Still not mine. Still broke.

Chapter 21

Monday morning came bright and early. Stephanie woke up at the same time Ranger did. They went on their morning run, and they were both proud that she was up to eight miles a day. She never thought she would look forward to getting up at five thirty in the morning to run, but she did. She loved watching the sunrise over the ocean, loved the peaceful lapping of the waves and the almost serene quality of the beach at dawn. Stephanie couldn't even remember a time when she slept through the best part of the morning or why she would have ever wanted to.

Breakfast was grapefruit and blueberry muffins. Another thing she never expected was to eat healthier, but she was enjoying that as well. And a grapefruit covered in sugar was just as healthy as without. Everybody knew that the acid in a grapefruit dissolved the unhealthy qualities of the sugar. At least that was Stephanie's new philosophy. Ranger just chuckled when she told him and nodded, grateful that she was eating fruit at all.

They showered together and dressed in RangeMan black, heading out the door at a quarter to eight, Stephanie armed with her notes from her last Teen Lifeline training session. Ranger had called Jerome at the office on Sunday and had him get her notebook out of Raphael's vehicle and drive it over. She had wanted to go over it before her next session on Monday afternoon so it was fresh in her mind. And she didn't want to have to deal with Ranger's brother to do so.

It had been a peaceful weekend, just her and Ranger. On their way home from Little Havana Friday evening, they had stopped off at the drugstore to stock up on condoms. Ranger couldn't help but laugh when Stephanie appeared at the cashier with an armload of Trojan Magnum boxes. The cashier, a girl who couldn't have been a day over sixteen, just stared in wide eyed wonder at Ranger, looking between him and the array of condom boxes in front of her. Ranger just shook his head in amusement and pulled Stephanie to his side, leaning down to brush his lips against her ears.

"You trying to tell me something, Babe?" He asked her, quietly enough so the cashier couldn't overhear.

Stephanie just smiled brightly and shrugged. "You can never be too prepared, Ranger. I'd hate to have to make a midnight run."

He just chuckled as he handed the cashier his credit card. The poor girl's hands trembled as she rang up their order and bagged the boxes. She never said a word, just opened and closed her mouth. Stephanie took the bag out of her hand and headed for the door, swaying her hips as she walked. Ranger followed without another word, his eyes glued to her ass the entire trip to the car.

The rest of the weekend was spent in bed. After being celibate for so long, they both felt the need to make up for lost time. By Sunday evening, they had gone through a box and a half of the condoms and finally collapsed in exhaustion early that night.

Now, in the Bronco headed towards the office, Stephanie couldn't help but grin at the memory. Her body was practically covered in hickeys and she was pleased to know that Ranger was suffering from the same fate. Neither one of them cared, though. They wanted everybody to know who they belonged to. It wasn't long before they were pulling into the RangeMan garage. Ranger went around the car to open Stephanie's door and they walked to the elevator hand in hand.

It was a typical Monday morning at RangeMan. Stephanie was swamped with searches and Ranger was in and out of meetings all day. They had four new clients; two private residences, a jewelry store, and a nightclub. They managed to have a quick lunch together in the penthouse before Ranger had to run off to another meeting. Stephanie treasured every stolen moment with him and kissed him goodbye when they parted after lunch. He headed for a conference room and she headed for the garage with Jerome, who was driving her to her Teen Lifeline training session. Ranger had pulled Jerome aside when he had brought Stephanie's notebook to the house on Sunday, telling him that under no circumstances was Raphael to pick her up from anywhere. The only reason that Ranger didn't drag him off to the sparring mat was that Raphael was above him in the chain of command and Jerome didn't know the circumstances surrounding the problem. He knew now, and he was determined not to let his boss down again. No matter what Raphael said to him.

Stephanie and Jerome got along well. He wasn't one of the Trenton Merry Men, but they had a lot in common, enjoying the same bands, the same movies and the same kinds of food. He tried to convince her to go surfing with him on a friend's only basis and she was seriously considering it. When she told him that she had never surfed before, he promised that he was the best teacher in Miami and she would be sharing the same wave with him in no time. She started to wonder if Ranger had ever surfed before, and was planning on asking him that evening when they got back home.

Home. Never before had that word held such meaning. When she was a child and lived with her parents, it had been home, but she had never truly felt like she belonged. Living in the dorms at college was fun, but didn't have the "homey" qualities. When she moved into Dickie's house after their marriage, she had thought of it as home at the time. Thinking back, she realized it had never been her home. Everything had been his. And she didn't live there long enough to feel secure. Joe's house wasn't even in the picture. A hotel room felt more home than Joe's house. Her apartment had been the closest thing she had ever had to a real home. Until she arrived in Miami with Ranger. His home was the only place she had ever felt so comfortable, as if she belonged there. Although it was Ranger's house, he acted as if it was hers just as much as his. Just standing in the foyer gave her a happy, content feeling in her chest. She belonged there. Ranger wanted her there. Stephanie loved feeling like she belonged somewhere. She wasn't lonely like she had been before.

The training seminar was a lot like the last one. They went over how important active listening was before going into the questions; "how did that make you feel" and "what did you want to do" and "have you told anyone else about this". Stephanie felt a little queasy when the instructor brought up possible questions like "do you have a plan" (for a possible suicide attempt) and "have you discussed your plan with anyone". She wondered how many people actually sat there and went over different ways to take their own lives. In her situation, she didn't think. She just stared at a gun and let the thoughts take over. She didn't think she could ever sit there and make a list of the different ways to actually do it. The thought scared her and she felt her heart break for all the people who actually went over each and every possibility. How much pain they had to be in to do that.

They went over the importance of note taking during the calls and checking the database for the callers name to see if they'd called before. If the name showed up, they had to look for a pattern in the phone conversations.

She learned about the symptoms of suicide "ideation" and the instructor used mnemonics to help them to remember. Stephanie remembered that from her high school algebra class. The whole "Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally" term to remember what to solve first in an equation, the parenthesis or the division. At Teen Lifeline, they went by "IS PATH WARM". Stephanie wrote it down in her notebook, feeling a lot like she was back in her math class.

I -Ideation

S-Substance Abuse

P-Purposelessness

A-Anxiety

T-Trapped

H-Hopelessness

W-Withdrawal

A-Anger

R-Recklessness

M-Mood Change

Stephanie learned to be aware on the phone and learn to recognize the warning signs. To be attentive and direct when talking about suicide. The idea of openly talking about suicide scared her. She was afraid that she would mess up. This wasn't like messing up in the kitchen or screwing up during an apprehension and getting covered in garbage. If she made a mistake with a caller, it could cost someone his or her life.

Maybe I'm not the right person for this, she thought, fighting off a wave of nausea. This is too big for me. Maybe I should stick to sending out brochures.

By the time the session was over, she was definitely rethinking her role in Teen Lifeline. She definitely wanted to help out in some way, but maybe it wasn't a good idea for her to man the phones.

Grabbing her notes, she headed outside and couldn't help but smile when she saw Ranger leaning against a black SUV, arms crossed over his chest, a hint of a smile touching his lips. When he saw her, he pushed himself off of the car and came to her.

"How was it today, Babe?" He asked, wrapping his arms around her.

Stephanie breathed in his scent, drawing strength from him before answering. "I'm not sure if I should be manning the phones here. I think I should stick with brochures or something."

He pulled back and looked her in the eye. "Any particular reason why you changed your mind?"

She sighed. "We went over questions today that we should ask when we're on the phone. They want us to talk about suicide. I don't want to make a mistake here, Ranger." Fear filled her eyes at the thought. "It's not just me here. If I make a mistake, someone could die. I don't think I could handle that."

Ranger studied her face again before pulling her body against his. "It's all up to you, Steph. Only you can decide what you're comfortable with. But if it's fear that's keeping you from doing this, then maybe you should talk to someone here." His arms tightened around her. "And for the record, I don't think you'd screw this up, Babe. I think you could make a huge difference in somebody's life."

Stephanie sighed at his words, feeling the dread wash away. He always knew the right thing to say.

"I still have time to think about it. I'll talk to someone Wednesday."

Ranger nodded and stepped back slightly, leading her to the SUV. He opened the door for her and waited for her to buckle her seatbelt before shutting the door. A minute later, they were heading back to RangeMan.

"I have another meeting in half an hour," he said, his eyes on the road. "It shouldn't take too long. Would you rather have Mira make us dinner or do you want to go out?"

Stephanie shrugged. "It doesn't matter. I'll stick around and work on searches until your meeting is over and then we can decide after."

Ranger nodded and continued to drive towards the office. He parked in the garage and they both headed for the elevator hand in hand. The elevator stopped at the second floor and Ranger kissed Stephanie before she stepped out of the car, watching as the doors closed to take Ranger up to the conference room on the third floor. Sighing in contentment, she turned and headed for their office.

Once inside, she got to work, booting up her computer and starting on the searches. There were three new ones sitting in her inbox and she ran the first name through one of the search engines. Kevin Jacobs, 29, wanted for grand theft auto and destruction of property. He lived in an apartment above his parents garage in the Homestead area, worked as a cashier at the local Albertsons and wanted to impress a girl by driving a brand new Ferrari. Unfortunately, he couldn't afford such a car on his income, so he got drunk one night, hid out in a local car dealership until it closed up for the evening and proceeded to drive a Ferrari off the showroom floor and out the plate glass window. He hadn't been home since he made bail, and from what Stephanie could bring up in her searches, the most likely place he could be hiding was the basement of his buddies bar. She highlighted certain key points in the printouts and placed them in a folder for Ranger to look over when he got back.

The second search was about the same, an intoxicated man wanting more than he could afford so he thought it would be a good idea to steal it. This one broke into a friend's parents house and stole over fifty thousand dollars worth of jewelry, cash, and silver. The man wasn't very smart, because Stephanie pulled up his credit card history and found out that he was paid up for a week at a seedy motel in Goulds. She highlighted the information and continued on with her searches.

The last search was for a potential new hire. The man, Gary Spencer, had been in the week before for his second interview and Raphael seemed to like him. The only thing standing in his way from becoming the newest RangeMan was Stephanie's background check. And as soon as she ran his name through the first search engine, her spidey senses started going off. On the surface, he seemed like perfect RangeMan material. He was a single thirty two year old man with an extensive military background. He had been a Navy SEAL, receiving an honorable discharge two years prior. The first search showed that he had applied to the police academy, but there was no information about why he hadn't been accepted. Trusting her gut instinct, Stephanie ran his name through a number of search engines, finally pulling up his psychiatric evaluation from the police academy. He had been denied for exhibiting signs of disturbing and possibly sociopathic behavior.

Stephanie dug a little further, searching online newspaper articles like Ranger had once showed her to use. She discovered that Gary Spencer had been accused of rape and attempted murder a year and a half earlier in Tampa, but the victim had recanted her story and he had never been convicted.

Yeah, the man no longer sounded like RangeMan material.

Printing out the newspaper articles and other information on Spencer used up all the ink in her printer. She was changing the cartridge when the office door opened. She had expected Ranger, but she didn't feel the tingle at the back of her neck when he was near. That pleasant feeling had been replaced by a feeling of repulsion that could only mean one person.

Raphael.

"Good afternoon, hermosa," he said in his whiskey smooth voice, coming up into her personal space. Stephanie stood up straight and took a step back.

"Raphael," she answered, a little cooler than she thought she could manage. " To what do I owe this visit?"

He chuckled at her obvious discomfort and sat down on the edge of her desk. "Just wanted to see how the searches were going. That and I wanted to see your pretty face."

Ignoring his last comment, Stephanie reached for the Spencer file. "Here's what I came up with on Gary Spencer. He's bad news, Raphael."

He flipped through the file, his eyes widening in surprise at what he saw. "Didn't expect this from him. Good catch."

Stephanie moved away from him and sat down in her seat, trying to look busy. Thankfully, another search had popped up in her inbox when she was printing out the last one. She immediately started working on it, hoping that Raphael would take the hint.

He wasn't that smart.

He stayed seated, watching her intently, his gaze glued to her neck and the smooth skin showing above her collar. His eyes narrowed slightly and he leaned forward.

"Get into a fight with the vacuum cleaner, hermosa?"

Stephanie looked up from the monitor, her eyes narrowed in confusion. "Excuse me?"

He reached out, grazing his fingertips over her collarbone before she backed away from him. "Don't touch me."

Raphael smirked. "Just admiring your hickey's, querida. Never knew my brother was into such displays."

Stephanie felt her face flush hotly, but she held his gaze. "There seems to be a lot you don't know about him."

Raphael laughed at that. "I doubt he's changed that much, Stephanie. Trust me."

Stephanie waited until he had moved off of her desk before she sat back down. "I have work to do here."

She stiffened when he moved behind her and almost jumped out of her seat when his hands settled firmly on her shoulders. "You're so tense. Do I affect you that much, hermosa?"

Stephanie moved to stand up again but his hands held her in place. She mentally shuddered as he began to massage her. "I told you not to touch me, Raphael. We've already talked about this."

"Why don't you like me, Steph?" He asked, his voice going back to smooth and seductive. "You aren't afraid of me, are you?"

"No, I'm not afraid of you," she said, pushing her chair back roughly. The maneuver worked and his grip weakened. She jumped up and moved out of his reach. "I just don't like having to repeat myself to you all the time."

Raphael just grinned. "I might leave you alone if you agree to go to dinner with me tonight."

"I already have plans."

He chuckled and moved around the chair. "Come on, Steph. Believe me, I'm more interesting than my brother."

"I find that hard to believe," she snapped, backing towards the door. "I'm already bored with your behavior as it is. Dinner won't change that."

"Bored, huh?" He smirked. "Well I could always turn it up a notch."

Stephanie opened her mouth to retort when she suddenly backed into a brick wall. She shrieked and whirled around to find Tank standing in the open doorway with Lester behind him. Both men wore equally dark expressions as they stared at Raphael.

"Still can't take no for an answer, Rafe?" Tank's deep voice boomed as he reached out to wrap an arm around Stephanie's shoulders.

Raphael's jaw clenched as he looked at the much larger man. "Didn't expect you so soon, Pierre."

"Obviously not," Tank replied darkly. He looked down at Stephanie and his angry look instantly melted away and a smile curved his lips upward. "Good to see you, Bombshell."

Stephanie smiled back and threw her arms around him, laughing as he lifted her off the ground in a bear hug. "Ranger told me you two were coming down, but I didn't know it would be today!"

"Trenton's boring without you, beautiful," Lester said, reaching out to take her from Tank's arms. "And I want my Bombshell hug."

She hugged him back and felt Lester's breath against her ear. "You okay?" He whispered so only she could hear.

"I am now," she said honestly, hugging him tighter. God, she was so relieved that they showed up when they did. She was really getting sick and tired of Raphael's behavior.

Lester set her back on her feet and took her hand, leading her back into the office. Tank sat down in Ranger's chair, making himself at home and glaring at Raphael. Lester led Stephanie past the other man so she could sit back down at her desk.

"I have work to do," Raphael said, his blank mask taking over his face. "Thanks for the searches, Stephanie."

"You're welcome," she answered, drawing a deep sigh of relief as he left the office, closing the door behind him. "God, that man is getting on my last nerve!"

Tank swiveled in his chair to face her. "He been giving you trouble?"

Stephanie thought about lying, but figured that they already knew what was going on. "He seems to think my disinterest in him is just me playing hard to get. No matter how much I tell him that I'm not interested."

Lester sat down in one of the overstuffed chairs in front of Ranger's desk. "Rafe's a prick. Thinks he's God's gift. The only way he'll back down is if someone gives him the ass beating he deserves."

Stephanie shook her head. "No ass beating! He's Ranger's brother."

Tank snorted. "Ranger doesn't give two shits about that, Bombshell. He's already pissed as hell at what's been going on. I'm actually surprised that he hasn't put the son of a bitch in traction already."

She sighed. "I don't want any trouble. Besides, now that you guys are here, I'll bet that he stops."

The two men glanced at each other before settling back in their seats. "So how's everything else been going?"

"Pretty good," she blushed, thinking about just how good things were going. "I'm volunteering at Teen Lifeline now. I'll probably be sending out brochures for the big Survivors meeting in a few weeks."

"That's great," Lester said, grinning at her. "It's great to see you again, Steph. Really great. We missed you."

Stephanie felt the lump forming in her throat and she swallowed hard. God, she loved those guys. "I missed you too. It's strange to be working here and not seeing you or the other Merry Men on the floor."

They all sat back and caught up on the gossip. Lula and Tank were getting along even better and were talking about moving in together. Connie was dating some guy she met at a club and Vinnie was still the same duck loving pervert. They didn't talk about her family or Morelli and they never touched on the topic of Stephanie's illness. They were in the middle of discussing the new doughnut flavor at the Tasty Pastry when the door opened. Stephanie felt the tingle along her spine and grinned, knowing that this time, it was Ranger.

"Look who finally decided to grace us with his presence, " Lester teased, leaning back in his chair and placing his feet on the corner of Ranger's desk.

"Look whose about to get his ass kicked if he doesn't get his feet of my desk," Ranger replied, his almost smile making an appearance. Lester snorted, but immediately put his feet back on the ground.

Ranger nodded at Tank before turning to Stephanie. His face brightened at the sight of her. "Babe."

Her lips twitched as she forced her serious face on. "Ranger."

He chuckled and came forward, leaning down to press a kiss on the top of her head. "How are the searches going?"

"Almost done," she said, waving her hand at the printer that was furiously spitting out information. "I've located one skip and possibly another. And that new hire Raphael was raving about turned out to be a possible sociopath."

Ranger's eyebrow lifted. "That Spencer guy?"

She nodded. "Tried to get into the police academy but he failed his psych evaluation. And I found some newspaper clippings from Tampa where he was accused of rape and attempted murder. He wasn't convicted because the victim recanted her story."

A genuine smile graced his full lips. "Proud of you, Babe."

Lester sat up. "Hey, I'm proud of you too, Beautiful!"

Stephanie snorted and Ranger managed an almost eye roll.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready for food," Tank said, glaring at Lester.

Lester grinned at Stephanie. "You look like a person who could use a pizza, Steph. Deep dish with extra pepperoni." He tilted his head in Ranger's direction. "If I know Bossman, he's been feeding you tofu and bean sprouts and Noni juice."

Stephanie glanced over at Ranger. "Pizza sounds good. How about you?"

Ranger grinned at her. He would eat anything she asked him to at that point. "Sounds good, Babe." Turning to Tank and Lester, he looked at his watch. "It's five thirty now. If you want, we can call it in and pick it up on the way back to the house. We need to go over a few things now that you're here."

They all agreed and once the printer spat out the last on the latest search, Stephanie shut off her computer and they headed out.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Stephanie sat back against the couch cushions and groaned. Somehow, she had ended up getting into a pizza eating contest with Lester and had demolished nine pieces before she thought she would throw up. Lester was up to twelve and still going strong. And she thought her stomach was a bottomless pit!

Reaching for her beer bottle, she settled comfortably, snug and secure with her friends. Tank was still eating and Ranger, who had finished long before after a piece of cheese pizza and a salad, was settled with his beer bottle beside Stephanie. His free arm was stretched out behind her, his fingers gently massaging her neck. It was funny how different this massage was from the unwelcome one from Raphael only a few hours earlier.

Ranger watched as Stephanie started to doze off beside him. It had been a busy day and he knew that she must be exhausted. Not to mention another run in with his brother. Tank and Lester had informed him about the scene they had walked into in his office before he arrived and he was beyond furious. He was already planning a nice long sparring session with Raphael for the following morning. Of course, his brother didn't know that yet. Just the idea of physically knocking some sense into Raphael made Ranger smile.

He had planned on sending Raphael to Trenton, but decided against it. He didn't want his brother to cause any more rumors to float around town about Stephanie and he knew that it was a definite possibility. Instead, he had called the head of the Atlanta office, sending him to Trenton instead. Raphael couldn't cause any problems for Stephanie in Georgia. Which was where his brother would be by the end of the week. Ranger planned to inform him of his transfer immediately following the sparring match.

He was pulled from his thoughts when Stephanie settled against his side. He smiled and wrapped his arm more securely around her, rubbing her arm up and down until she was almost purring in contentment. God, he loved the sounds that she made. He couldn't wait to get her back into bed later on.

She tensed suddenly in his arms and he glanced down at her, wondering what she was thinking of.

"Hey guys," she started. "Ranger said that my mother and Morelli have been calling RangeMan about me. Is there any chance that they know where I am?"

A look of guilt washed over Lester's face and Tank cleared his throat. "They've been calling every day since word got out, Bombshell. I'm not sure if they know where you are, but it's only logical that with you and Ranger both gone, you'd be at one of the RangeMan offices."

Stephanie nodded and cuddled closer to Ranger. "Have they said anything about my being sick?"

"Just wanting to know what's going on," Lester spoke up, absentmindedly playing with the label on his beer bottle. "Steph, I'm so sorry about it getting out. Bobby and I should have known better than to talk about it where we could possibly be overheard. We were just concerned for you."

She gave him a tiny smile. "I don't blame you, Lester. You weren't the one who blabbed it at Pino's. And it would have gotten out eventually. I couldn't keep something like that a secret forever."

"Even if they knew you were down here, they'd have to get through us to get to you," Ranger said, stroking her hair. "You won't have to deal with them until you're ready."

"I know," she whispered. "And I can't hide from them forever. I won't hide from them forever."

Ranger smiled at the determination in her voice. "Proud of you, Babe."

"We are too," Tank leaned forward and took her hand in his. "You're doing so much better now than before. You've overcome so much and we're all proud of you."

Stephanie blushed at the sincerity in his voice. "Thanks. That means a lot to me."

The topic of Raphael came up and Ranger told them his idea to send his brother to the Atlanta office. Stephanie remained silent throughout the conversation. Even though Raphael was to blame for his behavior, she couldn't help but feel guilty that Ranger had to go to such extremes with his own brother. If his family found out why Raphael was being sent to another state, she was afraid that they would hate her. That they would think she was nothing more than a tease, working both of the Manoso sons over, causing trouble in the family. She hadn't even met any of Ranger's family besides Raphael and Julie, but she didn't want them to hate her without getting a chance to know her. It must look bad enough to them with Ranger taking her off to Point Pleasant and Miami, leaving Trenton to take care of the weak little white girl. Leaving his family back in Newark, leaving his job in Trenton. She stiffened at the thought of them thinking she was only after his money. If they knew about the expensive clothing in the closet or the necklace he had given her or flying her to Salem and Miami just to get her away from her troubles, would they automatically assume that she was a golddigger? Stephanie could just imagine what Raphael had told his family about her. Probably that she was with Ranger for his money and trying to get into Raphael's bed. She mentally groaned. The Manoso's were bound to despise her before long, if they didn't already.

Stephanie was so lost in her thoughts that she barely noticed when Tank and Lester got up to leave. They would be staying at the RangeMan office, in the studio apartments, for the remainder of their stay and they had an early morning the next day. Both men hugged her before Ranger walked them to the door. Stephanie stayed curled up on the couch, lost in her thoughts. She knew she shouldn't dwell on her fears and anxieties, but she just couldn't push them away. She was still thinking when Ranger walked back into the living room, sitting beside her and pulling her into his lap.

"Deep thoughts, Babe?"

She bit her lip, not wanting to voice her insecurities. But then, she thought, Ranger had been beside her every step of the way. He had already told her that if something was bothering her, she needed to get it out in the open. Holding it in would only slow down her progress. Stephanie took his hand in hers and took a deep breath.

"I'm afraid that with this whole Raphael situation, the rest of your family will think badly of me," she murmured, keeping her eyes trained on their joined hands.

Ranger squeezed her hand tightly. "What would make you think that?"

Stephanie shrugged. "I feel like I'm causing problems in the family. He's your brother, and here I show up and get between you two. I'm just afraid that everyone will think I'm some little tramp."

Ranger reached forward to grip her chin lightly, lifting her head until their eyes met. "Steph, they would never think that about you. My family knows what kind of person Rafe is. He's always been the one to drink too much and party too much and sleep around too much. They know it's his own fault." He leaned down to brush his lips across hers. "And for the record, my family thinks you hung the moon. Me and the guys have been telling them about you for a couple of years now."

"You have?" Stephanie couldn't hide her surprise.

Ranger chuckled. "Of course we have, Babe. They've known how much I love you for a long time, probably longer than I've known. And my mother has been nagging me to bring you to dinner ever since you helped clear my name during the whole Ramos mess." He reached up and brushed a stray curl out of her eyes. "They know how Raphael is around beautiful women, and you're the most beautiful one I've ever seen. He's an ass. They're not going to blame you."

The tightness in her chest disappeared, replaced with relief. Ranger pulled her closer, until she was straddling him, their chests pressed together. "I don't want you to blame yourself for this, Steph. I should have known that Raphael would cause problems. It's not the first time and it definitely won't be the last. And he's gonna find out tomorrow just how much of a mistake it is to undermine me and harass you."

Stephanie pulled back slightly, her eyes wide. "You're not going to kill him, are you?"

He laughed. "No, but the idea is tempting."

She shook her head. "Don't fight him, Ranger. It's not worth it."

"If it was any other employee and they went against my orders like that, not only would they be unemployed, but they would be in traction. A few punches and a transfer is better than my brother deserves. Besides," he continued, "he needs to realize that it's not tolerated to harass women. We were taught better than that, but he seems to think that it doesn't apply to him."

Stephanie was silent for a moment. "Is it a habit of his?"

"If it is, it hasn't been brought to my attention," Ranger said quietly, wrapping one of her curls around his finger. "If I ever hear about him taking it too far with any woman, though, not only will he be out of the job and laid up in the ICU, but RangeMan's attorneys will be representing his victim. I'll help put his ass away."

From the tone of his voice, Stephanie wondered if Ranger ever suspected that Raphael might have gone too far. If anyone in the Manoso family had worried about that same thing. It appeared that Raphael was more than just the black sheep of the family. She was suddenly very glad that he would be in Atlanta before too long. She didn't want Ranger to have to deal with him anymore.

The tension that had come over Ranger suddenly dissipated when Stephanie brushed against his rapidly growing erection. A tension of a whole other kind took over and his wolf grin made an appearance.

"I'm suddenly exhausted, Babe. I think it's past our bedtime."

Stephanie glanced at the clock on the entertainment center and grinned. It wasn't even ten thirty yet. Faking a yawn, she stretched her body, arching her breasts closer to Ranger's face. He growled and leaned down to nip at her breasts through her shirt.

Giggling, she stood up, heaving him to his feet with her. "I couldn't agree with you more." Her giggling turned into a shriek of laughter as she suddenly found herself lifted off the ground. Before she knew it, she was hanging upside down over Ranger's shoulder in a fireman's carry and he was hauling ass up the stairs, the sounds of both their laughter echoing through the house.

Thanks to Alfonsina for all the help with editing and suggestions and information for Teen Lifeline. Thanks to everybody else for all the great reviews! I really appreciate it!