The hotel lounge was dim and it took me a minute to spot Hal at a table towards the back. Lester was making dinks for a couple women sitting at the bar and he winked at me when we made eye contact. I slowly walked into the room scanning all the faces for Delfino. He was sitting in a booth a couple spots away from Hal. I found an empty table that gave me an easy view of Tommy and a waitress quickly approached the table to get my order.

"A glass of White Wine please" No need to start drinking hard alcohol. Lord knows one glass of wine and I'm tipsy. "Can you also send that man" I nodded towards Delfino "another of whatever he's drinking." I watched as the waitress poured my wine and Lester filled a cup with ice pouring a dark liquid over it. She dropped off the wine first and then delivered the drink to Delfino.

He looked confused at first but smiled and nodded at me once the waitress explained. Sipping my wine I crossed my legs giving him a better view of my 3 inch FMP's. We made eye contact a few times before he motioned for me to join him. Score.

As I settled across from him he asked "What's a pretty thing like you doin all alone?" If he only knew how NOT alone we were right now.

I smiled and shrugged, "My husband and I were supposed to go on vacation together but I found out he was sleeping with his secretary so I decided to take the trip alone and see what kind of trouble I could get myself into." I winked as I said the last part and Delfino's eyes roamed down to my breast.

"Dressed like that I'm sure trouble isn't too far away." He motioned for the waitress to bring another round of drinks. I hadn't realized my wine was gone and knew I shouldn't drink another glass but hey, no harm in having a little fun before a take-down. Besides, I was still a little pissed at Ranger's comments earlier about not caring if I was a taken woman. "So, what's a beautiful girl like you have for a name?"

"Kelsey and you?"

"Marco." Liar. "Kelsey huh?" Uh oh. Did he recognize me from one of the stories in the paper? "I think a woman as beautiful as you are should have a more sensual name. Something like… Scarlett." I felt his hand on my calf under the table and had to swallow the urge to jump. "Can I call you Scarlett?" His hand continued to travel up my leg and was resting on my thigh dangerously close to the promise land.

"You can call me whatever you like Marco." I plastered a smile on my face and his fingers began tracing patterns on my thigh. "Maybe we can take these drinks up to your room?" His fingers stilled and I thought I was worried I had pushed too soon so I placed my hand on top of his and said "It's just that it feels so good already, I would hate to get us kicked out of the hotel for creating a…. scene."

With his free hand he motioned for the check and pulled his wallet out placing a couple $20's on the table. "For the ladies drinks as well," he told the waitress while pulling me from my seat and offering me his arm. His manners surprised me as most FTA's I encounter and crazies that like to blow up stuff. He was probably bonded out on extortion or something. I'd have to remember to ask Ranger when this was over.

We silently made our way through the lobby and into the elevator. He swiped his key and pushed 18. As soon as the elevator lifted he pressed me into the wall and crushed his lips to mine. Ah, here was his flaw: Bad kisser. I had to remind myself to pretend to enjoy it but it was hard when only an hour earlier Batman had my panties wet from just a look. I made the right noises every couple of seconds to encourage him. His hands roamed my body making the nausea from earlier return. When he reached into the top of the dress I froze. "What's the matter Stephanie? Afraid I'll find your wire?" Shit.

Before I could react he slammed my head into the side of the elevator and everything went black.

People were talking but I couldn't focus on what they were saying, the pain in my head was too bad. It felt like my brain was going to explode. "Stephanie, please open your eyes." I felt his hand brushing my hair out of my face and tried to open my eyes. The light was too bright and my stomach rolled at the pain it caused. There was no time for words, I turned onto my side and threw up, right in Rangers lap.

"Oh fuck boss!" Lester's voice tore through my head making my stomach roll again. This time I was able to move so I didn't puke on Batman… again.

"Quiet Santos!" Ranger barked. "Go pull my car to the front. She needs to get to the hospital. Tank, make sure that asshole trips over his own feet down the stairs. If he breaks and arm or two on the way down that's okay too." His voice was hard but his hands were soft as he lifted me. I felt the elevator shift as we made our decent and groaned as the sensation threatened to empty more of my stomach contents. "Sorry Babe." He whispered before brushing a kiss across my forehead. I nuzzled my head between his shoulder and neck and concentrated on the intoxicating smell that was Ranger.

When I woke again my head didn't hurt as bad. I waited a few seconds to see how my stomach was going to react but that seemed okay too. Slowly I opened my eyes and immediately recognized my surroundings. Yup, I was in the hospital. I closed my eyes and tried to remember what happened. I was in the elevator with the FTA when he found my wire. That's the last thing I remember before…. "Oh god".

"Steph, you okay?" I opened my eyes and was staring into the dark pools of the man I puked on.

"I threw up on you." I said by way of greeting. Ranger smiled and kissed my forehead. Of all the people to puke on it had to be Ranger.

"Yeah, you owe me." He teased.

An hour later I was on my way back to Rangeman. The doctor would only release me if I had someone to wake me up every 2 hours for the next 24 hours and since Joe was out of town and didn't have the energy to deal with my mother's rants about how Mrs. Carcetti's daughter doesn't end in up in the hospital with concussions, I reluctantly agreed to go home with Ranger.

I shot up as I remembered Joe being undercover "Shit! Bob!" I can't even remember to take care of a damn dog, no wonder my life was a disaster.

"Zero's on it Babe."

"What? How…?"

Ranger just smiled. "I figured we were going to have a long night so I asked Zero to stop by Morelli's and take care of Bob until you were feeling better."

If it wasn't for Ranger God knows how much worse I would be. That thought made me sad as I realized I would need to start separating myself from Ranger and watch out for myself better. Who knows how long Morelli's change of heart was going to last. As soon as he gets tired of watching another man take care of me I'm sure he'll drop another ultimatum. I just hope he does it before we get married that way I can back out. Shit. That's the second time tonight I've tried to find a way out of a marriage that hasn't even started yet. What type of girlfriend am I that wishes for her boyfriend would do something so that she can break up with him?

"Deep thoughts babe?"

Sighing I shook my head and closed my eyes. I had a strange sense of déjà vu as I woke up being cradled in Ranger's arms as the elevator ascended to the 7th floor. Strong willed Stephanie wanted to insist on walking the rest of the way but weak Stephanie loved being so close to Ranger and won out. Ranger fobbed open his door and set me on his bed. He had helped me changed into a pair of his sweats and a Rangeman t-shirt before leaving the hospital so I eagerly climbed under the soft sheets.

Ranger slid in behind me and wrapped me in his arms placing a kiss on the back of my neck. There was a strong sense of contentment laying in his arms and for a minute I thought of Joe trying to dig up an emotion that would remind me being so close to Ranger was bad but none would come. I quickly fell into a peaceful sleep knowing Ranger would watch over me all night.