It had been 8 longs months since my trip to Atlantic City with Ranger. But my return to Trenton was just the beginning of my fears.
8 months earlier….
After a long and heated argument with Joe, I had decided it was better to call it off- permanently.
His paranoia was really starting to bug me and I had already told him- about a thousand times- that nothing had happened between me and Ranger. My anecdote about saving all those people didn't seem to sink into his testosterone filled head either.
But just a couple of days later, things had seemed too have turned out for the better…
"Ranger…" I felt my eyes widen as I found Trenton's Batman standing in my living room. "What brings you here?"
The corners of his mouth twitched slightly as he stood leaning against the sofa with his arms across his chest.
"You, Babe," He replied, his dark brown eyes never leaving me. "I heard about you and Morelli."
I made a face before looking away from him. "Oh…yeah…Mr. Paranoid…"
"There's more to it than that." He pushed himself off the sofa and stepped towards me. I didn't miss the painful and uncertain look in his eyes. "I saw what Vlakto did to that man before he dragged you to the roof."
I squeezed my eyes shut as I tried not to gag at the memory. I felt Ranger's arms pull me against him and I let my weight rest against his strong frame.
The smell of his Bulgari shower gel seemed to clear my head; I inhaled as much as I could.
He stroked my hair as he continued. "It never struck my mind when I realised he could have done the same thing to you. If he did…I'd lose you."
My eyes opened. Ranger was the last person to share any personal thoughts and feelings; especially with and/or about me.
After checking in to the damned Monkey Hotel in Atlantic City (and like always), I couldn't read his face or body language. Inviting me to join him in the shower- which I kind of regretted declining- was normal from what I expected. But even when my grandma walked in on him –butt naked- he didn't even blush or cringe.
Although he did say he considered marrying me…
I looked up at him. "But you didn't. You've never failed to save my life, Carlos."
Warmness filled his gaze when I called him by his real name. "Vlakto was a very dangerous man. It was a good job the route he decided to take gave me an opportunity where I could take him by surprise."
My eyes fell onto the healing wound on his arm where Vlakto's knife sliced him.
"After arriving back to Trenton, I had some time to think and realise what an idiot I am. How many times have you almost been killed or kidnapped by dangerous lunatics that my company have been after?"
I shrugged. "I dunno. 12?"
"12 times too many..." He sighed. "I've been stupid not to understand that I've been taking for granted the time we have to spend together. Even if you were still with Morelli, there was nothing stopping me from being with you just as a friend."
I felt my heart pound as my hopes built up but my brain told me not to jump to conclusions.
Ranger placed a hand on the side of my face and stoked my cheek with his thumb. "Stephanie…If it's not too soon for you, I want us to be together. I don't want to waste any more time that we can spend as a couple."
I almost forgot to breathe. "R-really? You mean it?"
He smiled warmly before holding me closer to him and kissed me.
.
A few weeks had passed and the pressures of being in a love triangle had vanished. I couldn't believe how happy I felt.
Okay, I still had the lame job, my mother kept pestering me and my grandma kept asking for a nude photo of my new boyfriend. But I had a lot of upsides.
Joyce Barnhardt was still a bounty hunter and when she heard about me and Ranger, I couldn't help but relish her misery and envy.
"Enjoy it while you can, Plum. You said the same thing about the Dick-guy and I still rode him like a horse!" She snarled.
I looked at her and smirked. "And yet you got nowhere with Joe even when we broke up. But now that I'm with Carlos, Barnhardt, you might actually get lucky with him."
Connie and Lula burst out laughing.
"I never thought I'd see the day where Barnhardt got somebody else's left overs!" Connie cackled.
Joyce's face turned red. "Don't get cocky! I've never had a man turn me down!"
"Oh per-lease!" Lula scoffed. "We all know wha' a great an' hun-keh man Ranger is! He'd never do nothin' to hurt Stephanie and we're all sure as hell tha' he wouldn't waste his time with a whore like you!"
Joyce stormed out of the bond's office and slammed the door behind her.
I grinned. "I love my life right now."
"Ya' know Steph, when I heard abou' you and Ranger, I thought I'd hate ya guts." Connie said, smiling at me over her computer screen. "Bu' it's clear t' see, you deserve to be together!"
"I second that." Lula nodded. "Not tha' I'm sayin' anythin' but if he does anythin' to upset you, I'll make earrings out of his balls!"
I laughed. "Thanks girls."
.
"I still can't understand why you picked this…Ranger person over Joseph." My mother babbled, taking a quick glance towards the new whiskey cabinet in the corner of the dining room. "What could you possibly see in someone like him to a police detective?!"
"What I wanna know is why does Edna looks like she's having a stroke every time you say his name." My dad said.
"She saw him naked in Atlantic City." I explained.
"Amazing…" Grandma muttered with a slack jawed smile.
Dad grunted and started chewing on his meatloaf.
"Saw him naked?!" Mom exclaimed, getting up and heading towards the whiskey cabinet. "D-d-does he-"
"She walked in on him in the shower!" I said quickly. "And besides mom, I learned a lot from my mistakes when I married The Dick. I mean Joe did prove he had changed since high school but…he was too possessive."
Mom pressed her lips together. The cabinet door was half open. "Well…it is your decision and as long as…Ranger treats you right. But doesn't he have a…normal name?"
"Of course he does. His full name is Ricardo Carlos Manoso. He goes by his middle name but Ranger just seems to stick. And by the way, he's the reason why Grandma stopped ticking things off her bucket list."
She blinked at me. "Really?" Mom closed the door and sat back down; smiling as she pushed away her whiskey glass. "I like him a little more now…."
That was when I decided my life was great. My arch-enemy was pissed off and insanely jealous and my mother had stopped pestering me about getting re-hitched. Now I just had to deal with my grandmother wanting a photo of a naked Ranger.
I wonder how good I am at photo-shopping…
.
It had been 2 months since me and Ranger officially became a couple.
I was sitting in my living room watching a re-run of some old movie that was older than my grandma and was on the brink of dying of boredom when I heard the locks tumble. The back of my neck tingled.
Ranger came in and took slow deliberate steps towards me.
"Are you bored out of your mind too?" I asked as I stretched my arms above my head.
"It's only 8:30." He smirked.
I pouted. "There's no exact time for being bored. You can get bored at midnight or at midday or…whenever!"
"True." His lips made a sweet smile but I noticed it never reached his eyes which weren't scanning me up and down. He took my hand and pulled me to my feet to wrap his arms around me. "But I never get bored." He whispered in my ear before kissing my cheek.
I looked up at him and studied his face. My spidey-senses started to tingle. "You're not telling me something."
Ranger blinked at me. "You and your damn senses…" He muttered.
My arms slid around his neck. "C'mon. Spit it out. You know I'm going to drive you nuts until you tell me." I said, twirling my finger around a loose strand of hair that escaped his ponytail.
His warm brown eyes gazed into mine as his arms tightened around me. It took a while for him to speak. "I've been claimed to go to Russia. Word has spread some associates of Vlakto are planning a revenge attack or…or something much worse like…ethnic cleansing."
I stared at him. "H-here? In Trenton?"
He shook his head. "We don't know. Since I'm the one who threw him off the roof, they could be targeting here or my old home town."
Ranger let out a sigh and looked away from me. "If these people are anything like Vlakto, they'll be more dangerous and sadistic than he was. The whole thing is a suicide mission, Stephanie."
Tears brimmed in my eyes. "S-so that means…"
Ranger held me closer to him. His hand cradled the back of my head as I listened to his steady heartbeat. "I might not comeback."
I couldn't hold the tears anymore. I squeezed my eyes shut as they ran down cheeks and my arms tightened around his waist.
A scream and a sob lodged in my throat but I fought them down despite wanting to release my frustrations.
I was angry.
I was distressed.
I was heartbroken…
But I should have known something like this would happen. If it's too good to be true then it usually is.
I should have known if I was happy for the first time since I divorced or lost my first job, there was bound to be something to ice the world's Fuck-Stephanie's-life-up cake.
"Babe?"
I looked up at Ranger whose eyes were bright and moist. He caressed my cheek and wiped away the tears with his thumb.
"I want to spend the time I have left here, with you. What do you want to do?"
I gazed at him thoughtfully; switching my eyes towards my bedroom door before looking back to him.
He followed my trail but I sensed the uncertainty in his aura. "But Babe, I don't have any-"
I quickly glanced at the calendar on the coffee table and smiled before interrupting him. "It's okay. We won't need any. Now is a safe time."
"…Are you sure?"
"Yes. Definitely."
Ranger smiled gently before bringing his lips down onto mine. My arms slid up his chest and locked around his neck as he pulled me against him with one hand tangled in my hair and the other gliding up and down my back.
After we parted for breath, I took his hand and pulled him into the bedroom.
.
I remembered falling asleep in his arms after hours of bliss. But when I woke up, I was alone with the blankets wrapped around me.
I felt something round and metal in my hand. I looked down and saw Ranger had left me his gold earring.
That had done it. I cried.
6 months later.
So here I am now sitting in my pyjamas with Lula brushing my hair while Connie cooked dinner for us in the kitchen.
I didn't know what I would do without them.
During the first 4 months after Ranger left, Connie managed to get me some easy skips to catch so I'd still have some cash in the bank.
But until I couldn't cope with the ache of swollen feet, a nagging back pain, headaches and an immense loss in appetite, my 2 Godsends always made sure my fridge was stocked and found ways to make me laugh. They looked after me better than my own mother.
"We owe you, Steph." Lula said, rubbing my shoulders after she tied my hair into a braid. "Especially me. I mean if we never met, I'd either be dead or still a ho."
"And I'd have nothin' to blackmail Vinnie with." Connie smiled, bringing in a tray of plates into the living room. "It's hard t' believe but I don' see many of his relatives who are eager t' dish da dirt on 'im."
I grinned as she handed me a plate of 3 cheese macaroni. "I'm surprised his wife isn't willing to talk. She deserves better than weasel-boy."
"Oh she talks alright! How'd ya think I was allowed to keep a gun in my desk draw?" Connie handed a plate to Lula before sitting down on the sofa with us. "An' by the way, I've got pineapple upside down cake for dessert."
I could have cried again as I rested my head on her shoulder. "Connie, can I adopt you?"
"Sure, sweetheart."
We ate while watching anything that wasn't remotely tear-jerking or a chic-flick. Ghostbusters was on the list along with a load of family-oriented movies like DreamWorks and Disney. Although, Bambi, Dumbo and The Lion King were avoided.
We were in the middle of watching Toy Story 2 when there was a knock at the door. Lula got up and answered it.
"Erm, Steph? Is now a good time for visitors?"
I looked over the couch and saw Joe standing in the door way with his hands in his pockets.
"Hey Cupcake." He said quietly. "I…I came to see if you were okay."
Lula growled. "An' it only took you 6 damn months to get 'round to it!"
Joe frowned at her while looking as though he wished he had brought his gun.
I smirked, "It's okay, Lula. Let him in."
She jerked her head towards the living room as she stepped aside for him to enter.
Joe walked towards the couch before looking at Connie and Lula. "Could you give us a minute to talk?"
Lula stared at him as though he had called her the 3-lettered-F-word while Connie looked uncomfortable.
"Go on girls, I'll be okay."
Connie nodded and got up off the sofa before following Lula into the kitchen.
Lula turned to Joe again. "Just so you know, Morelli. If we come back an' find her cryin' I'll sit on you!"
Joe nodded. "Noted."
The kitchen doors closed.
I pushed myself off the sofa and stood in front of him with my arms folded across my chest as he looked me up and down. "Nice PJs."
"Why are you here, Joe?" I sighed.
"Connie told me what happened. I didn't believe it at first but when I didn't hear or see you as much…" He let out a breath of air. "I didn't want to see you looking depressed or upset because of him."
My eyes narrowed. "There's a reason why I ran you over, Morelli."
"But at least I didn't-"
"You don't get it Joe!"
"But Cupcake-"
"It was my fault!" I blurted out. "Don't think for minute Ranger would ever do this to me, you hypocrite!"
My fingers instinctively touched the earring hanging on the gold chain around my neck as Joe gaped at me.
He shook his head. "Look Steph, I know from…personal experience that all the ladies-"
"No…" My voice cracked as tears blurred my vision. "You don't understand. The whole thing was my idea before he left for Russia."
"Oh…" He said, looking embarrassed as his eyes dropped to the floor. "Well…"
There was a moment of silence before he gave up trying to find the right words.
"Does anyone else know? Have you told anyone?" I asked.
He looked up at me and shook his head. "No. Like I said, I had to find out from you to believe it…also, Connie threatened to castrate me if I did."
I couldn't help but smile at that last part. "Could we keep it that way? The last thing I need is for my mother to send me to a convent."
"Of course," He smiled briefly. "But everyone's asking where you've been, Cupcake. Your mother's worried about you…well, more than usual, and people are asking me questions I can't answer."
I closed my eyes and bit my lip. "You could tell them about Ranger being away. Say that I haven't had any contact with him for a while and…and I'm assuming the worst. Tell them I want to be alone for a while but…I'm fine."
I looked back at him again. Joe's face was tense with concern as his lips parted; uncertain of the words that may come out.
He took a deep breath. "Look Steph, I might have a burning hatred for Manoso…but I still care about you. I'm not expecting us to get back together or anything…but just give me a call if you need anything or if there's anything I can do."
I smiled as I wiped away the unshed tears. "Thanks Joe. That really means a lot."
He wrapped his arms around me and kissed the top of my head. I returned the hug before giving him a peck on the cheek.
"Take care."
And he walked out the door.
"Should I be sitting on him now?!"
