Babe story. Babe HEA. Very Morelli UNFRIENDLY. Some angst but lots of fluff to counteract it.

Mi amor (my love) Querida (Dear) Mi cariña (My darling/sweetheart) Si (Yes) Dios (God) Amante (Lover)

Language, Sex and Adult themes apply. I do not own anything, all belongs to Janet Evanovich.

21

TPOV

I watched the door as it shut quietly. Ranger still trusted me, trusted me not to betray him, to not hurt his woman even though that's all I had been doing the past few months. I can't believe I hadn't noticed the men acting differently towards her, her becoming more and more reserved, the bruises, the lack of eye contact...everything, I had even been treating her like she was worthless when that wasn't the case at all. I had just been upset that she had been sneaking away. I had failed both her and Ranger. And Weston had made matters ten fucking times worse...the stunt he pulled at Christmas was unacceptable. I should have done something. I can't believe I had been so wrapped in my own life, cough Lula cough, and my work that I had failed to notice what Weston was doing to the company and Steph. Ranger had gone easy on him; I would have probably beaten him to death if I knew he had done all that to Bombshell. Turning my gaze back to Steph, she was standing two yards away from me, feet shoulder width apart, arms resting firmly by her sides and her body tensed. She was in her fight stance. Shit, I can't believe I had really lost her trust and faith as much as for her to think I would physically hurt her. I wouldn't, never.

"Steph" I started, trying to keep my voice gentle. She glanced at me warily. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for not helping you, for not protecting your privacy, for not crushing the burg rumours, for not coming to your aid when you needed me most. I'm sorry I didn't realise Weston was hurting you. I'm sorry I treated you so bad, that I didn't act like a friend when you needed a friend. I'm sorry I didn't protect you bombshell." I blurted out. Shock was plastered on her face and her arms hung loosely, her stance deflated. I went on.

"I hate that you don't trust me anymore, that you fear me. The first time I met you, you treated me the same as you would any other person. You have no idea what that means to me, what it means to every man that works at Rangeman." A sad frown crossed her features.

"You all sure have a funny way of showing it" She whispered to herself. She was right; we had all treated her like shit.

"Having you around, treating us as if we were no different is what persuaded me that I could pursue a relationship; is the reason I proposed to Lula. I never really thanked you for that, I'm grateful to have you around. I'd miss you terribly from my life if you ever left. I also want to thank you for what you've done for Ranger" I stated. Her features were now clouded with confusion.

"I haven't done anything for him except destroy his property and waste his time, money and resources" Steph muttered sadly. I shook my head. This woman who was once so confident and ballsy had lost her self esteem and sense of worth...I can't believe I had contributed to this.

"No Bomber, you gave him a life. Something...someone to live for, to come home to. You've given him someone to love and given him your love in return. You have made him happy. I don't think I had ever seen him really smile until he met you, and I've known the man for years." I reassured her. Ranger was going to have his work cut out for him.

"Really?" She whispered. I took a few steps closer to her while she was distracted, she didn't move away.

"Yeah Steph, you're perfect for him" She met my gaze and suddenly realised I was a lot closer than a moment ago. Still, she remained where she was, progress.

"I hope someday you can forgive me, but I'll understand if you can't. Just know that I'm sorry, ok bombshell?" I pleaded. She looked like she was about to cry. I carefully stepped forward and wrapped her in a gentle hug, allowing her plenty of room to escape if she so wanted. It was at that moment that she broke down in tears. Oh Shit. Ranger is going to kill me.

"Steph I'm sorry, whatever I did to upset you" I muttered pulling away from her. She started to cry harder and latched onto me. "Bomber" I sighed.

"You don't hate me?" She questioned with a sob. My jaw almost dropped. Why the hell would I hate her? Is that what she thought...that the men's behaviour towards her was hate and disdain?

"Of course I don't hate you Steph, you're like my little sister from another mister" I felt her laugh against me. Wow, this was the first time in so long I had heard her laugh. This was the old bombshell.

"I'm going to protect you from now on Bomber, promise" She was making me feel all emotional. Steph pulled away from me and smiled a real smile.

"I can begin to forgive you if you can be a real friend again" She requested quietly.

"Not a problem" I answered quickly. After listening to her voice messages, I realised just how many real friends she didn't have. We had all deserted her.

"Thanks big guy" She wiped her tears away and practically danced over to the door and threw it open. Ranger was waiting, naturally. He frowned at her red puffy face and levelled a death glare in my direction. Shit.

"Happy tears Carlos" She smiled at him, throwing herself into his arms. He raised an eyebrow at me. I needed to talk to him anyway. I gestured to the stairs and started making my way to his office.

RPOV

The door swung open and Babe stood there, looking like she had been crying her heart out. I was going to kill Tank. I glared at him until my Babe smiled...wait she smiled! I gazed at her and noticed her light, happy eyes.

"Happy tears Carlos" She spoke before throwing herself into my arms. I raised an eyebrow at Tank. What the hell had he said to her? He inclined his head towards the stairs; I'd meet him up there in a minute.

"Are you ok querida?" I murmured into her ear. She nodded against me. I dragged her back into the conference room and closed the door, pushing her up against it. I hadn't fixed the cameras yet. I stared into her big blue eyes for a moment before attacking her lips with a fierce kiss. Mine. She pushed herself against me and her tongue duelled with mine. After a few minutes, I pulled away and gently caressed her face.

"Tank didn't upset you?" I confirmed.

"No" Thank God. I really didn't want to kill the man who had saved my ass on many occasions. I gave her a gentle kiss before pulling away.

"Would you wait up on seven for me? I have to speak with Tank" She levelled me with a glare. What?

"You're just speaking right? Please don't fight him today" I blinked. Ok Babe, you guys must have had a serious talk.

"Just speaking amante. Today anyway, he still deserves to be punished" I promised with another kiss. I opened the door and led her to the elevator, waiting till it arrived. I handed her my key fob, brushed another kiss across her lips and waited till she disappeared. I took the stairs quickly to my office.

TPOV

The door swung open and Carlos stepped inside, alone, locking the door quickly behind him. He strode over to where I was sitting on the couch and stood directly in front of me hands on hips, glaring.

"What did you say to Steph?" He demanded.

"I told her I was sorry for being such a dick. I told her I'd look out for her from now on and I asked her if she could ever forgive me" I answered calmly. I had made things right with bombshell, she had promised to forgive me; I was happy.

"And?" He questioned.

"She asked if I hated her, to which I replied she was like my little sister and I could never hate her. Steph then told me she would start to forgive me if I would be her friend again. After that she threw herself into your arms" I summarised with a small smile. They were perfect together; it should have never taken them this long to commit to a relationship.

"Why was she crying?" I shrugged. I didn't understand her like he did.

"You're the one that reads her mind." Was all that I replied.

"Shit" Ranger muttered.

"Steph is a lot tougher than you're giving her credit for" I remarked. He paused.

"Explain" He ordered.

"I did a lot of her basic training initially. She has a lot of stamina, a good centre of gravity and fights till she drops" I had been present at her test a few months back. She had beaten Lester and then Cal after that. It had impressed the hell out of me. So much so that I had stepped into the ring and gone a couple of rounds with her. She was a good sparring partner.

"How the hell was Weston beating her then?" He growled.

"I never witnessed it but apparently he always snuck up on her at times when she shouldn't have had to monitor her surroundings, and he had weapons. Lester said he pulled him off her when he found Weston with a knife to her throat the other day. That was when he and Bobby approached me, they didn't know it was going on before that" I should have kicked his ass myself, not waited till Ranger had come back. Weston had been sneaking behind all of our backs to mess with Steph. Prick.

"Fuck" He exclaimed.

"You want to see her examination fights?" I asked. I had loaded them onto his laptop because I knew it would be something he would want to see.

"Show me" He commanded. I stood and led him to his desk, bringing up the video footage. He watched around twenty minutes of it before shutting it off.

"She can fight" Ranger sounded awed.

"Yeah, she can fight good" As long as bastards didn't surprise attack her with weapons, she'd be ok. Combat she didn't have a problem with.

"My Babe can defend herself" He continued, his voice proud.

"She also has a decent street rep, too bad the burg doesn't listen to shit like that" He inclined his head and sat in thought for a few minutes.

"She trusts you again?" Ranger enquired, I nodded.

"I think she will now be able to begin to trust me, yeah." He exhaled a sigh of relief.

"You still owe her" Ranger growled.

"I know. I have to make it up to her"

"I have to get everyone else the fuck off her back now." He growled.

"How we gonna do that?" I asked seriously.

"You want to help?" He seemed sceptical. He still hasn't fully forgiven me.

"Anyway I can help Bomber I will." I stated certainly.

"Good. I want the men to change their attitude towards her. Can you make that happen? I don't want it to just be out of fear of me either" he instructed. I could do that; I'd have fun kicking their asses into submission.

"No problem boss" he gave me a small smile. He suddenly looked at his watch and sighed.

"I'm taking Steph to dinner at my parents" I nodded.

"Good. They should meet the woman you love" He assessed me quickly for a moment, processing my words.

"Is it that obvious?" He wondered quietly.

"I know you pretty well man, but I guess yeah, it's noticeable. But it's always been noticeable. You two have this energy thing going on when you're in the same room together." He considered my words.

"I haven't told her" Ranger remarked.

"Shit. Carlos you gotta tell her you love her. Fuck, she probably believed ever word Morelli said" I groaned and rubbed my eyes. For an intelligent man he could be incredibly dumb.

"Not that. I didn't tell her I'm taking her to meet my parents yet" Oh, shit. Not that much better.

"How long till you meet them?" I asked. I knew it was a thirty minute drive from here.

"Hour"

"You should give her some warning. She's going to flip her lid at you" He was gonna be in the dog house tonight.

"Thanks for the moral support man. Dismissed" He growled. I chuckled and stood, ambling back over to his desk.

"Are we cool man?" I questioned.

"Yeah Tank. We're ok. But we're going to have a serious fucking talk about Weston in the near future" I held out my hand and he shook it before I turned on my heel and left. He was gonna kick the shit out of me. Oh well, I did deserve it. Now to work out how I'm going to get the rest of Rangeman to treat Bombshell right.

Review!!! Did this chapter make everyone happy, now that Tank is back on Steph's side?