Chapter 26

RPOV

As I left the men at the airport, I knew that I would miss them being around. They'd come here to help Steph because they knew how much she meant to me, okay they probably came because she meant a lot to them. Tank couldn't keep the grin off his face as we'd travelled to the airport and when I'd asked him what was up with him his reply had been.

"Just glad you managed to pull your shit together with Little Girl"

Of course, Ram and Hector had nodded in agreement which had me focusing even more intently on the road. I was almost glad to see the back of them because after that the car was filled with the three of them reminiscing stories of when Steph had got into trouble, and I'd been coiled like a spring until I found her. I hadn't realized just how transparent I'd been with my emotions during those situations. Okay, so maybe I had held a gun to some woman in the city building demanding she find out what properties Stiva owned, and I suppose I didn't think through my action when I jumped off the bridge into the Delaware to save her. What surprised me the most was when I was informed by Hector just how foul tempered I could be when Steph was with Morelli. I'd thought that I was just focusing on work and that it was the men who were being slack and needed some mat time.

I knew that Santos would keep an eye on Steph and assumed that she might be tired from the past 24 hours. It had been an emotional time for her, and I could sense how anxious she had been when we walked into that palace. Yaser charging at her caught me off balance, I never expected it and I should have kept a better eye on him. He was fast for an old man, but I knew that one of the men would find him. The place was empty except for the sleeping guards as Hector had forced any staff to leave the place so I was surprised when I came out through a door and into a round room to see Steph hugging a woman and Yaser dead on the ground. That room annoyed the shit out of me, with the large bed and chains with handcuffs hanging next to it. That room was obviously where Yaser assaulted the women that he bought. I had noticed how wet Steph's hair was but quickly looking at her and the other woman knew that they weren't injured and that the blood was from Yaser. I had my suspicions on who had stabbed him to death, I could see it in Caterina's eyes and recognized the empathy from Steph as she helped her down the stairs.

As Caterina began to speak to me in Italian and explain what she wanted to do I'd found it hard to believe that she had been held here for so long. Her surviving was a true testament to how strong she was. Tomas and Marta couldn't believe it when I asked them to meet us at the airport, though I wasn't going to give them any details of what had happened. They now had the laptop and I was very sure that Caterina would be wanting to testify against Dario.

Now though I had a quick meeting with Tomas to catch up on where the agency was in arresting Dario.

"Same café Tomas?"

I asked as once again I was sat at a table in what was now familiar surroundings.

"Giorgio knows what I like. I suppose you want an update?"

I nodded my head as I lifted the cup of rich coffee to my lips.

"Marta's bosses are up to speed, and they want blood. They're more than happy that the evidence is enough to put him away for a very long time so are picking him up now"

"He's a good lawyer"

I stated knowing how easy it was sometimes for guilty men to walk.

"The laptop gave them his accounts and from there they tracked his properties. Marta implied that he was a typical lawyer, lots of files with photos and deals. I suppose he never thought that he would be caught"

"Lando?"

I knew that he hadn't actually assaulted the women or been involved with the bidding and eventual handover.

"Singing. For him his lawyer has suggested that it's worth it if he can be isolated away from the general population in prison"

"What about his family?"

I saw how that question affected him, hell, he'd been working closely with the sister and could very well be feeling like shit if he thought that he hadn't seen something that was right in front of him.

"I'd like to say that I would have picked up on it, but I didn't. Marta is questioning Allegro, Lucio and Dario's mother tomorrow. By tomorrow evening it will be all over the papers"

"Steph?"

Because I was still worried at her being here but knew that she would need to make the choice to leave. I would never try to force a decision onto her.

"I don't think that she will be called as a witness but maybe Marta will need an official statement"

I'd thought as much but hoped that Marta would make the whole experience as easy as possible.

"Is Steph staying here?"

"At the moment. I think that she feels an obligation to fulfil her contract"

I had no idea what she would want to happen after that. if she wanted to stay here in Milan or go back home to Trenton. I just knew that whatever she decided that I'd be there for her.

"It might be interesting to see how Allegro reacts to seeing Steph, it might give us a clue as to whether she knew what her brother was up to. The story at Scintillante is that Steph went home because her father wasn't well"

It made me wonder who was responsible for that being known, maybe Dario, but to be honest I had no idea. The other thing that was bugging me was why Allegro hadn't gone with Steph and Dario. Steph had said that she went to the airport with her but had left the plane before takeoff, so why had she done that and what had happened to the necklace, what had Dario done with it?

"I'd get Steph to wait a couple of days before she shows up at Scintillante. The agency will be talking to a lot of people and may even search the place"

That had me remembering that Steph had said that Tomas was in charge of security there, so I was interested in what exactly he did.

"Steph said that you head up the security for Scintillante, what does that entail?"

"I make sure that the buildings are secure, industrial espionage is a real problem here. I have eight men who patrol the buildings on shifts and watch the surveillance cameras"

A small operation really but I suppose it was a good job to have and it should be straight forward to operate.

"I know it's nothing compared to what you do but Scintillante carries some very expensive jewelry, and we also have to ensure the safety of employees"

"Like you ensured Steph's safety?"

I'd meant to make my point because if what Tomas had said was true then Steph should never have been allowed out of his sight and she should never have been on her own with Dario.

"I let my guard down. The launch was over and after what happened there, I thought that Steph would want to stay at the apartment. She wasn't supposed to be going anywhere until the day after"

Which was what Steph had told me. Someone had decided to bring the trip forward so was that Dario or Allegro.

"What happened to the blue diamond necklace?"

I watched as Tomas frowned making me wonder if he knew that Dario had taken it with him when he went to Saudi.

"It's in the vault at the workshop. What does the necklace have to do with this?"

"Dario had it when he went to Saudi"

If Tomas was shaking his head, then he must know something about the necklace that I didn't. I tilted my head to one side hoping that he would know that he needed to explain why he didn't believe me.

"There's a copy of the necklace that we'll use for the rest of the shows but the real one well that's kept in the safe until Allegro finds the right buyer"

"Are you sure?"

Okay I was goading him and maybe Dario had taken the replica to authenticate to Yaser that Steph was the woman that he'd bid on. But how had he managed to get hold of it? Tomas definitely looked uncomfortable after I asked that and was obviously thinking through what I'd said. I was surprised when he downed his coffee and then pulled some Euros from his pocket and placed them on the table.

"Let's go check it out"

I was almost smiling as he said that pleased that he was spooked enough to want to check out where the necklace was being kept, because it was somewhere that I wanted to see.

I followed him in my car as he made his way through the streets of Milan. As he slowed down, I scanned the area that we were in seeing modern units lining the street. He drove through an opening and parked in front of a non descript building before getting out and waiting for me. As I walked over toward him, I could see the cameras that were used for keeping surveillance and could see as a man came out of what seemed to be the only entrance on this side of the building.

"Senor Mele. Is there a problem?"

"No. Just doing an impromptu visit. All quiet Ronaldo?"

"Si Signor"

I observed both men as they conversed and then followed Tomas through the door into a small enclosed area. On my right was a small office with the screens for monitoring the surrounding area and a man sat eating a pizza. Not what I would call professional, I'd fire any man at Rangeman who wasn't totally focused on watching the screens.

Tomas knocked on the dividing window scaring the man to death but at least he had the grace to look embarrassed. Tomas keyed a code to open the next door that led into a large workshop that had tables running down the whole length with machines set out at intervals. There were large rolls of material and what to me looked like sewing machines so I assumed that this area was where a lot of the products were made. Another locked door at the end of the room led to some stairs that led down, which surprised me because I hadn't guessed that there were areas underground. Another key pad and I was entering another workroom but here the tables were set up with large magnifying glasses and small tools.

"The jewelry is made down here. The glass that is used is produced near Venice"

I stopped to look at some of the work left out recognized parts that made the swan that the company had used and fingered some of the blue glass that was being used. It was smooth with shades of blue running through it and reminded me of the colors that Steph's eye could turn depending on her mood.

"For each design that is produced there are pieces that have precious stones, from sapphires to blue diamonds. Those pieces are extremely valuable and are kept in the vault. They are auctioned and sold to the highest bidder"

Another door and another smaller area that held work stations but here nothing was left out on the tables. I heard the click of tumblers so turning watched as Tomas input a code into a pad and then used his thumbprint before turning a large round handle that opened the vault door. It was a walk in vault with shelves along each side and black boxes stacked with the shape of a swan engraved on the side.

Tomas was pulling out a metal case and placing it on the small central table that was covered in a soft black material. As he opened the case, I found myself looking at the blue diamond necklace.

"You see, here it is"

I picked up a small magnifying glass from on top of the table and bent down to examine the stone. I wasn't an expert on diamonds but the cut of the stone and the way the light reflected and refracted had me assuming that it was the real thing.

"As I said the necklace is here"

Tomas sounded relieved as he closed the case and replaced it back onto its shelf. So maybe Dario had used one of the necklaces that was an imitation.

"How many pieces use precious stones?"

"I don't know. Allegro oversees that, she is a very accomplished gemmologist and goldsmith"

As we returned through the rooms and back upstairs my thoughts were that this place would be very easy to break into. Would Dario have the codes and thumbprint? Maybe, but again they'd be easy to come by, and the men at the front? Easily distracted or even paid off.

"Do the men keep logs each shift?"

I asked as we walked outside, pretty sure that none were evident as I'd looked inside that office.

"Yes, they record visitors who come in and out and the workers have to scan an id card"

I didn't ask anymore because I'd seen enough to know that the operation wasn't exactly set up to be totally secure, but then again Tomas had inherited the systems in place.

I drove back to the house so many things going through my head from what I'd learnt but as I approached the house shut them out as thoughts of my Babe took over. It was late, but not too late to enjoy the pleasure of being with her and the way that I started to react and tighten against my jeans was looking forward to a night of her screaming my name. The house was quiet as I went inside after I set the temporary alarm that Hector had installed, I was silent as I made my way upstairs. There was no light on in the bedroom but a quick glance at the bed and I knew that Steph wasn't here.

A tendril of ice cut through me but I knew that nothing could have happened to her, not with Santos here. I checked the rooms on the next floor a thread of jealousy inching its way in at the idea that maybe Santos was with her. A sigh of relief came across me at finding all of the rooms empty but it did have me wondering where the hell Steph and Santos were. It was the light snoring that attracted my attention as I took the last step down into the main living area and I found Santos sprawled on the couch on his back, totally out for the count. The doors leading outside were open and that was where I found Steph, fast asleep on one of the loungers, a blanket tucked in around her and three empty bottles of wine and a bottle of Limoncello sat on the table.

As I carried Steph upstairs, I knew that I could forget about making love to her. I hated to think how she would be feeling in the morning because there was no McDonalds close by to provide a hangover cure.

SPOV

My mouth felt dry and my eyes wouldn't open. All I could feel was the pounding in my head and a rolling sensation in my stomach. I was afraid to move but more worried about the griping feeling working its way from my stomach so knew that I needed to move and quickly.

The porcelain of the toilet felt cool against my cheek as I tried to breath slowly and stop any more vile tasting vomit to eject from my stomach. I felt like shit and had visions of drinking wine with Les as being the culprit. A cool wet cloth on my face felt good, momentarily but that need to puke up was back again. I knew that I didn't have anything left inside my stomach to be sick with so after dry heaving returned my cheek to its resting place.

"Let's get you back to bed, where it's warm Babe"

I'm sure that I groaned as I felt myself being picked up and carried but to be honest, I felt more embarrassed than anything. I hated that Ranger was here seeing me like this.

I wasn't too sure how many times I ended up back in the bathroom or being carried back to bed. When I eventually felt that the need to be sick had passed, I was left with a stomping headache and a mouth that tasted revolting where my tongue was stuck to the roof of my mouth. I dared to open my eyes, pleased that the light around me was subdued so didn't hurt. I was propped up against the pillows with a sheet pulled up around me but looking around I recognized that Ranger was sat on a chair next to the bed with a laptop on his knee. As I looked at him, he looked up and placed the laptop on the floor before coming over to me and sitting on the side of the bed.

"How are you feeling?"

What do say when you know that it was your own fault for being so ill?

"Better"

I watched as he held out a glass of water and a couple of tablets in front of me. What I really needed now was the cure.

"Sorry, no McDonalds near here"

Maybe a smile passed across my face as he said that wondering if he really could read me so easily.

"Sorry. I didn't realize how much I was drinking. Thank you for taking care of me"

Because I had vague memories of him being with me and looking after me with all the trips to the bathroom that I'd made. It had been a long time since I'd been this bad, then again it had been a long time since I'd drunk so much alcohol.

"Drink that water while I run a bath for you"

Five minutes later the water was gone and replaced with a full glass and Ranger was helping me into the bath. Yeah, I still felt a bit drunk so my balance wasn't that good but sinking down into the hot water with bubbles around me felt good. Once the water started to go cold I carefully sat up and then stood up, pleased that I actually felt better. With a towel around me I stood at the sink and gave my teeth a good clean before teasing my fingers through my hair and tying it back into a ponytail. My eyes still looked a bit dull and I was sure my skin was paler but if Ranger had seen me throwing up all night then he'd probably seen me at my worst.

Back in the bedroom Ranger was just laying some clothes out on the bed for me which reminded me of what I'd wanted to ask him.

"Where have all the clothes come from?"

"Ella put them together and Tank brought them when he came out"

As I pulled some panties from the pile, I was wishing that my own mother would be as kind as Ella was to me. I really wished that Ella could adopt me because she seemed to have a better understanding of me than my own mother did.

"Santos told me about the phone call with your mother. Maybe it's her way of showing you that she misses you"

I rolled my eyes at that and regretted doing it immediately as a slight wave od dizziness came over me. I covered it up by sitting down on the bed and pushing my feet through the panties.

"No. Did Les tell you that her opening speech was that she was sure that Joseph would take me back and then I could get married. All that she's interested in are appearances, not what I want. She never once asked me what I was doing or where I was, if I was happy"

I felt Ranger sit behind me, his arms wrapped around my shoulders.

"Tank called and had a message from your father. He sends his love and hopes that you're happy"

That had my head coming up because I didn't want my father to know what had happened to me, he'd feel so guilty for leaving me here.

"He doesn't know anything of what's gone on, only that I came out here to see you. He asked if he could talk to you tomorrow"

That cheered me up, so I continued to get dressed, with Ranger helping to fasten my bra.

"What time is it?"

"4pm, so maybe you should try and eat something"

I was quite shocked that I'd spent most of the day curled up in bed suffering from a hangover. Okay, I'd been drunk before and had felt worse for wear the next day but by lunchtime I was usually back to normal, so what the hell had Les given to me last night?

Once downstairs I was handed another glass of water by Ranger and then watched as Les walked over to the table and set down two plates.

"My cure Beautiful. Vegetable omelet, granola with fruit and honey because it's easier to digest and provides you with valuable vitamins and minerals"

As I sat down and looked at the two dishes on the table at least they were only small helpings. I started with the granola, enjoying the sweetness of the honey and after finishes that started on the omelet. I only managed half of that because I really didn't want my stomach to revolt against the sudden invasion of food. Looking over to Les he hardly looked any different and it was then that I almost groaned because I couldn't really remember much of the time that I'd spent with him.

"Les, I didn't make a fool of myself last night, did I?"

Of course he just waggled his eyebrows at me but then maybe seeing the expression on my face he got serious.

"No Beautiful. Do you not remember?"

I shook my head because anything after that phone conversation was pretty vague in my memory.

"We just talked, well I did most of the talking, no worries Beautiful"

That had me feeling relieved though I was disappointed that I couldn't remember any of the stories that Les had told me. Ranger came over to the table and started to clear our dishes from the table stopping for a moment when Les mentioned something about Ram. I was all ears in case it had anything to do with when he was here.

"Ram called, that man, the one who he thought that he recognized, well he's hitting a brick wall in finding anything out. Apparently Grant hasn't been seen for a while which makes Ram think that he could have been working a case"

No one said anything which had me wondering if they were thinking the same as me. What would this Grant have been doing here in Italy? It didn't make sense to me and if he was seeing Bria then was he looking into Dario and the missing women? I couldn't work out though why he hadn't done something to stop it and why Bria was so upset and annoyed when she came to the launch. I was pretty sure that I hadn't seen him while I'd been here which had me asking the question that I was sure the others were thinking, where was he?

"I'm going to head into the city tonight, you know, see what the local talent is like"

That surprised me slightly, not that Les was going on the hunt for a woman, but that he wasn't going to be here. I wasn't disappointed though because it meant that Ranger and I would have the house to ourselves without having to worry about where Les was or for him to feel embarrassed being around us.

"We'll be staying local tomorrow, so we'll catch up tomorrow evening"

I have to admit that I was thinking that I'd be going into Scintillante and was a bit annoyed at Ranger for making that decision without talking to me first. As Les left the room I sank down on the couch and turned on the TV, flicking through the available channels to try and find something that was in English.

"The choice of channels isn't that good"

Ranger came and sat next to me as I continued to surf through the channels and discover for myself that he was right. I felt the TV remote being taken from my hand before Ranger pulled me over against his chest being aware of the sound of music playing softly in the background.

"I spoke to Tomas last night. He was pretty sure that Dario would be picked up soon, so he suggested waiting until you went into Scintillante. Marta will be questioning Allegro, Lucio and their employees so the atmosphere could be tense in there"

Which was why Ranger had said that we'd be here tomorrow. It made sense and I suppose he'd had to tell Les where we would be before he left making it difficult to talk to me first. I could understand now so wasn't going to have a go at him for not including me in that decision, plus I hadn't exactly been in any fit state to have a discussion.

"I had Tomas show me where they manufacture the products for Scintillante and where the jewelry is kept. Was the necklace that Dario had with him the same one as you wore for the launch?"

All I could do was to look at Ranger as he asked me that and tried to remember. I know that I spent some time feeling and looking at the necklace at the end of the launch but was it the same necklace that I'd worn for Yaser?

"I think so. It felt familiar but I didn't really get a good look at it. Why?"

It did have me wondering why Dario had made me wear that necklace for Yaser. At the time I was convinced that Yaser was buying it but as Dario had left with it I wasn't too sure now.

"Why would Dario make me wear the necklace for Yaser, if he had no intention of selling it?"

"Maybe it was to convince Yaser that you were who Dario had promised. What I can't fathom out is what happened to that necklace because Tomas was sure that the one that he showed me in the vault was the genuine article"

I'm sure that someone had told me that there were pieces of the jewelry that had precious stones in the settings as opposed to the blue glass in the cheaper versions. That begged the question, well several really, as to how many pieces were made from precious stones and how were they sold. I pushed away from Ranger and without a word went through to the other room to find a laptop. I knew Ranger was curious with what I was doing but he stayed quiet as I opened up the laptop and then found Scintillante's web site.

"What are you looking for Babe?"

I'd found the menu for the site and was reading through the options choosing jewelry as my option.

"How are the expensive pieces sold? All of the ones here are the cheaper glass versions"

Though in my mind they were definitely not cheap, no way would I pay the price that was being asked. Having gone through every part of that web site Ranger began to search through the internet but after an hour of looking neither one of us could find any reference to jewelry being sold from Scintillante. I felt a bit frustrated that we hadn't found any answers as Ranger closed the laptop and was trying to work out how I could find the answers. We'd gone from the question of why Dario had that necklace to how Allegro sold the expensive pieces with nothing to show for it.

"I'll message Hector and get him onto it. I'm sure there's a simple explanation"

I sighed at Ranger's words, knowing that he was probably right but was totally caught off guard when he suddenly took my hand and pulled me to my feet.

"Time to rid your mind of all thoughts, other than me Babe"

Was whispered into my ear as Ranger pulled me close and began to sway to the music. Maybe I should have taken more notice of what the music was in the background because only now was I actually hearing the slow melodic beat of what sounded like jazz.

I felt relaxed and happy as I held Ranger close to me but that feeling didn't last long. With the way that his hips were moving against mine and the feel of his mouth on my neck I was soon humming with a deep desire that only he could elicit from me. As I pushed myself closer to him it became obvious that I wasn't the only one who was so strongly affected.

"Let's take this upstairs"

I said in a low soft voice and then almost screamed when I was suddenly picked up and being carried up the stairs.

I was sat on the edge of a rock, my feet firmly planted on the ground in front of me almost afraid that I'd fall into the vastness of the scene in front of me. The air was cool where we were, but it felt so fresh and clean something that was alien to me coming from Trenton. The sky was a vivid blue with no clouds to be seen and allowed the tops of the mountains to stand out, though I was pretty sure that one of the peaks had a white cap on the top, like a white of a hat sat there. In some ways the view showed a lot of bare rock and earth with trees only growing on the lower slopes but that didn't detract from how beautiful it was being sat here.

"Another few months and there'll be more snow on the hills"

I linked my arm through Ranger's and leant against him trying to imagine what that would like. I'd only ever seen white snow when it first fell before it turned into the dirty slush that collected on the streets of Trenton. Yeah, I had memories of racing home from school with Mary Lou and building snowmen and the inevitable snowball fights out on the streets. The next morning it had usually gone.

"It's beautiful here"

Was all I said still staring ahead of me.

"There are a lot of beautiful places to see Babe, maybe we can take some time out and I can show them to you"

I turned and looked up at Ranger seeing that he was being totally serious. I wasn't sure what to say, I mean how would that work out? I may not even have a job for very long which meant that I'd probably have to go back to Trenton and crawl back to Vinnie with something else to blackmail him with. Then there was all the work at Rangeman that Ranger would need to do and that didn't even count the fact that he would probably have to go in the wind sometime soon. It didn't stop me from wanting to do that though and hopefully the kiss to his cheek conveyed just that.

Getting to the top of that hill had been hard going, but it was worth it. Getting back down though was just as hard even though I was wearing sturdy boots and I was so relieved to recognize where the car was parked. Once we were inside but before Ranger started the engine, I leaned over to him. Today hadn't been what I'd expected it to be, and I have to admit that when Ranger had said that we were going to be walking I probably hadn't reacted very well.

"I'm sorry if I seemed grumpy this morning. I should have trusted that you'd bring me somewhere that I'd like"

Before he said anything I reached up and skimmed my lips across his. We couldn't get back to the house quickly enough to