Not my characters. I make zero dollars from this. Definitely AU! Just plugging our favorite characters into my original story.
WARNING! Some things will be alluded to and not described in excessive detail. I'm not a doctor or any medical professional. Which means there will be some creativity with the scenario to fit my goal. If something is a trigger for you. I apologize, this story will reference abuse, rape and domestic violence. There is a great deal of drawing your own conclusions on those fronts.
Thank you for all the reviews! I promise y'all we are going to burn the burg to the ground. Give it sometime. We have to torture the residents first.
I got a few messages and reviews about Ranger's injuries and the inconsistencies. Remember, stick with me and things get explained. Ask and you shall receive y'all! This is a bonus chapter since everyone has been amazing. It is scary to share something you've written. Y'all have been fantastic, really.
Stephanie POV
I took a deep breath as the door was opened for me. Ranger stood there smiling at me.
"The core team would like to meet you before we get you settled into your apartment." He said gesturing towards the 3 large men near the elevator.
"Okay, are you sure they don't mind?" I asked for the millionth time.
"Do we mind what, beautiful?" Lester wiggled his eyebrows at me.
We came to a stop in front of them. Looking down, I told them, "I was worried that this would be an inconvenience for you all. I know it is a place of business."
"Little Girl, I promise, we don't mind and you class the place up in comparison to Lester and we let him live on site." Tank jokes.
I looked between them all and noticed that they seemed sincere. After formal introductions were made, Lester, Bobby and Tank said goodnight and headed for the stairs. Ranger directed me to the elevator. He selected 6 and we watched the numbers rise.
"Tomorrow I will give you a tour of the building and you can meet the rest of the team we've chosen for this assignment."
"That sounds good. I do need to write a few chapters at some point if that is okay and talk to my editor. Can we also discuss the possibility of security for my first appearance? That is if I do it. I'm still on the fence about it" I asked.
He nodded and the doors opened to the 6th floor. I stood in the middle of the foyer and waited for direction. Before he could knock on the door it was whipped open and a small hispanic woman yanked him into a hug. She rambled a mile a minute in Spanish to him and before I could try to translate with the little I knew, Ranger gestured towards me.
"Steph this is Ella, Tia, this is Steph and she will be staying next door for a few days."
Ella hurried towards me and hugged me. I flinched and she backed up.
"I'm sorry Ella it isn't you, the only people who hug me are my dad and uncle Joe." I apologized.
"Don't you worry about it. My nephew will tell you I get a bit excited. Now come and let's check the apartment. Sobrino, you go see your Tio he's been worried. I'll get Steph settled."
Ella dragged me to the next door, unlocking it and pushing me inside.
Ella POV
"Okay, I know you are probably tired and nervous. I will give you the quick tour and leave you alone. Follow me."
Stephanie was quiet as I showed her the apartment, handed her the key, explained how to use the intercom to call me, Carlos and the control room. I let her with instructions, I'd drop off breakfast in the morning. I slipped out the door and hurried next door to talk to my husband and nephew. Upon entering, they were sitting at the dining table with coffee and the cookies I made earlier.
"That girl is just so sweet and polite but seems so scared" I told them as I sat down.
"Tia, she got more nervous the closer we got to Trenton. This place holds a lot of not so good memories for her."
"Well, I hope she is comfortable while she is here. Now, How are you?" I scooted closer to my husband. I always felt like Carlos was my child even though he is my nephew.
He chuckled, "I'm good Tia, I made a new friend and she doesn't seem to care about physical appearances. It is a whole lot different than other people like my family."
"Don't even worry about those horrible people. I don't know why they think you are required to pay for their lifestyles." Shaking my finger at him.
He nodded at me, I knew their behavior hurts him. It is most likely why he gave them money. Wanted his family to love and be proud of him. Carlos drops his head, acknowledging what I said.
"Now enough of this talk, How are you feeling? I know you were worried about that plastic surgeon Bobby found not being able to help." I reached across for his hand.
"He said since a lot of them are more shallow, he can do another round of scar revision if they still bother me after he filled some in. The large one, he wants to work on in sections if I still want. Since the edges are so jagged unlike the others it will be more difficult. I was thinking, I may just leave this one alone. The last treatment, did minimize the others on my face and the ones on my body, I don't mind. Stephanie, has those scars from that awful woman and with something so terrible, is such a genuinely nice person."
"Perhaps after this is over and you head back to the house to rest some more you could get her opinion on it. She would have first hand experience." My husband suggested.
"That is a great idea Tio, I will do that. She wants to head to her beach house after this court issue. I will bring it up then. Alright, I'm going to pop next door and check on her before I head to seven."
Carlos hugged us both and we watched him slip out the door. "Do you think he likes that girl?" Louis inquired.
"I think if he doesn't yet, he will soon. Now let's head to bed." Giving him a wink, he chased me laughing into the bedroom.
Ranger POV
I knocked on the door next door and waited for her to answer. There is a good chance she was nervous about being in a new place alone. The door cracked open and a curly head popped into view. When she realized it was me, it was pulled further open.
"Hey, Come in! I just got out of the shower let me run and put my pajamas on. Sit down and I will be quick" She said over her shoulder as she headed for the bedroom.
I grabbed some water from the fridge and sat down on the couch. A few minutes later she returned with a towel on her head and pajamas with fish on them. Quirking an eyebrow in their direction, she laughed.
"These are my vacation pajamas, Uncle Joe bought them for me since they always spend their visits fishing and I mean a lot of fishing." Stephanie explained.
"I wanted to make sure you were okay before I headed upstairs to my apartment. Do you need anything?"
"No, that's very nice but I am okay. Plus your aunt covered anything I could possibly need. Are you in a hurry upstairs? I was going to watch a movie if you'd like to join me. I saw microwave popcorn in the pantry." She flashed me an unsure smile.
"Let me run upstairs to change and you get it set up. A movie sounds great." I answered. She graced me with a big smile.
As I headed out the door, I thought about how long it has been since I sat down to watch a movie.
Julio POV
I don't know how they found out but they did. Every Part of my body hurts. I keep glaring at them from my one non-swollen eye and it is not effective. Things were going great. It ain't like Mama and I were hurting anybody. Just skimming some of the profits from each account. Carlos was always too successful, It should have been me being the rich one. Mama even said, she has no idea how it happened.
They've told me I will be given no pain medicine and will be handed over to the police next week. However until some of my bruises heal, I am enjoying the holding cell. The door opens and Panther walks in. He is almost as scary as Hector.
"Did you know we found your paper trail? Please don't bother responding, that all that hardware to keep your broken jaw closed is there for a reason?
I growled at him, doesn't he know who I am? My brother would never notice it was gone. Not my fault he is a trusting idiot.
"Don't worry, Where you will be going I think some of your family will be there too. Doesn't that sound like a family reunion?"
He headed back out the door and I was left to my soup in a bowl with no silverware, not that I could lift it. Ugh, I'll kill Carlos for this.