Chapter 2

When Steph woke up the next morning, she rolled over and saw a plate with donuts and a thermal container of coffee sitting on the bedside table. There was a short note that made her laugh when she read it. "Beautiful, thanks for a wonderful night in bed together. Under different circumstances, we would have had fun, especially when you got all hands-y early this morning while still asleep! Eat, drink and shower. I'll see you later on at the office. Be sure to be wearing a smile and clothes, but you can leave off the clothes if you want, we won't mind. Love you like no other, Lester."

Steph put the note down and grabbed one of the donuts. Munching on the donut, she thought back to what happened last night. She couldn't believe how Ranger yelled at her. He was the one person in her life that she thought understood her and now, he was acting just like Morelli. Morelli had long been out of her life, but all of the bad times she had with him were coming back to her. She sat and ate the rest of the donuts and drank the coughing before giving herself a pep talk. "Buck up Steph, you don't need people in your life who yell at you and belittle you. You are better than that."

Steph got up, took a quick shower and headed out the door for work. Everything on the drive went well, until she parked in the garage at RangeMan. At that point, she started to shake and tears started flowing down her face again. She dug thru her purse, looking for her phone. She was going to text Lester and tell him that she was going to go home and find a new job. Before she found her phone, her car door was being pulled open and Lester reached in and pulled her out of the car.

"Beautiful, are you coming inside or going to sit in your car all day?" He looked her over and saw the tears.

"Les, I can't do this, I can't see him today. "

"He's staying up on 7 today. He broke his hand and Bobby has him pretty well drugged up so you won't be seeing him today, unless you go to 7."

"I don't think I can see the guys after what happened."

"Do you really think the guys accept the way Ranger talked to you last night? He already has a list of appointments on the mats with most of the guys. The first rule of RangeMan is to take care of your brothers, well sister, in this case. They can't wait to see you and will probably spend most of the day checking on you and showering you with their love. Let's go upstairs. If you can't deal with it, then you can go home."

Lester pulled her bag out the car and locked it before walking her to the elevator. They got in and rode up to the control room. When the doors opened, there was a line of RangeMen that were waiting for her. She stepped out and was grabbed immediately by Hector. He hugged her, kissed her cheek, murmured something in Spanish to her and passed her off down the line. By the time she got to the last RangeMan, she was openly crying. The last set of arms that grabbed her belonged to Tank. He hugged her and pulled her into his office. He shut the door and pulled her into his lap, sitting in the chair behind his desk.

"Little girl, I can't imagine how you feel today. You are safe here with us, even if one of us is acting like a jackass right now. He's going to be dealt with, regardless of who he is." He reached up and wiped the tears off her of cheeks. He ruffled her hair and stood up. "I think your inbox is full, the guys want to make sure you have plenty of work today so you don't go home early. Best get out there and get started. Remember, I am always here for you."

Steph sat down at her desk and groaned at the overflowing inbox. She pulled the first file out and started the search. The rest of the morning went okay, with the guys stopping by to drop off a cup of coffee or giving her a quick hug and smile. When lunchtime rolled around, she headed to the break room and sat down with a sandwich and bottle of water. She was sitting with her back to the door so she didn't see Ranger standing in the doorway staring at her. He started to walk in but was pulled back into the hallway by a pair of big hands.

"Carlos, do not go in there. You need to give her time and you need to get yourself together. What you did last night was unacceptable. You need to back upstairs and stay there. I'll put a man on your door if needed."

"Tank, I need to apologize and talk to her."

"Not today. She's barely holding it together today. Go upstairs and I'll send Bobby up to check you over and see how your hand is doing."

With that being said, he pushed Ranger to the elevator and took him back up to his apartment. He called Bobby and got him upstairs and he held Ranger down while Bobby gave him a shot of pain medicine. The dumped him in his bed and went to sit out on the couch.

"What is going on with him? Did something happen on his last government job that we don't know about? He's been acting off since he got back last month but I wrote it off as exhaustion after the trip. Physically, he came back okay. Yelling at Steph last night was so out of character. She's always been the first one he goes to when he gets back; she brings him back to reality.", said Bobby.

"I don't know, but I'll go make some calls and see what I can find out. He knew as soon as he got done yelling last night that it was wrong. Did you see how he just stood there and stared after Steph slapped him? It was like he was stuck to the ground and couldn't move. He didn't even try to go after Lester and you when you drove off with her.", replied Tank.

"The part that kills me is when she told him he was acting just like Morelli. He didn't say anything to her at that point and just stood there. She must be feeling like no one is on her side. Ranger has always the first person to give Steph positive remarks, even when she royally screwed up. He should sleep for the rest of the afternoon, so I'll go back downstairs and make sure Stephanie leaves on time so there is no chance they run into each other."

Bobby left and went downstairs. He talked to Lester and they decided Lester would make sure she left on time and would show up at her apartment with pizza and beer about an hour after she gets home. Lester needed to get her to talk about what went on with Ranger after he got home from this last government job. Something was wrong with the boss and he was determined to find out.