One Month Later

It was good to be home. I just got back from my last mission. If I could even it call it that. All I did was go to Washington State to pick up a skip. They said he was dangerous. My team and myself went in, grabbed the guy, handcuffed him and out the door we went. It was simple, quick, and easy. I didn't understand the problem with him, but I didn't care. Now my contract was over and I was a free man.

While I was away I tried going to a few bars and clubs to pick up a woman. I found a green eyed, leggy red head who was all ready for the night of her life, but visions of a little chocolate eyed vixen haunted my thoughts and I couldn't go through with it. I was left unsatisfied and she left pissed off. Well, better pissed off than pissed on, I say.

I hate to admit it but as soon as I got back I started all over again. I walked into my apartment, took a shower, and grabbed dinner. While eating my dinner, I booted up my computer and typed the code to the Monroe house. I was addicted to my little vixen.

I was surprised and a little jealous to see that quite a bit was going on at her place. There were people everywhere in the house. Both guest bedrooms were full. Ashley was sleeping on a cot in the baby's room. More people were sleeping on the couch. They were there for two days. I watched her sleep for two nights on that small cot. She curled into a tight little ball and never moved. It was sweet as hell.

After the first night I finally turned on the audio and found out her visitors were her parents and Jeremy's parents along with Alexa. Also a few Aunts and Uncles and cousins. I listened for awhile to see if they would ever mention the baby's father but it never came up. I learned that Ashley and her whole family were from North Carolina. I thought she had a slight country accent, but I wasn't sure. I knew a background check had been done when first opening the account, but I had one my employees conduct a full search on her and found nothing suspicious, so once again I didn't look at it. Something told me I wanted to find out about this woman, the old fashion way. Why? I didn't know.

Her whole family adores her. They all call her Lil Bit. Her dad is a well-known, powerful, and well liked judge in NC and now in New Jersey. They just recently moved to Trenton. Her mom was an author and Ashley followed her mom's footsteps becoming a children's author. A very successful children's author from what I understand. Between her family's money and her own money, she was very well off. I knew with a click of a mouse I could find out exactly how much was in her account, but once again I wanted her to tell me.

I heard she called right after I left to ask if everything was okay with the baby and the nanny. Santos told her that the nanny was on her best behavior and she didn't know the cameras were there. I could tell by watching Ashley with the little girl that she loved her very much. A lot of nights I'll check the cameras and Ashley will be in the baby's room in the rocking chair just watching the baby. I wondered if it gave her peace like watching Steph sleep or even watching her sleep gave me peace.

A Week Later- Coming Home- Ashley's POV-

"Hello?" I answered my phone. I'm on the road heading home from New York. I've been on the road all day. I'm so very tired. I just want to be home with my baby.

"Ashley?" It was Lex.

"Hey Lexa, where are you?" I asked.

"I've got Sophie, heading to your house. Where are you?" She asked me.

"In my car, heading to my house. Just go ahead and let yourself in, okay?" I told her.

"Got it. Hey I was wond…" I interrupted her. My phone is beeping signaling I had another call.

"Hey Lex, hold on I have another call." She told me okay and I switched over to the other line.

"Hello."

"Ms. Monroe, this is Cal from RangeMan." Why would he be calling me?

"Yes how can I help you?" I was polite even though my heart was racing.

"Ms. Monroe, our controls show a break in at your residence exactly five minutes ago. Are you at home?" He asked me.

I let out a breath of frustration. "No. No one is there, we are headed there now." I answered him.

"Ms. Monroe, we will be sending RangeMan over right away." He told me. He was so polite and professional.

"Thank you, Cal."

He hung up the phone and I almost threw mine through the windshield. I was really upset. Could this week get any worse. My editor is driving me nuts for another book and my dead line is still six months away. He said we needed it sooner, to make the public happier. Mental eye roll. Thank God Alexa wasn't staying at my place. I hope everything is okay.

Ranger's POV-

I'm shutting down my computer getting ready to head to seven when someone knocks on my office door. "Enter." I barked out.

Tank stuck his head in. "Boss?"

"Yea."

"We are headed to a break in at 329 Meadows Drive." I had to think for a minute. That sounded really familiar. That was Ashley's residence. Shit! "I'll drive." I told my second in command.

If Tank was surprised or shocked, he didn't say. It took us over ten minutes to get there. The police were already there. I went to seething inside when I saw that Morelli was there and to make matters worse he was near Ashley. I needed to get him the fuck away from Ashley. She looked tired and scared. She was holding the baby close to her chest. She was wearing a pair of short shorts that showed off her lean legs with a t-shirt. I smiled to myself when I noticed that it was a black t-shirt. Not RangeMan black, but black. Her friend, Alexa was with her and she also looked upset. I walked up to Ashley, shot Morelli a death glare and wrapped my arm around Ashley's shoulders. I couldn't help it, I had to touch her. She looked up at me and smiled. Dios, that fucking smile. Every time I saw it, it did something inside my chest. She looked back at Morelli who was talking to her. He glared at me before speaking to her.

"Miss Monroe, did you notice anything before the break-in?" He asked.

She shook her head. "I wasn't home. No one was."

"Where were you?" He questioned.

"I was coming back from New York." What was she doing in New York? I wanted to know.

He nodded his head towards Alexa. "What about your friend here?" He asked.

"She was keeping Sophie for me but she was at her house." She rocked the little girl in her arms as she answered him.

"Why drag a baby out here this late at night." He was attacking her way of parenting. The bastard just pissed me off. I wanted to say something but I held back.

"First, I haven't seen her in almost a week and Sophie always gets up at 10:15 for a bottle and stays up until 11:00 before falling back asleep. It is now 10:45. I wanted to see my daughter. I haven't seen her in a week." I hugged her a little tighter to my side before letting go completely. I was glad she stuck up for herself. If I was honest with myself I didn't want Morelli getting any ideas about my little vixen. I had no claims on her… yet.

I wanted to look around so I touched her arm and she looked up at me. Damn, she was so fucking little.

"Ashley, do you mind if I look around?" She shook her head before answering.

"No not at all, please feel free." She told me. I nodded my head at her and looked at Morelli. He looked pissed. I wondered if it was because I was on a first name basic with the brown eyed vixen.

I walked in the front door and looked around. At first glance nothing looks out of place. I stopped between the living room and kitchen and notice that her plasma television is missing along with Bose stereo and game system thing. The kitchen had been left untouched so I walked up the stairs. Nothing was missing from any of the guest bedrooms or the baby's room. I walk toward Ashley's room and paused at the doorway.

Taking a deep breath I caught a whiff of apples and cinnamon. I liked it. It was quiet and would have been clean if it hadn't been for the dresser drawers being opened and clothing dragged out. I walked over to the dresser and saw that her jewelry box had been rifled through. I didn't know if anything was missing, since I didn't know what she had to begin with. I picked up a picture that was sitting on the dresser next to the jewelry box and just about had a heart attack. One of the women in the picture looked like Shannon. The girl from the wedding.

"Mr. Manoso?" Ashley's soft voice snapped me out of my thoughts and I turned towards her. She continued to walk until she reached my side.

"Yes? And please call me Ranger." I told her. She gave me a small smile and blushed. Dios! What the hell was it about a woman and blushing that was so fucking sexy. My cock started to throb behind my cargoes. I tried to shift to ease the ache but it was hopeless.

I was hoping she would say my name but she just stepped closer and pointed to the picture. "That was before everything went downhill." She admitted with a sadness in her voice. I raised an eyebrow in question. I needed to know who these people were. Especially the blond.

"Who are they?" I asked. She stepped even closer and the smell of apples and cinnamon became stronger. My cock was screaming for some attention. It was becoming increasing hard-pun intended-to ignore it. She was so close her shoulder brushed mine and I felt a small tremor of something I couldn't explain.

"That's Alexa, Shay, Shannon, and me. It was taken at a charity benefit about 5 years ago." She answered.

"What do you mean everything went downhill?" I wondered out loud. She hesitated and I could see her battling with the answer. It occurred to me once more that I really needed to get back in front of my computer and do a lot more research on Ashley and Shannon. I had a feeling that the child Ashley was raising was mine. I swore we used a condom every time but by the end of the night, I was drunk. Anything could have happened.

But before she could answer, Tank interrupted. "Ranger, you're needed downstairs. They want the video footage." He told me. Yea I bet Morelli is asking for the footage, he was probably demanding it. I nodded my head in his direction and he nodded back before leaving. I turned back to Ashley who stepped around me and headed to the bedroom door. I walked towards her, okay so it was more like I was stalking her, but I wanted to be closer to her. It was like my body was craving it the closeness. Something else I wasn't use to. Her tiny pink tongue came out and licked her bottom lip and it took every bit of self control I had not to kiss her. She looked extremely guilty. Her face was flushed bright red. She looked fucking sexy as hell. Dios, what the hell was going on in her sweet little mind? Maybe she was thinking dirty thoughts about me. Oh hell yea!

"I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you that you were needed downstairs. Come on it's probably important." She announced before turning away and walking out the door. Damn I guess not. That bummed me out. I followed closely behind so I could watch the sexy sway of her ass. Morelli was standing at the front door when we got there.

"Miss Monroe, we will be looking at the video footage to see who did this to you and your home. I promise you that I will personally make sure that the men responsible will be caught." He told her; his voice promising me something that I didn't like. He stepped closer to her and I almost smiled when she backed up right into me. Her back was against my chest and her ass against my cock. My cock was throbbing because of her closeness and I hope to God she wasn't paying attention. She looked up at me, her eyes were wide with fear and apprehension. Then it hit me, she didn't like Morelli. I knew I liked her for a reason. I laid a hand on her shoulder for reassurance and she actually leaned back into me. I knew I shouldn't but I couldn't help the shout of joy that coursed through me.

"Thank you, Detective Morelli." She told him. He sent a glare my way before speaking again.

"If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call." He offered before handing her a card. She accepted it with a shy smile.

"I won't… thank you." She said. He smiled at her once more before walking out the front door. She began to turn to me when a voice called out to her.

"Lil Bit!" She looked relieved and ran towards the voice. It was her friend Jeremy. She ran into his open arms and he easily lifted her off the ground. A feeling hit my chest and I recognized it as jealously. It pissed me off. I didn't do jealously. I didn't do relationships. Relationships get you killed. I needed to get her out of my system. Soon!