A/N: Written for and requested by Melody in the Janet Evanovich Fanfiction FB group.

"Write a short from Ella's POV where she brings up Ranger's breakfast as usual, and finds a trail of clothes from the apartment door to the closed bedroom door! She didn't know Stephanie was in the building"

I hope this is what you had in mind for the prompt! :)

Enjoy


Working for your nephew had a lot of advantages. First, you always knew how far you could push him. You also knew how to read situations or what was required before he himself actually knew it. And it was a great way to connect with him. While Carlos had always been extremely guarded and certainly would not stop by for a cup of tea or coffee and have a chat, we had our moments.

Plenty of people would think that working as a housekeeper for your nephew was not just odd, but also degrading. Well, it wasn't. And as long as I could remember, I had been cleaning up after people, cooked and shopped, sewed and managed a household. This time I at least got paid doing it. And there really were worse places to work at than RangeMan.

I had a sort of set schedule, starting with getting breakfast set up in RangeMan's break room and then delivering Carlos' own breakfast, which most often comprised the same things. The general RangeMan breakfast usually offered a little variety.

I was one of three people that had a fob for his place. The other two were Tank in case of an emergency and Louis - my husband—when he needed to get something repaired. Carlos valued his privacy a lot and, as far as I knew, his apartment was off-limits for most of the men.

I let myself into his place, carefully balancing the tray when pushing the door open and almost dropping it when my eyes landed on an interesting sight. I spotted a trail of clothing which started a few feet away from the door and led right to the bedroom door, which was currently closed.

The trail started with a shrug or a small woman's jacket and, upon closer inspection, was a size I had long ago stopped dreaming about. I spotted a pair of heels somewhere mid-trail and at the very end a satiny looking, deep-red evening gown. Pants, dress shirt, blazer and dress shoes alternated with the woman's clothes.

I let out a long sigh and considered for a moment to just turn around and leave. Since Carlos hadn't bothered calling to amend breakfast for two people, I figured the woman currently in my nephew's bedroom wouldn't be staying long.

Carlos was an attractive guy and although I was older, I knew he was no saint and certainly knew how to enjoy himself. I couldn't remember the last time he actually had been in an actual relationship and knew there was someone all of us wanted to see him with. The entire family had put pretty much all their hopes into Stephanie Plum, seeing how she was the only woman he had actually ever talked about. Everyone else usually had only been someone in passing, an entertainment for a restricted amount of time and before he could move on. It had granted most of them a few nights, maybe a week or a month, but that was it. Carlos Manoso was not someone who got attached. At least that what he always told everyone. Enter Stephanie Plum. She had stuck around for a whole lot longer than a month by now and had grown at Carlos. While they might not be in a relationship or anything romantic, it was palpable to everyone — other than these two—that she was deeply in love. Yes, there was a fiancé who was being mentioned every so often, but how serious could a relationship be when keep going back and forth?

I was certain that Stephanie Plum secretly just hoped that one day Carlos would come to his senses, but I also wondered how much longer she will wait around. At some point, she might realize that he wasn't worth the effort of a maybe and would find someone who saw her for the amazing and kind person who she was.

Situations like this didn't help. He didn't help. She gave herself and even more and trusted him with everything and what did my nephew do? He was being stupid, probably thinking he could bench her on the sidelines. How stupid did he think she was?

As if sensing my presence, Carlos walked into the kitchen, greeting me with his usual smile that I liked to believe had been reserved for me alone. I didn't return the smile.

"That's it," I thought to myself. I loved my nephew to pieces, but enough was enough. Placing the breakfast tray harder onto the counter than was normal, I just shook my head.

Seeing him look at me curious and surprised probably meant he understood the tray hadn't just accidentally slipped from my hands.

"Everything okay?" he just asked and for a moment I wondered whether I should just shut up and let this pass. Like all the times before. But no, today was the day.

"You foolish boy," I simply started and saw his confusion grow. "How often do you want to make the same mistake repeatedly?"

"What are you talking about?"

Instead of a reply, I simply left the kitchen and picked up an elegant evening gown that seemed like it showed a lot of skin and comprised very little fabric. Holding it up towards my nephew, he seemed as confused as before, and I had decided on ignoring the little garment of lace that had fallen to the floor when I picked up the dress for now.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head again. "I assume it wasn't you who wore this last night?"

"Not my color," he replied in a joking attempt, but I really did not find this funny.

I just stared at him, not even bothering with a reply. That alone probably showed him how angry I was. He knew that out of all my nieces and nephews; he was my favorite and that he barely could do anything wrong in my eyes. But enough was enough.

"I am not sure what the dress has to do with anything," he admitted, still confused.

I pressed my lips tightly together, praying for patience. "You have an exceptional woman in your life. One that often enough is way too good for you, fool. And instead of actually doing something about it, you keep pushing her away and find your… your amusement with others. When will you realize Estefania won't be a witness to this much longer? At one point or another, she will give up and walk away from you."

"Tia Ell-," I heard him start, but figured for once I was not backing down. This was probably the only time I would ever tell him off, so I needed to get off my chest what probably everyone thought.

"Don't start, Carlito. I can guarantee you that there will be a time in the future where you will deeply regret your actions, where you will realize what an amazing person Estefania Plum is, and that you screwed it up royally. That you maybe scared away the one person who seems to constantly give and give and give and gets nothing in return. And when that day comes, I can guarantee you, although I love you deeply, I will have no problem telling you I told you so. But in order to do that, I actually need to tell you first what you need to know."

"Tia E-," she tried once more, but I was not having it.

"I'm not done. Estefania is probably the best thing that will ever happen to you. Graced with the patience of a saint, compassionate and kind, with a heart of gold and probably the only person outside your family who can get an actual and genuine smile out of you. She is special and should be treated that way instead of being given the feeling of never being good enough and simply being a placeholder for now. After all this poor girl has been through with everybody always making her feel like a disappointment and a failure, you do not need to join that queue."

"I would never," Carlos started defensively yet almost outraged, and I glared at him, because I wasn't certain that he was right.

"Sometimes actions speak a whole lot louder than words ever could," I chastised him. "It is one thing to be certain nothing could ever come out of this and be blunt and open about it. But to string someone along and let history repeat itself whenever you feel lonely or it is convenient is just cruel and not fair. If you really think there is no potential future for the two of you, tell her and not in that whole I lead a life that doesn't allow relationships excuses. Be better than anyone of her family and that policía estupido."

"Tia Ella," he tried one last time, and this time I let him talk.

"What?" I asked with a certain attitude that surprised both of us

"This is not what it seems like," he said, and I rolled my eyes again. Of course. My nephew was as sharp as a whip, but even he retreated to old classics in regards to explanations. How stupid did he think I was? I draped the dress over my arm, bend down and retrieved the lace underwear, which had fallen out previously.

"This would indicate otherwise," I just said, letting the thin piece of fabric dangle from my stretched index finger.

"Oh my god," I heard a surprised and somehow mortified exclamation behind me. The female voiced sounded oddly familiar. Turning around, I saw Estefania dressed in what I assumed was a dress shirt she found in Carlos' closet and wearing an extremely horrified expression. Her eyes were on my upheld hand and the piece of underwear hanging from my finger.

Turning surprised to Carlos, his eyes seemed to scream told you so despite that he actually had said nothing and the smile on his lips did the rest. Smiling seemed to be the last thing on Estefania's mind right now. "Before you go into mother bear mode and make any more assumptions, this has been going on for a while and we have been rather good at keeping it a secret from everyone," Carlos explained further. It was at that moment that I knew they had outsmarted me.

Just nodding, seeing as there was little left for me to do or say, I finally said "About time" as the only comment.

Making a few steps towards her, I bend over, retrieved the last missing piece—a lace bra that matched the panties—and saw her turn a deep shade of red. I turned around and walked towards Carlos, the dress and undergarments over my arm, and stood in front of him.

"I'll be back shortly with a second breakfast tray," I simply explained, making my way towards the door, barely containing my excitement and anticipation of sharing this turn of events with my sister, who was Carlos' mother.

I turned around when I reached the door and saw Estefania resting her head against Carlos' bare shoulder, seeming still embarrassed and mumbling something to my nephew, who just grinned. They definitely made for an extremely cute and gorgeous couple.

"I get these back to you laundered, dear," was the last I said before leaving and making my way to get her breakfast ready and returning shortly.