When I next awoke it was to sunlight streaming through my new windows. I sighed and rolled over and saw the roses that Ranger had apparently left. My heart leaped at the sight before I tampered those feelings down. I was determined to stay strong, and falling for flowers and a written apology wasn't strong. I needed to show him that I deserved more. More than just being his play toy. I was tired of being a yo-yo for him to push and pull at will.
I debated throwing them away, but thought better of it. Sighing I got up and walked into my new bathroom for a shower. I glared at the bottle of Bvlgari sitting in the corner of the shower and opted for my vanilla lavender body wash. I spent a good hour in the shower shaving, exfoliating and conditioning my hair. Getting out I dried off and moisturized before slipping into a matching lace boy-short and bra set. I walked across the room to my closet and almost screamed when I saw Ranger sitting on my bed.
I glared at him and continued to my closet ignoring him. I tried not to flush when I noticed his eyes darkening as he took in my lack of apparel. I stood in my closet and picked out a pair of dark wash jeans and a light blue stretchy tank top. Slipping into my chosen outfit I began pursuing shoes. As I lent over to pick out a pair of black leather boots with a low heel, I felt hands grasp my waist.
"Babe" Ranger whispered in my ear as I rose. Turning to face him I tried to school my features into a scowl. It wasn't that hard considering I was genuinely annoyed with him at this moment. You'd think my breakdown last night and the arsenal of shoes that I had thrown at him would be enough for him to get the message. I wasn't interested in just being his piece on the side while he ran off and did whatever the hell he wanted.
I backed out of his arms and told him, "We had this discussion last night Ranger. My name is not Babe, and I refuse to answer to it any longer." I turned grabbed my selected shoes and walked out of the closet to sit on my bed and put my shoes on.
"Fine. Stephanie, we need to talk." He told me leaning against the door frame of my closet with his arms crossed. I glanced at him surprised to see his jaw actively ticking. I frowned at him and motioned my hand for him to continue as I zipped up my boots. He ran his fingers through his loose hair and actually sighed. I couldn't help my surprise at that. Mr. Always in Control was showing outward signs of annoyance.
"Look Steph, I'm sorry alright? I don't know what I did exactly to piss you off but I'm sorry. I love you and I never mean to hurt you, but I don't know what I'm doing here. I'm out of my element here." He told me avoiding eye contact.
I snorted at that Ranger out of his element and claiming to love me. Yeah, sure. In his own way. And I couldn't settle for that anymore. I deserved more.
"Yeah, you said as much in your note. But your love comes with a condom, not a ring. I know, you've told me enough times. And I finally get it. Well you don't have to worry about a ring, or the condom anymore. I'm done with this whole not-relationship relationship. Because whether you want to admit it or not, we had a relationship. Maybe not to you, but to me. And I can't keep being someone you push away when you start to get too close." I told him sighing and standing up. I walked out of the room before he could say another word. I was about to walk into the kitchen when his hand grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me close to him.
His lips crashed onto mine and I tried to push him away. He wasn't having it though. One of his hands wound it's way into my still damp hair while the other curled around my waist and pulled me closer. When he managed to slip his tongue into my mouth I nipped at it. He pulled away and hissed. His dark eyes stared down at me and a smirk was on his lips.
"Playing with fire Stephanie. And if you had listened to me I would have told you that you've mad me change my mind. My love comes with a ring now. Not right now, but in the future you can count on my ring on your finger." He told me before placing another kiss on my lips.
Before I could respond, he was out the door leaving me standing there with a shocked look on my face. Ranger intended to put a ring on my finger. I felt myself start to heat up with a mix of desire and anger. If he thought it was going to be that easy after all the hell he'd put me through these past years, I had news for him. Stephanie Plum was becoming a changed woman, and if he thought he could handle that, I might consider wearing his ring. If not, then I'd move to greener pastures.
I left my apartment after fixing a peanut butter and olive sandwich and tossing Rex some hamster pellets and a few grapes. I drove to the bonds office after picking up some doughnuts from the Tasty Pastry. Walking in Connie and Lula gave a hefty arm wave. Both of them were pressed up to Vinnie's door obviously trying to listen in to whatever conversation he was having. I placed the doughnuts on Connie's desk before grabbing a Boston Creme for myself before sitting on the couch.
I watched in amusement as Connie and Lula pushed against each other trying to get the better advantage to hear what was being said on the other side of the door. Lula was dressed in her signature spandex mini skirt with today's color being a bright electric blue. Her top was surprisingly modest. A white glitter emblazoned tank top. Her hair though reminded me of Storm off of X-men. It was white with electric blue streaks woven throughout. Sighing I shook my head and grabbed another Boston Creme.
Finally Lula and Connie moved away from the door and made an attempt to look busy. I stifled a laugh at that, honestly between the two of them only Connie did any real office work. Lula tried, but she got bored easily and preferred to ride with me to pick up skips. I didn't mind, other than the fact that most of the time I went with his to drop said skip off at the Trenton PD, when I came back out she was gone.
The door opened and out stepped Vinnie's father in law, Harry the Hammer. He nodded to all of us and straightened his suit before walking out the door. Before I could ask Connie and Lula what Harry was doing here, Vinnie stepped out of his office.
"What are you all doing here standing around? I don't pay you to sit around eating doughnuts!" He snarled before turning to me, "And you! Where is Dominic Mancino? Harry's up my ass about him, and I know you have his case file! I knew I should've handed it over to Rangeman." He yelled before storming back into his office and slamming the door.
I glanced at Connie and Lula and all three of us burst out laughing. Vinnie stuck his head out and glared at all of us before tossing us and Italian hand gesture and crawling back into his lair. I smirked at Connie and sighed.
"As much as I hate to admit it, he's right. What else can you tell me about Mancino?" I asked Connie. I figured it was a good idea to figure out if he had any mob affiliations I should be worried about.
"Aside from the fact that he's an abusive asshole? Not much. He's not well liked by his family, and from what I can tell none of the Families like him either. Shouldn't be too much of a problem, unless he has other connections I'm not aware of." She told me rolling her eyes. I sighed.
Looks like I needed to stop by Sunny's and stock up on pepper spray and a new stun gun. I had read Dominic's record and I knew he'd have no problem hitting a woman. Maybe I could scope out a local hangout after I talked to the ex- girlfriend and snag him up them. Of course that would mean being able to convince him to leave with me in case he had any friends inside. Great.
I didn't want to get up close and personal with this creep, but I knew it was my best shot at the five-thousand dollar payday. Standing up I went to leave and Connie handed me a few files.
"All regulars, don't worry." She told me. I nodded and headed out. Sitting in my Cherokee I glanced at the first of three files. The first was Mooner, which meant at least one of the others was probably Dougie. Mooner and Dougie were a couple of alright guys with a penchant for forgetting their court dates because they liked to sit around stoned watching re-runs of old TV show marathons. I figured I could go and pick them up, then head to talk to Mancino's ex.
I stopped by Cluck-in-Bucket on my way to Dougie and Mooner's hoping I could pry them away with some food. Knocking on the door i smiled when Mooner answered the door in his boxers and a tank top.
"Dudette!" He shouted grinning. If I didn't know better, I'd think they intentionally forgot their court dates just to hang out with me.
"You forgot your court date." I told him crossing my arms. He scratched his head and grinned at me.
"Sorry Dudette. Did Dougie forget too?" He asked hopefully. I laughed, only these two would want to go to jail together. I nodded and he yelled for Dougie. The two of them followed me to my Cherokee and I handed over the Cluck-in-Bucket and headed to the TPD. After collecting my body receipts I stopped and looked through the file for any information on Angelia Calvetti.
Her address was listed as a duplex near Stark street and I groaned. I really didn't feel like attracting any crazies today. If I was lucky I could get this over with quickly, if not I'd be on the front page of the Trenton Gazette for some ridiculous reason or another.
Man up Plum, I thought to myself. I pulled up to her duplex and got out. Knocking on the door I waited for an answer. After five minutes with no answer I figured she wasn't home. I frowned heavily and walked back to my Cherokee. I guess it was time to head to Sunny's.
Before I could head that way though my phone rang. Lester.
"Hey." I said as I pulled away from the curb.
"Any particular reason you're hanging around Stark Street Beautiful?" He asked. Great. It wasn't bad enough I had Ranger monitoring my every move, now Lester was joining in.
"Just following up on a lead on a skip." I told him driving towards Sunny's, "And now I'm headed to the gun range." I added sarcastically. One of these days I was going to remove all of my trackers and go off the grid for an actual vacation.
"I'll meet you there." And then He hung up. I rolled my eyes. Save that fight for another day, Plum. I threw my phone in the passenger seat and continued driving. I waited in the parking lot for Lester. Time to see what Lester was planning for today.