Disclaimer: They aren't mine, and if you find a plan about kidnapping Ranger you never saw it...
This is my story in response to the prompt: ruin Valentine's day in four words...
It only took four words to ruin Valentine's Day. It wasn't my favorite holiday but at least this year I would be with someone. At least I thought I would be, until he sat across from me at dinner. He had asked me out to dinner at Rossini's. "Before we order I need to tell you something," he said.
I raised an eyebrow. "What is it?" I asked, noting the troubled look on his face.
"I cheated on you," he said, not meeting my gaze. "And she's pregnant."
I was speechless. My fist clenched on the table. Standing, I set my napkin down. Joe stood, trying to talk to me, but I couldn't hear any of it. I didn't feel my fist connecting with his face, I didn't feel the split of my knuckles from the impact, and I didn't feel any anger. A wave of calmness washed over me.
"That's not for cheating on me, that's for the sixteen-year-old girl you took on the bakery floor. The one that pined after you for years, that kept putting up with your shit after all this time. Morelli men don't change their spots," I spat at Joe, who was on the floor holding his face.
I shrugged on my jacket and walked towards the door, intent on leaving this behind. A police cruiser pulled up, and two cops I didn't recognize walked towards me. I displayed my hands, and they were pulled behind my back as I was cuffed.
Surprisingly, this wasn't the worst Valentine's Day I'd ever had. I was stuffed into the back of the cruiser, still numb. I was driven to the station and booked and pushed into a holding cell. There weren't many people in the drunk tank tonight, but no doubt it would get fuller.
A woman sat across from me. "Whatcha in here for?" she asked me.
I met her gaze, "My on and off again boyfriend told me tonight that he cheated and got some girl pregnant. He's a cop, so I ended up here. What about you?"
"Found my man in bed with another woman. I set the bed on fire with a torch," she said.
"Men are assholes," a second woman said from the corner.
"What gotchu in here?" the first woman asked her.
She smiled. "Hit my ex with a car. We ain't been together for two years, and I was feeling a little nostalgic. Then I remembered that he cheated on me with the skank next door and I ran him over."
"Damn," I said. "I should have been more creative."
They both laughed. I heard footsteps down the hall, and Eddie was at the cell door. "Steph," he said, shaking his head. "Just heard you were in here."
"I hope you didn't leave Shirley at a restaurant somewhere to come get me."
"Oh, I'm not the one getting you out. I'm just assisting," He said. "You're getting out on strict requirements."
"Yeah?"
"You're being released but you have to come back tomorrow. Manoso pulled some strings to get you released into his care."
"Ranger did this?" I asked. We hadn't talked in months. Not after the incident.
"Yes, he's waiting for you."
"Do I have to go?"
"Yes," he said, raising an eyebrow. I stood with a sigh and waved to the girls in the cell. I followed Eddie out. Ranger stood waiting, wearing a black silk shirt, top three buttons undone, black slacks, and loafers. Diamond earrings were in his ears. He was dressed up for Valentine's Day, probably out on a date.
"Didn't mean to ruin your night," I told him as they handed me plastic bags with my stuff in them. I slipped my heels back on and pulled my bag over my shoulder. I made sure my jewelry was in the bag and shoved it into my shoulder bag.
"Babe," Ranger replied as I turned to look at him.
"I'll stay out of your hair," I said as we walked out. "You can go back to your date."
He was silent as the door closed behind us. "You have to stay at Rangeman tonight."
"Fine," I replied, walking towards the Turbo. I had other things to worry about. My car was probably in the impound and getting it back would take up a chunk of the money I had saved for rent. Skips were slow right now, so it would be hard to earn the money back.
I opened the Turbo door before Ranger could and slid in, buckling my belt and shutting the door. He walked around and slid in, buckling and putting his car in drive. The tension in the car was thick enough to cut with a knife.
I saw his jaw ticking, a few times he glanced at me like he wanted to say something, but he didn't. He parked in the Rangeman garage, I climbed out before he got the car fully in park. It was late, almost eleven now.
"What apartment will I be staying in on four?" I asked as he came to a stop next to me at the elevator.
"All of the apartments are full. You'll have to stay on seven," he said.
I almost wanted to groan. "Fine."
I stepped into the elevator, and he followed, fobbing us to seven. We were silent on the ride up. I knew my way around the apartment; I walked into the living room and started to put together my bed on the couch. Ranger paused and shook his head, before walking into the bedroom.
He came back out with a stack of clothes, his clothes. I had removed anything of mine that was left in his closet a few weeks ago, after the incident. He set them on the side table and turned to look at me. He paused for a moment and opened his mouth.
"We need to talk."
"Thank you for getting me out tonight but I decline your invitation to have a discussion," I said politely, fluffing the extra pillows Ella kept in the closet.
"Then you can listen," he said, moving to sit in the armchair. "I'm sorry. I was surprised, Steph. Believe it or not you shocked the words out of me."
"Your silence was enough!" I snapped. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
"You don't understand. I couldn't believe what you told me. You don't know how long I've waited for you to tell me that."
"Ranger, I don't want to do this tonight," I said softly.
"Babe, we need to talk."
I sat down on the edge of the couch. "What more do you want from me?" I asked, my voice soft and broken. "I bare my heart to you, and you don't say a thing. You blocked me out and then asked me if I had been drinking. What kind of fucking question is that after a woman says she loves you?"
"I'm sorry."
"You continue to push me away when I try to get closer. Then when you want me or want to play with me, you circle and close in. Pulling me close only to discard me a little while later. I can't keep doing the push and pull shit. It wrecks me emotionally, physically. I'm so tired of it. Tired of both you and Joe.
"It wasn't so bad with him. I love him, but I'm not in love with him. You? It shatters my heart, and just as I get it put back together you come back around. You wanted to talk? Well, there it is."
"Babe…." He ran a hand over his face. "I've fucked this up royally."
I resisted the urge to laugh, knowing if I did, it would turn to sniffles and once that happened, I would be sobbing. Then there would be no way I could defend my heart from him tonight.
"I've been waiting. Waiting for my contract to be up, waiting for you to leave the cop, but the window was getting smaller. The cop was moving in, he was getting ready to propose. When you opened up to me a few weeks ago, I just thought you and the cop were going through a phase. Then I realized you hadn't been with him in months. I realized that you were serious, but it was already too late. You had removed yourself from my life. Even with all my connections and training I couldn't keep you from slipping away." He shook his head.
"The past few weeks, I tried to figure out a way to tell you I loved you, to try and talk to you but you avoided me. You changed your number, took all your things from my apartment, left your fob, changed your apartment locks. Hell, the one time I did get into your apartment, you fled out the window. If that was a sign that you didn't want to see me, I don't know what was." He laughed, without any humor.
I was silent as he swiped his hand over his face. "You want to know where I was tonight?" he asked. "I was out on the dinner date that I planned for us… with my sister. She recently went through a nasty divorce, and I decided that even though I was a fuck up and couldn't take the woman I loved the most out on a nice dinner, I could at least take my sister and give her a good Valentine's Day dinner."
"I'm not telling you this to make you feel sorry for me, Babe." He sighed. "I've just been a fucking wreck since we last talked."
"How do you think I've been?" I asked with a dry laugh.
"How do we fix this? I want you, Babe. I want a relationship with you, whatever you'll give me," he said softly.
"I'm not sure," I said. "Sometimes love isn't enough. After all the things that have happened between us these past couple years, do you really think this would be a salvageable relationship? A healthy one?"
"I think if we tried, it could be wonderful," he replied.
"Are you willing to try?" I asked him.
"I am if you are."
I sighed softly. "I need time, Ranger. I need time to think."
I broke this into two parts... I hope you come back to read the second.