Tit for tat.

The next morning dawned bright and early. I was snuggled into Carlos's shoulder. Lester's head was in my lap, sharing the space with Tank. Last night we'd stayed up late telling stories about our wild childhoods.

Turns out Bobby wanted to join us too, but Carlos stopped him. He's going to bond out today. My lawyer will be getting a phone call.

"Rise and shine sunshine." Eddie and Big Dog smiled opening the cell. We all got up and groaned.

"I'm too old for this shit." I informed the group. They nodded. I had a glitch in my neck. I rolled my neck on my shoulders to ease my muscles. Eddie motioned us out and we followed. Bobby was waiting for us outside with a huge smile on his face. Uh oh.

"The news of your arrest has hit the burg big time. Your mother has been calling Rangeman mercilessly. We had to block her to get her to stop." His grin widened.

"Don't worry. I'll take care of it. Do you have my phone?" he nodded.

"Give me a sec." I stepped aside from the group getting an eyebrow from Carlos. I just smiled back at him.

"Mark?" I asked the person on the other side of the phone.

"Yes?"

"Hi, its Steph. You know the files on the Morelli case? Send them to the mayor. ASAP." I ordered.

"No worries. Anything else?"

"Would you have dinner with me tomorrow? At 'Little Italy'?"

"Sure, it's a date. We can go dancing after. It's been a while since I've used my moves." I laughed.

"Okay handsome, see you then." I hung up.

XXXXXXXXX

After finishing up all the paperwork, we headed back to Rangeman. The guys were going stir crazy with my mother's insistent phone calls. I decided to give her a call.

She picked up on the first ring. "Stephanie Michelle Plum. The whole burg is buzzing with rumours about you. You stop…" I hung up.

My phone started ringing again. "Did you just…" I hung up.

It rang again. I spoke up this time "Shut up. " She shut up. I continued "if you are not willing to listen to me I will hang up. Say yes if you agree."

"What…" I hung up.

Taking a deep breath I picked it up when it rang again. The guys were all watching me. "Get it out. I'll listen. Then I'll knock some sense into you." She stated

"Helen. I'm filing to disown you as my mother. I've had enough of you. You will receive the papers by next week. What I do no longer concerns you. What you do no longer concerns me. If you proceed to contact me, I will file a restraining order against you. If you contact Rangeman I'll file a restraining order against you. Am I understood? Answer with a 'yes' or a 'no'. If the answer's no I'll file a restraining order against you anyway." I told her.

The guys were gaping at me like I'd grown two heads. "Yes." My ex-mother ground out. Wow. Is that even a word? I love being rich. You can do whatever you want to do.

I then hung up on her. Ha. Take that.

"Babe. I'm so proud of you. The Rangeman lawyer can take care of that stuff." He told me.

"No Carlos. My lawyer is already on it. I made this decision two weeks ago, before we even got together. I don't want anyone that doesn't love me for me around me." He looked stunned but nodded.

"Let's go upstairs babe. I need a shower and some food. You should feed the beast too, it's been growling for a while." He took my hand and we headed to the elevator.

XXXXXXXXX

After a shower and breakfast, I went back to the living room to sort through the purchases I'd made yesterday. I had literally bought out the mall. I even bought a few things for Carlos. He needs to learn the rest of the colour spectrum. I mean he does make black look good but ya know, the rest of the colour wheel is there too.

I made three piles. Every day, Office wear and going out. Carlos just shook his head at the amount of things I'd bought. He sat on the couch and watched me sort through. I gave him the clothes I'd bought for him. He raised that damned eyebrow at me.

"Babe"

"You need more colours in your wardrobe. Plus we'll be going out on dates. You can wear those shirts then." I told him.

He waggled his eyebrows at me "You gonna ask me out?" I laughed.

"How bout day after tomorrow?" I smiled at him.

"Why not tomorrow?" he questioned.

"Cause I have another date tomorrow." He frowned

"With my lawyer. I just need to sort out some things." He nodded but didn't ask. I think he assumed it was about my mother.

An hour later all the clothing was in its rightful place. Carlos had decided to go downstairs to check in with the control room and do some paperwork that was pending. I decided to grab another shower and go all the way this time. I lay out a royal purple knee length dress on the bed and pulled out matching jewellery to go with. I brought out my new black pumps and lay put them on the floor. I'm going to dress like I used to. My fashion had deteriorated through the past three years. It was time for me to get a handle back on my life.

I stepped into the bathroom, did my magic. Forty-five minutes later, a prettier version of myself stepped out of the bathroom. I slipped on my dress and shoes. I looked at myself in the full length mirror. I looked amazing. In front of me was a confident, self-assured woman.

I headed downstairs to greet the guys. The room was dead silent as I stepped off the elevator. You could hear a pin drop. Lester stepped out of his cubicle to see what was going on. He stopped in his tracks. "Holy shit." His mouth dropped.

Bobby came out of his office next. "Shit" I stepped past them to Carlos's office. I heard papers drop as I walked past the rest of the guys.

"Hey baby." I entered Carlos's office.

"babe" his eyes darkened. He stepped toward me prowling. A low growl echoed in his chest.

"You look amazing, sexy, hot, buoyant. I could go on all day. You should go shopping more often." He didn't even know what was under the dress yet.

"Carlos, I wanna have lunch." I peeked up through my lashes at him. He growled and picked me up bridal style.

"God woman. You are going to be the death of me. But what a way to go." He mumbled. The guys were still too shocked to say anything when they saw him carrying me to the elevator.

There you go. I got rid of Helen and Morelli. They won't be annoying our happy couple anytime soon. Thank you so much for your reviews. Btw can you guys not call me 'kid'? I'm too old for that title. Maybe try something else. I think in the next few chapters somewhere I'd like to bring in Julie. Thank you for the great ideas on how to continue my story. Keep reviewing and I'll keep writing. Love you all. Aren't you proud of me, I'm writing longer chapters. XOXO.