By Breank
CHAPTER 1I was lying beside Morelli with his arm under my head. It had been weeks since Abruzzi killed himself. I shivered at the memory of what happened. Morelli stirred beneath me. He drew me closer until the top of my head was touching his chin. I sighed. I felt overwhelmed with the idea that I was once again in Morelli's apartment, sleeping in his bed. This time there was no shouting between the two of them when I told him that I was going back to work. He still didn't like it, but I assured him, that I would tell him everything about what I worked on and how it was going.
My mind drifted back to Ranger. I still believed in the back of my mind that he had something to do with Abruzzi's death, but I was not dumb enough to pursue it. It was chilling though to know that he actually killed someone for my sake. I prayed that he would not ask for some form of payment with what he did. Although he seemed to have lessened his interest in me when he saw that I was back with Morelli. Ranger was one of a kind. He really did want me to get it together with Morelli. I still felt guilty with what we did, but that was the past. I snuggled closer and placed a kiss on Morelli's chest. This was now.
My movements awakened Morelli. He sleepily kissed my forehead and placed his arms around me. "What's wrong, cupcake? You weren't satisfied enough?" He whispered huskily. Are you kidding me? What Morelli did a while ago made me forget Ranger's magic. It was better than a Ranger-induced orgasm!
"WHAT?" Morelli was up in a flash. EEEK! I had said it out loud! I mentally slapped my head. Shit! Pretend nothing happened.
"What?" I asked innocently. Morelli was wide-awake now. He reached for the lamp and turned it on. He stared at me.
"Don't act innocent. I heard what you said." He fell quiet. I could feel my heart beat against my rib cage. Dear God, not now. Not when everything was going perfect!
"When did you do it with Ranger?" His words were tight. I could feel him holding back his anger. He would not believe me if I denied it.
"We were on a break!" I answered pleadingly. It was true; they had had a fight and Morelli made it clear that there was no US back then.
"Fuck." He said it quietly as he stood up and went to the bathroom.
Shit, shit, shit! What the hell did that mean? I made my way to the bathroom door and knocked. "Morelli, damn it. It happened a long time ago!" At least that was how it felt now. I heard rustling inside. I tried the doorknob but it was locked. I went back to bed and looked at the alarm clock. It was 6 a.m.
The door to the bathroom opened. Out came Morelli in jeans and black leather jacket. He made his way out the bedroom without even looking at me. I followed him, calling out to him. He grabbed his keys of the wall and slammed the front door shut.
"What happened to you?" I had just entered the office and was greeted by Connie. Lula had just looked up from her filing and let out a whistle.
"You and Morelli had a fight? I thought you were tight now?"
"It's nothing. What do you have for me Connie?" She looked at me suspiciously. Lula came over and was staring too.
"Girl, you don't even have mascara on! This is serious!" She had her hands on her wide hips and was giving me a tell-me-everything look.
I shook my head at her. This was too personal. I didn't want to involve more people in it. We heard the elevator open and Ranger walked in. Both ladies beside me held their breath at the site of him. He raised his eyebrow at me. Shit! Did I really look hell-bent?
"Sorry, guys. Business seems to be going slow today. I'll call both of you when we get something." Connie said huskily, still staring at Ranger.
I started to walk out of the office. I whispered for Ranger to follow when I passed him, ignoring the two pairs of eyes staring a hole through my back.
"What is it, Babe?" He asked when we reached my car; I faced Ranger and gave him a serious look.
"Morelli found out about, um, that night." I suddenly found my high heels interesting.
"Fuck." I looked up at him glumly. He looked stricken.
"That's what he said too." I felt a tear slide down my cheek. "I blurted it out, accidentally." I whined. I felt like a ninny, but I was desperate. I did not know what to do. I tried to find Morelli before I went to the office, but he could not be found or he did not want to be found. I didn't want anyone else to know about it, rumor had a way of getting creative. There was no way I was going to mess this one up.
"So what's your plan?"
"Yeah what's your plan?" I jumped at the sound of Morelli's voice. Ranger turned to see him leaning on his car, parked on the sidewalk. Morelli walked slowly towards us. He had on his cop-face, which I could never read.
"Joe! I've been looking for you!" He let out a short laugh.
"Ranger doesn't know where I was. Isn't that what you're asking him? Or were you telling him to lie low for a while because I found out about the two of you?" He was loosing control now. His hands were clenched at his sides. I held out my hand and placed myself between the two.
"Listen, Morelli. I told you the truth! It happened when we were on a break! That one time you clearly told me we were through!" What was wrong with him? Why was he being so irrational? Why didn't he believe me?
Ranger cleared his throat, "I think I'll be going now. I remember I have an appointment with a client. And for your information, Morelli, there's nothing between Stephanie and me. She's telling you the truth, man. And if you're too thick enough to believe her, then it'll be your loss." Morelli was seething now. He took a step towards Ranger but I was blocking his way.
"What are you telling me? That if I don't believe her, she'll go running back to you?" Shit. That stung me bad. My blood pressure rose and I saw my hand sail up and slap his cheek.
"How dare you? I'm not a slut!" Morelli was stunned at what I did. He recovered quickly as his anger replaced his shock.
"Are you sure about that?" Morelli spat the words on my face. He turned and walked back to his car. Ranger held me back as I tried to run towards him with my stun gun tightly held in my fist.
"Let him go. Anger makes men do crazy things. Give him time. It would help a little if you'd also calm yourself, Babe." I stared at Ranger. This was partly his fault too. I gave him my most pissed off look and got in my car. I was going shopping.