Ranger agreed to let me work at Range man today, but tomorrow I would go back to the bonds office. I looked at my watch , and realized that I needed to go upstairs and get ready for the club. I logged off the computer, printed out my last search, and left my cubicle. As I opened the door, the aroma of Ella's cooking wafted though the apartment. Ranger was sitting at the table eating, I looked over at the counter, and saw Ella had made soup again. The soup was a hearty Chicken noodle with fresh vegetables and large thick noodles. She had made fresh biscuits to go with the soup. I took a bowl and ladled in a small portion of soup , and helped myself to a biscuit. The soup smelled delicious, but my stomach had been in knots all day, I was nervous about tonight. After eating half of the biscuit and most of the soup , I got up from the table.

"That's all you're eating " ?

I nodded , "I am going to take a shower and then get dressed for to night", I announced.

"Ella picked out something nice for you, I sent her shopping this afternoon. I think you will like it", Ranger said.

"Thanks" ,I said as I grabbed a towel , then jumped into the shower.

After my shower, I went to the dressing room to get underwear from my bag, I looked around and saw the two bags I had brought with me folded up on a shelf , but not clothes.

"Ranger do you know what happened to my clothes? " I ask.

He walked into the dressing room and pointed to a small set of drawers in the corner.

"Ella cleared some space for you , she said it was not right to having living out of bag. All your cosmetic are in the bathroom," He told me.

All of my things were neatly arranged and folded in the drawers. I selected a strapless lace bra and a pair of matching boy short panties. After putting them on, I slipped in to Ranger's robe before going to the bedroom to see what I was wearing tonight.

Ella had chosen a beautiful purple silk romper , the neckline dipped off of both shoulders , it was sexy and elegant all at the same time. There were a pair of strappy leather stacked wedge heels and a matching clutch. This was nice, no slutty dress , and no towering stilettos.

"Before you put that on, I am going to need to wire you", Ranger said to me, holding the microphone and tape in his hand.

I opened the robe and he went to work getting me wired. Ranger was silent as he finished taping down the equipment , and I wondered if he was nervous or still a little upset with me about my behavior this morning. He left the room, and I started to get dressed. I looked at the size and groaned , too small I thought to myself. I decided to try it on anyway, and to my surprise, it fit with some room to spare. The silk knee length garment felt amazing next to my skin , I put on the wedge heels and they gave me the right amount of height and comfort. Next ,I went to the bathroom and looked for my makeup. Ella had all my makeup well organized in a drawer. After applying eyeliner, and an extra coat of mascara to feel brave , I put on a new shade of lip gloss. I walked to the full length mirror and gave myself the once over. I liked what saw, too bad it was for tonight's occasion.

"How do feel Babe ? ", Ranger ask as I walked into the living room.

"Pretty", I answered, because I did , it was not a feeling I got to enjoy often.

"You are way past pretty Babe", Ranger said as he opened the front door for me.

We stepped into the elevator and went down to the parking garage. The guys were waiting for us, when I looked around the seriousness of it all hit me, and my stomach started doing back flips. Lester walked over to me and put his arm around my shoulder.

"Relax beautiful , we are going be in there with you , none us is going to let anyone hurt you", he ensured me.

Ranger opened the door to the turbo for me , and then angled in on the drivers side. My mind was racing and I was angry with myself for being so afraid.

We arrived at the club and parked , the guys went in first. Ranger handed me an ear piece.

"Tonight we are all connected , you will be ale to hear every conversation between all of the team members. Try to stay focused, filter the information you need, and ignore the communication that does not apply to you", he instructed.

I put the ear piece in and exited the car. I could hear Ranger testing everyone's microphones, and I did what he said and ignored it.

I walked into the club and as soon as I strolled past the bar, I heard someone calling my name.

"Stephanie" !

I turned to see who it was, and recognized Jamal , he had dated Lula , I had met him a few times.

"Hey Jamal , how have been, I forgot you were a bar tender", I said.

"How is Lula?", he ask.

"Still Lula" , I answered.

"Nice, tell her to give me a call , so what are you drinking tonight ?", he ask .

"I pulled a twenty out of my purse and put it on the bar , Cranberry and vodka on the rocks, extra heavy on the cranberry and hold the vodka , if anyone buys me a drink, that's what I am having all night long," I explained.

"I got you Ma", he said taking the twenty , "not safe for a woman to be out drinking alone" ,he told me with a wink.

Sitting on the bar stool, I crossed my legs and scoped out the room. There was a large dance floor and several booths on the level where I was sitting ,the floor above was the VIP section. The club was dimly light and overflowing with people. A mix of top forty , hip hop, and R&B played from the D.J booth. While I was sipping my drink, a man came over and ask me if I wanted to dance. The question caught me off guard.

I heard "Yes" in my ear piece , "Yes you want to dance".

I hopped off my bar stool and said, "Sure".

He took me by the hand and led me to the dance floor.

"Yeah she turning head now , I see a guy in The VIP that has not taken his eyes off her every since she hit the dance floor", I heard Bobby say from my ear piece.

We danced for a few songs , and then the guy started to get clingy , I was dodging his roaming hands.

"Time to walk way Bomber", I heard Lester say in my ear piece.

I scooted pass my dance partner and left the dance floor. As I walked back to the bar, I felt a hand on my back.

"Hey pretty lady, how about I buy you drink" a voice said in my ear.

Behind me was a large man dark hair , dark eyes, handsome face. We walked over to the bar and ordered. I tasted my drink to make sure Jamal had not forgotten.

"My friend is up in the VIP, he wants to meet you, would you like to come up? ", the handsome man ask me.

"Negative , Steph you would have to be alone in an elevator with this guy, and area is too dark and secluded", Tank said.

"If your friend wants to meet me, I will be right here", I told him.

He picked up his phone and sent a text message. I am Arman , and I am pleased to be in your company. My friend said he is coming down to join us , let's go find a booth and wait for him.

We found a booth ,and sat down while we waited for his friend to come meet us. My dance partner came back and stopped in front of me.

"Move along", Arman said in a low voice.

The man threw his hands up in surrender, and quickly left. I watched as a tall man strolled over to the table. Arman quickly stood up and let him slide in next to me. There was something familiar about this man but, I was sure I had never met him before. He lifted my hand and kissed it.

"Hello Stephanie, are you enjoying yourself to night?", He ask.

"No fair, you know my name and I don't know yours, have we met before ", I inquired ?

"Let's just say we have a mutual acquaintance , I am Dmitriy", He said introducing himself.

"Nice to met you Dmitriy , would you like to tell me who this mutual acquaintance is "?

He leaned in close and winked an eye at me. Those beautiful slate blue eyes , I had seen them before. My heart froze , and I had to take hold of my glass to hide the fact that my hands were now shaking.

"Ahh, I see you understand now , hold on for minute, I have to take this call", he said standing.

As soon as Dmitriy stood up and walked a few paces away, another man sat down and started to talk to me.

Arman walked over to us and said to the man " She is Yuri's" , the man scrambled out of the booth and practically ran away.

Dmitriy returned to the booth and looked at me intensely.

"So you are Yuri's brother, I said, is there something I can do for you ?" I ask.

"You are exquisite", he said as he ran his hand across my cheek.

I fought the urge to flinch and ask , "Have you seen your brother lately, I want to thank him for the presents he left for me".

Dmitriy gave a soft chuckle , "That's cute you want me to give him a message huh. He called me that night you know."

"What night? ", I said batting my lashes at him".

He moved in close to me then nuzzled my neck, and it was all I could do not to keep myself from running out of the club.

"You know the night my brother made his newest acquisition. He told you he collected beautiful things , now you are one of his things", Dmitriy laughed.

He slid his hand up my thigh and under my clothes.

" Do you need us to move in I heard in", my ear piece?

"I am enjoying this conversation , tell more about Yuri" ,I said , hoping they would understand that I was alright .

"My brother called me that night, he was excited about you, and had made accommodation for your arrival at his home. I was on the phone with him when you told him you felt sick, then he hung up", Dmitriy said.

He ran his thumb over my lips and told me ,"Yuri has always had good taste".

"You need to watch your hands, and I am not a car, or a piece of art, and certainly not one of your bother's acquisitions", I warned.

"What makes you so sure , just because you escaped does not mean you are not his property. Yuri has claimed you now , run all you want, but you cannot hide. My brother always retrieves his belongings", Dmitriy sneered before leaning in to try to kiss me.

I threw my drink in his face, and he growled at me , raising his hand back to hit me. Before he had the chance to , Hal hauled me out of the other side of the booth by my waist. He held me against his body ,as Dmitriy violently charged toward me.

"Calm down my friend", Arman warned him. "Yuri will not be happy if you hurt her", he told Dmitriy, and he stepped in front him.

Hal handed me off to Lester, and kept an eye on Dmitriy , when he was sure the man was no longer a threat , he walked out of the club behind me and Lester.

"You were brilliant in there beautiful , they way you kept him talking , and did not freak out when he started groping you", Lester said as he walked me to the turbo.

Ranger was outside of the car waiting, he opened the door for me , I stood there staring, my mind was still struggling to process what had just happened. Ranger shoved me into the car gently and then fastened my seat belt before joining me the car on the drivers side.

He was talking to me about something, but my mind was a million miles away.