Chapter 2

Hector and I returned to my apartment. He pulled me onto his lap and lightly kissed my lips. I pulled away when he deepened the kiss. "Hector, I'm with Ranger," I reminded him.

"I could change your mind," he whispered. It was almost the exact words I heard from Ranger before we started our sex-only relationship.

"You could, but it wouldn't be fair to us. I wouldn't want our relationship to start by cheating on Ranger." I've been cheated on by Morelli and my ex-husband Dickie Orr. "You shouldn't be kissing me,"

"Ranger kissed you while you dated Morelli. Why is this different?" he wondered.

"I'm not sure, but it's just… different," I answered. I love Hector, but I wasn't in love with him. If I was honest, I'm not entirely sure I'm in love with Ranger either. Whenever he's around, I feel tingling in the back of my neck. One of my Merry Men makes my entire body hum, but he seems more closed off than Ranger. He's very outgoing, but his personal life is locked away.

Hector and I spent time talking about the test results from our ancestry DNA, but I still needed to talk to my dad. I sent him a text saying we needed to talk soon. A knock sounded on the door. Hector released me so I could see who was on the other side. "It's me, Pumpkin," Dad said from the other side.

I opened the door to let him in. "I assume we're talking now?" I asked.

"We are. I checked your Nonna's ancestry account. Your DNA matched to her. It's time you learned the truth," he replied. I listened as he told me the story about his sister moving to Italy to live with their aunt. She went to New York on a school trip for a few weeks during January, where she met a boy. It was love at first sight. One thing led to another, and she ended up pregnant. She never contacted the baby's father to tell him. Dad didn't know what happened to his sister because of his deployment at the time. Cassie gave birth to a baby girl in October. A few weeks before Christmas, she was crossing the street and got hit by a drunk driver. The baby girl was flown back to Trenton with Nonno and Nonna when he learned what happened. "Helen wasn't able to carry another baby to term, so she was happy to raise you as her own. I know she always favoured Valerie, but she still loves you," he stated.

"So that makes you my uncle, not my father. Do you know who my father is?" I asked. Learning Helen indeed was my aunt made everything fall into place. I should be angry, but I honestly wasn't.

"No. I only know your father was called Daniel. After she died, we checked her notebooks, but she never mentioned his last name. We only knew he was around her age and lived in New York," he replied. "Unfortunately, she didn't have any photos or leave us with a description. His name wasn't on your birth certificate."

Hector was typing away on my computer, likely creating a list of men between 15 and 17 in 1989. I could only imagine how massive that list would be. We may as well be looking for a needle in a haystack.

That saying always makes me laugh. People automatically assume it's a metal needle like you use for sewing. Maybe that's just how everyone interprets it or how it was intended, at first.

I went on a field trip to a Canadian farm. The farmer said they lost a needle in their haystack, but it wasn't what we would interpret as a needle. He showed us a rigid bone needle, the thickness of hay, the colour of straw, but it didn't break like hay.

The farmer explained the needle gets used to repair mesh and burlap sacs. If it drops into the hay, the bone is nearly impossible to find. It put a whole new meaning to 'impossible to find,' dude. Even if you removed one piece of hay at a time, you would likely pass it over as just another piece of hay or straw.

I had faith in Hector. If anyone could narrow down the pool of potential men, it would be Hector. He generated a list of over six thousand men. After a few more keystrokes, he narrowed it down to just over one thousand. If we include the ones in the age group who relocated, we had closer to fifteen hundred. Talk about a needle in a haystack. I didn't even suggest the possibility of Daniel being his middle name or a fake name. My spidey sense told me it was his first name. We made a plan to track down my father as a side project. Maybe I'll find something using the Rangeman databases.

Early in the morning, I woke up to the alluring scent of Bulgari. "You're home," I sleepily mumbled.

"Only for a few hours Babe," Ranger commented.

"Where?" I asked.

"Undercover mission," he replied.

"How long?" I wondered. I had a strong feeling he was about to end our intimate relationship.

"Minimum of six months," he sadly answered. Wow, that's a long time. I wonder if he has to infiltrate a family that could put him in a precarious position. "I do, and it will," he answered my thoughts. "As I've told you all along, my life doesn't lend to relationships."

"You can't offer me a ring, but a condom will come in handy," I finished. "I get it, Ranger. You may have to bed another woman, and you don't want to cheat on me." I was surprised I could control my emotions. The minute he leaves, I'll break down.

"I'm sorry, Babe. I do love you," he whispered.

"In your own way. It's alright, Ranger. I understand," I leaned into him to kiss his lips. Before I could control my raging hormones, he ripped off my panties and pushed into me. We made love for the last time. With a final kiss, I climbed out of bed to use the washroom. Like the ninja I always suspected he is, he was gone when I returned to bed. We didn't use protection, and I'm not on birth control. It was the first time we had unprotected sex. I quickly checked my period app and realized I was mid-cycle. That means Ranger and I could have made a baby today. After changing my sheets, I crawled back into bed and cried. For the first time in my life, I wanted more than just a bed buddy.

I went to the Princeton clinic the minute it opened in the morning. The doctor prescribed me the morning after pill once I explained what happened. He attempted to talk me out of my decision, to patiently wait and see if I was pregnant. It wasn't a risk I was willing to take. I picked up my prescription from the pharmacy in the medical building and swallowed the pill with coffee. Using my phone, I sent a text to Tank to tell him I'm at home sick for the next few days.

Lester and Tank visited a few times. They were trying to determine if I was really sick or just mourning Ranger. They must know we broke up. On my second sick day, I bent over in pain while Hector was visiting. He saw me double over and immediately contacted Bobby. I hate going to the hospital, and everyone knows it.

"What's going on, Steph?" Bobby kindly asked.

We watched Hector leave my apartment before I decided to reply. "I took the morning after pill. When Ranger and I had sex a couple of days ago, we didn't use protection," I explained.

"You're not on the pill," he added. I shook my head no. "He told us to make sure you and his child were safe."

"He was actively trying to get me pregnant? Is he insane?" I shouted. "I don't want to have a child. Not now, maybe not ever!" I continued to scream before the pain caused me to double over again. "If I am pregnant, it would be none of your business. I don't want to have a baby."

"That's why you took the morning-after pill," he stated, finally understanding. I nodded. He reached into his medical bag to hand me strong pain medication. "This should help. I won't tell anyone," he promised. Bobby kissed my forehead before leaving. If I didn't know better, I would say he was sad there's no Rangeman baby.

A few months later, I found various pregnancy tests on my desk, in my desk, and in my purse. I had a feeling Lester and Tank were behind them. Bobby kept his word and told nobody about his visit. Payback was going to be so sweet. "Tank, do you think Ranger would mind me using his office washroom?" I asked while showing him the pregnancy tests. After the incident with Ranger, I started on birth control. Nobody was going to catch me unprepared ever again.

"Not at all, Little girl," he replied. His smile gave away his hope that I was pregnant. He followed me into Ranger's office and waited on the couch for the results.

I placed all fifteen results on the small table. "Can you text me the results? I have to leave for an appointment," I lied. I quickly left the Rangeman building. After removing all my trackers and disabling my phone GPS, I hopped into my car and left the city.

Point Pleasant was a bit chilly today. I sat on the sand with my arms wrapped around my knees. The ocean was too cold for swimming. Whenever I had huge decisions to make, I would stare into the ocean waves for answers. Rangeman owns the beach house behind me. They only used live feeds if someone was using the property. Otherwise, it would have security checks every four hours. I've been here for three hours already; I arrived just after the last security sweep. It's time to move along the beach. I moved to the dock outside the view of the security cameras. After removing my socks and shoes, I sat at the end to submerge my feet in the icy cold water.

I felt him before I saw him. My body tingled from head to toe. "We've been looking for you for the last four hours. Stephanie, is everything okay?" he asked.

"It will be. I just needed some time to think," I replied. "You don't need to go," I added when my visitor was about to leave. He's slightly taller than Les, has light brown hair, blue eyes, skin tone a shade lighter than mine and gorgeous dimples.

"Okay. I'll stay as long as you need me," my guest said.

"You should tell the guys I'm safe."

"Give me a minute. I have to check in," my Merry Man said before sitting next to me. I could hear him talking, but I wasn't paying attention to his conversation.

He put his arm around my shoulder. "I had to tell them where I found you," he confessed.

"It's okay. I'm not ready to go home yet." I leaned into him and relaxed for the first time in months. When I felt more relaxed, I told him the entire story. "Ranger tried to take away my choices," I finished.

"You're not pregnant?" he asked.

I removed my phone from my purse and turned it back on. Tank sent a message over four hours ago. 'Sorry, Little girl, you're not pregnant.' I showed him the message before sending Tank a message and shoved the phone into my purse.

"How do you feel about it?" he asked.

"Fantastic," I honestly replied. "I think taking the morning after pill was a good indication, don't you?"

"So no baby for now or no baby ever?" he curiously asked.

"A definite not now, maybe never. It all depends on the man," I answered as I turned to look into his gorgeous face. His lip curled up on one side.

"Will you and Ranger resume your relationship when he returns?"

"Not likely. It took a while for me to see it clearly, but being in a sex-only relationship lost its appeal," I replied. "I was more invested in the relationship than I was willing to admit at the time."

"Hector?"

"Not going to happen. I love Hector but only as a brother. There's another man I'm interested in, but he's more closed off than Ranger," I quickly added, "I'm not ready to date anyone yet. Besides, I doubt he feels the same way I do." If only he knew I was talking about him.

After my final declaration, we sat in companionable silence until my growling stomach brought us back to earth. "Let's grab dinner," he said, standing up. He pulled on his socks and shoes. I grabbed his hand to stand. My socks and shoes were closer to the beach.

He waited for me to pull on my socks and shoes before giving me another helping hand to my feet. We walked away from the dock and made our way to the busy boardwalk hand in hand. His hand felt warm wrapped around mine. I briefly opened my hand to spread my fingers. He quickly laced his with mine. It felt so right, meant to be. We were on the same page. "Stephanie, I feel the same way you do. Take all the time you need. I'll wait until you're ready." He lifted our joined hands to kiss my fingers.