A/N: This one is back to being from Stephanie's POV.

I went to the bond's office on Wednesday morning, after having spent two hours of the previous night at my parents' house, trying to keep my mother from having a heart attack over Grandma Mazur's latest shenanigans at the funeral home. The widow had actually threatened to sue Grandma for intentional infliction of emotional distress, but Grandma had talked about having rights as an old person and then said that even if the widow tried to sue her, her granddaughter's boyfriend was rich and would hire the best lawyer around to defend her. I personally thought Ranger was more likely to pay for the widow's attorney than Grandma's, but I didn't tell her that. The widow agreed not to sue anyone as long as the funeral home deducted the cost of the services from her bill. The funeral home then told Grandma she wasn't welcome back unless she was coming in a body bag.

Lula and Connie were drinking coffee when I arrived, and immediately asked about the scene at the funeral home with Grandma. Edna Mazur being banned from the funeral home was a big deal.

"Do you think your granny's gonna actually stay away?" Lula asked. "I wouldn't put it past her to put on a disguise and try to sneak in."

I wouldn't put it past Grandma either, but I knew my mom would be keeping her on a tight leash after this. I was about to say just that when the door to the bond's office opened and a very pretty African-American woman walked in. She looked to be around my age, was several inches shorter than me, but had a body I'd kill for. She reeked of money and upper-class breeding from her Hermes bag to her perfectly tailored navy blue suit and champagne-colored silk blouse all the way to her Louboutin heels. Her hair fell to her shoulders in soft curls. She was clearly out of her element in the drab bond's office.

"Can I help you?" Connie asked, looking around me to the woman.

"I'm looking for Stephanie Plum," the woman said, smiling slightly. "I understand she works here."

There have been times in the past when people have come to the bond's office looking for me, and I've not wanted to them to know who I was. This woman didn't look like a lunatic, and if she had a gun in her Hermes bag, it wasn't very big.

"I'm Stephanie Plum," I said, feeling frumpy in my twenty-dollar jeans, forty-dollar sneakers and the red v-neck t-shirt I'd gotten for two dollars on Stark Street the week before. "How can I help you?"

The woman smiled again, and something in her smile made me feel uneasy. Maybe she was there to kill me. Assassins were certainly well-dressed these days.

"I wanted to meet you. It's always interesting to see the competition," she said, giving me the once over.

"I'm afraid I don't follow you. What competition?"

The woman smiled again, her eyes lighting up. "Are you telling me Carlos didn't mention me?"

My heart started to thump hard in my chest. "You're going to have to explain to me what you're talking about, including by telling me who you are and how you know Carlos."

"My name is Diana Hastings," she began. "Carlos and I used to be in a relationship. He didn't mention to you that I went to see him at his office yesterday?"

I heard Connie and Lula both suck in air while I felt all of the air had been knocked out of me. Ranger had dated this woman, who was clearly wealthy, educated and beautiful, who had reappeared in his life suddenly and he didn't think to bring it up. It was like being kicked in the gut repeatedly.

"I didn't get a chance to talk to him much yesterday," I said, recovering from the initial shock. "We were both very busy all day. But now I need to know why you feel there is a competition."

Diana's smile returned, and I fought the urge to ram her head through the large window behind her. "Because I informed Carlos I want him back, and I intend to get him. He called you the love of his life, so I needed to see what I was up against. So far, I can't see anything spectacular about you that will keep his attention once I really get ahold of him."

I stood there frozen, unable to believe what I was hearing. Every woman I knew wanted to see Ranger naked and had likely fantasized about him in bed, but I'd never had anyone actually try to take him. At least that I was aware of. And why Ranger hadn't mentioned this woman to me last night or this morning made me hurt. She had apparently made it clear to him what her intentions were, and yet he hadn't thought to tell me about them or give me a head's up that she might be dropping by the office. Did it mean that he wanted us to fight for him, or that he was thinking of going back to her?

The office door opened and we all turned our attention to see Ranger standing in the doorway. His eyes fell on Diana briefly before meeting mine. His expression told me he knew he was in deep shit.

"Hello, Carlos," Diana said, turning to face Ranger. "I wasn't expecting to see you here."

Anger radiated off of Ranger. "What are you doing, Diana?"

"I came here to meet your girlfriend, and to try to figure out why you'd want to stay with her instead of being with me. So far, I've not been able to figure out why you like her so much."

"Listen here, bitch," Lula said, standing up to face Diana. Lula was wearing a lime green spandex dress and gold heels. "You don't get to come in here and talk shit to my friend. You need to get your pampered little ass out of here before I sit on you and squash you like a bug."

Diana gave a little laugh. "Honey, I'm more afraid of being in contact with your spandex than I am with you threatening to squash me."

"Hold on a minute," Connie said. "Weren't you married to that Congressman that got arrested for taking bribes?"

"An unfortunate incident that I've put behind me," Diana replied, not taking her eyes off of Ranger. "Now I'm moving on to better things."

"No, you're not," Ranger said quietly. "I've told you that already. I also told you if you bothered Stephanie that I'd make your life hell. Now get out, and if I see you near her again, I'll follow through with my word."

Diana watched him for a minute, the arrogant smile on her face once more. She turned back to look at me as she walked towards the door.

"You might as well give up now, Stephanie. I always get what I want."

She brushed past Ranger and walked out to a silver BMW that was parked behind my Jeep. She climbed in and pulled away, leaving us all speechless in her wake.

I was literally trembling with hurt and anger as I stood rooted to the spot. Ranger turned to look at me again, and held my gaze for a moment.

"Let's go home and talk about this," he said quietly.

I shook my head. "No, we'll talk about it here and now. Connie and Lula already heard Diana's version, they may as well hear yours."

He didn't say anything for a moment, probably hoping I'd change my mind, but began speaking after a moment.

"Diana and I dated during my two years at Rutgers, Newark. She was from wealthy Connecticut family and two years older than me. She hadn't cared that I was a lower-middle class Cuban kid from Newark, but when I joined the Army at the end of my sophomore year, just as she was graduating, suddenly I was no longer good enough for her. She told me she couldn't date a soldier because she was supposed to be marrying men who would making something for themselves. She broke up with me, and I hadn't seen her until yesterday. She showed up at my office and basically told me she wanted me back, saying she was still in love with me. I told her it wasn't happening, but she doesn't want to hear that. She thinks she still has the hold over me that she had when we were at Rutgers."

I had been literally biting my tongue while he'd been talking, my hands clenched into fists and fighting tears.

"Why didn't you tell me this yesterday?" I asked, trying to keep my voice from cracking.

Ranger sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "I'm sorry, Stephanie. I was trying to figure out how to do it yesterday, but then we kept getting dragged in different directions and I didn't want to wake you up and tell you first thing this morning. I was going to tell you tonight after we got home. I didn't know that she was going to show up at the office, but I'd had Tank put a tracker on her car just so I could see what she was up to. I really didn't mean to hurt you, and I wasn't trying to hide anything. I just wanted to be able to tell you in a way that wouldn't freak you out."

Tears began leaking out of my eyes before I could stop them. "Were you in love with her?"

"Yes."

I wiped the tears that started falling down my cheeks. "And how do you feel about her now?"

Ranger walked over to me and stood right in front of me. "I don't feel anything for her. I got over her a long time ago, and I wouldn't go back to her even if I didn't have you."

I blew out a shaky sigh. "Are you sure about that? She's gorgeous, rich and undoubtedly successful. I couldn't say that I'd blame you. Hell, I'd date her."

Ranger pulled me into him and wrapped his arms around me. I rested my head against his chest, breathing in his scent. "It's always been you," he whispered in my ear. "I'm only going to ever want you."

I let his words wash over me, trying to decide if I could believe them. Ranger had never lied to me about anything important, and had never given any hint of even thinking of straying. I was really pissed that he had never mentioned Diana, and more pissed that he had failed to tell me she had showed up and wanted him back. But we could talk about it again later.

"Fine," I said, pulling away. "We'll talk tonight when you get home."

Ranger looked down at me, wiping away the last remnant of tears from my cheeks with his thumbs. He kissed me on the forehead and walked back out of the office. I watched as he pulled away from the curb, finding myself unable to look at Lula or Connie. I felt like I'd been run over by truck —a well-dress bitch truck named Diana.

"I can't believe that bitch," Lula said. "Who does she think she is?"

"She's amazing," I said, finally turning to face my friends. "Why wouldn't Ranger want to be with her?"

"Because he loves you," Connie stressed. "He'd never go for someone like that, especially when she's basically telling him he will."

"But he did go for her at one time," I said, grabbing my purse from the chair next to me. "And he's never told me about her, nor did he tell me that she showed up at his office yesterday. He's had an entire day to tell me this, yet he didn't. How is that supposed to make me feel confident about our relationship?"

Connie and Lula didn't have any answers, so I told them I was leaving for the day and went out to my Jeep. I sat behind the wheel, unsure of what I was going to do. I had no desire to go after the three FTAs whose files were in my bag, nor did I want to sit at home. I didn't want to go to my parents' house, as they'd know something was wrong. I wanted to get away for a little while and distract myself from Diana's condescending smile, smug attitude and challenging words. I started my car and pulled away from the curb, fighting the urge to vomit.

I drove around aimlessly for over two hours before deciding to stop at the Mexicana Grill, intending to drown my sorrows in margaritas and chicken fajitas. I thought about Ranger and Diana, wondering what it had to have been like to date him in his pre-Army days. I made me feel sick to realize that I could see them being together. They were both very attractive, intelligent people who had the ability to get people to do whatever they wanted. I continued to sit in the booth for hours, long after I'd finished my fajitas, absorbing everything. I had always hated that Ranger hadn't been very open with me, but I'd respected it to an extent, thinking it was related to horrors that he couldn't bring himself to talk about. Now I suspected that much of what he kept to himself was out of the desire to maintain control over himself and to keep anyone else from having any sort of hold on him.

I was halfway through my fourth margarita, and barely able to hold my own head up, when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up and saw Ranger standing over me.

"It's time to go home, Stephanie."

I shrugged out of his grip. "No. I'm mad at you. My margaritas are my friends."

Ranger threw four twenty-dollar bills on the table, pried the margarita out of my hand and pulled me to standing. "You're drunk, and I'm taking you home. The bartender said you've been here for the past six hours."

I tried to walk by myself, but found the floors were uneven and the room had started spinning around me. I started to fall into another booth, but Ranger caught me around waist and practically dragged me out of the restaurant. He put me into the passenger side of the Turbo and pulled out of the parking lot.

I didn't talk the entire way back home, refusing to look in Ranger's direction. I was mad at him. He was an asshole. And my margaritas were no longer feeling so friendly in my stomach.

After we pulled into the drive, Ranger got out of the car and walked around to my side, opening the door and helping me out of the car. I stood up, tried to jerk out of his grip and fell to the ground.

"Ow," I said, sitting up and trying to ignore the way the world was spinning around me. "The ground hit me."

Ranger pulled me up and practically carried me into the house and up the staircase.

"I have to pee," I told Ranger once we got to the top landing. "I'm going to pee alone. Do not follow me."

Ranger guided me into the bathroom and closed the door, but I suspected he was standing outside of it in case he heard me fall. I managed to take care of business without falling and knocking myself out or vomiting all over the bathroom. When I opened the door, I found him leaning against the opposite wall.

"Did you see any more of Diana today?" I asked, saying her name with the tone I reserved for Joyce Barnhardt and other like-minded, man-stealing women.

"No, I didn't. Did you?" Ranger asked, walking behind me as I staggered my way to the bedroom.

"Nope. I would have kicked her ass if I had," I told Ranger, falling face down into bed fully-dressed.

Ranger rolled me over a second later and started taking off my sneakers, then my jeans. He sat me up and took off my t-shirt before throwing one of the t-shirts I saved for sleeping over my head.

"I'm sorry about this, Stephanie," he said, guiding me into my spot on the bed. "I should have told you immediately when she showed up, rather than spent time trying to figure out how to break it to you in an easier manner."

"No shit, Sherlock," I replied, my voice muffled by my pillow. "Imagine what you'd have done if Morelli would have come in and said he wanted me back and would do whatever he had to do to get me, and I didn't tell you?"

"Morelli would never be found again," Ranger replied immediately. "And I would be hurt if you didn't tell me right away. I promise nothing like this will ever happen again."

"It'd better not," I said, feeling sleep come over me. I think Ranger tried to say more, but I didn't hear it.

I heard Ranger saying my name and rubbing my head, trying to get me to wake up. "Can't we talk in the morning?"

"It is morning, babe."

I opened one eye and saw sunlight shining through the window. "What time?"

"It's seven o'clock. You've been asleep for over ten hours," Ranger said, setting a cup of coffee on my nightstand.

I sat up, wincing at the bright light and reached for the coffee. I was going to have the hangover from hell for a good part of the day. I guess margaritas aren't very good friends.

"How are you feeling today?" he asked, watching me closely.

"You mean from my hangover, or you not telling me about your old girlfriend being in town?" I asked, trying to keep the edge out of my voice.

"Both, though I'm more interested in the latter."

I took a minute to let the caffeine start waking up my brain before I answered. "I'm not happy that you didn't tell me right away, but I believe you when you said you weren't hiding it, just trying to figure out how to tell me. I trust you when you say it won't happen again. And my hangover is a real bitch. I'm no longer friends with margaritas."

Ranger kissed my forehead. "Thanks babe. I've got to get to the office, and I'll be late tonight. My lawyer has some papers I need to review and sign, so I'm meeting him for dinner."

"I'll probably go to my parents' house for dinner then," I said, climbing out of bed. "I haven't been to see them in almost a week."

I saw Ranger out and scrounged around the kitchen, looking for something easy to have for breakfast. After a couple of minutes, I decided a breakfast sandwich would be easier, so I put on a pair of sweat pants and sneakers, grabbed my purse and Bob and we went to Cluck-in-a-Bucket to get breakfast. Bob had been on a strict diet of no human food since he'd moved in with us, but since he'd been doing such a great job of running with Ranger every morning and looked like he'd lost a few pounds, I thought a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich was due as a reward for hard work. I also got a large Coke and an order of breakfast fries to help cure my hangover.

I walked into the bond's office an hour later, feeling more human after breakfast and a shower.

"You look like you had a bad night," Connie said. "Did you and Ranger stay up late fighting?"

"Nope, I went out and got trashed at Mexicana Grill and he had to pick me up and take me home, where I slept for ten hours. We talked a little this morning. I'm not as mad as I was yesterday. I don't think he was intentionally hiding it, just nervous about telling me."

Connie nodded. "I agree. He seemed genuine when he was telling you everything yesterday. I doubt he's had this kind of problem in his life before."

I agreed. I wasn't sure how many romantic relationships Ranger had ever had in his life, but doubted there had been very many, and he would have made sure to avoid anything like this. Diana had managed to blindside him in a way that very few people had.

When Lula arrived twenty minutes later, I had to repeat the events of the previous night to her. She hadn't been impressed, saying she'd have kicked his Cuban ass back to the ghetto if he'd done that to her. Connie and I did eye rolls. Lula talked a big game, but would wet her pants if Ranger looked at her cockeyed.

I had three skips in my bag that had failed to show on Tuesday, plus four more that had failed to show on Wednesday, so Lula and I set out to bring them in. Three domestic violence cases, one petty theft, two drug-related charges, and one drunk and disorderly. By six o'clock, we'd managed to find all but the drunk and disorderly and one of the domestic violence cases. I dropped Lula off at her car and headed to my parents' house, where my mother had promised pot roast, mashed potatoes and chocolate pudding for dessert.

I left my parents' house at six-thirty sans pot roast, mashed potatoes and chocolate pudding. Just as I had been pulling up to the house, I'd heard the screech of fire trucks pulling up behind me. My mother's oven, which she and my dad had bought right after I was born, had finally kicked the bucket —and had nearly taken the entire kitchen with it. She had managed to get most of the fire put out with the extinguisher she kept in the pantry, but the firefighters had sprayed more foam on the oven and nearby counters as a precaution. Since dinner was a bust, my dad headed to the lodge to eat, Grandma said her friend Esther was picking her up and they were going to Pino's, and my mom got sloshed on Jim Beam and had to go to bed.

I headed towards downtown, where three new restaurants had opened up right next to each other. They were all very different from each other, ranging from cheap Thai to a moderately priced Italian restaurant and a high-end French bistro, but this was Trenton, and such silliness worked. I parked my car in a public lot and walked down the sidewalk, checking out each new restaurant as I passed. The Italian restaurant, called Silvio's, was stereotypical Italian with red-and-white tiles and photos of all of the famous crooners of the forties and fifties. It was stuffed full of families with the kids trying to behave themselves and parents who were desperate for something other than McDonald's.

Next to Silvio's was Meilleur, the French bistro that had been getting raved reviews. There were large glass windows that showed passersby crisp white tablecloths on oak tables, surrounded by heavy oak chairs with dark green covers. The patrons were dressed in suits and cocktail dresses, drinking expensive wines and eating various French dishes. I was almost to the end of the row of windows when someone sitting in a table a row away from the windows caught my attention.

It was Ranger, dressed in a black suit, black dress shirt and black tie. He had a glass of red wine sitting in front of him, which looked to have barely been touched. He looked relaxed as he spoke to the person sitting across from him—freaking Diana Hastings, who was wearing a sleeveless white cocktail dress. She had a glass of white wine in her hand and took a sip as she said something, smiling coyly at Ranger, who laughed and spoke to her with a smile on his face.

It felt like ice had just been poured through my veins, and I was pretty sure my heart stopped beating for a minute. The world seemed to move in very slow motion as I watched Diana put her wine glass down and put her hand on Ranger's arm, which had been resting along the side of the table. She spoke to him with a sincere expression on her face, resting her chin on her other hand as she looked up at him. The only sound I could hear was the pounding of my own heart in my ears. I was aware of my knees shaking as they struggled to keep me upright, and the hot tears that burned my eyes.

I wasn't sure how long I'd been standing there, but it had apparently been long enough for Ranger notice someone watching from his peripheral vision. The look of worry that passed over his face served as the catalyst I needed to start moving again. I turned around and started walking back towards the parking lot, barely able to see through the tears. I had made it about twenty feet when I heard Ranger calling my name. I took off at a run, choking back sobs as I pulled my keys out of my pocket and used the remote to unlock the Jeep. I had just reached the door when I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Stephanie —," Ranger began, but was cut off as I hurled around and slapped him hard across the face.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!" I yelled between sobs as tears fell down my cheeks. "I trusted you!"

I opened the driver's side door and made to get it, but Ranger tried to grab my arm. "Stephanie, wait, this isn't what it looks like."

I shoved Ranger back by hitting him in the chest with door, causing him to fall back against the minivan parked next to me. "Get the hell away from me."

I got in the car, locked the doors and backed out of my parking space, sobbing as I drove out into traffic. I heard several horns honk, likely meaning I'd nearly caused an accident, but in that moment I didn't care. My heart had just been broken by the man I thought I could trust the most, the man who had just told me the day before that I was the only woman he wanted, and that his ex-girlfriend meant nothing to him. But there he was with her, drinking wine and smiling at her, when he told me he was going to be meeting his attorney to sign some papers.

I pulled into my garage twenty minutes later, feeling as exhausted as though I'd pushed my car home. Ranger had lied to me—about his feelings for Diana, about meeting his lawyer to sign some papers, and God only knew what else. Of all of the relationships I'd ever had in my life, I had expected that at least half of them would cheat on me, or strongly consider it if the woman were hot enough. Ranger had not been on that list. He'd been on his own list, a list that read 'would never dream of cheating'. This man, who had saved my life more times than I could count, had spent more money than I could imagine on protecting me, and had made love to me countless times, was running around behind my back with the woman that had broken his heart in college.

Bob barked and ran up to me as I walked in the door, but the sound of me crying sent him running from the room. Bob couldn't handle seeing women cry. Typical man.

I sat down on the couch and put my throbbing head in my hands, feeling as though my heart might literally beat out of my chest. I'd never felt this way before, never been so hurt by anything or anyone in my life. This hurt worse than catching Dickie with Joyce, probably because I loved Ranger so much more than I had ever loved Dickie, and the reality was that seeing Ranger laugh and smile with someone other than me was almost more intimate than finding Joyce impaled on DIckie. For Dickie, sex had been like breathing. He did it so often, he didn't even think about it. For Ranger, a smile and a laugh were rare moments that were generally saved for someone special. Like me.

I heard the back door open and close about five minutes later. Bob ran over and barked at Ranger, as though telling him to do something about the crying woman on the couch.

"Stephanie, please listen to me," Ranger said, sitting down next to me on the couch. "It's not what it looked like."

"Really?" I said scathingly. "Please tell me what it looked like, other than you having dinner at a fancy restaurant with your ex-girlfriend when you told me you were having dinner with your lawyer."

"I was sitting there waiting on my lawyer when Diana showed up at my table with her glass of wine and sat down," he said. "I told her I didn't want to talk to her, but she wouldn't leave. I figured my attorney would be there any minute and I didn't want to make a scene, so I didn't push the issue."

"You were smiling and laughing with her!" I cried, standing up and walking around to the other side of the coffee table. "I don't consider that to be any sort of suffering, especially not from you. You don't care about social niceties. You'd have sat there in stone-cold silence and ignored her if you really hadn't want to talk to her."

"I tried that, but then she started talking about you, and I felt I needed to respond," Ranger said. "I wanted her to see the real you, and not the version she wanted to see because she was jealous. I wanted her to understand just how important you are to me, and that she had no chance of jeopardizing our relationship."

I stood there looking at Ranger, assessing his body language and expression, and found them aggravatingly unreadable as always. I would've been in less pain had Ranger unloaded in Glock into my chest. My fears of our relationship only being a pit stop on his life's journey felt more real than ever.

"I don't believe you," I said, surprising myself with the words. "You're no better than Dickie Orr. I trusted you not to hurt me. I believed you yesterday when you told me I was the only one you wanted. God, I'm such an idiot. I've been worried about this—about you looking for a reason to get out. I tried to tell myself that the fact that you didn't have anything but your clothes here wasn't a sign that you wouldn't want to stay here permanently, but then Morelli noticed it, and now this happens and it just confirms that my fears were right all along."

My chest felt tight, like someone had a vise grip on my heart as I spoke. I felt like vomiting. I wanted to scream, throw things and kick over the coffee table. I wanted to hit Ranger in an attempt to make him feel what I was feeling.

"Stephanie—," Ranger said, standing up. His expression changed into one of concern, his eyes raking over me as he started to walk around the table towards me, but I moved away from him.

"Get out," I whispered, feeling tears pouring down my cheeks as the realization of what I had to do dawned on me.

Ranger stopped dead in his tracks. "What?"

"Get out of my house," I said, my voice a little stronger as I spoke. "I can't trust you anymore, and I'm clearly no more than just a stop along the way for you. I've ignored the signs in the past, when Dickie used to come home late or smell like another woman's perfume, but I won't ignore them this time. I won't stay with a man who doesn't really love me."

Ranger looked like he couldn't believe what I was saying. "Stephanie, I know I haven't handled this situation with Diana as well as I could have, but how dare you question my love for you. When you saw me talking to Diana, it was about you. I was telling her how much I loved you, how intelligent, resilient and determined you were, and how you had saved me from myself."

I could hear an edge in his voice now, he was angry and hurt, hopefully beginning to feel something of what I felt. His expression was raw, and I could see the hurt in his eyes. It was one of the very few times I'd seen Ranger so vulnerable.

"But if you really want me to leave, then I will. I've told you before that it's the only reason I'd leave you."

I wiped tears from my cheeks and crossed my arms. "I wish I could believe that, but seeing as it will take you less than ten minutes to pack up everything you own in this house, I can't. Your existence here has been just as sterile as it was in the apartment at Rangeman. And now you lie to me on top of it all."

We stood there for another three minutes, not talking or looking at one another. I had hurt so much in the past half an hour that I felt numb, almost disconnected from myself in the moment. Ranger finally turned around and walking upstairs. I heard him open the door to the closet and then dresser drawers, doing as I had asked. I couldn't bear to watch him leave, so I put Bob his leash and took him for a walk down to a nearby park, where I sat on a bench and cried while Bob rested his head on my knee.