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Steph's POV
"Don't you ever touch me again," I warn, ignoring the very intense pain from my wounds.
"Babe, what's going on?" Carlos asks from the doorway of the kitchen. I try smiling, but it comes out a grimace. He steps towards me looking worried. He get's to me before my legs give out from the pain.
"Nothing I can't handle," I tell him with a smile as I'm jelly in his arms.
"She's psycho! She flipped me over and was jealous of me for some reason," Anabella lies, sobbing. I roll my eyes.
"I'll tell you about it later Carlos. Right now, I need you to check on my stitches," I tell him giving him a kiss on the lips. "I really didn't mean to hurt her."
"Okay. And, I believe you babe," he whispers in my ear, "she did go a little psycho after I...uh...you know...with her." My eyes widen and I forget the pain in my back for a moment.
"You didn't!" I exclaim. He nods looking sheepish.
"Carlos!" I say smacking him on the arm. "Couldn't you see she loved you?"
"I was younger and I didn't think it was a big deal," he tells me with a shrug. I roll my eyes.
"Men," I mutter. Carlos makes sure I'm steady on my feet. Anabella gets up and passes Carlos on the way back outside. I actually feel a little sympathy for her, but she's still a bitch. Carlos shows me to the bathroom where he lifts up my shirt to check my stitches.
"It doesn't seem to be too bad. I think a bandaid and some aspirin will do," Carlos comments. "At least you're going to the doctor on Wednesday," he says, grabbing a box of bandaids from beneath the sink. He puts one on my back and I wince. I can't wait to be all healed. He smoothes my shirt down and takes me to the kitchen where he gives me two aspirin. I excuse myself so I can actually use the bathroom. I come out of the bathroom to find Carlos still standing in the kitchen. I walk over to him.
"Did I make a bad impression?" I ask a little worriedly now that my back is alright and I relieved myself.
"She hasn't said a word about what you did," Carlos says with a smile. "So, why did you do it?"
"She grabbed my hair," I tell him, getting angry just thinking about it. He wraps his arms around me.
"She's had a crush on me since we were little and when we... she got more obsessive," Carlos says rubbing circles on my hand with his thumb.
"Yeah, she said you were hers for three years," I tell him with a slight smirk.
"She's crazy. I can't believe my mom even invited her," Carlos says shaking his head. He leans down and gives me a kiss.
"Should we go back out there?" I ask, pulling away. He sighs.
"Probably." He grabs my hand and we go back out there. We sit down in the same seats we had been.
"When's the wedding Carlos?" his father asks with a smile. He looks at me to see if I will answer.
"We haven't really picked a date," Carlos answers truthfully. "You'll get invitations in the mail." His father and mother nod.
"You'll be coming over a lot more now, right?" his mother asks looking hopeful. I see Carlos tense and give a tight smile. I look at him and place a hand on his arm. He relaxes a bit.
"Si," I answer for him. I see his mom smile.
"She's a keeper. I'm glad you'll be coming more often. Carlos almost never visits even if he is in town," his mom tells us. I look at Carlos. He gives me a sheepish grin and a shrug. I shake my head.
"Why didn't you visit more?" I ask him curiously.
"I was busy," he tells us. I roll my eyes. Busy my ass. He never seems to be busy when I am around. Unless we are getting busy. Just thinking about that makes me crack a grin. Carlos looks over and smiles at me and it's like he read my mind.
As the evening starts winding down people start saying their goodbyes. We make it to dessert, which is flan. Let me tell you, it is delicious. Almost better than pineapple upside down cake. Almost.
"Stephanie nice meeting you," Celia says her goodbyes. "Adios brother. Make smart choices."
"When don't I make smart choices?" Carlos asks. Celia just raises an eyebrow and looks at Anabella. I laugh at that.
"I'll keep him in line," I tell her with a smile.
"I knew I liked you!" she says with a grin. Carlos just shakes his head. He hugs his sister goodbye. She gathers up her kids and they leave. Thankfully, Anabella leaves at the same time. Carlos stands up and stretches before offering his hand to me. I stand up with him and sling my pocketbook onto my shoulder.
"Thanks for dinner, Mama," Carlos says. "Nice to see you Papa."
"Nice to see you too Carlos. You come back more often. Nice to meet you Stephanie," his mother replies with a kind smile. His father nods and shakes Carlos' hand. We leave holding hands. I lean into him a little.
"Well, that was...interesting," I state. He looks down at me.
"Very interesting," he agrees. "Now you know who to watch out for." I stick out my tongue.
"And you know you have to watch out for Morelli," I tell him with a grin. I see him shake his head.
"I don't have to watch out for anyone." I roll my eyes in true 'burg fashion. We get in the car and he drives us home. When we get in we go straight to the bedroom. We both get into our pajamas and lay in bed. He has his arms wrapped around me.
"You'll probably want to start planning the wedding tomorrow. Whatever makes you happy, I'll be happy," he tells me. I smile.
"Are you sure? I don't want to plan it and have you totally hate it," I tell him. In the dark I see him grin.
"Babe, trust me anything you do or plan, will be perfect," he informs me. "So, if you want a huge wedding and want to invite everyone you know. Go for it. We both have money, and I'm not going broke anytime soon. In fact I could probably buy out a small third world country."
Only a small one? I'm not complaining, I'm just thinking if he can only buy a small one, then what would the one I could—I mean did buy, cost? Jeez, I knew Raph encouraged me to do it, but I never actually saw any of the statements.
When I grew up I was in the middle class. We could afford to buy some new shoes every school year, but in no way were we loaded. I've done a lot of things for the military and for Raph. Although, Raph's accountant, who happens to be Hank, handles everything. So, I don't know exactly how much I have. I just know that I could probably buy out Mexico if I really wanted it, but I don't. I do pretty much run Belize. Raph, sent some great guys up there to take over since I had no intention of personally staying down there myself. Don't get me wrong, Central America is great, but I'm not one to actually live down there unless it's for a job. I should probably get Hank to tell me what exactly my bank standing is.
"Don't worry Carlos, I don't plan on using any of your money," I inform him. I'm pretty sure he knows nothing about my money I really had, since I don't even know how much myself. No one knows that I have a lot, well except for Hank and Raph, I intend to keep it that way. I'll tell Carlos, of course.
"If you're sure, Babe, but remember it's there for you to use," he reminds me.
"I know, but I don't think it'll be a problem," I tell him. "Uh...Carlos do you have a guess for how much money I have? I think you should know since we're getting married." I feel him shift.
"My guess would be you're well off," he offers. I snuggle into his chest.
"I would call you well off. I'm...well...really wealthy," I inform him. I can tell he raised his eyebrows.
"How wealthy?" he asks.
"Um...I pretty much own Belize. You know how they say that the rich people control it because the civilians are too poor to have any say? Well, I'm one of those rich people," I say, holding my breath as I wait for his reaction. "I also own a small island a little southeast of Cancun."
"Wow, I could probably control Rwanda, but I'm not really into it," Carlos tells me. "It doesn't matter babe. I love you and you love me. Money doesn't need to be an issue." He hugs me tighter and gives me a kiss. After this newly shared information we just lay together before we drift off to sleep.
I wake up sweating. My dream is foggy, but it wasn't a good one. It was another one about Andy. Why? Why does he have to haunt me when I'm happy? Is Doc right? Have I never truly let go? Tears run down my cheeks. I look over at Carlos, who is sleeping peacefully. He sighs and curls his body around mine. I wipe my tears and relax into him.
In the morning Carlos wakes me up enough for me to know that he went to work. He gives me a kiss. I drift back to sleep and wake up a couple hours later. I get up and go run, since I can't do my usual routine yet. After that I take a shower and eat breakfast. I call Raph, letting him know that I'll be in around four thirty, 'cause I am gonna help Lula bring in some skips.
He reminds me to take it easy. I get in one of my cars, my black '73 Dodge Charger. It's hot, if I do say so myself. I drive down to Vinnie's, which doesn't take as long as I expect it to. I roll through the door to find Lula sitting on the couch with a bucket of chicken from Cluck-in-a-Bucket.
"Hey white girl!" she calls with a greasy grin, "you'll never guess but Tankie asked me out for another date." I grin and nod to Connie.
"Hi Steph," she says.
"That's great Lula. After we go after your skips you want help me plan my wedding?" I ask her, taking a leg out of the bucket. She perks up.
"Yo' want me to help plan yo' wedding!" she asks jumping up. Luckily, I catch the bucket before it tumbles off the couch.
"Yeah, you're my friend. That reminds me we need to get Mary Lou in on this. Connie, would you want help too?" I ask, turning to another one of my good friends.
"Yeah, I would love to, only problem is Vinnie's out of town and I have to run this place," she tells me, "just make sure you send invite my way." I nod.
"Will do. See you later Connie." Lula and I wave and leave.
"My first skip is train lady," Lula informs me.
"Alrighty." I drive to the train station, Lula talking non-stop, to find train lady sitting on the bench. We pull up close.
"Her name's Brandy," Lula reads from the file.
"Hey Brandy! You forgot your court date. Wanna ride to the cop shop?" I call. I see her think about it before she gets up and gets in the tiny space of the back. I drive there quickly and Lula goes in with her. It's a good thing she got out of the family business otherwise she might have an aversion to the station. I am tapping the steering wheel to the song on the radio when someone taps on my window. I jump slightly and look over to see Joe standing there, not looking happy. I roll down the window slightly.
"What do you want?" I ask, not very happy myself.
"Your in an unauthorized area, Cupcake," he sneers. I fight the urge to run him over.
"Oh, so what, the visitors parking has now become unauthorized area? Wow, that's a new one on me. Want me to go talk to the chief about it?" I ask him, trying my best not to lose my temper. Luckily Lula comes back out and gets in the car. I speed out of there faster than he can blink.