Disclaimer: Sorry this is not only for this chapter but last chapter as well, oops! I own none of JE's characters, I promise to return them gently after I'm done! I make nothing from my works. JE is a goddess!
Chapter 4
We had only made it out of the building before Les and Bobby stiffened and moved me behind Evan. Bobby and Les spun around and tried to look as menacing as possible. Before too long a tall, lanky, Itallian waltzed up. Evan started to growl, while shielding me with his body. Les warned our visitor, "She told you she wanted nothing to do with you, Morelli."
Bobby gimmaced, "Now get in your piece of shit car and leave. Our buddies already warned you before, don't make her file charges on your stupid ass."
"Now is that any way to talk to an officer of the law?"
"Don't see any. Do you?" Les answered. He looked at Bobby then at Evan. Bobby shook his head.
"Nope. Only a Dickhead." Evan said dead calm.
"Gentleman, I am here to talk to the lady. And only the lady." He turned towards Evan trying to pass by him to talk to me. Bobby stepped into his way, Joe glared at him head on. "Cupcake. Please let me talk to you."
"No." I said quietly, shielding my face into Evan's back.
"But, please. I love you. I want you to come home." Joe pleaded.
"What part of 'No' don't you understand? I don't want you."
"Yes, you do. You have other people telling you what to do. Ranger and his goons are brainwashing you."
"Who are you calling a goon? You Mook!" Evan ground out. "I can't believe you don't listen to her. She's done Morelli. And I'll do what ever it takes for her to be rid of you. Now beat it."
"What are you? Her personal bodyguard?"
"No, I'm her boyfriend. Now beat it, Asshole." The look of pure and unadulterated rage filled Joe's face. He started turning a purplish red, his hands balled into fists. A bead of sweat trickled down his temple and finally he lost it.
"You son of a bitch! She's mine and no one else is going to have her. You touch her and I'll rip your throat out. I'll shit down your neck and then bury your body so no one will ever find you. Fuck Cupcake! Couldn't you have found someone normal? Look at this guy! It looks like he should be a model for a GI Joe action figure. Fuck!"
"Joe. Grow up. It's none of your business who I date. Now like I said before... FUCK OFF!" I started to scream at him. "Who the Fuck do you think you are? You are nothing to me! You never wanted anything from me but a good lay! I can't be around you, I can't do this anymore. Expect for me to press charges." I buried my face back into Evan's back, tear streaming down my face.
"And expect for me to press charges as well, Asshole." Evan added. He turned and brought me into his arms, "Lets go, Angel. He's not worth it."
Evan led me to the SUV and slid into the back seat with me. Bobby and Les covered the rear and then got in as well. With Bobby in the passenger seat and Les driving, we pulled out of the parking spot.
"Bomber, I'm going to call Ranger on the way back. I'll see you at Haywood." I nodded and my eyes started to tear up. We pulled up to Bobby's truck a few moments later, let him out and then left the mall.
I was staring straight ahead not seeing anything. Les was quiet and in his zone. Evan growled and then punched the passenger seat forcing the seat forward bashing against the dashboard. I squeaked in suprise. "Son of a bitch! That Asshole needs to go." He turned to me and hugged me. "I'm sorry Angel. I didn't mean to scare you. It's just that guy really pisses me off." I nodded with my lower lip trembing. It was so hard not to cry in his arms, but I needed to 'man up' and deal with Joe once and for all.
"Guys," I said, trying to pull myself together. "I think we need to go to the cop shop first. We need to deal with this now, before I chicken out."
"Are you sure Beautiful?" Les asked, concern in his eyes could be seen reflecting in the rear view mirror.
"Yeah." Biting my lower lip, I swiveled towards Evan, leveling my eyes with his. "Did you mean what you said back there?"
"About Joe being a Mook? Sure. He's an ass and a jerk." I shook my head, no.
"No the other thing." I wasn't going to say it first. He's the one who told Joe he was my boyfriend.
"You mean about being your boyfriend?" He smiled sheepishly. "Well... only if you want it to be. I'm sorry, it just kind of came out before I could stop it. I thought maybe it would make him back off. Is it ok? Do you want to be my girlfriend?"
"Evan. I can't believe you would want to date me." I shook my head and sighed. "I'm a walking disaster. You know that. I blow cars up, I get my apartment firebombed, I fall into garbage, I trip and fall a lot, and I am usually the cause of one of you guys getting shot or hurt. Why would you want to date me?"
"Angel. I can't help myself. I'm addicted to you. I can't see my life without you. Your laugh makes my day. I want to make you laugh, I want to make you happy, I want to make love to you. But if anyone should be trying to back away, it should be you. I have another six months left on my contract with Uncle Sam, I am not the easiest person to get along with..." He paused trying to be tactful. "I... I've killed people. I don't know if you can put that aside."
"You dumbass!" Les called over his shoulder. "She cares about you. Not what you've done. Now man up and kiss her already, you're killing me here!"
Evan smiled at me, I smiled back. "Really?"
"Yeah." I answered never letting my eyes leave his warm green eyes. "I don't care what you've done or what you have to do for your contract. I knew about it a long time ago. I just want you." I flicked my eyes to his lips, willing him to kiss me.
While looking deep into my blue eyes he leaned forward stopping meer millimeters from my lips. "So, Angel. Will you be mine?" He softly laughed.
In a breathy whisper, I replied, "Yeah I do." And then his lips met mine. Fireworks exploded behind my closed eyes. He deepened the kiss, and not only did my pulse quicken so did my breathing. His tongue probed my lower lip, asking for entrance. I opened allowing his tongue to touch mine, and I think I moaned. My arms wrapped around his neck, his arms slid around my back holding me fast. He teased nipping at my lips, and playfully drawing my tongue to match his. He moved to nibble down my jawline and neck, stopped at where my neck met my shoulder and sucked gently which made me melt. The sound of Les clearing his throat, finally broke us apart. My fingers traced my still tingling lips, my breath ragged and my head in the clouds. I turned to look at Evan. He had the biggest grin spread across his face, he leaned forward to fist bump Les.
"Right on, Man. It's about time you two got together. Now can we get this shit done and get back. Ranger's gonna call us to the mats about Morelli, and I'd like to catch a nap first." I giggled and winked at Evan.
"Let's go see who is working the desk. I need to file charges."
Both Evan and Les escorted me out of the SUV, into the building and up to the front desk. I smiled seeing Charlie still on desk duty. "Hey Charlie. What did you do to get extended desk duty?"
"Hey Steph. I accidentally backed my cruiser into the chief's car." He sheepishly smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "It's not like you can see that tiny little thing when you look out the rear view." I giggled, then let my smile fade. My chin fell to my chest, letting me stare at the floor. He noticed my change and gentley asked, "Are you here to file charges?"
I whipped my head up, "You know?"
"Steph, all the Berg knows now. Eddie's wife, your cousin Shirley, was standing just outside the doors when it all went down. She saw the whole thing. She was so upset she came here looking for Eddie. She told us she'll testify againt Joe if it comes to it. Couldn't believe that he could say those things to you. Are you alright, Hun?"
Evan's protective arms wrapped around me. "Yeah, I'm ok. It just scared me for a minute. Charlie," I paused looking his directly in his eyes. "I need to file harassment charges against one Joseph Anthony Morelli, Detective Trenton PD."
Evan nodded, "And I want to press charges against him for threats and assault."
"Are you sure, Hun?" Charlie asked. I gave him my best Berg glare. "I know you do, but I still have to ask."
"Yes. He threatened Evan and he won't leave me alone. Even after I've told him to. It needs to stop."
"Alright, let's get the paperwork started."
An hour and fifteen minutes later, we left Trenton PD and headed back to Rangeman. It was nearly 1800 by the time we pulled into the underground parking and dragged our exhausted butts out of our seats. Waiting on us with arms folded, blank faces in place were Ranger, Tank, Bobby and what seemed like half of Rangeman.
"Babe."
"I filed charges against Joe."
"I know. You ok?"
"Yeah, Evan helped me."
"Evan?" Ranger's blank face faltered only slightly before it resumed it's normal self.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I meant Ram." Ranger's eyes flit to Evan's, narrowing slightly. "He filed charges against Joe, too."
"Ok. Let's get your things up to your apartment and then you and Evan can meet the core team in the conference room in 30." I noticed Ranger had emphasized the name Evan in his order to meet him later. We nodded understanding his orders. He turned on his heels and strode back up the stairs to his office.
"Little girl. You should have called us when Morelli showed up. Ranger's mad as all hell." I lowered my head to look at the ground.
"Sorry Tank. I didn't have time to do anything. There was just enough time for the guys to block him before he started in on us." I looked at Tank, he held out his arms and I walked into them accepting his comforting hug. "I wasn't until Evan told him that I was his girlfriend that he backed off a little." I stopped and realized I had just told half of Rangeman that we were dating. OOPS! I quickly looked at Evan and smiled. The biggest shit eating grin crossed his face, while I heard grumbling come from most of the men. They had the looks of shock and disbelief across their faces.
"Be glad Ranger didn't hear you say that, Babygirl." He turned to Evan. "Are you dating?"
"Yeah, we made official earlier today."
"Better that you and Babygirl tell Ranger in person. Before any of these guys do." I nodded and reached out to take Evan's hand. "Go ahead and head up there, the guys and I will carry your things to your apartment." He stopped and put a hand on Evan's shoulder. "Happy for you two. But if you hurt her man... you're dead." The seriousness of his voice carried all the weight needed to convey his message. Evan nodded his head once letting Tank know he understood his message.
"Angel, we better go talk to Ranger." He placed his hands on the small of my back leading me to the elevator.
"You think he'll kill me after he kills you?" I smiled weakly, trying to make light of the situation.
"Hope not." Sad thing was... Evan was serious.
We knocked on Ranger's office door, waiting for him to acknowledge us. "Enter." I followed Evan into the room, wringing my hands. I sat in one of Ranger's leather guest chairs, Evan stood behind me, arms crossed over his massive chest. "Babe..." His face turned, "Evan."
"Ranger, we..." I sighed looked to Evan for strength, and turned back to Ranger. "We have something to tell you."
"Babe, I already know." He sat back in his chair steepling his fingers, placing them over his lips. "I knew as soon as you got out of the SUV."
"You knew?" I shot a look of disbelief at him. "How?"
"You looked different. You were glowing. And the way you looked at Ram, it was obvious to me." He simply answered.
"We don't want you to be angry. I don't want you to be angry."
"I'm not. I'm not really happy with the situation, but I'm not angry. Babe, your happiness is all I care about. Whether it's with me or Ram. It doesn't matter to me. As long as you are happy."
"You're not going to send Evan to some third world country in a cargo box with only the clothes on his back and a toothpick are you? You'd make me mad if you did that."
Ranger chuckled, "No Babe. I won't send him away, unless he hurts you. Then he's fair game. He'd wish he were dead first, then I'd send him away." Ranger gave Evan a look of warning. I hopped up and ran into Ranger's waiting arms hugging him. A groan left his lips when I kissed his cheek, I blushed knowing this was hard for him. Knowing he still loved me, I felt a little guilty that I was moving on. But I could see the love for me in his chocolate brown eyes. He was just wanting me to be happy, so I would do what I could to be happy. I released myself from Ranger and walked into Evan's strong arms. Ranger's eyes sparkled for a moment before he added, "We better make our way to the conference room. Core team is waiting."
Ranger led the way, Evan held my hand as we walked into the room. Lester was beaming, Bobby was holding his head in his hands, Tank was smiling, Cal and Hal both looked at each other before looking back to Evan and I. Cal put his hand out to Hal, and in return Hal handed over $50 to him. "Told you Ram would still be in one piece."
Hal grimmaced. Evan pulled out a chair for me then lowered himself into the one next to it. We focused our attention on Ranger and what he had to say.
"Santos, report."
"As you know, Beautiful has been having problems with Morelli lately. And today was no exception. We had just left the main mall building headed to the SUV. Morelli intercepted us midway, a verbal exchange was made, and threats were made against Beautiful and Ram. Beautiful informed him to 'FUCK OFF'." Ranger snickered at that admission. "Ram informed Morelli that he was dating Beautiful now, and to back off. Morelli lost it and threatened to kill Ram, and said Beautiful was 'his'." All the men in the room began to show pure rage at the retelling of what had happened. Calming himself a bit, Les continued. "We then left, dropped Bobby at his SUV, and headed to the cop shop to file the reports."
"Anyone else see or report the incident?"
"My cousin, Shirley Gazara, Eddie's wife. She went over to TPD to tell her husband what happened. She is willing to testify if it comes to it. She witnessed the whole incident. She thinks Joe is an ass."
"Babe. He is." Ranger stated quietly. "Cal, I need to get a copy of the surveilance tapes from mall security. Call in the favor they owe us." Cal nodded and left the room to retreive the tapes.
"Ranger?" I asked looking into my lap while chewing on one of my fingers. "What if he doesn't back off?"
"Babe. He will. Ram will make sure of it." He nodded to Evan and turned to walk out the door. "Dismissed."
"Angel?" I raised my eyes to see Evan looking at me a little worried. "Are you oaky?" I shot up and sat in his lap, his strong warm arms wrapping around me. "Shhh... It's okay Angel. It's Okay." I began to cry again. The other guys quietly left the conference room, leaving us in peace. Soon enough, I quieted to a few hiccups and my tears ceased. "You hungry Angel?"
"I could probably eat a horse."
"I don't know about a horse, but how about a pizza and beer?"
"I could do that. But I really don't want to go into Pino's tonight. Can we order in and eat it here?"
"Anything for you."
A/N: So I guess it really wasn't too much of a suprise that Steph's new love interest is Ram, considering the last 3 chapters. Please read and review! -Tiff
