and then caught him on the couch with Mobster Barbie. She drove in here at about 1am and asked if she could stay here, coz the cop made her give up her crappy apartment. Damn, we were all lining up to kill the cheating bastard, coz no one disses our Bomber and gets away with it, but she made us promise not to hurt him. Carlos could be a very lucky man if he could finally get his head far enough out of his ass and admit how he feels."
"Yes, well for that predicament Bobby, Pierre and I have a plan."I exclaimed before quietly explaining it to him.
When I was about half way through explaining my plan, Tank walked in with a relieved smile on his face.
"Thank God you're here, Maria. Carlos gets back tomorrow morning and he really needs a push to get his thick head out of his ass." he said "Steph's doing a lot better, I think she's over Morelli, but if Carlos screws this up, he's gonna be in a world of hurt."
"Definitely" agreed Bobby, crossing his arms across his chest "Bomber's like a little sister to me, most of the men even. If he tells her those lies and treats her like a fuck-doll again, he's gonna have a mini army of ex army men after him." his eyes filled with rage and he looked like he was going to rip someone's head off. Tank saw this and put a comforting had on his shoulder and told him.
"Man, I know what you're sayin', I feel it to. But Bomber won't let us hurt him like she wouldn't let us hurt Morelli. Damn, that woman's got a heart of gold." He turned to face me and handed me a small rectangular black box.
"Okay Maria, inside the box is the tape recorder. All you gotta do is press the red button to turn it on and off. Just have conversation with Steph; she's like an open book. If all else fails, call Ella and ask her to bring up some Champagne. Steph's a real cheap drunk, and if I remember correctly, you put us all to shame, drinking us under the table. When Bomber's tipsy, she'll say a lot of stuff she hasn't got the guts to say sober, but only use it as a last resort. Carlos will be pissed if he finds out we got his woman drunk. Actually, no, he'll be pissed full stop. I hope this plan works Maria" he said, looking sadly at me.
"Me too Pierre, me too."