Disclaimer: The Plum characters belong to J.E. I claim the original characters that I've come up with and the storyline. This is the sequel to The Runaway.

Special thanks to JenRar for her beta skills and T for being my sounding board.

Chapter 1

Stephanie's POV

I looked in the mirror and took mental stock to make sure I had everything I needed. Tiny, black, barely there dress? Check. Five-inch black FMPs? Check. Little black clutch purse complete with loaded gun? Check. And the final item on the list…a wire placed under my left breast? Check.

I turned and made my way from the bedroom to the kitchen, where Kye was waiting. I'd nearly reached where he was standing when he turned and let his green-eyed gaze roam over me. I smiled when his gaze traveled back to meet my eyes and he raised an eyebrow.

I held my arms out and turned in a circle. "What do you think? Will I pass?"

Kye grinned and winked.

A husky voice from behind me said, "Babe, you're sex on legs in that thing."

I turned and smiled as Ranger joined us. "So you approve?"

He raised an eyebrow as he slowly let his gaze run over my form before returning to snare mine. A low growl sounded before he said, "If we had a choice, we'd be going back into the bedroom so I could show you just how much I approve."

I grinned. "If we went back into the bedroom, we'd never make it out of the apartment tonight."

The corner of his mouth lifted, and he said, "That's the idea. I'd have you all to myself."

A knock on the door indicated the natives were getting restless and it was time for us to get this show on the road. Kye moved over to answer the door, and Hector joined us. There was a smile on his face as his heated gaze made its way over Kye as he asked, "What's the holdup?"

Kye winked at him and replied, "I was just waiting for Stephanie and Ranger to get ready. We're all set now though."

A sharp nod was his answer as his gaze moved to me and then Ranger. "The rest are waiting in the garage."

Ranger's hand descended on my waist, and his voice was a low rumble as he said, "Let's go."

It didn't take us long to walk the short distance to the elevator. Most days we would be taking the stairs, but on the occasions that I was dressed up, Ranger always insisted on us taking the elevator. He waited till the doors closed on us and then pressed the button to take us to the garage.

I leaned back against Ranger as we made the trip down. When the doors opened, he held me in place to allow Kye and Hector to exit first, and then his hand went to my hip as we made our way over to where the rest of the group was waiting.

I noticed that Lester seemed a bit distracted, and I wondered if Tina had managed to tell him about the big surprise.

Tank handed me a file. His voice was terse as he said, "Study that. We're only going to have one shot at this, so we have to get it right."

I nodded. "Don't worry. This isn't our first dog and pony show. We'll get him."

Tank shook his head. "I don't like you being in on this one, little girl. This is a real bad guy."

My eyes narrowed. "Worse that Raje or Harper?"

He grimaced. "I see your point. I just don't like putting you out there as bait."

I lifted a shoulder. "I don't like it any more than you do. But when you take into consideration what will happen if we don't get this scumbag off the streets, what choice do we have? Besides, I have the best backup in the world. The innocent woman they pick up if we don't nab him won't."

He growled. "All right. Let's go."

We moved to our vehicles. Tank, Lester, Bobby, and Cal went in one SUV, while Hector, Kye, Ram, and Vince went in another.

Ranger led me over to the Turbo, where I sat silently beside him as he maneuvered the car to the club. I could tell that he wasn't any happier to have me involved in this than Tank was, but he trusted me to do my job. He pulled into the lot and parked at the back. We waited for the other two vehicles to arrive and for the guys to get into place before he moved the Turbo closer to the door.

I took a couple of deep breaths, readying myself for the act I was going to have to put on. We couldn't take the chance that our target wasn't out here in the lot scoping out the bar before going inside, so in order to make sure that he wouldn't be suspicious, I needed to make it look like I was having a fight with Ranger before storming out of the car and into the bar.

Ranger turned to me just before he stopped and gently squeezed my hand. "Ready, Babe?"

I nodded. Grabbing the handle, I opened the door as he jerked to a stop. I hurriedly got out of the car and screamed, "Just leave me alone if that's the way you feel about it!" Slamming the door, I rushed toward the entrance of the club and swayed just before I got there, giving the impression I'd had a couple drinks too many.

I finally made it inside the club and straightened, slowing my steps and carefully walking toward the bar. As I made my way, I noticed that Shep was already seated there and Hal and Woody were at a table not too far away. Binkie was behind the bar, and Manny was playing darts.

Taking my seat, I smiled wryly at Binkie before ordering a white Russian.

He nodded, and I suddenly felt a chill race down my spine. Seconds later I was joined at the bar by a very large man. Something about him seemed off, and I struggled with the feelings that I was experiencing as I tried to decide why I was so uneasy. Although this man wasn't as big as Prince Raje had been, I had the feeling that he was infinitely more dangerous.

I played with the ring on the third finger of my right hand, debating whether I should press the little gem that would send a signal to the guys that things weren't going as planned. A large hand descended on my knee and squeezed to the point of pain. I looked at the man responsible and fought to keep the bile down. This was a complication we didn't need. Our target would be here any moment, and this man was an unknown.

He smiled. "Ah. I see you remember me."

My finger circled the ring. The moment he'd spoken I was transported back in time.

He scowled. "I'll enjoy teaching you a lesson."

I fought to control the shaking. I couldn't let this bastard know that he'd succeeded in scaring me. My head lifted as I braced my body. My eyes narrowed as the voice from my nightmares went on to say, "It's taken us twenty years, but we've found you. Once we did, it didn't take us long to put this little plan into motion."

My voice was calm, and I gave the appearance of being in control as I said, "If I was able to out-think you when I was eight, gee… I wonder what will happen now."

He snarled. "I'm going to kill you!"

It was at that moment that our target walked into the bar.

I pressed the gem in the middle of the ring. Within seconds Hector was beside me. He motioned to Binkie and ordered a drink.

Binkie set the drink between me and the behemoth sitting beside me, and Hector reached across me to get the drink, making sure it spilled on the man sitting next to me. He stood with a roar.

Hector was on him in an instant, and I glanced around to see that the man we were after, instead of being skittish about staying, seemed to be enjoying the fight. He was so distracted, in fact, that he wasn't aware of Tank and Ranger approaching him, and they had the cuffs on him before he could even blink.

Vince and Ram were dispatched to take the man to the police station.

Ranger and Tank moved up on either side of me. Ranger's hand went to my waist as he asked, "What happened, Babe?"

I nodded to the man Hector was locked in battle with. "That's one of the men who tried to kill me when I was eight. And something he said leads me to believe the target might have been his accomplice and they set this little meeting up."

Ranger's gaze moved to the man, and he said something in Spanish.

Hector stilled, and then his eyes got deadly as he circled the man.

I only had an instant to register that Binkie and Woody took up positions in order to aide Hector if it became necessary, because Ranger pulled me against him and led me out of the club with Tank, Bobby, and Lester flanking us. We didn't stop till we were at the Turbo. Once I was inside the car, Ranger left the other three to stand guard while he went around the front of the car to climb in the driver's side. Once he was in position and had the car started, Bobby ran over to one of the SUVs and drove it over beside the Turbo. The rest of the guys climbed in, and Ranger peeled out of the parking lot and headed back to RangeMan.

As we were in route, Ranger put through a call. I heard my father's voice on the phone, and then Ranger said, "There was an altercation at Monty's Bar tonight. We had a distraction set up, and Stephanie was approached by one of the men who tried to kill her when she was eight. We're on our way to RangeMan. My men will be bringing the prisoner to the holding cells there. It's possible that the second man is on his way to the police station."

I heard clearly the clipped tone of my father's voice as he said, "I'm on my way."

Parking beside the elevator, Ranger went with me up to the penthouse, where I showered and dressed in one of his T-shirts. He had me climb into bed and lay there holding me. While I didn't think I'd be able to sleep anytime soon because of all the turmoil hearing that voice had brought up, the rhythmic rise and fall of Ranger's chest as I listened to his breathing had my eyes drooping in no time.

Tina's POV

I threw back the covers and climbed from the bed. A glance at the bedside clock told me Lester had been gone for over three hours. What the hell was taking him so long? He should have been back two hours ago. Fear clutched at me, and I heard the whistle in my breathing that told me I needed to get control of myself before I had a full-on panic attack. Making my way to the bathroom, I fumbled as I looked for the inhaler Bobby had prescribed for me. I had it up to my mouth ready to use when a thought raced through my mind. Would this be safe for the babies? I put the inhaler back in the medicine cabinet, knowing I couldn't risk it.

The sudden sound of the locks tumbling had me racing through the apartment, and I threw myself at the figure coming through the door. Lester's soothing voice crooned in my ear, telling me I was safe and everything was all right.

He carried me back through to the bedroom and laid me on the bed. When he went to stand, I whimpered and he turned to look at me. Sitting down on the edge of the bed, he reached out to caress my face. "What's wrong, baby?"

"I woke up and you weren't here. I was so scared, and then I couldn't catch my breath."

Lester frowned. "Why didn't you use the inhaler Bobby gave you?"

I knew the time had come for me to tell him. I'd meant to tell him three weeks ago when the ultrasound had confirmed the doctor's suspicions, but something had come up and the news had been placed on the back burner. My eyes filled with tears as I said, "I was afraid it might hurt the babies."

He pulled me to him and hugged me as he said, "Aw, baby, I'm sorry that I put you in a position where you were worried. We can talk to Bobby tomorrow and ask him if it will hurt the bab—" He broke off as his eyes went wide. He moved me away from him a bit, giving me a look. Even in the muted lighting, stunned disbelief was written all over his face. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

I watched him. I was equal parts scared and amused. Scared because I wasn't sure how he would take the news and amused because the look on his face was priceless. I grinned and said, "Breathe, Santos."

He bent forward till his forehead was touching mine. His voice was barely a whisper as he croaked out, "You said babies. That's plural…as in, more than one."

I nodded. "It's all your fault. Apparently you have excellent swimmers."

He closed his eyes as he swallowed hard. Then his gaze met mine again, and there was a shy quality that tugged at my heartstrings as he said, "We're going to have twins?"

I lifted my face up to him and kissed his lips before saying, "Triplets."

Lester's eyes nearly bugged out at that. His voice was hoarse as he whispered, "Three?"

I nodded. "Yep."

He threw back his head and started laughing. In the next instant, he'd lifted me from the bed and swung me around in a circle, stopping mid-swing with a look of horror on his face. "Oh, shit! I didn't hurt any of you, did I?"

I chuckled. "We're all doing fine. And the doctor said that we can continue with our normal sex life."

Heat raced to my core at the look of desire in his eyes. As if I was a fine piece of china that might break into a million pieces, Lester carried me with infinite care back over to the bed. This time when he laid me down, he took a wrist in each hand and moved them so they were together over my head as he let his gaze roam over me.

I watched the expressions on his face change and knew the precise moment when desire became the driving force.

With extreme care, he inched my T-shirt up over my head and removed the lacy thong I was wearing so that I was lying before him naked. Then he stood, and with supreme control, he slowly removed his own clothing until he was standing before me without a stitch.

My eyes went to his groin, where his cock was already twitching with excitement. My eyes gleamed with anticipation. One thing I'd learned in our months together: Lester was an exceptional lover, and he knew just what to do to bring me the most pleasure.

As if of their own volition, my legs spread, welcoming him.

Careful so as not to place too much weight on top of me, Lester lowered himself till his cock was at my entrance. Still keeping most of his weight off me, he lowered his head to take one of my nipples in his mouth, using his tongue to tease it before taking it more fully in his mouth.

I cried out in pleasure as I arched off the bed, trying to get closer.

He moved to free one of his hands so he could take the other nipple between his thumb and forefinger, pinching with just enough force for it to be pleasurable. Moving us so that we faced each other on the bed, he caressed every inch of my body with his hands and mouth before once again letting his cock rest at my opening. He leaned down to look at me, and the intense pleasure that must be on my face would have told him that I was more than ready. With one thrust he was inside, and the rhythm quickened until we were both flying off the edge.

It was several minutes before our breathing returned to normal. I wiggled around till I was looking into Lester's face. There was such tenderness when he looked at me.

He moved his head so that he was able to kiss me thoroughly before pulling back. "I love you, Tina. You've brought so much joy to my life. Will you marry me?"

I was equal parts elated and stunned. I swallowed and then said, "Are you asking because I'm pregnant?"

He looked at me for several moments as if weighing what he was going to say. His eyes lit up suddenly, and then he said, "You knocked me on my ass within hours of our first meeting. I never recovered. I've been in love with you ever since. When Harper had you and I was forced to watch them hurt you, I promised myself that I would find them and make them pay. Then when we did find you, I promised myself that I would accept whatever you could give me and I wouldn't press for more. Now you're pregnant, and although I would love for you to be my wife, I'm still willing to accept whatever you can give me. I just pray that it will mean that I can always be in your life." He swallowed hard before continuing. "To answer your question, yes, I'm asking you to marry me because you are pregnant, but not as a bad thing. It's because I'm hoping that you'll accept me completely into your life as your life partner and soul mate."

Tears pooled in my eyes. "I love you, Les. I'd be honored to be your wife. If you're sure that's what you want."

The look on his face told me all I needed to know, but he gave me the words as well. "You are my reason for living. I'm here because you are. Without you, I would cease to exist."

I went into his arms, and we spent the rest of the night making love.