A/N: The large section in italics is Stephanie having a flashback, just in case it isn't clear.

I drummed my fingernails on my desk and watched the second hand on the clock tick by. I had skipped my lunch hour in order to be able to leave an hour early. Only one-hundred and forty more seconds until I was free. It was the last day of September, which signaled the last of leave for the HR generalist in Miami and the end of my stint as an HR assistant. I would be moving into a full-time role in Sales as of tomorrow. Chuck was mumbling to himself and clacking away on his computer, seemingly unaware that I hadn't done any sort of work for the past fifteen minutes. I imagined he was almost as happy as I was about not having to be stuck in the same room with each other every day. I nearly jumped out of my seat like a jack in the box when the minute hand landed on the twelve.

"Well, Chuck, it's been great working with you," I said, picking up my purse. "I'll see you around."

He gave me an absentminded wave, his eyes not leaving his computer screen. It was probably better that he didn't see me run out of the office anyway. I took the elevator up to the fifth floor to check in with Ranger before I left. Dillion Ruddick had called me earlier in the day to say that the contractors were finished in my apartment and that the building inspector had given approval for me to move back in. I had an insurance check burning a hole in my bank account that could now be used to buy new furniture. After Randy had been found dead in my bed, my insurance agent had told me that I could file a claim against that as well and get money for new bedroom furniture in addition to replacing the living room furniture that had been destroyed in the fire. That had been great news to me, because I'd decided that if I couldn't afford a new bed, I was going to buy a sofa with a hide-a-bed. There was no way I was sleeping in a bed where someone had been murdered.

Ranger was working at his desk, attempting to type with one hand on his wireless keyboard. He'd gone through surgery at the hospital the day of my kidnapping nearly four weeks ago and had undergone a second two weeks later. The knife had broken a several bones in his hand, but had managed to avoid hitting any major arteries. There had been some nerve damage, but the surgeon had told us that between the surgery and therapy, Ranger would likely regain most of his hand function back over the next few months, though he may experience various degrees of numbness or dull pain for the rest of his life. He wasn't expected to have any more surgeries and would be starting physical and occupational therapy within a couple of weeks. A pang of guilt swept through me as I watched him work.

"Hey," I said, taking a seat across from him. "Is that anything I can help you with?"

Ranger shook his head. "I'm almost done with it. I would have been done already if I hadn't been checking the monitor feeds from Chuck's office to see you run out the door like the place was on fire."

I gave Ranger a sheepish grin. "I don't think Chuck will miss me much either."

"He won't. I actually saw him dancing around his office after you left."

"You're kidding, right?"

A small smile played on Ranger's lips that could have indicated either amusement over the lie or the dance. There was no telling.

"Anyway, I came up here to see if you need anything. My apartment is open for business, so I'm going furniture shopping before I go home."

"Will you be back tonight?" Ranger asked.

"I'm going over to Cantori's Furniture Store in the Burg. He's needing business pretty badily, so he told me if I bought my furniture there he'd give me free, same-day delivery and set-up no matter what time of day I came in. I'll have my living room and bedroom all furnished by the time I'm ready for bed tonight, so I'll just stay there."

Ranger finished his e-mail and shut down his computer. "Are you sure you want to do this today? You could wait until the weekend."

"I'm sure," I told him. "You'd probably like your space back since we've been together so much these past four weeks. But I can come over and help you out if you need it while your hand is still healing."

"I don't need you to be a nurse for me," he replied. "I like having you here. You could just move in with me permanently and give up your lease. I imagine your landlord would be ecstatic."

I examined my fingernails while I contemplated that idea. On the one hand, I would love to live in Ranger's apartment. He was very easy to live with, the sex was fantastic, and Ella's cooking, the twelve- hundred thread-count sheets, walk-in closet, and spacious bathroom were the stuff of dreams. Had things gone differently with the Vlatko situation, I would have jumped at the chance without question. But after the fight Ranger and I had the morning afterwards, I knew I needed to be more careful about the decisions I made in regards to my life with Ranger. He had been very blunt about what he would do if necessary, and his words have reverberated around my brain in the weeks since.

"Thanks, but I think I'll go back to my own place." I stood up and threw my bag over my shoulder. "After I get everything set up, I'll have you over to help me christen the new furniture."

I left Ranger in his office with a smug smile on his face, which left little doubt to the guys in the monitoring room what the topic of conversation had been.

I was waiting in the hall for the elevator when I heard Aurelia call my name. I turned to see that she and Ella were pushing empty carts down the hall, having just delivered dinner for the men. A few weeks after Aurelia had moved into the Rangeman building, we had arranged a standing Thursday night dinner together. She loved to eat and wanted to try every restaurant in Trenton. I had been willing to go to a few places I hadn't tried, but had put my foot down on a few along Stark Street that I suspected served E. coli with every meal. I had fun when I was out with her, mostly because she was one of the most genuinely kind people I'd ever met. She cared about everyone, learning the names of every single Rangeman employee and what their favorite foods were. She'd told Ella that she wanted to be fair and serve everyone's favorite meals at some point in the month. She asked about everyone's wives, girlfriends, and children. What I loved even more was that she wasn't the least bit afraid of Ranger or Hector, the two scariest people in the building. Having grown up with Ranger apparently made you immune to his stony glares, but her lack of fear of Hector amazed me, especially after she volunteered to set him up on a date with her parents' eighty-year-old neighbor Juan, the only other gay man she knew.

"Are you going anywhere tonight?" she asked. "There's nothing good on television, and I don't want to be bored."

"You can come help me pick out new furniture," I said, and couldn't help but smile as her eye lit up and she enthusiastically agreed.

"Stephanie Plum!" Michael Cantori shouted as we walked into his showroom. "Let's get you into some new furniture. What's your decorating style? Modern? Transitional? Victorian?"

My design style was somewhere between broke college student and garage sale chic, but now that I was being given a fresh start in the furniture department, I could try for something a little more adult.

I shook Michael off, telling him that if I had a question about a piece of furniture, I'd find him. As we walked around the showroom, I found the process more overwhelming than anticipated. Did I want a recliner or an easy chair? Leather or cloth? Did I need a coffee table or just end tables? Ranger's suggestion of waiting until the weekend began sounding better by the minute. Aurelia fell in love with a red leather sofa that had been marked down eighty percent in an effort to get rid of it. I was almost tempted to buy it for her, but was afraid my money would be wasted because Ranger would never let something like that in his building. I followed her into the separate area of the showroom that was devoted to the leather furniture. I took a seat on a sofa that was almost exactly like the one in Ranger's apartment and laid my head back for a moment.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" I asked Ranger. I was sitting next to him on the couch, where he was lying with his eyes closed. I ran a hand along his chest, but he removed it almost immediately.

"No."

I watched him for a minute before getting up and heading into the kitchen to find some breakfast. Was Ranger angry with me, or just in pain? We hadn't discussed my sneaking out of the house again since he'd called me earlier the day before. This has been one of the scariest situations I'd ever been in, and I could only be grateful that Ranger and Tank were so good at what they do. The cabin where I'd been held was very isolated, with no one around for two miles in any direction. No one else would have been able to find me.

I sat down at the bar in the kitchen and ate a bagel with cream cheese while the coffee brewed, replaying everything that had happened yesterday in my head. What I hadn't told Ranger on the phone, because I'd known he'd really go into protective mode, was that I had wanted to check on Randy because I hadn't been able to get ahold of him. He was normally glued to his phone, so the five calls and eight text messages that had gone unanswered had me slightly worried. The possibility that Poletti's people had finally gotten to him had crossed my mind. When Tank and Ranger told me yesterday that Randy had been found dead in my bed with his throat slit, I'd been shocked to realize that I hadn't counted on Vlatko watching my apartment and possibly hurting Randy, though it still wasn't known at this time if it had been Vlatko or Poletti or one of his men who had slit Randy's throat while he slept.

Ranger walked into the kitchen as I was cleaning up my dishes. He filled a cup with coffee and looked over the food that Ella had left on the island, but didn't take anything. Steeling myself, I dried my hands on the kitchen towel and turned to face him.

"Is something wrong?" I asked. "Besides your hand hurting?"

He leaned against the counter and took a sip of coffee while he stared at me. Oh boy.

"I've been awake all night running the various 'what if' scenarios in my head that would have kept me from getting to you in time yesterday. I've done this after every time I've had to come in and save you from some life-or-death situation, but it was worse this time."

"You don't usually have a knife shoved through your hand when you're coming to help me," I replied, hoping he might crack a small smile. No such luck.

"My hand has nothing to do with it. He could have cut off my arm if it would have meant you were safe. It's worse because we're in a relationship now, because the man who had you was targeting me and just using you along the way to hurt me, but worst of all, I would have had to watch him rape, torture, and murder you with the knowledge that I had no way of saving you if things had gone differently."

I felt a lump forming in my throat, but I did my best to talk around it. "I'm sorry, Ranger. I really am. I'd thought I would be fine. Tank mentioned that Vlatko had been spotted in Atlantic City, so I figured he would stay there for his job and that I could go check on Randy. I hadn't been able to get ahold of him and it had made me wonder if maybe Poletti's men had gotten to him."

Instead of understanding, more anger seemed to appear in Ranger's demeanor.

"If you were worried that something had happened to him, why didn't you ask Tank to send someone to your apartment? Why would you risk getting caught up in mob business with everything else going on?"

Why did he always have to have the right answers?

"I was getting cabin fever and just wanted a break for a minute. I'd been feeling a little smothered through the whole Vlatko situation because either you or one of your men were always with me. I just wanted a few minutes to myself while I checked on Randy and went to the bakery. I figured I'd get to my apartment, find Randy wearing my underwear and having a dwarf orgy, stop at the Tasty Pastry, and be back to the house in twenty minutes. I had even expected Tank catching up to me eventually. I hadn't expected him to call you first thing. I know that asking someone to go with me would have been the smart thing, but I don't always do the smart thing. You know this about me."

The look Ranger gave me sent a chill through my bones and even made me a few steps back. I was digging myself into a deeper hole with every response.

"The Martines didn't question me when I told them that I thought Julie was at risk and that I wanted them to move into a safe place until the situation was resolved," Ranger said quietly. "My parents and siblings didn't try to sneak away from the security details I had watching them. My employees didn't turn off their GPS units or not check in with the office after every stop. Do you know why these people didn't fight me? Because they trust me. They trust my judgment and my decisions. They know that I care about their safety and they do as I ask because they care about their safety as well. But you always fight me."

Ranger began pacing the kitchen floor, which was an uncharacteristic move for him. I wasn't sure if it was brought on by his anger or the pain in his hand.

"When we talked about having a relationship back in June, we both laid out expectations for each other. You wanted me to open up to you more, and I've tried to do that. It may not be exactly what you want, but I'm still working on it. One of the expectations I had was that you be more serious about your safety, which you didn't do this week. I'm not asking a lot from you, Stephanie. In fact, I have to ask things of you that I shouldn't have to ask any sane person when it comes to protecting themselves. And that's the kicker: part of what I love about you is your willingness to take risks, your determination, and how much you are willing to do for people, but the longer I've known you, the more reckless you've become. And last night I realized that it's because I've enabled this behavior. You know that I'll go to Hell and back for you, and that there's no limit to what I'll do to protect you, so you've taken that to mean you can do anything."

I put my hands on my hips pulled on my most indignant face. "That's not true! I do care about my safety. I carry my gun all the time now, even though I'm not longer in bond enforcement and don't really need it. There are have been many times when I haven't done something because it's dangerous. I have bad luck. This crap happens when I don't expect it to or when it shouldn't happen. I'll admit that there have been times—like yesterday—when I should have stayed put and didn't and it got me into a bad place, but that hasn't happened every single time. Most of time it wasn't—"

"I swear to God if you say it wasn't your fault, I'll throw you through the fucking window. You had plenty of fault in most of those situations, even down to carrying a gun that wasn't loaded or forgetting it altogether," Ranger interrupted angrily. He shook his head in frustration and stopped pacing. "I've been trying to figure out what I need to say or do to make you take this seriously and quit taking risks with your life, and I could think of one thing."

"What?"

"If you ever do anything like that again, I'm done."

"Done with what?"

"With our relationship," he replied, and I could hear the pain in his voice. "Because if something like this happens again, it tells me that you don't love me the way you say you do, and don't respect me or trust me enough to come to me with a problem or listen to me when I ask you to do something. And if I have to choose between being in a relationship with you and watching you risk your life unnecessarily or not having anything to do with you, but knowing that you're staying safe, then I'll choose the latter."

I felt like I'd just been hit in the gut with a bowling ball. I'd had no doubt that Ranger hurt when I was in danger and that it frustrated him when I made stupid decisions, but the fact that he was willing to end our relationship in order to make me take my safety more seriously spoke volumes about his love for me. It was even deeper than I could have imagined.

I bit down on my lip as I felt it quiver and tears rolled down my cheeks. The idea of losing Ranger made me nauseous, and I could feel bile and the breakfast I'd just eaten threatening to leave my body. I turned around and leaned over the sink in case I ended up being sick and tried to keep myself together. I felt him come up behind me a few seconds later and wrap his arms around my waist.

"You're the love of my life, Stephanie," he said quietly, his breath warm against my ear. "I don't want to have to live another day in on this earth without you. Please don't make me."

"Stephanie?"

The sound of my name jolted me off the sofa. Michael was standing in front me and I'd nearly knocked him over.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. You've been sitting there for a few minutes, so I wondered if this was the sofa you wanted."

"Uh, maybe," I said distractedly. "I'll get back to browsing and let you know."

I decided to move on to bedroom furniture for the moment, as there weren't as many selections to choose from. Aurelia and I did our best Goldilocks impressions and laid down on twelve different mattresses before finding one that felt absolutely amazing. Michael informed me that it was a mattress that didn't require a box spring, so I would need to get a bed with a platform. That reduced the number of beds I could choose from down to four. Given the high prices of the mattress and the options for beds, I didn't have a ton of money left over to spend on living room furniture, so I ended up buying a bed that would match my existing dresser and nightstand. I moved back into the main showroom, where I settled on an overstuffed brown sofa with a matching arm chair and a three-piece cherry table set that included a coffee table and two end tables. Michael was thrilled to have such a big sale and said the delivery guys would be at my apartment by eight that night. That gave me just under two hours to go to Wal-mart, where I spent a good portion of my paycheck on lamps, pillows, a new 40" flat screen television, a DVD player, a stand for the new electronics, and a variety of groceries.

After dropping Aurelia back at Rangeman, I was able to bribe Dillion with a twelve-pack of beer to assemble the new television stand while I directed the two burly men from Cantori's as to where to put the furniture. At one point, I stood in the entry to my kitchen watching Dillion work in the living room while the other two guys were at work in my bedroom assembling my bed. All three had serious butt crack showing, and it wasn't a pretty sight. But I couldn't complain because the all of the labor was only costing me a twelve-pack. Ranger showed up at my apartment about ten minutes after the delivery men had left. Dillion had assembled the television stand and was helping me mount the television on the metal post attached to the base. After declaring my furniture righteous, Dillion gave Ranger a small salute and left with his case of beer in hand.

"Before you try out anything else, you have to come feel my new mattress," I told Ranger. I went to take him by his uninjured hand, but realized he was carrying a shopping bag.

"For your new and improved apartment," he said, handing it to me. I followed him into the bedroom, where he kicked off his shoes before stretching out on the bare mattress. I glanced inside the shopping bag and nearly squealed with excitement. There were a set of twelve-hundred thread count sheets inside, just like the ones Ranger had on his bed, but these were a sexy, crimson red that sent steamy images through my head. I looked up to find Ranger staring at me, and I realized that he must have had the same experience when he saw them. I wouldn't be able to get those sheets on the bed fast enough.

"What would you like for your birthday?" he asked me as we laid together on my new sheets a while later. I was basking in my post-coital haze and the smell of Bulgari Green and couldn't think of anything else I'd rather do.

"Forty-eight uninterrupted hours of this," I replied, snugging deeper into his chest.

"I think that can be arranged."

There's something to be said for dating the boss, I thought as Ranger and I rode the elevator at his Miami office a week later. He had informed me the day before that we were leaving Thursday night for Miami and would be working out of that office on the Friday before and the Monday after my birthday and that the weekend in between would be spent anyway I wanted. The Miami branch of Rangeman was located in a ten-story building one block away from the Miami River. The set-up was similar to the Trenton office with a few exceptions. There were two more floors of employee apartments due to the high cost of living in the area. Due to the significant number of government contracts run out of Miami because of all of the illegal guns and drugs that came in through the ports, there was a separate office for government contracts. The same thing happened with the personal security side because of all of the wealthy business executives and celebrities that either lived in or frequented the area. Residential and corporate accounts had their own control rooms because of the volume of accounts. Miami was the company's largest and most successful branch, bringing in over thirty percent of the overall business.

The décor in the Miami apartment was modern with earth tones, though the tones ran towards the lighter end of the color spectrum. There were more windows in this apartment than in Trenton, all of which ran floor-to-ceiling and gave a spectacular view of the city. Ranger had eliminated the need for more than a carry-on by keeping a small, but varied wardrobe in the walk-in closets at each of his apartments. It was almost one in the morning by the time we'd gotten there, so I'd intended to just fall into bed, prepared for at least one round of sex before going to sleep, but after watching Ranger struggle slightly to undress with his injured hand sent waves of guilt through me and wiped out any desire I'd had. I decided to unpack my bags and hang up my clothes so that it didn't look like I'd slept in them all night, hoping that he would be asleep by the time I went to climb in bed. When I found him still awake fifteen minutes later, I told him I was exhausted and pretended to fall quickly to sleep.

"I'm ready for my tour, boss," I told Ranger the next morning as we finished up breakfast.

"It'll have to be a verbal one," he replied. "I have a meeting in ten minutes. The first floor has the lobby, HR, Sales and two conference rooms. Personal Security offices are on the second floor. The Contract office is on the third floor, and the monitoring rooms for the residential and corporate accounts make up the fourth floor. Five and up are private apartments. You'll be with Mel Jones on the first floor. My office is on the third floor, but you won't be able to see me there. We have to restrict access to that office so that only people with approved government clearances can come in. If you need me, call me and I'll come to you."

"It'll be strange to be so restricted here," I commented as we walked towards the door. "I'm used to being able to go wherever I want in Trenton."

"Every office runs differently because each office offers different types and amounts of services. Trenton is the smallest office, and therefore the most relaxed."

Ranger's definition of the word relaxed needed a serious overhaul.

Ranger rode the elevator with me to the first floor and directed me towards Mel Jones's office before greeting three men in Armani suits and taking them into one of the conference rooms. Mel was a tanned, blond man with striking blue eyes and a wide, white smile. He looked like a politician or possibly a realtor you'd see on a billboard.

"You must be Stephanie Plum," he said with a Texan accent. "Mel Jones, how do ya do?"

I shook his hand and did my best not to cringe at the strong grip. "I'm great, thanks."

"Ranger and Frederick tell me that you're just really getting' started in Sales. Said you'd been in there part-time for the last few months while you helped ol' Chuck in Human Resources. That had to be a dull job for a pretty lady like you."

Ugh. I couldn't believe Ranger employed this guy, but so far as I knew, he'd never made a mistake with anyone he'd hired. He always saw something in them that he trusted and liked. I was only going to be there for two days, so I figured I would be able to get through it.

Back in Trenton, Frederick had tasked me with talking to prospective clients who had questions about our services and was slowly giving me current clients to monitor for the potential to offer them more services or to maintain their account if they started looking shifty, but he was the one who was still going out and meeting with the new clients and getting them signed up with accounts. Mel informed me that he had four meetings during the day, two with new clients and two with current clients who were looking add personal security to their existing residential accounts. I sat quietly and watched Mel work as he glad-handed the clients, complimented their families and intelligence, all while keeping it from crossing the line into ass-kissing. Surprisingly, every single person had been taken with his southern charm, and by the end of the day he'd wrapped up more than $300,000 in sales.

I left Mel's office at five and was given a key fob by the front desk to use to access Ranger's apartment. I went upstairs and into the bedroom, plopping down on the bed and debating a nap when my cell phone dinged with a message.

Be ready to leave for dinner by seven.

Ranger had told me to bring something to wear for dinner out at his favorite restaurant, so I had packed a burnt sienna halter dress with a flowing skirt that fell to an inch above my knees. After giving myself a half-hour to nap, I pulled my hair up off my neck into a stylish ponytail and took my make-up from day to night. I was just stepping into my dress when Ranger appeared in the closet. He was wearing one of his perfectly-tailored Armani suits with a black silk tie and black dress shirt. He took off the tie, hung it up, and unbuttoned the top button on his shirt. He was ready to leave while I still needed to zip up my dress, transfer items to the clutch I'd brought, and put on my shoes. Men.

Ranger didn't keep a personal car in Miami, so we used one of the Rangeman Escalades to drive to an upscale restaurant right on the ocean called Monaco, which was connected to an upscale hotel. Ranger gave his name to the hostess and we were escorted to the outdoor dining area. There were standing lamps that provided low light along with candle centerpieces on each table. There was a roof with exposed wood beams that provided protection should an unexpected storm show up and try to ruin the evening. There were ten, four-person tables on the patio and an open dance floor at the end. We were seated at a table on the far side of the patio, giving us an unobstructed view of the ocean and the evening sky. There was a slight breeze that helped to stave off the heat. In a nutshell, it was the most romantic moment I'd had in longer than I could remember.

"This place is amazing," I told Ranger after the hostess left us with our menus. "It's romantic without being corny, classy without being stuffy. I feel like I should be in a movie."

"And that's just the ambiance. Wait until you try the food," Ranger said with a small smile.

I ended up ordering a chicken alfredo while Ranger ordered blackened tilapia. We had a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc brought to the table and the server poured us each a glass.

"You look great, babe," Ranger told me after a few minutes. "I've never seen you in that dress."

"It's new. I got it when Aurelia and I went to that outlet mall last week."

"Lia really likes you," he replied. "In fact, I think you're a big part of the reason she stays in Trenton. I think if you weren't around, she would have asked to try living on her own in Newark after showing our parents that she could do it in Trenton. I know she misses her friends up there, and even though torture couldn't drag it out of her, she also misses having our parents around."

So if I screwed up again, I wouldn't only be hurting Ranger, but I'd also be hurting Aurelia because I doubted he would continue to let me be part of her life. After that uncomfortable thought and a glance at the black brace on Ranger's right hand, I downed the rest of my wine without further comment.

"What's wrong?" Ranger asked.

"Nothing," I said, pouring myself a second glass of wine from the bottle left on the table. I was spared further questioning when something behind me caught Ranger's attention. I turned around to see a woman headed in our direction, her gazing resting on Ranger. I guessed she was about 5'2", thirty years-old, and a D-cup. She had blonde hair cut into a long, choppy bob, green eyes, and was wearing a burgundy cocktail dress that showed off killer curves. In other words, va-va-voom.

"Busted," Ranger commented quietly.

"Who is that?" I asked. I prayed that it wasn't some woman he used to sleep with coming over to see if he was going to pay her a visit this weekend.

"That's Rachel."

Holy shit, I was about to meet Ranger's ex-wife.

I was going to need more wine.