Disclaimer: You know the drill, although I'd much rather it be me that's making the big bucks. After all, I have a much better imagination, don't you think? *grin* Huge thanks to Jenny for stepping in to beta this for me. As always, special thanks to BB & Kym, and the ladies of BB. I love you guys!
Locked Up & Pissed Off – pt 28
Steph's POV
THE RED FOG OF anger that clouded my vision when Ranger told me that Joe had shot Bob was so thick I wasn't sure I could find my way out of it. I wanted to castrate the son of a bitch with a pair of rusty ice tongs, shove a broken baseball bat up his ass, then hook it to a cement truck that would twist it around really, really hard. I wanted to tie his overused and underutilized dick to a NASCAR driver's bumper and tell him to floor it. I wanted Joyce Barnhardt to give him herpes, gonorrhea, syphilis and the clap all at the same time so that his dick would fall off, and that was after the NASCAR driver got done with him. I wanted him to hurt way more than it made me feel to hear about Bob's death, because he not only killed that sweet, innocent dog that I had considered a part of my family, but also because that bastard cheated on me. The whole time he'd been accusing me of sleeping with Ranger, which I wasn't, he'd been screwing Terri and lying about it! He knew how badly it had hurt me when Dickie cheated, and I never really loved him!
Is it so hard to love me as who I am enough to consider keeping a commitment, instead of going behind my back and sleeping with someone like Mob Bitch Barbie? Was my mother right? Was I a failure? How long before Ranger…uh Ric decided I just wasn't worth it? Could he ever possibly be satisfied with just me, or was it all a pipe dream?
Not that I thought Range…Ric hmm, Ranger Ric? would do that to me, although I really couldn't blame him if he did. I mean, look at my track record. We'd barely been married six months when I caught Dickie with Joyce on my dining room table, although apparently it had been going on since well before my marriage. With Joe, we could never manage to stay together longer than a few weeks before we'd fight and I'd move back to my apartment. I know Joe has an extremely active libido, so it was a given he'd been 'amusing' himself with others during our 'off' phases. It was part and parcel to our so-called relationship. Don't ask, don't tell. Now come to find out I should have asked, although I seriously doubt he would've told me the truth.
There hasn't been a single man in my life, including guys I'd dated in college, that hasn't been unfaithful. Well, except for Ranger, that is. So what if he did sleep with someone else after 'The Deal'; he'd sent me back to Joe, so that didn't count. It didn't matter that just the thought of Ranger with another woman hurt more than it should have; he was never mine. Until now.
Just the thought of holding his heart, and him having mine, sent a flood of warmth running through me. Of course, he'd had my heart ever since that fateful night, only I hadn't realized it. I'd been so wrapped up in trying to forget those hours he spent ruining me for everyone else, that I hadn't examined the deeper feelings he'd awakened. My talk with Mari had opened my eyes in more ways than one.
I was brought out of my musings by the shrill ring of a phone. Little did I know there was indeed a land line here, and it was located in Ra…uh, damn! Ric'soffice. Thank God I didn't have the presence of mind to search for a phone when this whole mess started, and especially that I didn't know about it before talking with Mari; last night with Ric might not have happened then, if at all!
Lester was grinning as he came back into the room after answering the phone. "Ric? Might be a good idea to change safe houses. Celia's on her way!" He looked as Marcus and they both started cracking up.
I looked at Lester in confusion. "Why would we need to change safe houses?" Lester stopped laughing long enough to give me a look, then with a quick glance at Ranger, lost it again, clutching his stomach as tears ran down his face. I looked at Mari, who was smirking, and then at Ranger, who looked like he swallowed a habañero pepper…whole. This was so not good news to him!
"Shit!" The expletive was said softly enough not to reach Mia's ears in the living room, but the rest of us had no trouble hearing it. Mari's eyebrow went up, while Marcus and Lester were still trying to get a handle on their laughter. Bobby just stood there with a slight grin on his face, but his eyes gave away the inner struggle he was having at Ranger's expense. I was just plain baffled.
I looked at Ranger, oh, screw it!, my face reflecting all the questions I wanted to ask. He sighed and took my hand, giving his brother and cousin a dark look before leading me over to the stairs and starting the walk up to the bedroom. I looked back at Mari, who just shrugged before turning to Lester and whispering in his ear. The last sound I heard before Ranger shut the bedroom door was Lester letting out a yelp as if someone had smacked him.
He led me over to the fireplace, where a small table flanked by two comfortable chairs was arranged. I put my hands on my hips and turned to face Ranger, taking note of the frustrated look on his face before opening my mouth. I waited in silence, uncharacteristically I know, but it was obvious he had something important to say to me, and I wasn't about to sidetrack him.
"Babe, this is not the way I wanted you to meet my family, especially Celia. I wanted to spend more time with you, for you to be more comfortable about our relationship, before you had to deal with her. My sister's extremely protective of me, and can be rather unpleasant if she thinks someone's out to hurt me. And she will think that right now, because she doesn't know everything that's happened the last couple of weeks." He sighed, dropping down on the easy chair that sat in front of the fireplace and looked up at me.
I stuck my hands in the pockets of my jeans, suddenly apprehensive about meeting anyone else in the Bat family. Was his sister the only one I had to worry about? Marcus seemed kind of nice, even though he obviously wasn't as close to Ranger as most brothers, but since I found out that Lester's his cousin, it seems I had more allies in his family than I thought. I wondered if there were more family members scattered throughout Rangeman…
"Is there anyone else that works for you that you're related to?" I asked, suddenly getting the feeling I'd met more of his family than he'd admitted to. His lips tilted in that almost-smile of his that always made me wonder if he was laughing at me before he reached out and grabbed my hand, pulling me onto his lap.
"I'm surprised you haven't figured it out yet, Babe. Yeah, Ella's actually my aunt; my mom's sister. Ram, whose real name is Jason, is married to Celia. Hector's related in a roundabout way; his mom is my second cousin on my mom's side, and Silvio is a cousin on my dad's side. Last but not least, your 'favorite' Rangeman employee, Freddy Rodriguez, is actually a first cousin. His mom and my dad are sister and brother." He chuckled, and I suddenly saw the parallel of his life with the 'Burg I'd grown up in. It was no wonder he understood my explanations when I tried to tell him how I'd managed to ferret out bits of information from a convoluted chain of informants!
I groaned, hiding my face in his chest as what he'd said sank in. I should have known Ella was his aunt, considering how well she seemed to know Ranger's habits and moods, and he would smile at her affectionately, even when she chided him. Hector was his cousin, and I'd yelled at him, going so far as shooting the shit out of the security equipment he'd tried to install in my apartment!
Silvio had been really sweet, but I hadn't been working with him for very long before he transferred to Miami, and Oh God, Ram! He was the one who was most often assigned to me when Ranger felt I needed a bodyguard , and I would constantly try to lose him, even going so far as to ditch him at the mall when I got tired of being followed everywhere I went. Unsuccessfully, of course. And he was married to Ranger's protective older sister? I was soooo dead now!
Then I remembered back to when I'd first started searches for Rangeman. Oh my God! I felt the warmth of embarrassment flood my face. Several times I'd griped to Ranger about Rodriguez's penchant for the most boring searches I'd ever seen, and all he'd ever done was just smile at me mysteriously and walk away. It's no small wonder I haven't ended up in a third-world-country before now. After all, this was a part of the Bat family I'd complained about!
I felt the vibrations in Ranger's chest as he chuckled. "Babe, they all love you, so don't worry. Celia's gonna be a little cranky, though, but she'll get over it. She never could understand why I was always helping you, even when you and Joe were together. She just thought you were using me." I tensed at that last comment, and felt his arm tighten around me. "I know, Steph. I was just as confused as you were, and I didn't have the added stress of another person in my life that I cared about enough to try to build something with. It doesn't matter anymore."
He sighed and leaned back in the chair, running his hand in circles absentmindedly over my back. I snuggled into him, suddenly feeling a whole lot better that he had understood how utterly torn I was, trying to decide if I could commit myself to a man who had no interest in seeing me fly, or if I should walk away from a life I had been born and raised to live, in order to fulfill my dreams. My only regret was the pain I'd put him through.
I wasn't going to think about Joe's so-called pain though, because as far as I was concerned, he hadn't been hurt through any of this. At least, not that I could see. All I saw were the lies and deception, and the manipulative way he tried to control me by turning my own mother against me. Oh, she would've still berated me even if Joe and I had never gotten together, because she's never forgiven me for divorcing Dickie. I'd gotten used to that transgression a long time ago, though, and usually just tuned her out when she would harp about how disappointed in me she was.
No, Joe had added a whole new level of dissention in my family with his "Cupcake, you need to quit your job and marry me."; "Cupcake, you need to stay away from Ranger. He's just trying to use you."; "Cupcake, at least get a job at the button factory. It's safer." and "Cupcake, we need to get started on our family before it's too late." Ugh! I hate that nickname! Cup this cake, you jerk! Couldn't he come up with something a little more original and a lot less pathetic? Like 'Babe'. Now there's a name I can live with!
The rumble in Ranger's chest told me he was laughing, and I looked up at his face questioningly. "What?" I finally asked, exasperated when he continued to laugh.
"I'm glad you like the name 'Babe'. Much more suitable for you. Just please don't ask him to 'cup your cake' again, okay?" With that, he burst into a full-out laugh that was so infectious, I joined him.
We laughed for what seemed like forever, tears running down both our faces. When I finally got myself under control, I looked up at Ranger's face. "I should probably work on that 'thinking out loud' thing, huh?" He grinned and pushed a stray curl behind my ear.
"You may want to work on it around others, but I hope you never lose that habit when you're with me, Babe. I love following your thought processes!" The look on his face was so earnest and open, I had to believe him. I blushed, pleased that he wasn't looking at me like I was a lunatic, and instead complimented me on a habit that seemed to irritate others, namely my family. Joe was never too happy when I did it either.
"So, are we gonna be okay when Celia gets here? I don't want to be the cause of a rift between you two." I looked up at Ranger, anxiously searching his expression for some indication that I might want to hide under the bed when his sister arrived. He simply smiled and hugged me to him.
"You'll be fine, Steph. She might lay into me a bit, but she'd never show open hostility to a guest in my home, especially since Mia's here. She's a little more tactful around the kids. Besides, everyone here is on your side, and you'll have plenty of defenders after she gets through with me."
We sat there in silence, each comfortably contemplating his sister and her possible reaction to my presence, and quite possibly how the circumstances, once she was apprised of the current status of events, might alter her opinion. Even with his reassurances, I was still concerned; he was obviously very close to her, and I couldn't put him in the position of choosing me versus her. I'd walk before I would allow myself to tear his family apart.
The silence was interrupted by a soft knock on the door. At Ranger's "Enter", the door opened and Bobby popped his head inside. "Sorry to interrupt, but Celia just pulled up. You might want to be downstairs doing damage control before those two loons you're related to cause any more havoc." He threw me an encouraging smile and closed the door, leaving the two of us alone again.
Ranger turned me to face him, placing a light kiss on my forehead. "Well Babe, this is it." He lifted me off his lap as he stood, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and giving me a small squeeze when he noticed my apprehensive expression. "You'll be fine, Steph. Just remember I love you. That's all that matters."
I smiled a watery smile and reached up to kiss his cheek. "I love you, too. Remember that just in case I do something idiotic like run for the hills." I saw his face still, and realized how that sounded. "I won't run, I promise, but I may say or do something really stupid. It's up to you if you'd rather run for the hills yourself." I was more than half serious when I said that, and I knew he understood what I was saying. I was giving him an 'out' clause.
"I've never abandoned you Stephanie, and I never will. That's a promise. Just remember that." He was dead serious, and I knew I could count on his word. He only called me by my full name when he was serious, and Ranger never broke a promise. Ever.
I squared my shoulders and tucked my arm around his waist, missing the look of pride on his face as I readied myself to go downstairs.
Time to meet the Bat sister!
tbc
