FADE TO BLACK
Disclaimer: As usual, all character's are the property of JE. Unfortunately she won't even let me borrow Ranger for a day or two. I am making no money yada, yada, yada.
WARNING: This story is VERY Un-Morelli friendly. If you are a Cupcake then you will absolutely hate my story. Joe is a very bad guy in this story. I'm a total Babe and it shows. It's actually extremely unkind to Mrs. Plum too. There will be adult language, violence, and situations so don't even bother reading any more if this will offend you.
WARNING: There is some information about an adoption in this chapter, and I don't know much about it, other than what I found online, so please forgive me if I'm wrong.
PREVIOUSLY:
"So, did you two work everything out yesterday?" Tank asked as the doors shut.
I was kind of surprised, because the guys really didn't talk to me about my relationship with Ranger. I was pretty sure they didn't talk to him much about it, either. His ESP was working well this morning, so he explained himself a little further.
"I'm not trying to get in your business. I just want to make sure he's treating you right. He's my best friend, but sometimes, he needs his ass kicked before he can admit he's wrong."
I smiled at that. "So does that mean you guys kicked his ass last night?"
"Not physically, but definitely verbally."
I was surprised to realize exactly how much it meant to me that these guys would stand up for me.
I stood on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek. "Thanks, big guy, that means a lot," I told him as the elevator doors opened on five.
"No problem, Bomber. You're my friend, too, and you deserve to be treated right. But fair warning... I'm not afraid to give you a verbal beat down, too, if you treat my boy wrong," he told me with a wink before he went to his office.
I smiled at his declaration. I was okay with that; Carlos needed friends like that.
I walked into my office and got down to the task at hand. Before I knew it, it was time for me to get ready for the funeral, so I grabbed my things and went upstairs.
CHAPTER 43
SPOV
I heard the door open just as I came out of the dressing room. I walked out to meet my man, and starting smiling as soon as I saw him. One cast was completely gone, and the other was now a walking cast. I was surprised he was using a cane, but before I had a chance to question him, he offered an explanation.
"The doctor wanted me to do rehab before I put my full weight on my leg, but after today, I shouldn't need any help. I was a little wobbly when I tried to walk at the doctor's office, so he suggested the cane just for today." He glared at it with obvious disdain.
I smiled and leaned up to whisper in his ear. "I'll show you how happy I am you're out of that wheelchair when we get home tonight." I kissed his cheek before backing away, and noticed his eyes had gone pitch black in one second flat. Guess I wasn't the only one suffering from the lack of sex. Good to know. Granted we'd made love last night but we still had a lot of catching up to do.
"Now go get ready. We need to leave in forty-five minutes. Do you need any help?"
He glared at me for a second, and then his eyes softened. "No, I think I can manage now. Thanks for taking such good care of me." He kissed my forehead before going into the bathroom.
Thirty minutes later, I heard him yell for me.
"Steph, will you bring me a pair of scissors, please?"
I went to grab them, wondering what he was up to. I walked into the bedroom and found him sitting on the bed, dressed, with only one pant leg on. I handed him the scissors, thoroughly confused.
He took the scissors and started to cut up the seam of his pant leg.
"Are you insane? That's Louis Vuitton!" I gaped at him.
He looked at me like I'd grown a third head. "I'll get new ones." He shrugged as he pulled the now ruined pant leg over his walking cast.
"That is like a crime against nature. The fashion gods are likely to smite you down for that." I was appalled. I couldn't believe he'd just ruined a $3,000 suit without blinking an eye. It was times like this that I wondered if everyone was right and this man really was crazy. Don't get me wrong, though; crazy or not, he's still mine.
I watched as he finished getting ready. I could tell he was enjoying his new mobility, and I was happy for him. He was ready with fifteen minutes to spare, and he motioned for me to follow him to the living room. I sat down beside him and leaned into him, trying to soak up some of his strength. Today was going to be hard enough. Adding in the threat of another incident with the stalker had me feeling more than a little stressed out.
"I have a meeting scheduled at 1700 tonight with Jeanne Ellen, to speak about the case she wants help with."
I felt myself tense, waiting to see how he planned to handle this.
"Bobby, Lester, and Tank will be there, and I want you there as well. I plan to tell her that she can either work with the entire core team, or we won't take the case. Is that okay with you?" he asked, seeming unsure.
I felt my heart squeeze when I realized how much he was trying to make sure he included me and not repeat past mistakes. I leaned over and kissed his lips softly. "That's perfect," I told him as I backed away and looked at him.
"Do you want to tell me what you think is up with her?" he asked.
I shrugged my shoulders. "Honestly, I don't know. I just have a strange feeling about her." I explained.
I got a barely there nod before he stood up and held out his hand to me. I took it, really feeling like I was ready to face whatever came our way, simply because we were together. Even if he had no fashion conscience! We made our way to the garage, where most of the guys were already waiting for us to go to the funeral.
The funeral went off without any disruptions. The stalker didn't show up, and I cried my eyes out. I don't know why I always get emotional like this at funerals, considering I'm basically emotionally retarded in all the other areas of my life. It's actually kind of embarrassing. Fortunately, it didn't seem to bother Carlos at all. He held me and comforted me like only he could, and before I knew it, we were back in the truck and headed towards the office.
We finally got back to the office at 4:30. I climbed on the elevator with Carlos, and we went upstairs to change and so I could clean myself up. We were both quiet, seemingly lost in our own worlds, but we changed quickly and headed back down to five.
I was actually looking forward to this meeting. I wanted to see Jeanne Ellen's reaction when Carlos told her I had to be involved. I knew it was petty, but I loved sticking it to Catwoman. I mean, I was only human, right?
We were all seated around the conference table when Binkie came in to tell us Jeanne Ellen was downstairs.
"Bring her up," Ranger replied.
I was sitting beside him, and he reached over and entwined our fingers. I looked over and saw he was smiling at me softly. He was breathtakingly handsome, and he was mine. We were lost in each other's eyes until Tank cleared his throat. Ranger gave me quick wink, and looked at the door as Jeanne Ellen walked in.
I noticed her body tense and her eyes narrow when she saw me sitting there. I smiled at her sweetly. Well, I was aiming for sweetly, but it might have been a little more smug than sweet, depending on your perspective.
"Ranger, I already explained that I would rather Stephanie not be involved and why." She focused a cold stare on Carlos.
"I am aware of that, Jeanne Ellen, but if you want RangeMan's help on this case, Stephanie will be involved. I don't keep anything about RangeMan from any of the core team, and that includes Stephanie. If you are still against having her involved, then we will have to turn down the case," he told her matter-of-factly.
I had noticed her eyes widen when he told her I was a member of the core team, and she seemed annoyed.
"Fine," she replied with a shrug before sitting down.
That seemed a little too easy. If it was so important to her that I not be involved, then why would she give up so easily? If it wasn't all that important, then what was the point in bringing it up to begin with? My Spidey sense was tingling again, and I made a mental note to do some research into Catwoman. Something about her just wasn't sitting right with me, and it wasn't just the fact that she was the female version of Ranger.
She slid the folder she had brought with her across the table to Carlos. He opened it up and began to look through it. I noticed he stilled for a second. If you didn't know what to look for, you probably wouldn't have noticed, but since I had what is commonly referred to as OCCD aka Obsessive Compulsive Carlos Disorder, I picked up on it. He finished looking through the folder, and then handed it off to me.
"Okay, so tell us about the case," he told Jeanne Ellen.
"The girl's name is Sophia Maria Mendoza. She's ten-years-old, and was adopted at birth in a closed adoption."
I opened the file and saw what had caused Carlos to still. The girl looked remarkably like Julie. She was a beautiful little girl, and she was wearing a Wonder Woman t-shirt. She was a girl after my own heart. I turned my attention back to Jeanne Ellen.
"Her parents live in Argentina. They moved there from New York two years ago. Ten days ago, she left for school, but never made it there. Her family is very wealthy, and kidnapping was suspected immediately, but after a few days went by and no demands were made, the police officials started to look at different possibilities.
"They brought in a friend of mine that has worked closely with the authorities in Argentina before, and asked for his help. His investigation has lead him to believe that her birth mother may have kidnapped her. He contacted me yesterday and asked if I could look into her adoption, because it occurred in the state of New Jersey," she explained as we all looked through the folder she had brought with her. There wasn't very much in it to help us get started.
"Okay, so why does your friend think it was her birth mother, and why did you feel the need to keep Steph out of it?" Lester asked.
"The parents mentioned that a woman claiming to be her birth mother contacted them last month, asking to meet with them. They only got a first name. Isabella. They told her they didn't want Sophia to meet her yet, but if she wanted to leave her information, they would give Sophia the opportunity to decide once she turned eighteen. The woman just hung up, and they didn't hear from her again. My friend is still following up other leads, but he wanted me to start on this as soon as I could. The adoption papers were sealed by a judge that works in Trenton, but at the time of the adoption, he was a small time family judge in Chambersburg, New Jersey." Her eyes focused on me.
It took everything I had not to roll my eyes at the woman, but I wanted to stay professional. Did she really think I would help someone kidnap a child, just because they might be from the 'Burg?
Lester didn't seem to be as worried about professionalism as he rolled his eyes at her. "So what, you thought Steph would hide someone that would kidnap a child, just because they came from the 'Burg? That's just absurd," he snorted.
I turned to smile at Lester for saying what I was thinking, but the look on Carlos' face caught my eye. His gaze was focused completely on Jeanne Ellen, and he looked pissed. I guess insulting me was like insulting him.
"Is that the reason?" Carlos demanded.
She met his gaze, and I watched her waiver for a second before her back straightened. Hmmm, maybe Catwoman was suicidal. One could hope.
"I don't have the history with her that you do, so I have absolutely no reason to trust her. I don't have the research abilities that your company has, so I guess I don't have any choice but to take your word," she explained.
I could tell his gaze was getting to her, but she didn't back down. I wasn't sure if it was balls or insanity, but whatever it was worked for her.
"I have complete faith and trust in Stephanie, and I assure you that you have nothing to worry about," he told her, his voice leaving no room for arguments.
I started doing a Snoopy dance in my head. His confidence in me was amazing, and I never tired of hearing him voice it.
"I guess I'll just have to take your word for it then," Jeanne Ellen replied, and the subject was dropped.
We spent the next hour and a half deciding how to proceed. Most of the initial work would be on my plate. I still ran the most important searches, and I had more contacts in the 'Burg than all the guys at RangeMan combined.
As soon as we were done, Ranger pulled me to the elevator. He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me while we rode up to seven. As we stepped off of the elevator and walked into the apartment, I felt the remaining stress of the day start to drain from my body. This place always calmed me and made me feel safe, just like the man that owned it.
"Why don't you go get comfortable, and I'll call Ella for dinner," he said, pulling me in for one more kiss.
I smiled at him and nodded. I was wiped out and ready to relax. I took a quick shower and put on some pj's. Carlos took a shower while I went out to wait for Ella. About twenty minutes later, she was in the apartment, dropping off dinner, when Carlos walked out wearing nothing but a pair of Army sweats that hung low on his hips. Before I could stop myself, I licked my lips.
"See something you like, Babe?" he smirked.
I rolled my eyes. "As if you don't know the answer to that already?"
He gave me a genuine smile. "Don't worry, Babe. The feeling is totally mutual," he said as he helped me put the dinner plates on the breakfast bar.
We ate in silence, but the longer we sat there, the more my body started to vibrate with desire. I looked at Carlos, and he returned my gaze with an almost predatory one of his own. I felt a bolt of lust fly through me, ending with wetness pooling between my legs.
I bit my lip, trying to reign in my hormones, but that act just seemed to spur Carlos into action. Before I knew it, he was standing between my legs, covering my lips with his. The kiss was rough, passionate, with something primal mixed in, and it broke the little bit of control I had. I quickly began meeting his demands equally. I pulled out the tie holding his hair, and ran my hands through his silky locks before pulling him closer. We broke away from the kiss, gasping for air. I stood up and nudged him towards the bedroom.
A few hours later I slowly started coming back down to earth, I found myself still laying on top of Carlos. He had his arms wrapped around me, and was drawing small circles on my back. I gave a contented sigh before moving to lay down beside him.
He turned to look at me while running his finger softly down my jaw. "I love you, Babe."
I smiled. "I love you, too, Batman."
He shook his head at the nickname.
"Actually, after that performance, maybe I should go with Superman," I giggled.
He actually laughed at that, pulling me back against him. We fell asleep wrapped around each other, completely sated and content.
TBC...
Thanks Bunches Connie & Jenny! You're both the greatest.
