Everything familiar belongs to JE. Warnings: adult language

Chapter 35—Fixing Miami

Lester's POV

Dios! Marco and Javier let us down big time here in Miami. Everything that Rangeman stands for doesn't exist here in Miami. Half the staff was either fired or placed on probation. Those men who are on probation will partner with members from Trenton and Boston. The early odds are that three will not stay past probation. I'm glad that Ranger is staying here in Miami until we get some of the shit cleaned up together. As much as this company is my baby along with Ranger, Ranger is the company. Ranger came up with this idea on one of our missions together. He knew we had marketable skills that we could use in the civilian world, namely security. When we all became mercenaries for hire, we decided to pool our money together to get started. Miami was our first city. Ranger and I grew up here; we knew this city the best. Bobby got out of active duty first, working in some local security firms, learning what the competition did that we could do better. Once we all had some time off together, we rented office space. We needed to establish a reputation, a name with the local Miami-Dade Sheriff's office, and street cred. Ranger and I had some street cred from our youth; the gangs knew not to mess with Santos or Manoso. Now was a good time to remind them why. It was Tank who recommended bounty hunting. We hooked up with a few different bails bondmen and within two months had the street cred and the relationship with the local law enforcement that we needed.

That became our formula for Boston, then Trenton. Why Trenton? We chose Trenton because both Ranger and I are originally from Newark. That's where our family is. Bobby grew up in Camden, New Jersey. Even though Tank grew up in Louisiana, his sister lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was a way that we could all be near our families, while still maintaining distance. Marco was one of the first men we hired. We thought he shared our vision. Unfortunately, we were wrong, and it costs us big time. Once we all get back to Trenton, the core team has to develop safeguards to prevent this from happening again.

I'm waiting for Ranger to return from court. The accountant arrived an hour ago, informing me that money had disappeared from the Rangeman account the day we arrived here, taken out by Marco. We have no idea where that money disappeared. When we searched Marco's home, there was no money there. How the fuck does half a million dollars vanish? The elevator doors open, allowing Ranger, Stephanie, and Julie to walk out onto the floor. I look at my cousin and his wife with my eyebrow raised. Beautiful rolls her eyes. It frustrates her that she can't do that but seemingly all Rangeman employees can. Ranger nods. I cheer inside. He has his family together, finally. "Did everything go as planned?" I ask.

"Yes it did, Lester. Meet me in my office in five." He responds. Ranger, Stephanie, and Julie head to the breakroom, then Ranger's office.

Julie's POV

After we get lunch, we go into my Daddy's office. We sit on the couches, eating together as a family. "Julie, I need you to continue your martial arts training. Also, it is imperative that you keep a tracker and panic button on your person at all times. I would like to know what you are doing at all times. I promise not to follow your tracker or show up at random locations as long as you are honest with me. Please don't lie to me. If I find out that you told me you were going to A and instead go to B without informing me of the change, I will start to monitor your tracker." My father informs me.

I sigh. I don't mind the panic button or the trackers. After getting kidnapped twice, I understand their importance. I only hate that I feel suffocated by knowing that my father can show up wherever I am at any moment. "Daddy, I understand. However, I need to know that you won't randomly show up at the mall if I'm there. My friends won't understand. Then, they'll get uncomfortable because they won't like the idea of their parents being able to find them by calling you. Even though you'll know where I am if there's an emergency that requires you to get me, please call my cell first. At least give the illusion that I'm telling you my location before you show up. Even if you say, "Sweetie, I know you're at the mall today, but there's a problem. Where can I meet you?" That is something I deal with because we all need to tell our parents where we are anyway."

"Querida, I understand, and I will try to remember to do that in an emergency, but I can't promise. If you change plans, please let me know with a call or text. A simple, 'Dad, we're going to this store before the mall,' will help to keep my mind at ease. When it comes to boys, I don't want you to hide potential boyfriends from me. I want to meet any boy who is interested in going out with you. Listen, Querida, your Uncle Lester and I were teenage boys once. We weren't the noblest and honorable teenagers. We were the bad boys. I don't want you to get involved with a boy like me while you are in high school. I can't promise that I won't try to lock you up until your forty, but I want to make sure that whoever you decide to date will treat you the way I treat Stephanie. I want you to find someone who is more like I am today than I was in high school."

"Sweetheart, I understand the draw to the bad boy. I was the biggest rebel in the Burg. Almost everything I was told not to do, I did, to piss off my mother. It worked. But that behavior also led me to get raped, even though I didn't realize that it was rape until recently. If you can't open up to you Dad about some of these things, please let me know. I will never punish you nor allow your father to punish you if someone takes advantage of you."

I look at Stephanie. I can't believe she was raped. That is horrible. I want to know more about it. "Mom, can you tell me what happened to you?" I see her glance at Ranger for his approval.

Stephanie's POV

I wasn't expecting Julie to want details. I look to Carlos to see if he would mind me telling his daughter what happened. He lets me know that it's okay. Maybe if she understands what happened to me and how, she'll be more willing to share with Carlos and me anything that may happen to her, God forbid.

"Well, I guess I should start at the beginning. When I was a toddler, my mother always told my sister and I to avoid those Morelli boys, that they were troublemakers. Even then, I was a rebel. One day, when I was six, I started to talk to Joe Morelli who was eight. He asked me if I wanted to play a game with him in his garage. I said sure. I was never a girly-girl. I hated playing with dolls, having tea parties, or playing house. I wanted to fly, to ride my bike, to play sports. But, in the Burg, proper little girls didn't do those things. So I followed Joe into the garage. He told me the game was called choo-choo. He made me take off my panties, saying that he was the train and I was the tunnel. He then proceeded to molest me. I didn't like what he did, and I knew it was wrong, but I also knew I couldn't tell my mom. I went home, ate dinner, watched tv. When it was bathtime, my mom came to undress me and help me with my bath. She saw that my panties were on inside out. She asked me what happened. I told her. She punished me for two weeks because I didn't listen to her because I didn't stay away from the Morelli boys. I managed to avoid Joe, which was easy because he was two years older than me, but his brother Anthony was in my grade. He is a year older, but a late birthday, so he missed the cut-off. Anthony, fortunately, never showed any interest in me. Then, in high school, Joe was the epitome of cool. He was the classic bad boy portrayed in every movie. He was the good-looking, football star who dated the cheerleader. He had charm oozing from every pore. I think every girl in my grade, his grade, and other grades had a major crush on Joe Morelli. I never acted on my feelings, because he was a Morelli. When I was sixteen, I was working at the local bakery, Tasty Pastry. It was the end of the day; I was closing alone."

Flashback

Only five minutes left before I could officially lock the door. About ten minutes until I'm free for the weekend. Mary Lou and I are planning to go to Point Pleasant tomorrow with Samantha's family. Good thing I finished most of the closing routine. All the counters are wiped down. I hear the door chime. I turn to look only to see Joe Morelli sauntering into the bakery to pick up cannolis for his mother.

"Hi, Stephanie. I need three dozen cannolis. We're having a graduation party tonight, and my mom forget to get them this morning." Joe tells me.

"Okay. I'll get the cannolis for you." Damn, now I'll be stuck here an extra five minutes. First, get the box. Place the wax paper inside. Start stacking the cannolis. Put the box on the scale. Yikes! Five pounds. I feel arms around my waist. Joe is standing behind me. He kisses my neck.

"Steph, you smell good, like cupcakes and chocolate. I could eat you up." I feel his hands rubbing my stomach, kisses to my neck and ear. I feel something tingle below the belt.

"Joe, I need to lock up and close the shop for the day. I need to be home by six." He pulled my shirt out of my pants and sneaks his hand up my shirt. His starts to squeeze my breast. I like how I feel, but this isn't right. "Joe, I think you should pay for the cannolis and leave before someone else comes in here."

"Steph, don't worry. I locked the door and closed the shades. No one is coming inside. No one will see us. His other hand roams down into the waist of my pants. He starts touching my tunnel again. "Stephanie, don't you like the way this feels? I've wanted to touch you and kiss you for ages." He unbuttons my pants and pulls them down. He picks me up before we sit on the floor where he pushes me back down on the floor. "I'm going to kiss you now." He starts to kiss me on the mouth. I'm trying to move my head so he can't, but he manages to get my lips, using his tongue to force my mouth open. He continues to touch me below the belt. I try to push him away, but he continues anyway. His body is on top of mine, and I can feel him hard against me. He unbuckles his belt, unbuttons and zips down his pants, pulling his jeans and boxers to his knees. I look at his penis. I had never seen one before. He takes his fingers that were inside me and licks them. "Yummy. You even taste like a cupcake." He takes his hand and places it on his penis. "Can you feel what you did to me, you made me hard. You're a tease. But I can show you how good it feels to have one inside you."

I try to push him off of me once more; I start to say NO, but his mouth is back on mine, swallowing my protest. Then, he's inside me. OMG! It hurts! I have tears forming in my eyes, but I refuse to cry. Sex hurts. Why didn't Mary Lou tell me how much it hurts? Joe is grunting and moaning, obviously enjoying himself. Suddenly he cries out my name, leaning his body on mine. He catches his breath, stands up, and fixes his pants. He puts the money on the counter for the cannolis and takes the box. "Keep the change, Cupcake." He unlocks the door and walks out. I slowly stand up, tears now falling down my face. I pull up my panties and jeans, fixing my shirt into my waistband. I am sore between my legs. I lock the door and finish closing out. Joe left $50 on the counter. The cannolis were $45. I leave through the back door to walk home.

By now, I have tears in my eyes. Ranger is standing by the window, staring out at who knows what. At some point during my retelling, Lester walked into the office. Once he heard what I was talking about, he locked the door. Julie is crying along with me. "I managed to pull myself together as I walked home. I didn't tell anyone what happened. I remember crying myself to sleep that night. The next morning, I got up and went downstairs for breakfast. My mom was ironing, mumbling. "Why me."

Flashback

"Stephanie Michelle Plum, what did you do! Why did you have sex with that Morelli boy? In the bakery none the less. How can I ever show my face around town again? Why are you such a slut? You are on lockdown until you have your period twice. You better not be pregnant."

"But Mom, it wasn't like that, I didn't want to have sex. I tried to stop him."

"Don't give me that story, young lady. I know you wanted it. All the girls want it, but good girls wait until their wedding night. How am I ever going to get you married off now? How will you ever have a husband, house, and children now that everyone knows you're a slut?"

"Mom, how do you know?"

Valerie enters the kitchen and is mad at me. "It's written all over the bathroom at the stadium and the sub shop. "Stephanie Plum is good and sweet, just like a cupcake." How can I show my face at Connie's graduation party today? You are such an embarrassment, Stephanie."

"But Mom."

"No, but Moms. Finish eating then go right back upstairs to your bedroom. You are not to leave this house unless you are going to work. By the way, Mrs. Licata called, you no longer have a job."

Can today get any worse?

"Thank God I got my period and wasn't pregnant, but I still lost my summer. Then, I never had a date in high school because the boys all thought I was easy. I didn't have a boyfriend until sophomore year at college. He was my only boyfriend."

"Dickie, Babe?"

"Yeah, he was my one and only boyfriend until Joe Morelli entered back into my life, only to ruin it once again."

"Steph, Mom, why didn't you go to the cops?"

"Julie, sweetheart, my Mom didn't believe me. She said that everyone knows that I wanted it and that no one would believe that Joe would do that to me. I never told anyone what really happened that day until now."

Carlos sits next to me and wraps his arms around me. He pulls me on to his lap. "Mi amor, lo siento. Your first time should not have been like that. It was rape, Babe. No wonder you had commitment issues."

"Dad, Mom I promise I'll talk to you about my what's going on. I hope not to have that happen to me. Can I continue my training?"

"Of course, Querida. I would also like to take you back to the gun range."

"Okay, Daddy. I'm going to go upstairs. I'm tired."

"Go ahead Querida. We'll be up soon." Carlos tells his daughter. She comes to me and wraps her arms around me. She whispers in my ear, "Mom, you are the bravest person I know. I hope I can be as brave and strong as you someday. You're Wonder Woman."

Once Julie leaves, Lester comes and awkwardly sits on the coffee table. "Beautiful, I'm sorry I walked in when you were talking about things until it was too late. I know I should have left, but I couldn't. I didn't mean to invade your privacy."

"Les, you're my family. I don't mind that you heard. I didn't even know you came into the office." I reassured him.

"Once I realized how personal it was, I closed and locked the door so no one else would hear," Les told me.

"Thanks." He wrapped his arms around me, kissed me on the forehead. "If only we knew you back in high school, we would have kicked Morelli's ass for you."

"It would've been difficult considering he left for basic training the following morning at six."

"You're mother punished you for the entire summer?"

"Yup. I had unfortunately finished my period about two days before the incident, so two cycles took the entire summer. Everyone knew I had sex with Morelli, and I was an ostracized by half my class. Only Carl and Eddie ever stood up for me. I went to my Junior Prom with Eddie. For the senior prom, I went with my ex-brother-in-laws brother. He was in my class. Valerie and Steve got engaged that Valentine's day of my senior year. Eddie was dating Shirley and Carl was dating Samantha Chisena." I pause, reflecting on my life. "I had a hard time dating in college. I was afraid that any guy I met would only want to fuck me. Dickie asked me out at least once a month for a year before I finally agreed to go out with him. We slept together for the first time on our six month anniversary. Looking back, he was only in it for the image I gave him. He wanted to be a Senator. I would be the perfect wife. I didn't know that he was cheating on me the whole time we were together. I was so glad to have someone like me for me, not because of my reputation, that I never noticed how he would always be unavailable for a date on Friday nights. Once he started working, he would have late nights at least twice a week. I never questioned him. Damn, I don't think I even had a true orgasm with him. I'm such a fuck up."

"Babe, you are not a fuck up. You've only had two of the most idiotic men date you."

"I often wonder how my life would have turned out if Morelli didn't rape me; if he didn't write about me. Would I have become the Burg housewife? Would I have dated other guys? Would I have met you, Carlos?"

"I'd like to think that no matter what happened in your life, we would have met, that we would be where we are right now." Carlos answers.

"I'm sorry. I know you and Lester have to discuss business before we go back to Trenton tomorrow. I'm going to run some searches while I'm here, to keep myself busy."

"Are you sure you're up to it? You don't have to work." Carlos asks.

"Yes, I'm sure. I need to push that day out of my mind."

"Beautiful, use my office. There's no cubicle available. Go to Silvio. He'll give you some files to work on."

"Thanks, Lester." I kiss him on his cheek, then kiss my husband. "Te queiro, mi amor."

"I love you too, Carlos."

Lester's POV

"Ranger, when we come back after the holidays, Stephanie needs to start working again. At least doing the searches, field work if it comes up. The men here, even the ones who are staying, think that she has a pity job because she is fucking the boss. They don't understand her spidey sense or her instincts. She needs to prove her value to them. She's not going to win them over with her personality only. Marco has poisoned their minds against her too much already."

"Fuck. Even after everything with Julie they still don't believe in her."

"No. Marco made sure everyone knew that he believes she was fucking the core team, and some of the other guys too; that she is the whore of the Trenton office. While you are in-house, they won't dare mention a word, and probably not in front of me, but Zero and Cobra told me what they heard. Silvio gave me a heads up, so I asked that all the transfers say that they are from Boston. Zero and Cobra both worked with the guys in Boston enough that no one questioned it." I continued.

"Damn it, Marco. I wish I could beat him to a bloody pulp. Dios! If Morelli ever gets out of prison, he's a dead man. I will fucking kill him for how he raped Stephanie in that fucking bakery. Mierda. We were bad boys, we were players, but we never forced anyone to fuck us. We never fucked someone on the floor; against walls, in bathroom stalls, yes, but on the floor of a bakery? Never. How could he rob someone of their virginity like that then walks away like everything was fine? He's fucking sick."

"You know, Ranger, with Hector's gang contacts, we could set up the perfect opportunity."

"No. If I'm meant to be the one to kill Morelli, God will grant me the opportunity. I will not make an opportunity. Make sure Hector never hears the details of what he did to Stephanie."

"De qué le hizo qué a Estefanìa ?" Hector asks. (Of what, who did what to Stephanie?)

"Nada, Héctor. Si Estefanìa quiere decìrtelo, la hará." Ranger responds. (Nothing, Hector. If Stephanie wants to tell you, she will.)

"Si se rata de Morelli, ya no es di nuestra incumbencia. Él está muerto. Lo alabó un miembro de la familia Grizzoli." Hector responds. (If it's about Morelli, he's not our concern anymore. He's dead. Shanked by someone from the Grizzoli family.)

"Cuándo llegasto aquì y quien te envió?" I ask. (When did you arrive and who sent you?)

"Ahora. Bobby dijo que algunos sistemas no han sido actualizados en años. Necisito entrenar a los muchachos aquì en los nuevos sistemas." (Now. Bobby said some of the systems haven't been upgraded in years. I need to train the guys here in the new systems.)

Ranger then says, "Héctor, falta medio millón dólares. Marco tomó el dinero. Necesitamos encontrar dónde lo puso." (Hector, a half million dollars is missing. Marco took the money. We need to find where he put it.)

"Estoy en elle. Tenemos la información bancaria?" (I'm on it. Do we have the banking information?)

"Sì, todo lo que necesita está en este disco." I respond. (Yes, everything you need is on this drive.)

"Gracias. Lo haré bien." Hector states before leaving the office. (Thanks. I'll get right to it.)

"Damn it. I was hoping for a chance at Morelli." I tell Ranger.

"I'm glad. At least now Stephanie will know that he can never hurt her again. But, fuck, her mother's going to be in rare form Christmas Eve. I'm sure she'll blame Steph for Morelli's death." Ranger tells me.

"I'm glad you're going, and not me."

"Santos, mats 0900."

"Carlos, seriously?"

"No. But I may need the mats after dinner."

"I hear you, man," I reply.

XXXXXXXXXX

Author's Note: Vulcan Rider, you were review number 300! Yeah! I know that there are a lot more people following who haven't reviewed. I would like to ask, that when I publish the last chapter (on Wednesday) that all of my wonderful followers drop a small line. I'd love to know what you thought of the story. I rarely responding to WIP after every chapter, because I like to leave meaningful reviews, so I usually respond at the conclusion, so please do so. I'll be waiting for 325 reviews to publish my next story. The story is planned out to conclusion, so I should be able to publish fairly quickly.

Once again, thank you for your review. I will try to respond to you individually, I know that I've been slacking. I typically read my reviews on my phone, which makes it impossible to respond at that moment. Once again, Thank you Susan for your wonderful job editing my stories. Thanks babe.