Disclaimer: All characters belong to Janet Evanovich, except the ones that are mine. I'm only playing with them and I promise to send them home unharmed, although Ranger may be a bit dehydrated.
Warning: Language, Smut, Quotes from all 16 books, Bad writing, Absent Muse, Writer's Block, Real Life, you know the drill …
A/N: Thank You to Miranda, Comma Correctionist and Hyphen Houdini, for Editing and Beta-ing Love, to Kashy, Friend Extraordinaire, and to Lisa, Burggirl. Without your laughter and friendship, pep talks and support, as well as letting me rant to my heart's content, I'd be in a straight jacket.
Thank You to Everyone who has read and reviewed Love … Love wouldn't be Love without you.
And a special 'Thank You' to the Cupcake who inspired this story.
What I Did For Love
Stayce
(XJerseyGirl)
Too long a sacrifice can make a stone of the heart.
William Butler Yeats
"The most precious possession that ever comes to a man in this world is a woman's heart."
Josiah G. Holland
Chapter 34: The Power of Love!
Morelli was strolling out the front of the alley to the street, when Hector and I heard a couple of muffled gunshots. It sounded like they came from inside the bonds office. Before we could even react, Lula came barreling into the end of the alley from the parking lot, screaming like a banshee. Connie was hot on her heels, and both were definitely armed and dangerous.
"Where'd that mutha-fucka go?" Lula bellowed, holding her Glock in both hands and pointing it in all directions. She'd obviously been watching too many TV cop shows lately. "Where you goin', shit-for-brains?" she yelled when she spotted Joe. "I'm gonna bust a cap up yo' ass for puttin' hands on my girl!"
In full rhino mode, she took off down the alley after him. Connie and I grabbed the back of her hot pink sweater in a futile effort to keep her from running out to the street and unloading a full clip into Morelli. She dragged the two of us halfway down the alley before Hector wrestled the Glock out of her hand. "Mama, you not bustin' nobody nowhere," Hector said, still speaking fluent 'street'.
"Hey!" she yelled. "What the hell you do that for? I gotta make that ass wipe pay for what he done to Steph here!" She balled up her fists and advanced on Hector. Connie and I just backed off, edging toward the parking lot to escape the carnage. This was gonna get ug-ly!
"You don' worry 'bout Morelli payin'." Hector calmly popped the clip out of the Glock, ejected the round from the chamber, and handed the weapon back to Lula. With an evil grin, he held up the braid he'd cut off Joe. "I take care a Mo-rell-i! He's lucky I din cut off sonthin' lower!"
Lula's eyes got wide, and she broke into a huge smile. "You got balls, little man. You got great big balls!" She gave Hector a nod of approval and a slap on the back that almost knocked him over.
While Hector and Lula bonded, I turned to Connie. "I heard gunshots."
"Oh, that was me," she rolled her eyes. "Lula and I were trying to get out here, but Joe's buddy wouldn't let us out the front door, and we couldn't get the back door open."
"How come? That's Vinnie's favorite escape route." Vinnie would regularly slink out the back door to the parking lot to hop in his car and leave Connie to deal with whoever he was trying to avoid … like 'collectors' for bookies, loan sharks, hookers he'd stiffed. No pun intended.
"Vinnie, the chicken shit, installed one of those new "thumbprint" locks so that nobody could sneak in the back door on him. We were trying to get out, the guys were trying to get in, and we couldn't get the damn thing open." Connie huffed.
"So what were the shots?" I asked.
Connie just held up her .44 Magnum and grinned, "I used my key!" Oh boy! Was Vinnie gonna be pissed!
We heard the motorcycles start, and we all turned to look down the alley toward the street. The bikes revved up, made U-turns, and roared off down Hamilton Avenue. Seconds later, Lester and Hal came around the building, holstering their guns. We could practically feel the tension radiating off both of them as they walked toward us.
"We made 'em leave, but what a pair of assholes," Lester shook his head. "I always wanted to knock Morelli down a couple pegs, but there ain't no more down for him to go! You see that bimbo he's got hangin' on him?"
"Morelli said to tell you that he'd be seeing you again, real soon," Hal said.
"Yeah, and his buddy was egging him on. Said you needed to be taught who's the boss," Lester added. "I don't like the sound of that."
He narrowed his eyes and checked out my bloody lip. "He hit you?" he bristled, dabbing at my mouth with a handkerchief.
"No!" I blew out a deep sigh. "He kissed me." I slumped back against the wall.
"Ewwwww!" Connie curled her lip.
"Tell me about it!" I griped. "But thanks to Hector, Joe's got a matching split lip," I said to her. "And a new haircut!"
"Gotta love Hector," Connie grinned. Hector sent her a wink.
"Who's that guy he's hanging out with?" Hal asked and jerked his thumb over his shoulder.
"He's one of the bunch who was in the courtroom the day Joe was released," I shrugged. "I don't know who he is, though."
"That's Little Paulie Giamatta," Connie said. "He and a bunch of his buddies came up from D.C."
"What're they doing up here?"
"Word is that Paulie's trying to take over D'Wayne's old enterprise." Connie always had the "insider info". "There's a hole in the market since D' and most of his crew got clipped."
"The local gangs aren't going to like that," Lester said.
"The Family, either," Connie added. "Paulie doesn't have the money or the muscle to pull off something like that all by himself, and nobody knows who's backing him. It's got everybody nervous."
"If Morelli's mixed up in that kind of stuff, he's too far gone to ever make it back," Hal said. No one could argue with him; we all knew he was right.
Looking miserable, Hal edged closer to me. "This was all my fault, Steph." Hal hung his head. "It was my idea for us to park the SUVs behind the bonds office. We didn't know Morelli had you in the alley. Hell, we didn't know Morelli was here at all! We thought you were inside with Connie and Lula! If one of us had just double parked out front, none of this woulda happened." He blew out a big sigh. "It was a good thing Hector decided to go around to the front door through the alley when we couldn't get the back door open ..." He held out his big hands. "And I'm really, really sorry."
I put my hands into Hal's and squeezed them. "Hey! It wasn't anybody's fault but Morelli's. If you guys had gotten involved, probably it woulda gotten real ugly, real fast."
"Not as ugly as what Ranger's gonna do to me when he finds out." Hal shoved his hands in his pockets and looked at the ground. "I'll be lucky if he only fires me."
"Ranger's not gonna do anything to you, Hal. I'll talk to him. He'll understand." I really was trying to cheer Hal up.
Everybody turned and gaped at me. "Ranger? Understanding?" Connie snickered. "Where you're concerned? I don't think so!"
"Yeah! Ranger don't take kindly to people disrespectin' him!" Lula agreed.
"Or his woman! And I let Morelli put hands on you," Hal sighed. "I'm a dead man!"
Lester slapped Hal on the back as we all headed into the office through the back door, which now had a gaping hole where Vinnie's new lock had been. "Don't worry, little man. I'll put in a good word for you!"
"Hey! You're as much to blame as I am," Hal shot back.
"Me?" Lester tried to look innocent. "No, no, no! I just followed your lead. This was all your fault! Been nice knowing ya!" And poor Hal just whimpered.
"Lester! Stop torturing Hal!" Connie snapped and gave Les her best Burg death glare. Lester cringed and looked away.
"So, how do we handle this?" I asked when we were all inside divvying up the donuts and coffee.
"I think you oughta be the one to tell the Boss what happened," Lester announced around the donut he was snarfing down.
"Why me?" I whined, without moving the ice cube I was holding to my split lip.
"Because he won't order you to meet him down on the mats at 6am tomorrow morning," Lester whined back at me.
"He's got a broken rib, he's not gonna be beating up on anybody," I countered.
"Don't bet on it," Hal said with an unhappy sigh. "That's how he got back in shape after Scrog shot him."
"I wouldn't worry about that if I was you!" Lula chuckled. "I'm bettin' he'll wanna work off all that negative energy on a different kinda mat." She elbowed me and winked. A little thrill of something scuttled down my spine.
Lester chuckled, but Hal looked confused.
Lester rolled his eyes. "Mat … mattress," he explained. Poor Hal blushed bright pink. Hector just rolled his eyes.
"Okay, so what happens if he decides to go after Morelli, huh?" I said, trying to get everybody back on topic. "How am I supposed to stop him?" The thought of 'angry Ranger' made me shiver. The thought of Ranger, angry with me made me want to wet my pants.
"Maybe you should talk to Tank?" Hal offered.
All things considered, that was probably the best idea of the day. I pulled out my phone and dialed Tank, arranging to meet him as soon as we got back to RangeMan.
"You guys are gonna back me up with Ranger, right?"
"Uhhh …," Hal looked at his feet. "I was, uh, thinking that maybe I should stay out of the building until … like, uh, forever?"
"Yeah!" Lester agreed. "You probably need some company … just so you don't get into any more trouble." He nodded like a bobble-head.
Hector slung his arm around my shoulders. "I need to visit mi madre in Puerto Rico!" he laughed.
Swell. "My heroes!" I snarked. "Just don't tell anybody at RangeMan what happened. Okay? If Ranger gets wind of this before I can tell him, we're all up shit's creek!" I stomped to the door with the Three Mouseketeers hot on my heels. I turned back to Connie and Lula. "That goes for you, too!" I pointed at them.
Connie zipped and locked her lips; Lula put her hand over her mouth and crossed her heart. I knew their intentions were good, but these were Jersey Girls we were talking about. We all knew I wouldn't be gone ten seconds before they were both on the phone.
Ya know, my life defined 'ironic'. When I motored out of RangeMan that afternoon, on my way to my meeting, I was excited and upbeat, and I felt like I was leading a parade. The big black SUVs were the floats, the Merry Men were the clowns, and if I cranked up my radio, I didn't even need a marching band.
The trip back to RangeMan felt like a funeral procession, complete with black vehicles and dead men walking. Did it come as any surprise that my whole day had bottomed out? Hell, no-o! This was me we were talking about. I guess I had too much practice with things going to hell in a heartbeat. How sad is that?
All of us were pretty down. Lester and Hal were worried that their heads would be on the chopping block because they allowed Morelli to get his grubby paws on me. Hector was angry with himself that he'd let me drive alone. And me? I was bummed just thinking about what Ranger's reaction was gonna be, especially since I'd been elected to tell him about the whole mess. That whole "kill the messenger' thing had me a little freaked out, and I was giving some serious thought to just phoning him with the details.
Luck was with us, sorta. Ranger and Bobby had gone off to meet with a new client and wouldn't be back for a couple of hours. Since nobody had reported in to RangeMan, nobody in the building had any idea what happened at the bonds office … yet! This was a very good thing, because nobody could rat us out to Ranger before I had a chance to figure out just how to break the news to him myself.
Tank was a lifesaver! He listened to my whole story, chewed on it for a minute, and shook his head. "Look, Bombshell," he said, as he sat tipped back in his desk chair. "Your best bet is to tell Ranger right away, no hedging. Be upfront about what happened. Just relay the facts, like you were reporting an 'on the job' incident."
"Remember, I know you." He pointed a finger at me. "So, don't editorialize. That'll only make it worse. Don't fib, he'll know you're hiding something, and whatever you do, don't get emotional. If you get upset, he'll feel obligated to do something about it."
He slung his arm around my shoulders and walked me to his office door. "It might not be a bad idea if you could get a couple of those pain pills into him first."
My jaw hit the floor! "You want me to drug him?" I squeaked, astounded that Tank would come up with something like that.
Tank sighed deeply. "Ranger went down to the gym and worked out after you left."
"Oh, you're kidding!"
"I wish. That man's got a real fierce need to get past this broken rib and back into fighting shape." Tank said, and then his face split into a big smile. "Well, maybe 'fighting' isn't the right 'F' word for what he wants to do with you."
I felt my face turning bright red. "Ta-ank!" I whined, and Tank chuckled.
"In any event, he's gonna be in a pissy mood. He's hurting, and he'll need those pills. He overdid it, he knows it, but he won't admit it. But," he tapped his forehead, indicating he'd had a great idea, "on the upside, it's a legitimate reason why we can't let him go running off to play Avenger."
"Tank," I said, the admiration I felt clear in my voice. "You're brilliant! And I had no idea you had such a wide streak of sneaky in you."
He gave me a mock bow. "I consider it my foremost survival skill." We both laughed. "I'll let you know as soon as he gets back to the building. You call me if he tries to leave."
"Okie-dokie. Wish me luck." I sighed, and stood on my tip-toes to kiss Tank on the cheek. "Thanks, Big Guy."
"Any time." I turned to go down the hall, but Tank's hand on my arm stopped me, and I looked back up at him. "You're good for him, Steph. You're exactly what his life's been missing."
"You really think so?" I asked, a little surprised that Tank got so personal.
"I know so," he said.
"Does he?"
"He's getting there," Tank grinned.
Up in the penthouse, I dropped my keys in the silver dish on the sideboard, put the cake box in the kitchen, and headed into the bedroom. I hung up my coat, put away my boots, and laid my purse and spiffy new briefcase on the leather bench at the foot of the bed.
Living with Ranger, the neatnik, was rubbing off on me. If I were in my own place, I would have just dumped everything on the floor in the foyer and dealt with it later. I really did need to find a place of my own. There were only a couple of weeks left of my forty-six day sentence, and then I'd be homeless… again!
I checked myself out in the dresser mirror. Connie had repaired the damage that Joe had done to my French twist, and Lula had fixed my make up before I left the bonds office. There were no telltale signs of my run in with Morelli, except the split lip, of course, but even that didn't look too bad.
I padded back into the kitchen in my stocking feet and opened the cake box. "Hell-o, gorgeous!" I smiled at the rose bedecked birthday cake. Grabbing a fork, I dug in, eating it right out of the box.
By the time Tank called with a heads up that Ranger was back in the building, I'd made up my mind to tackle the Joe incident right away, before I chickened out. I had worked my way through half the cake and most of a quart of milk, and I was officially sick to my stomach. Whether the queasiness was a result of sugar shock, or nerves, really didn't matter.
The clink of his keys hitting the silver dish on the sideboard signaled Ranger's arrival, and he leaned against the kitchen doorway, watching me. He had his suit jacket hooked on his finger and slung over his shoulder. His tie was loosened and the top button of his shirt opened, his sleeves rolled up over his forearms. He was sex on feet.
I stopped eating, my fork halfway to my mouth, to stare at him. He may have looked sexy, but he didn't look good. His face was pale, and tension and fatigue showed in the lines around his eyes and mouth. His hand was pressed to his side, making it obvious that he hurt.
"I take it the meeting didn't go well," he said softly. I could hear sympathy in his voice.
"No, it went great!" I replied, a little surprised. "Why would you think it didn't?"
"Comfort food." He nodded toward the cake box.
I grinned at him. "No, celebration food." I forked up an electric blue rose and held it out to him.
He quirked an eyebrow at me. "I don't think so, Smurfette."
"Wha?" I said around the icing rose that I'd popped into my own mouth.
He waved a finger in front of his mouth. "You're blue."
"Bu?" I ducked down and looked at my reflection in the chrome toaster that sat on the counter top. Sure enough, my lips, teeth, and tongue were bright, kid cake icing blue, and I looked like I was morphing into a Smurf!
"Oh, great!" I laughed. "So much for the sophisticated professional," and I headed for the bathroom to brush my teeth. As I passed him in the doorway, he reached out and snagged me gently around the neck, bending to give me a light kiss on the mouth.
"Yum!" He said, licking his lips. "You taste like a party," and he bent to kiss me again.
"I could say the same thing about you, and you weren't even eating cake!"
He ran his thumb over my bottom lip. "What happened? Stab yourself with the cake fork?"
"Oh, har-dee-har-har! I grinned and hustled into the bathroom. I'd wait to tell him about the lip until after I got those pills in him.
Half a tube of toothpaste later, I was almost back to human color. I grabbed a couple of Ranger's pain pills and went back to the kitchen.
Ranger was leaning against the kitchen counter, sipping water. He held himself stiffly, and I was sure that whenever he relaxed his muscles, that rib ached.
"We're a real colorful pair," I sighed. "I'm blue, and you're sheet white." I stood close to him and ran my hand up and down his back. "I think maybe you overdid it a little today." He grunted in reply.
I held out my other hand to him, the pills in my palm. He looked at them and just shook his head no. I really wasn't surprised; Ranger never willingly gave up control. I just closed the pills in my hand and leaned against the counter, mirroring his position. Neither of us said anything for a couple of minutes, but he was very aware that I was watching him closely.
"I do, you know," I finally said.
"Do what?" he said, studying the bottle of water in his hands.
"See who you really are." His eyes instantly snapped up to mine. I'd managed to surprise him.
He knew that I was talking about the visit from my "Dream Lover", about the voice in the dark, his voice, whispering, "See me. See who I really am. See me, Stephanie … See me …."
For a long time, I had tried to convince myself that it hadn't been real, that it had been my Mega-Margarita fueled imagination, or my subconscious, or wishful thinking. But even I, the Queen of Denial, had to accept that it had really happened. I knew his voice, his taste, his smell … I knew the feel of his hands and mouth and body. No, he had been in that room, and not in my imagination either, but in flesh and blood. And now he knew that I knew.
"And?" It was his turn to watch me closely.
"And, aside from the obvious, like handsome and sexy, I've seen the man that I've known you were all along. You're brave, you're loyal, ethical, honest, hard working, ambitious." I pushed off the counter to stand in front of him, and I reached up to unknot his silk tie. "And yes, like it or not, you have a little bit of superhero in you."
"But even a superhero has a human side, you know," I said, pulling the tie out from under his shirt collar. "My study also confirmed that you're stubborn, pigheaded, infuriating, proud, opportunistic, have a world class ego, and in your own mind, at least, are always right!"
I folded the tie carefully and laid it on the counter, then moved so close to him that we were touching from chest to thighs. I felt his breath hitch as his arms went around me. "I've seen that when you're worried, you get these little lines on your forehead." I gently traced the tip of my finger between his eyebrows.
"And when you're tired, the lines are here," I touched the outer corners of his eyes. "And you wear pain here," I barely touched my lips to the corner of his mouth, "and here," I whispered, brushing my lips across his mouth to the other corner.
"I see you for who you really are, Ranger. And right now, who you really are, is a man in pain." I held out the pills again. "Please?" I whispered.
Ranger looked at me for a few long seconds, then, without a word, he lifted my hand to his mouth. His eyes never left mine as he licked the pills off my palm with the tip of his tongue. The move was so erotic that I stopped breathing. My mouth went dry and my panties went damp. I never wanted him more than I did at that exact moment.
"The things I do for you," he murmured, wrapping his arms around me and pressing his cheek against mine.
No, I thought. It isn't what you do for me; it's what you do to me. "Thank you," I whispered back, and pressed a kiss on his mouth. We just stood there, holding each other, and I felt him gradually relax against me.
Ranger reached up and, one by one, gently pulled out the pins holding my French twist in place. He ran his fingers through my hair, loosening the curls, and I winced when he touched the tender spot on the back of my head, where Morelli had pulled my hair. Ranger's fingers whispered over the spot again, and then he leaned back and studied my face, his brow furrowed as he took in both the split lip and the faint scrape on my cheek from the brick wall.
"Are you going to tell me what happened, or do I have to figure it out for myself?" His voice had an edge to it.
Time to face the music. I braced a hand against the counter for support, and tried to channel Joe Friday. Just the facts, ma'am. Only the facts.
I took a deep breath and dove right in. "Okay. After the meeting, I went to Tasty Pastry and then to the bonds office to see the girls. I ran into Morelli and his girlfriend instead."
Ranger didn't say anything, just stood in front of me, blank face firmly in place, and folded his arms over his chest.
"Joe and I had a very short, very civil conversation while the girlfriend was in the office. Then one of the guys from the courtroom showed up. Connie said he's Little Paulie Giamatta?" Ranger gave me a curt nod. He obviously knew who he was.
"Anyway, Morelli's whole attitude changed. He got crude and sarcastic. It was like he was showing off to impress this Paulie guy. Joe made some rude comments about our trips to the alley. I fired back. He upped the ante, I did, too. The girlfriend tried to join in, but she's not a Jersey Girl. She didn't stand a chance."
Ranger just stared at me for a long minute. "Your lip," he said flatly. Uh-oh. Those two-word sentences were never a good sign where Ranger was concerned.
"Morelli acted like an ass," I shrugged.
"How?" Oh boy! One word sentences were even worse.
"He wanted me to go into the alley with him, and I refused. We wound up in the alley anyway." I didn't have to tell Ranger that Morelli had carted me into the alley like a sack of potatoes. I was sure he'd figured that out all by himself. "It was weird. Paulie just stood and watched. Joe tried to kiss me, I resisted, he got a little physical, and my lip split."
"That it?"
"Pretty much," I could do two word sentences, too.
"My men?"
"They were there, in the parking lot. I asked for some privacy, and they backed off until they thought things were getting out of hand. Hector came into the alley, broke up the party, and gave Joe a matching split lip and a haircut. Hal and Lester went out front, made sure Paulie and the girlfriend didn't get involved, and then ran them all off." I held out my hands and shrugged. "The end."
"Did Morelli or Giamatta threaten you?"
I shook my head. "Nah, Joe just said he'd be seeing me again." Ranger didn't react, just stared at me like he was trying to measure my reactions to the whole incident. It wasn't like Morelli had really hurt me. More like he just pissed me off. And really, that was nothing new, at least not where Joe was concerned.
I needed a change of subject here. "Look, Ella's going to be here with dinner any minute," I looked at the kitchen clock. "Why don't you go slip into something a little more comfortable?" I used my sexiest voice and walked two fingers up his chest, hoping to make him smile. But no dice. He just turned and went toward the bedroom, unbuttoning his shirt as he went.
That had gone a lot better than I thought it would, but still, my hands were shaking as I took a bottle of wine from the fridge and poured myself a glass. I gulped down half of it before I was steady enough to collect place mats and napkins to set the table for dinner. I laid out the silverware and water glasses, and put the wine bottle next to my place; probably I was gonna need a couple of glasses of wine tonight.
My spidey sense was tingling, something was off, but I couldn't figure out what. My first thought was Ranger, so I went to the bedroom to make sure he was okay. Just as I reached the door, Ranger flung it open from the inside and strode right past me, out into the living room, headed for his office.
He wasn't in sweats, like I expected, but was dressed in jeans and boots and a black leather jacket. A .45 automatic was clipped to his belt. I just knew in my gut that it was one of the unregistered guns from his safe, and my heart tripped in my chest.
"Where are you going?" I was trying to keep my voice light despite the panic I felt.
"Out," he said, without stopping.
"Where?" I asked, even though I was sure I already knew the answer.
"Not your concern."
I followed him into his office, watching as he took himself off the RangeMan roster for the rest of the night and shut down all his personal trackers. He put his phone on his desk and slipped a prepaid cell into his pocket, leaving no way for anyone to trace where he went. So not good.
"How come?"
He took a breath, but bit back whatever it was he was going to say. "Personal business," he snapped at me, impatience evident in his voice. He didn't look at me as he turned toward the door.
"Hey! I thought there weren't gonna be any more secrets between us." I knew I was pressing my luck here.
His back to me, he hesitated for a couple of long seconds, his fist clenching. "I'm going to talk to Morelli," he said over his shoulder, then headed out of the office.
"Morelli!" My voice was shaking as I grabbed his arm to stop him. "Why?"
Ranger shook off my hand. "He hurt you! I will not let him get away with that!"
"Ranger, let it go. It's over!" I said, trying to sound nonchalant.
He stopped and half turned to look at me. "Over?" he snorted, his blank face gone. "Stephanie, it just started!"
I moved past him so I was standing between him and the door. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I challenged him.
He stopped and put his hands on his hips and looked down at the floor. His lips pressed into a thin, tight line. He was clearly not happy with my questioning him, but that was just too damn bad!
Finally, he looked up, anger flashing in his eyes. "How many times did you go into that alley with me?" he demanded, but didn't give me a chance to answer. "Lost count, didn't you?" He moved to stand right in front of me. "Bet Morelli knows. This town is gossip central, there are no secrets. He knew about each and every trip."
I was totally taken aback by his anger. "Oh, I …"
Ranger cut me off. "Did he ever let on he knew? Demand you stop letting me kiss you? Touch you? Did he get angry? Jealous?" He watched for my reaction. "He didn't, did he?"
I realized that, this afternoon, Morelli had pretty much told me he knew all about the alley. I had to wonder what else he knew about my history with Ranger … but never bothered to mention.
"No," I said carefully. "He never said anything until today." I really didn't like where this conversation was headed.
"He never said anything to me, either." Ranger practically spat. "He never once confronted me, told me to stop poaching, to keep my hands off his woman. Nothing." He sounded so disgusted. "Why not? Why didn't he step up and protect what was his? It wasn't fear!"
"No," I said. "He's not afraid of you." I wasn't trying to defend Joe. It was simply the truth. He wasn't afraid of Ranger.
"He should be!" Ranger said ominously, and took another step closer.
Ranger didn't issue idle threats, and I rubbed my arms against the chill that ran through me.
"Do you remember what I said that night I took you home without your underwear?"
I nodded. Of course I remembered. "Just so you know, for future reference, I wouldn't understand. If you were living with me, and you came home without underwear, I'd go looking for the guy who had it. And it wouldn't be pretty when I found him."
His eyes bored into me. "I'm not Morelli, Stephanie. I will fight for what's mine. You are off limits! Period!"
I could practically smell the testosterone in the air. "Oh, get a grip!" I snarked. "I can take care of myself. I don't need Joe or you or anybody else t…"
"Stephanie!" Ranger held up a finger in front of my face. "Morelli will keep his hands off you! Or else!"
I slapped his hand away. "Or else what?" I demanded. Ranger wasn't the only one who was angry.
"Or else I'll make sure he never puts his hands on you again!"
"So … what? You're gonna kill him?" I said sarcastically.
"If that's what it takes!" He looked me square in the eyes, and I realized he was dead serious. He turned and headed into the living room.
Rage exploded in me, and I absolutely lost it! I flew after him, like a woman possessed. "Don't you dare try to pull that macho man bullshit on me, you pompous ass!" I yelled, and shoved him in the back as hard as I could. "You don't own me!"
With a growl, Ranger spun around and grabbed me by the front of my t-shirt, hauling me right up into his face. "Like it or not," he warned, "on the street, here at RangeMan, to Morelli, You. Are. My. Woman!"
I let loose a shriek of outrage. "Your woman, my ass!" and I hauled off and slapped him right across the face. I don't know who was more surprised, him or me. I realized that the pain pills were working. His reflexes were slow; otherwise, I would never have been able to connect.
He narrowed his eyes at me. "I gave you my word I wouldn't force you to do anything you didn't want to do." I swear that ice dripped from his words. "Maybe I should rethink that promise. Teach you who you really belong to!"
I let out a scream of outrage. "You wouldn't dare!" I raged and reared back to take another swing at him. This time he saw it coming, and he ducked. Dammit!
One hand still fisted in my shirt, Ranger wrapped the other around the back of my neck and pulled me up against him. His mouth came down on mine in a ferocious kiss. If I hadn't been so terrified that he'd really go after Joe, I would have melted under that kiss. But my fear won out.
"Let go of me, you big jerk!" I yelled, pushing at his chest. And he did, shoving me away from him so hard that I stumbled back and landed with a thump on the leather ottoman in front of the couch.
"Stay there!" Ranger ordered me. Big mistake! I was up in his face in a heartbeat.
"Ranger! This is insane! Morelli's part of a gang!" I was desperate to find something that would make him stop. "It's suicide! You can't take them all on."
"Your concern is touching, but don't worry, this'll only be between Morelli and me. He'll either listen, or he'll just disappear. No one will ever know what happened to him." Ranger unlocked the front door and pulled it open wide.
"Ranger!" I called after him. "I'll know …," I said to his back. "I'll know." It came out in a whisper, so soft I wasn't even sure I'd said it out loud, but it carried every bit of fear and desperation that I felt. Ranger froze in the doorway, one hand on the door, the other on the jamb. He bent over slightly, as if he was in pain, and I watched his hands curl into fists.
The elevator doors pinged open and Ella pushed her serving cart into the foyer. Her smile faded the instant she saw Ranger's face. She looked past him, her shocked eyes locking on me. Ranger didn't even seem to realize she was there.
"God damn it, Stephanie!" Ranger snarled and slammed the apartment door so hard the whole building shook. He turned to face me, and I instinctively took a step back, fear of a different kind catching my breath in my chest. "Why are you so worried about him? Why is he still so important to you?"
I'd been caught in the eye of the tiger before, stalked by the sensual predator. Ranger could make me tremble with anticipation, make me helpless with lust, make me willing to give myself over to him … body and soul.
But this, this was different. I'd never been afraid of Ranger, never thought he could hurt me… until now. This was a side of the man I'd never seen before, never even suspected existed. Fury shimmered off of him, and like Jekyll and Hyde, I could actually see the man with legendary control slipping away, replaced by a stranger.
For the first time, I could read him as easily as he read me. I saw everything he was feeling flash across his face, and I forgot how to breathe. The cool, calm, collected, rational control freak that I knew and loved had been replaced by a man battling his own emotional demons. It made him human, and vulnerable, and more than a little terrifying.
He was all raw emotion - fear, frustration, hurt, lust, fury. Everything he'd always kept bottled up was suddenly out in the open. His fists were clenched so tightly, his knuckles were white. His eyes glittered black, cold and reptilian. Lips parted, teeth gritted, nostrils flared … his glare rooted me to the spot.
I pulled my phone out of my skirt pocket, fumbling to open it and call Tank. "Calling for help?" he sneered. "I don't think so!" Ranger lunged at me and snatched the cell out of my hand, turned and fired it against the door with such force, it exploded into a million pieces. "We need to settle this, once and for all!"
As if on cue, the house phone rang. Ella had probably alerted Tank. Too bad there was no way I could get to the phone, so it just rang, and rang, and rang.
He looked at me through narrowed eyes. "Frightened, Stephanie?"
I held out my hand, as if to ward him off, and backed away, but not fast enough. He was on me in a heartbeat, and I shrieked when his fingers bit into the tops of my arms, lifting me up on my tip toes. His momentum propelled me back, and we slammed into the wall, the breath knocked out of me.
He pinned me with his body, his hand gripping my jaw, forcing me to look at him.
"After everything he's done to you," Ranger's lip curled in disgust, "you still have feelings for him!" It wasn't a question … it was an accusation.
I was so surprised that I could only shake my head. How could he have gotten it so wrong?
"Admit it!" he raged. "For once … tell the truth!" Ranger let me go and slammed his hands onto the wall on either side of my head. I tried to cringe away.
"I don't …" But Ranger was beyond hearing what I was saying.
"Are you going back to him? Is that it?" His voice was ragged … wounded. "Have you been serving your forty-six day sentence, just waiting to run back to Morelli?" The words exploded out of him.
"Ranger! Please stop!" I begged, but it fell on deaf ears. So did the ring of his cell phone, on the desk in his office.
"Tell me!" he thundered. "Are you still in love with him?"
"No!" I shouted back at him. "No … I don't give a damn about Morelli!" I spat out, as angry as he was.
"Then why are you trying to protect him?" he roared, oblivious to the voices outside the front door.
"I'm not!" I said as forcefully as I could. "I'm not trying to protect him …" I took his face in my hands. "I'm trying to protect you!"
Everything about Ranger stilled, and he stared into my eyes for a full minute. "Why?" It was almost a challenge.
I was so relieved that he was finally hearing me, I could have cried. I stroked his cheek with the tips of my fingers, trying to sooth him. "I love you …" I said softly. "And I won't risk losing you over Morelli or anything else."
"Then why …" he didn't finish the sentence.
"If you get to protect me, then I get to protect you, even if it's from yourself. Two way street, mister." I slipped my arms around him and just held on.
His warmth was oozing into me, his cheek was resting against the side of my head, his hands were flat against the wall, framing my shoulders. Without thinking, I snuggled into him and brushed my lips across his neck in a light kiss.
"Not fair," he said, sagging as the fight went out of him.
I shifted under him and felt him stir against me.
"I've got the weight and the muscle," he said. "But I think you've got the power."
"Do I have the power to persuade you to stay away from Morelli?" I brushed butterfly kisses over his brow, and his eyes, and his cheeks, and his mouth.
"You have the power to make me to do just about anything you want," he whispered, and he kissed me back, the storm finally over.
"Now who's giving information to the enemy?" I was so giddy with relief that I was weak in the knees.
"What am I going to do with you, Babe?" he murmured, pressing his lips to my temple.
"Just love me," I whispered.
"You have no idea …" he said, and gave me a long, slow, bone melting kiss. His hands slipped around and cupped my butt, bringing me tight against him, the evidence of my 'power' throbbing against my belly.
I happily got lost in that kiss. I'd had enough of Angry Ranger. But Randy Ranger? Him I could handle. Sexual attraction had replaced the anger that had sizzled between us, and to be honest, I was as turned on as he was.
Ranger and I stood leaning against the wall, and we held each other, just kissing and touching. His fingers traced my features, then slid down my neck. His hands brushed over my breasts, fingers taunting my nipples while his mouth worked magic on my neck. Slipping his hands under the hem of my t-shirt, he stripped it off me.
"Hey!" I said a little breathlessly, "I thought we were gonna have that talk first." I unclipped the .45 from his waist and deposited it on the sideboard, then fisted my hands in his hair and kissed him for all I was worth.
"Oh, sure," he muttered and pulled his mouth away from mine just far enough for us to look at each other without our eyes crossing.
"You love me, right?" He slid a finger under my bra strap and eased it down my arm.
"Uh-huh," I nodded, too busy shoving his leather jacket off him to speak.
"And I love you." He found that sweet spot right below my ear.
"Oh, that's good," I said, not sure if I meant what he was saying or what he was doing.
"So, do you want to give this a try?" He gave a low, sexy chuckle. "Not this," he rubbed his massive erection against me. "I mean us. Do you wanna give us a try?"
"Oh yeah," I nodded, exploring his fabulous chest as I worked his sweater up over his head. "We definitely owe it to ourselves to explore the possibilities," I said- and unsnapped his jeans.
"What are your demands?" He unzipped my skirt and slowly pushed it down over my hips, leaving me in only my lacy underwear: bra, thong, garter belt, and stockings.
"Um, honesty, and, uh … communication, … respect …" I unzipped his jeans. And sex … lots and lots of sex, I thought when I discovered that he had gone commando! "How about you?"
"The same, and fidelity," he said, his breathing ragged. "I won't share you like Morelli did." He breathed out a groan as I took him in my hands, stroking him. His hand drifted down over my belly and cupped me, his busy fingers teasing me through the lace of my thong.
"Okay!" I was panting. "Deal!"
"Deal!" Ranger opened the clasp on the back of my bra and tore it off me, bending to take a nipple in his mouth before tossing my bra over his shoulder.
Naturally, that was the precise moment that the front door burst open, and Tank, Lester, and Bobby came tumbling into the foyer. My bra hit Lester right in the face, a strap hooking itself on his ear, where it dangled. I shrieked, Ranger pressed me into the wall, covering me with his body, and everybody froze.
The Merry Men had come prepared to do battle. Bobby held a syringe, Lester had cuffs, and Tank had a stun gun. They looked like a male version of the Charlie's Angels movie poster. Except for the bra, of course.
They stared at us, open-mouthed. "Fu-u-u-ck!" the three of them said in unison.
"Trying to!" I snarked, peering over Ranger's shoulder.
"O-kaay!" Tank said, looking every place but at me. "False alarm! Everything's all right here. You two carry on, and we'll just be leaving." He did an "about face" and marched out of the apartment.
"Sweater!" Ranger ordered. Bobby snatched it off the floor and handed it to him, making sure to keep his eyes averted while Ranger slipped it over my head.
"Sorry, Boss, Steph," Bobby said sheepishly and hurried to catch up with Tank.
And then there was Lester. He leaned against the opposite wall, took my bra off his ear, and twirled it around his finger. "I just knew you were a screamer, Bombshell!" He leered at me and waggled his eyebrows.
"Santos!" Ranger roared, without turning to look at him.
"I know! I know!" Lester said to Ranger's back. "Mats at 6am." He rolled his eyes like a bored teenager.
I stuck out my arm around Ranger and wiggled my fingers for my bra. Lester just grinned and shook his head, stuffing the bra into his pocket. "Souvenir!" he mouthed and took off out of the apartment, closing the door behind him.
My head plunked down on Ranger's shoulder. "I have this horrible feeling that Lester's gonna be blogging again. I can see it now, "The Boss, The Bombshell, and Sexus Interruptus"!" I whined.
"Not if he wants to live, he won't," Ranger said, tightening his arms around me and kissing me long and hard.
"I owe you an apology, don't I?" he raised his head to look at me.
"You mean for the case of emotional whiplash?"
He brushed my hair off my face, tucking it behind my ears so he could examine the marks he'd left on my jaw. "This is why I don't drink much, or do drugs … even prescribed ones."
"So … this is you high on pain pills? I said, trying to lighten the mood.
"No," he said. His eyes were sleepy and sexy, and I had no doubt at all what was on his mind. "This is me high on Stephanie Plum." His hands worked their way around to my butt and he pulled me hard against him.
"Come on," he said, tugging me toward the bedroom. "We have unfinished business."
We wound up crossways on the bed, talking and laughing, sharing long, languid kisses and delicious caresses. We stripped and explored each other, filling the bedroom with sighs and moans as we set each other on fire.
He rolled onto his back, taking me with him so that I was on top. Pushing against his chest, I sat up, straddling him. His hands instantly cupped my breasts, stroking and kneading them. He rose up and took a nipple into his hot mouth, sucking hard. Every muscle below my waist clenched in time with his mouth.
Eyes closed, focused only on the sensations rocketing through my body, I raised my arms to lift my hair off the back of my neck. Rolling my hips in circles, I ground myself over his rock hard erection. Ranger fell back onto the bed, his hands on my hips, holding me tight against him. Both of us so close to the edge, we were breathing hard and fast.
"Jesus, God! You're gonna make me come," he groaned.
"I though that was the whole idea," I gasped.
"Not like this," he flipped us over so he was on top. He positioned himself over me, teasing me with the tip of his shaft, ready to slide into me. "I need to come inside you," and using his knees, he spread my legs wide.
"Wait!" I groaned. "My pill! I have to take my pill!" I slid out from under him and he collapsed, face down on the bed, letting out a string of curses that would have made a longshoreman proud. I dashed into the bathroom, popped the pill out of the case and into my mouth, slurped some water from the faucet, and headed back for a long overdue orgasm or three.
"Ready or not, here I come!" I called and laughed at my own pun. I practically danced back to that bed.
"You still wanna be on top?" I asked, crawling onto the bed. Personally, as long as I got my Doomsday Orgasm, I didn't care if he was on top, or bottom, or if we were swinging from the chandelier... just as long as I got it! "Ranger?" He had grabbed the edge of the comforter and rolled over, cocooning himself in it, only his bare feet showing. "Ranger!" I put my hand on his shoulder and shook him. I was met with a soft snore.
I wanted to cry. Granted, I was the one who gave him the pain pills … but it was for his own good! I guess what they say is true … no good deed goes unpunished.
Where the hell did I put that Herbert Horsecock?
TBC …
A/N: Sorry that this is a short chapter, but my heart just isn't in it this time. My older son has signed a year long contract to be a civilian contractor overseas, and will be leaving on Sunday, Mother's Day, for Afghanistan. Needless to say, my mind isn't on Love, but on him and his wife and kids.
Please say a prayer for the safety and security of all of our men and women around the world, and that they all return home safely. Thanks.
Now, Love questions … It was mentioned to me that Ranger and Stephanie should wait to "consummate" their relationship until Stephanie's forty-six day sentence is up. What do you think? Should they wait? Or should they just Do It!
Thanks for reading and reviewing and feeding my inner review slut!
Stayce