Chapter 22

Lando lived in a town house at 27 via Sant'Eusebio. According to the search that Hector had done he'd inherited the place after his parents had died, so since it had never been on the market for sale then Hector was unable to find any plans of the place. Tank and Les were ahead of us checking the area around the house and determining if Lando was there or not. I wasn't too sure what Hector was up to because he'd disappeared from the house soon after the meeting had finished. Ram was staying at the house to do more work on Bria's boyfriend and wait for any updates.

I was just glad that we had a sat nav in the car because to me the streets of Milan were like a maze and very busy, often with streets that were one way. I knew that we were about a mile away from Lando's, yes, even I could work that out from the sat nav, when Ranger smiled at nothing in particular. That had me confused and I couldn't see anything to give me an idea of what had amused him.

"Tank arrived just as Lando was leaving the house so they're following him"

That was good then because at least we'd know well in advance if Lando was returning home. I just hoped that there wasn't anyone else inside the house though Hector had found out that no one else was registered to be living there. The street that we eventually turned into had a smaller lane in front of the houses allowing cars to double park. Of course, Ranger was in the right place at the right time as a car reversed out from one of the spaces allowing Ranger to pull in. Once the car engine had been turned off, I was ready to get out but felt as Ranger's hand settle on my thigh to stop me.

"We watch first"

I acknowledged that maybe he was right and settled down to watch the house though I felt restless after only a few minutes. I was so keen to get inside and look around becasue I just knew that we'd find evidence linking Lando to Dario. I spent the time looking at the house that we were going to be breaking into, almost feeling excited at the prospect. It was a terraced home in the middle of the street so had neighbors on both sides. There was a gate and very small paved section in front of the main door. The house had a window next to the door and two on the next floor, one that looked to be more of a glass door with a low rail in front of it. To be honest it didn't look all that well maintained, compared to other houses on the street. The pale cream paint was peeling off the walls and the wooden window frames looked pitted with rot. There were thin drapes at all of the windows making it impossible to see inside.

There was a steady flow of traffic along the road but very few people walking past the house with no sign of any near neighbors.

"Okay, let's go"

I almost jumped as Ranger suddenly said that but acted quickly to get out of the car. I was wearing the same clothes as I had on when we visited Bria so felt confident with my disguise as Ranger took my hand and led me between the parked cars. It seemed that we were going straight to the front door, so I stood close to Ranger, watching the street, while he worked his magic with the lock. Stepping inside I needed to allow my eyes to adjust to the darkness before looking around.

"Wait here while I check the place out"

Was all Ranger said before he disappeared up the stairs. For some reason I had no feeling that anyone was here but remembering us discovering Tania's boyfriend the evening before I knew that Ranger would want to be sure.

It felt cool as I stood and waited in the quietness of the hall. I breathed a sigh of relief when Ranger reappeared, his face looking so serious as he went to the unopened door near to me. To the right was a door that we went through into what appeared to be a lounge area.

The whole place had the feeling of being neglected, as though no one lived here. The furniture looked old and there was cheap linoleum on the floor, it was as if Lando hadn't changed a thing since his parents had lived here. It was weird thinking that Lando lived like this because he'd always seemed so well put together. The room was empty and held nothing of interest and I was following Ranger through another door that led into a large kitchen, but Ranger seemed to be more interested in finding somewhere else.

"He's a photographer so he must have a dark room somewhere and a place where he works"

I remembered Hector saying that he'd managed to hack into a computer but only found the photos from the wedding, so I knew what Ranger meant. The kitchen felt and looked like the room that we had come through, old cabinets and worn flooring, certainly no evidence of anyone preparing or eating meals. Ranger went to the back door to look outside while I stood and looked around. I was beginning to feel that there was nothing to find when the space that would have been underneath the stairs attracted my attention so pulling a curtain aside I knew that I'd found somewhere worth looking at.

"Ranger"

I called to him as I started to open the door that was behind the curtained off area. It looked dark and I was very uncertain of what could be there, that tendril of the unknown surging through me. I moved my hand down the wall until I hit a switch just inside the door so relieved when a light bulb illuminated stone steps going down. I hated going down into cellars, nothing good ever came from going into one. Halfway down I bent down to see what I was walking into and try and work out if there was anything down there that I didn't want to meet. Hearing and seeing nothing, I continued down to the bottom of the steps struggling to see where I was walking into. I came to another door so carefully pulled down the handle surprised when it opened so easily. The problem was that it was dark again so I needed to find a light switch to see where I walking into, so started to feel down the wall next to me. Bingo, I thought as I pushed a switch down.

Bright strip lights flickered on almost blinding me they were that bright. The space that I was looking at must have been the same floor area as upstairs, enormous and totally refurbished with modern furniture. I looked around totally mesmerized with what I was seeing. There was a bed with a rail clothes next to it, a large desk in the center of the room and then a modern, if small kitchen area. My guess was that Lando must have lived down here. It was cool but didn't feel damp and had some sort of wooden floor. It was immaculate, not a speck of dust in sight. The desk in the center of the room had my attention though because there was a computer on the top as well as a laptop. In the center of the large desk were plastic shelves holding paper and stationary but what caught my eye were an array of pen drives. It seemed I'd found where Lando his his secrets and elated with the discovery.

That was when I felt it, a hand on my shoulder that had me jumping and almost screaming. I'd been so focused on what I was looking at that Ranger coming up behind me had scared me to death.

"Good find Babe"

I thought so as well but I wasn't sure what to do with the find. Did we open the laptop, take some of the pen drives? I looked to Ranger as he seemed to be talking into his mic and then he was quiet as though waiting for a response.

"Lando's on his way back"

Maybe my eyes went wide because I thought he'd be away from the house for longer but knew that if we weren't going to be found then we needed to get out of here. I followed Ranger toward the door with the intention of following him but as I started to move toward the steps that was when I heard something. I stopped trying to identify what the noise was or where it was coming from. It was a scratching sound and not from a mouse, because it seemed to last too long for that. Something was telling me that it was important.

"Ranger"

I tried to say something to Ranger but seeing him disappear up the steps I gave up on that and assumed that he hadn't heard me or was ignoring me. Dropping down onto my haunches I was listening again, I could swear that it was coming from underneath the steps. As far as I could see there was a set of shelves under there but on standing up, I realized the shelves went the length of the room and pulling out some of the books noticed that the shelves were only shallow. I was curious and totally engrossed in solving the riddle so started to look inside the shelves I was about halfway down when I found a lever and pulled it toward me. A grating noise sounded in front of me and movement had me stepping back. A section of the shelves opened like a door, and of course I just had to look inside. I peered inside to take a look, surprised that a light seemed to have come on automatically.

I was nervous yet excited, but both of those feelings were taken over by the complete shock at what I was looking at. Beyond black metal bars, I was looking into deep brown eyes that looked frightened, then annoyed and then confused. There was a young girl sat in the corner against the wall, her arms firmly wrapped around her knees. To be honest she looked as surprised as I felt as we just looked at other. A quick glance told me that there was a padlock keeping the bars closed and her locked in but I knew that Ranger could undo it. That had me wondering where he gone, he wouldn't have left me would he?

The sound of footsteps above me had us both looking up at the steps above us. Was that Ranger? Then I remembered that he'd said that Lando was on his way back. Oh shit was my first thought as I relaized that I was probably trapped down here in the basement before I actually started to feel a little bit afraid of Lando suddenly appearing.

"I'll be back"

I whispered to the young girl before I returned into the room and pushed the shelves back into place. Then I was looking for somewhere to hide. As I peered out from my hiding place underneath the bedI instantly knew what I'd forgotten to do, the lights were still on. I watched as that closed door slowly opened and as Lando appeared from the stairs it seemed that he was aware of the lights being on as well. Maybe he'd think that he had forgotten to turn them off, that would be my first thought.

It didn't look like he believed that because the first place that he went to were the shelves and opened the door. I hadn't realized that he was carrying a bag of food with him until I smelt it. Huh, McDonalds here in Milan, I must have missed that. I'd hazard a guess that his trip out was to get some food for the girl locked in his makeshift prison. He was soon closing the door and looking around obviously his first thought was to check that the girl was where he had locked her up. I wasn't too sure how long it would take him to notice me because there were very few places to hide. Where the hell was Ranger?

After scanning the room Lando began to move around, obviously knowing that someone was here. His eyes kept shifting to the dark corners of the room and checking around the desk. I knew that I had to move when Lando started to look underneath the desk so crawled on my stomach to the edge of the bed and then very carefully looked over the top. As he opened another door, which I hadn't even seen before, I moved to stand behind the clothes hanging from the rail.

Yep, under the bed was his next location to search but I was getting a little bit panicked at what to do next because I was pretty sure the clothes would be the next place that he would look. Fight or flight came to my mind but I never had been any good at fighting so as Lando bent down to look under the bed I was bounding from my hiding spot, jumping on the bed and over Lando and making for the other side of the desk.

Of course, he heard me, but he sure looked surprised to know that someone was down here. As he moved toward the desk. I dodged to the door that led to the steps. Locked, when had that happened? Hadn't Lando just come through it? So I was back behind the desk with Lando opposite me, totally unprepared for what to do next, so I went for what I was good at, talking. I removed the hat and fluffed out my hair, so he'd know exactly who he was dealing with.

"Hello Lando, surprised to see me?"

That was an understatement as he stopped moving and his mouth fell open and then closed. He'd obviously recognized and looked shocked to see me.

"What, how are you even here?"

It was those few words that told me that he knew about everything that was going on and to be honest that had me feeling extremely annoyed with him.

"You have a lot of explaining to do"

I didn't think that he'd just tell me what he was part of but maybe if he thought I knew then he might say more.

"But. You're supposed to be. It was all organized"

"Why Lando? Why did you and Dario try to get rid of me. What the hell had I done to deserve that?"

I watched him as we stood opposite each other on either side of the desk. At first he seemed surprised but soon enough I could see that he was angry.

"I knew Bria was talking to you and was trying to tell you what she'd found out. You would have ruined everything"

At least now I knew that he was involved with me disappearing and the reason why I'd been targeted and that really pissed me off. It wasn't as though Bria had told me anything that made sense. A quick look down at where I was and I was looking at shelves underneath the desk that were filled with cameras, lots of them, all different types and models and all looked expensive and maybe heavy.

"Maybe Dario had a change of mind?"

I watched as his face curled into a snarl, so knew that trying to undermine what he knew wasn't going to happen.

"No, he told me what happened. Maybe he needs to find a new buyer for you or maybe just get rid of you"

If Lando thought that he could frighten me then he was very much mistaken and I definitely wasn't going to let him near me without a fight. As he moved around the desk so did I, making sure that the desk was between us. We played that game, going back and forth until I was back to where I started. I weighed up my options which weren't looking too good at the moment. Flight was out with that door being locked so maybe fight was going have to be next.

I picked up a camera at random and hurled it at him, his arm deflecting it from hitting his head, but it made a nice sound as it hit the floor. That got him annoyed, and he was suddenly on top of the desk heading for me. I had another camera in my hand watching him. His movement knocked the laptop onto the floor but he didn't seem worried about that, no looked hell bent on getting his hands on me. I backed away as he dropped from the desk and landed in front of me, but I was prepared for him. Another swing of my hand had the second camera hitting him right on the head, scoring a cut on his forehead. Seemed that wasn't enough because he was suddenly in front of me, his hands gripping onto the top of my arms. The pain that rocked through my shoulder had me seeing red.

He was close enough and stupid enough if he thought that I wouldn't fight back and a well placed knee to his groin had him releasing me and gripping his groin, doubling over as though to protect them. The camera did its job as I landed it on his head and I watched as he fell unconscious to the floor. Now in the past if I was in this situation I would have run. Not now. I may have been out of breath, maybe even a bit panicky but I was still so fucking annoyed with him that I managed to haul him onto the office chair and used anything that I could find to tie him up, from cables to ties and belts.

As I stepped back from him I felt a sense of accomplishment run through me and was about to return to that locked area where the girl was when I heard a sound coming from the door. That was when I screamed and rounded toward the door with the camera in my hand raised above my head ready to hit whoever was out there. The door slammed open with three men suddenly barging into the room, guns drawn and faces that looked ready to do damage.

Tank was eyeing the camera in my hand as Ranger walked over to me and wrapped me in his arms.

"You didn't follow me. I went upstairs to hide"

I hadn't realized just how panicked I'd become as I tried to catch my breath. I closed my eyes knowing that I was safe now but suddenly remembered what I'd found. I pushed away from Ranger and ran over to the shelves looking back at him as he watched me.

"We have to get her out"

Finding the lever and opening the door. I stood to one side looking back at him. Of course he was soon looking inside so I stepped in behind him. His eyes immediately fell on the young girl, who to be honest looked scared to death as she cowered in a corner. Ranger must have realized how frightened she looked becasue he bent down and looked at her and very softly spoke to her.

"Siamo qui per tirarti fuori per non farti del male"

I watched her as Ranger set about trying to undo the bolt that locked her in. She still looked frightened to me but her expression changed when she caught sight of me so I hoped that she knew we were there to help. As the door opened Ranger stood to the side indicating for me to try to get her to come out. I went inside and crouched down in front of her, taking her hand in mine.

"Ania?"

I nodded my head, surprised that she knew who I was, but hoping that she felt that she was safe by knowing who I was. As she fell into my arms she burst into tears as she clung to me, making tears come to my eyes as well. I couldn't beleive that Lando would imprison someone like this but in my heart I also knew what his intentions were and that made me feel sick to my stomach. I gave her a few minutes before I stood up and with her wrapped to my side we walked out of the cell and into the well lit room. Lando was still fastened to the chair but Les had replaced my makeshift ties with metal cuffs. He was moving slightly, and his eyes were opening but even I was surprised when the girl broke away from me and walked over to Lando and then proceeded to hit him with her fists.

For a small girl she could certainly hit hard and in the end Les had to pull her away from Lando. Seeing her now in the light she looked maybe late teens with long wavy dark hair and brown eyes. A pretty young girl who would bloom into a beautiful woman and Lando had no doubt seen that.

"Get Hector here. Tank be lookout. Santos take the girl and Steph to a nearby hotel and keep her there until we can talk to her"

I was about to argue but seeing the look on Ranger's face I didn't dare. Les was looking for a hotel on his phone as we walked up the steps and out of the front door. The girl never attempted to leave my side, so it was easy to get her into a car before Les started to drive us away from that street. I was wondering what would happen when Hector arrived, but I wasn't stupid and much as I wanted to deny it, I knew what he'd be doing.

Maybe they'd go through the laptop and even look at the drives but yeah, I think Ranger wanted Hector for his other skills as well. Somehow, I didn't think that Lando would be coming out of that cellar alive and to be honest the idea of him being put through a lot of pain didn't offend me as much as I thought it would. That idea was corroborated as the shudders from the girl next to me began to subside. That man deserved everything that he got.

Les had booked us into a very nice spacious room at the hotel. Walking into the room I knew what I would want to do if I'd just been rescued from a prison cell.

"Les, can you buy her some new clothes?"

As I walked us into the bathroom, I heard the door into the suite click closed and focused on running some hot water into the tub. The girl sat on the toilet watching me as I poured some bath oils in, complimentary from the hotel. Once filled I turned to her and moved to help her to take off the hoodie that she was wearing. I really hoped that Lando hadn't hurt her, hadn't abused her. She had enough to cope with without him having done that. We never spoke a word and as she stepped into the tub, I sat on the toilet not wanting to watch her but not wanting her out of my sight. She sank down below the water before her face popped up and she wiped her hands over her face and head. My heart broke as tears began to slide down her cheeks, so I moved to kneel down next to the tub, wiping the tears from her cheeks.

"Stephanie"

I said pointing to me and then pointed to her hoping that she'd understand and tell me her name.

"Elisa"

Nothing was more said as she soaked in the water, no doubt thinking about what had happened to her and what would happen to her next. I didn't think that she could speak English so needed to wait until Ranger came seeing as he spoke Italian. I didn't think that Hector would be a good person for her to see at the moment, she'd been traumatized enough from what she'd experienced and I was sure any strange man would add to her fears. The problem would be what to do with her, where she could go where it was safe. It could be a while before Dario realized that Lando wasn't available and that the girl was missing but it wouldn't be safe for Elisa to go back to her neighborhood.

As the water began to cool, I held up a towel for Elisa to wrap around herself and then left her to see if Les had come back. He was sat on the couch in front of the TV and turned as he saw me.

"She okay?"

I shrugged my shoulders as I took a bag from his hands and returned to the bathroom. I wasn't sure what Les had bought but Elisa seemed pleased with the new clothes. When she stepped out she'd tied her hair back and looked so young as she stood there, her eyes intent on looking at the floor. With me in the middle we were soon all three sat on the couch waiting.

It was two hours before I heard a knock at the door and watched as Les went to look through the peep hole. He was soon opening the door to let Ranger in. Looking at Ranger he didn't seem to look any different, no blood on his clothes or that scary look he got when he was annoyed.

"Hector and Tank are dealing with the house, then Hector will take the electronics back to look through them"

I knew that he was talking to Les, filling him in on what had happened and maybe saying more than I could interpret. I watched as he came over to me, taking both of my hands in his before kissing me on the forehead. I knew that Elisa was watching him and that maybe Ranger's move on me was to try and allay her fears at seeing him. As he sat on the coffee table in front of me that was when he started to talk to Elisa and when she gripped my hand as though her life depended on it. At first, she seemed reticent to reply but the more Ranger spoke to her I could feel her relax and at one stage a slight smile touched her lips. What they decided between them was unknown to me but after a lengthy conversation Ranger passed his phone to her and I watched as she input a number and then was aware of him talking on the phone. I loved the way that he spoke the language, the melody in his voice, definitely sexy.

"I've just spoken to Elisa's aunt. She's been worried about her so is more than happy to come and pick her up and then keep her safe. Elisa is okay with that, maybe a bit embarrassed to have to ask for help but she knows that she needs to be out of Milan"

"How long?"

I asked not realizing how late in the day it was getting.

"Just over an hour, maybe longer depending on traffic. She lives in a small village just south of Tortona"

I was dying to know what had happened with Lando and what they'd found out and what Elisa had told Ranger, but it seemed I was going to be kept in the dark again. It was two hours later before we started to head back to the house. I was on my own with Ranger which surprised me so assumed that Hector, Tank and Les were in the other vehicle. I was feeling weary, frustrated and totally drained of energy. A lot had happened today and yet I knew nothing about it and felt that I was owed some sort of explanation. After fifteen minutes of silence, I'd had enough of Ranger being in his zone, I wanted some information.

"What happened at Lando's?"

"I screwed up Babe, I should have made sure that you were with me"

I looked at Ranger wondering what the hell he was talking about. I was expecting him to tell me what they'd done with Lando. Did he think it was his fault that I ended up being stuck downstairs when Lando came down?

"No. I heard something, it was me that didn't do as you'd told me, and I would do it again"

That had him glancing at me before returning to look to where he was driving. I saw the tightness in his jaw and how his lips were pressed together. Was he annoyed at me now or still at himself? I needed to resolve whatever it was that he was thinking before we ended up arguing. Arguing, I had never associated that word with Ranger before because it was something that we'd never done. Yeah, I'd had the arguments with Joe but Joe was like me, arguing was a way to vent.

"It was my fault, not yours, so please don't blame yourself. Anyway, if I hadn't got distracted and found that secret room, we would never have found Elisa"

"What if you'd have got hurt?"

Ah, that was why he was annoyed. I looked at him as he looked forward. He was my protector, the man who always made sure that I was safe. Unfortunately, me being me could thwart any plan that Ranger made, not that I did it on purpose, but I suppose because I never thought. I knew that Lando was coming back but I chose to ignore that and follow my nose instead and had Lando been more violent, then I probably could have been hurt, which was why Ranger had been worried and was annoyed now.

"I know that I annoy you with what I do but that's me, I can't help it. I'm sorry that I cause so many people to stress over me"

Wasn't that why Joe had wanted me to pack in my job, why my mother was always trying to marry me off so that I couldn't get myself into situations that were dangerous. Joe blamed his indigestion on worrying about me, were they right, was I a liability? Would Ranger come to the same conclusion if we shared more time together? I mean he knew that I attracted disaster, but would he regret the words that he'd said to me when having me around full time was going to be mayhem that he had no control over? I felt a tear roll down my face as I realized the possibility of that happening. I wasn't sure how I'd cope now if he did decide that I was too much trouble.

"Babe, why the tears?"

I looked up to see that we'd stopped by the side of the road and that Ranger was sat looking at me. His thumb wiped my cheek under my eyes making more tears begin to fall. Why did he have to be so, so nice to me like that.

"Because maybe you'll wake up one morning and decide that having me around is too stressful and too much trouble"

I felt my head being turned and his hands as they gently moved to either side of my head. He was so close to me I could see the black flecks in his eyes, oh god, what was he going to say?

"I'm not annoyed at you. I'm annoyed with myself for not being aware that something had attracted your attention. I know you Babe and I know that you think that you attract disaster, sometimes maybe you do, but usually it's because you know that something isn't right. Maybe I need to listen to you better"

I felt like saying that that would be a first but refrained. Maybe we were both in the wrong, let's face it neither of us were very good at communicating. It seemed that our discussion was over with because Ranger was soon changing the subject.

"Tank was impressed with how you dealt with Lando, and you certainly changed what information we were able to find. Lando was all too happy to tell us what he knew and how he was involved. You were right about him and Dario knowing each other. Dario was his lawyer and got him off charges for having images on his computer. From there they devised a scheme to take young girls, Lando enticed them through the offer of modelling and kept them at his house and Dario organized the buyers and transportation"

Maybe because I suspected that anyway, hearing it didn't make me feel any better.

"Proof of Dario's involvement?"

Because to me he was the one who needed to be accountable for what he'd done and without evidence I also knew it would be difficult to have him arrested.

"Hector is looking through Lando's computer"

Ranger started the engine to the car and was quickly back onto the road. I knew that Hector would analyze the computers but at the moment I was thinking of what had happened between Ranger and me. We hadn't argued but then again maybe we had both talked, whatever it was I felt more comfortable with him. I didn't ask what had happened to Lando, maybe I didn't want to be told, that would make it real wouldn't it? And Ranger wasn't offering to tell me which in some ways worried me. He carried so much as it was, but I would understand if Lando was dead because he was a despicable predator.

The mood lightened when we reached the house with pizzas for everyone. I had to admit that I was feeling hungry after the day that we'd had. A look at my watch had me thinking of Elisa and that she should be at her aunt's house by now. I could only hope that she wasn't traumatized by what had happened to her. but at the same time I was so thankful that we'd found her and stopped her from an even worse experience. The guys were in high spirits with what we'd found, me not so much.

I left them to it saying that I needed a shower and was tired so was able to have time to myself. I wasn't too sure that was a good idea as I lay on the bed afterwards in my thinking position, too many things to think about. I was still worried about Ranger and what had been said between us. I hadn't felt as though he'd actually answered the question that I'd posed, whether or not being with me would be a problem for him, one that could escalate again if I ended up doing something stupid. Was that my fate in life to always manage to find trouble. I thought that I'd left all that behind in Trenton being here in Italy, even blaming some of that bad luck on my job or the skips that I came across. Seemed that wasn't true because now I knew that it was me, trouble just seemed to gravitate toward me regardless of what I did.

Then there was Ranger. He tried to minimize the damage in a way that he knew how, but what if he couldn't, what if he got fed up with trying. If I thought that I had been in love with the man before it was nothing compared to how I felt now, yet once again I was asking myself if we even had a chance. I had no idea what to do.

I felt the pillow being lifted from my face and knew too well that it was Ranger. I had no words to say, I mean how did you explain what I was feeling?

"Until a few weeks ago I never looked beyond each day because I was never sure what I would find. Missions that could leave me dead or seriously injured along with the men that I went up against who would want nothing better than to see me or a loved one hurt. I've done things that I can never take back, that darken my soul. But being with you, you give me hope, give me light"

I hadn't expected Ranger to say anything like that, was that what he had always thought, were those the reasons that he would never commit before?

"So that's it, you're walking away again?"

I had never felt so broken in my life. Everything that I tried to be, all the dreams that I'd tried to catch were for nothing. I was that white girl from the Burg who stupidly wanted to be more, who wanted to fly and now was falling so hard that all I wanted was to be swallowed up. I turned away from Ranger because I didn't want to hear anymore or watch as he walked away from me again. Seemed that wasn't happening because I was suddenly being held with my arms above my head and Ranger looking down at me.

"Never"

That had me looking at him with my eyes wide open and not just by the one word that he had said but by vehemence that it was said with.

"I won't ever walk away from you. Unless you want me to"

I was shaking my head back and forth though why I was crying I had no idea. He wasn't going to leave me.

"I ignored you today when I shouldn't have and underestimated how you'd deal with Lando, so I'm sorry. You are an amazing woman Babe, don't change who you are or what you want, as long as I'm part of that dream"

He said so softly I had to stop the crying to hear him, had I ever heard Ranger apologize before? No, and hearing it now made it sound so sincere. As he released my hands, I moved my right arm but winced as I felt pain in the other, maybe it wasn't as well healed as I'd liked it to have been.

"Don't say anything"

I said as Ranger pulled me to sit up and gently supported my arm. I didn't want or need for anything to be said or for him to feel responsible for hurting me.

I was happy to curl up with Ranger at my side, I would have been happier with more, but Ranger refused with my shoulder being the reason.