Ok, so I'm really starting to love this story and this chapter is by far my favorite so far. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Leave me a review and let me know what you think. Is there another Pov you'd be interested in seeing?

"Te Amo"

Chapter 3

Pov- Julie

Shilo and I had been sitting outside of Rossini's for over an hour now in comfortable silence, each of us lost in our own thoughts while we scanned the restaurant for any site of the O'Donnell family. I kept my eyes on the restaurant, but my thoughts wondered. Lately it seemed all I could focus on was Shilo. I was so curious to learn more about her. I wanted to know everything, to bad she only talked about as much as my dad and his men. It has got to be an Army thing.

"Shilo, why didn't you want to join the Army?"

She glanced over at me, like I'd pulled her from deep thoughts and shrugged. "It was never something I wanted to do; I guess I'm just not very patriotic."

"But, you've done some Black Ops stuff right?" I pressed. "Like what my father and his team have done?"

She looked up and met my eye and I was amazed at how green her eyes were. "No," She said softly. "The work I did was not like your fathers."

"How many missions did you do?" I asked, glad that she was speaking and eager to keep her going, if for nothing more than the fact that I loved the sound of her voice.

Her eyes darkened, like I'd brought up painful memories, it was a look I recognized from whenever Dad or Lester were telling me about their old Army days.

"Just two," She said. "and I'm not at liberty to speak about them. After that they asked me to join up full time and I just couldn't do it."

"Why not?"

"I'm not built for that kind of work." She said after a moment. "I guess you could say I wasn't strong enough. I'd only done two missions and I'd seen enough senseless violence to keep me from sleeping at night. It takes a different kind of person to willingly throw yourself into that line of work over and over again."

"I don't think that makes you weak." I told her honestly. "I know I'd never be able to do it," I continued. "Admitting that it upset's you just makes you human. With some of the story's Dad and Uncle Lester have told me I'm surprised either of them is able to sleep without nightmares."

She grinned. "Lester is your uncle?"

I chuckled. "Yeah he is, although I usually call Tank and Bobby uncle too. Lester is Ranger's birth cousin."

"You related to any more of the RangeMen?" She asked.

I nodded, "Steph calls them the Merry Men. I don't know if you've meet Ram yet, but he's married to one of Ranger's sisters, and Hector is some sort of second or third cousin. I'm not exactly sure about that one. Most of the guys are like family though."

"That sounds nice," She said. "The company I work with isn't nearly as close. Then again I mostly do comp and monitor work so I don't get in the field with them very often."

"That would drive me nuts." I told her. "I can't wait to get into the field more often."

"Did you always want to work at RangeMan?" She asked.

I shook my head. "No, I didn't think about working at RangeMan until my second year of high school. I always knew I wanted to come to Trenton though."

"Why?" She asked.

I grinned at her as a brilliant idea popped into my head. "How about we make this more interesting?" I asked. "We play twenty questions; and you have to answer everything honestly."

"There are things in my past I can't talk about." She said, but I interrupted her.

"Government things don't count." I reassured her. "If you legally can't talk about something I'll ask a different question."

"What if it's something I don't want to tell you?" She asked softly.

"Then your aloud to pass, traditionally, in the game not answering a question would mean you take a shot."

"I'm betting were not allowed to drink on the job." She said sarcastically.

"No, Dad would kill us." I agreed. "but we can make up for any chickens at another time. We'll just keep track of how many we each get for now."

"You're not twenty-one." She said.

I rolled my eyes in a fashion that would have made Steph proud. "Not you too, I am perfectly capable of monitoring how much I drink. I don't drink often, and I've never gotten completely trashed before. I'll be twenty-one in just over three weeks."

"Ok, ok." She relented. "Fine, we play, but we spread the questions out over my time here and the night before I leave we cash in on the shots and get shitfaced."

I laughed; her accent was so sexy. "Please say shitfaced again."

Her eyes narrowed. "Are you making fun of my accent?"

"Is that your first question?" I shot back with a grin hoping she would understand that I was just joking with her.

She snapped her mouth shut. "No."

I was worried that I might have offended her so I took her hand and squeezed her fingers, loving the tingles that always showed up whenever I touched her skin. "This isn't part of the game, but just so you know I'd never make fun of your accent. I actually think it's sexy as hell."

She blushed and I had to work to keep the smile off my face. It was good to know that she seemed to be as affected by me as I was by her.

"Is this your way of flirting with me?" She asked, turning those bright green eyes on me. She was searching my face for something, some answer. I don't know what she saw in my eye's but she smiled softly at me and my skin flamed.

I smirked and had to bite my tongue to keep myself from mentioning how pretty her eyes were. Dad wouldn't like it, but I couldn't help myself. I shouldn't have promised not to flirt with her. "Maybe just a little bit, that doesn't bother you does it?" I had to know, had to know if my guesses where right about her.

"Is the game still on hold?" She asked.

I nodded. "Yeah,"

"No," She said softly. "It doesn't bother me, I don't go out of my way to let people know that I'm gay, but I don't hide it from myself. I know who I am."

Yes! My inner self did a fist pump. I knew I was right.

"My family knows about me," I told her. "The core team included. I haven't felt comfortable telling the other guys yet."

"You're afraid they won't accept you?" She asked.

I shook my head. "No, they'd never say anything to me, but that's because they're afraid of Ranger. I don't want them to be uncomfortable with me. I'm already having some trouble earning they're respect because I'm 'The Bosses kid'. They don't all see me as a genuine team member yet and I don't want anything else to get in the way."

"I understand that better then you could probably guess." She said. "My family doesn't know. Not Col. Lowry, not any of the guys I've trained with. The only person I've willingly told is Adam. He's Col. Lowry's youngest boy and my personal favorite step-brother."

We fell silent then, both of us returning to our own thoughts as we watched the building. Every half hour one of us would walk around the building to check out the back, gun drawn, and panic button ready.

Shilo slid back into her seat after her latest run and I had my first question ready. I waited until she was settled, but I didn't want to give her time to fall back into her zone.

"Question one," I started. "What did you want to do, if it wasn't joining the Army?"

She thought for a moment, and I gave her the time to organize her thoughts.

"Music," She said with another small smile. "Back in Ireland, my family was very centered around music. Both of my parents played, all of my aunts and uncles played or could sing. Whenever we had family gatherings, everyone would bring their instruments along. I can't remember a time when there wasn't some form of music playing around the house."

"Did you play or sing?" I asked.

"Both," She said. "I was learning a handful of different instruments at the time, although my favorite was always the violin. I could sing pretty well for a kid my age. I'm an Alto and I also loved to dance."

"You did play, or you do play?" I asked for clarification. What were the chances I'd get to hear her sing?

"I used to," She said almost sadly. "I haven't played for several years."

"Why would you stop if it was something you loved so much?"

She was quiet again for a moment, and I hoped I wasn't pushing the topic to far. "As a young girl, music was an acceptable hobby." She said. "When I got older, Col. Lowry didn't agree that it was a reasonable choice for a career. Besides, it was part of my past. I've moved on."

She glanced over at me. "Question one," She said. "Before, you never answered me. Why did you know you wanted to come to Trenton?"

"I wanted to be closer to Ranger." I told her. "I didn't know my father well as a child, in fact I remember being a bit afraid of him. When I was ten, a man who was stalking my father kidnapped me from my childhood home in Miami. He was trying to takeover Ranger's life, dressing in black, and acting like a bounty hunter. He eventually made his way here to Trenton and kidnapped Stephanie too. At the time Dad and Steph weren't really an item yet, she was still dating Joe, but everyone with eye's could see they were already head over heels for each other."

"Joe?" She asked, "As in that Detective Morelli we meet this morning?"

I nodded. "The one and only. He and Stephanie dated on and off for like three years before she finally kicked him to the curb for good. They're still friends, but they wanted different things in life. Personally, I think he's kind of a prick, and he still doesn't like Ranger much. I think he's kind of jealous that Ranger got the girl."

"So you and Ranger connected after the kidnapping?" She asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, until then Ranger did everything he could to hide the fact that I was his daughter because he didn't want anyone to hurt me. The kidnapping was all over the news, until people realized that there was a copycat out there, most people just thought Ranger was the one who'd taken me. Afterwards, since he couldn't hide me anymore, he did the opposite by coming to see me more publicly and putting word on the street that he'd kill anyone who hurt me.

As I got older I started to understand why Ranger had done the things he did and I was old enough to appreciate everything he'd done to keep me and my mom safe. The kidnapping was also the first time I got to meet Stephanie. She kept me safe, even though she'd never even meet me before. It was a few months after the kidnapping that the two of them finally hooked up. I like to take credit for bringing them together, but really I think it was just the fact the Ranger realized how much Steph was willing to do for him. She accepted not only him, but all of the guys at RangeMan without judging them. He realized that keeping his distance from people didn't always make them safer. It didn't work on me, and it wasn't working with Stephanie.

I knew I wanted to come to Trenton after that. I didn't want to leave my mom, but really the two of us have never been super close. I love her, but we just don't have that much in common anymore. I want to make up for lost time with my dad, and since I have an interest in bond enforcement asking to join RangeMan seemed like the best way to kill two birds with one stone. I like working here, and I love all of the guys."

At eight o'clock, another black SUV pulled up behind us and we were both regretting not having brought something to eat for diner with us. I drove back to RangeMan and we found food in the break room. Shilo sighed into her soup, "Do you think Ella would adopt me?" She asked longingly.

Someone laughed behind us and I turned to see Stephanie, walking over to us. She sat down in the seat next to Shilo and smiled. "I've been asking her that same question for years." Steph held out her hand and offered us each a set of painkillers. "Bobby saw you come in." She explained. "He noticed you were limping a bit Julie."

We each took the pills and swallowed them down fast.

"Thanks." Shilo said turning back to the fresh baked rolls that went with the soup.

"I'll pass the thanks onto Bobby." Steph said. "How are you both feeling?"

I noticed her eyes land on the bruise on my chin. I smiled at her. "I'm fine Steph," I promised her. "Punk got in a lucky hit."

"I should have hit him for that." Shilo said so softly I almost missed it.

Stephanie laughed. "Ranger told me about your interrogation. You got more out of that man then the rest of us did."

"Not by much." Shilo said. "We still don't know where Michael is."

"Maybe not," She agreed. "But, we did learn a bit about what the family is here for and every bit helps. Thank you for hitting him. I never would have let him get away with calling Carlos and Tank those awful names."

Shilo nodded. "Any time."

"You should also know," Stephanie started, turning to look at Shilo. "Ranger's already gotten a couple of calls from TPD. They want your help on the case too. I know they've already put out some feelers to see if they can find their own translator. Don't be surprised if they throw some money at you or ask you to come down for a meeting."

Shilo shook her head. "Not interested, I don't like cops much."

Stephanie chuckled. "Don't really blame you for that one."

"So basically, they're trying to poach our translator." I said. "We should just tell them to get lost."

Steph shook her head. "Can't, were supposed to be working together on this case. Shilo by no means has to work with them, if she doesn't want to, but it's not RangeMan's choice to make for her. She'll have to shut them down when they talk to her."

Pov-Shilo

After we finished eating Julie came over to my cubical with me and showed me how to get into the different search programs that RangeMan used. I recognized most of them and started pulling up old lists of Celtic family crests.

Julie had pulled a second chair in next to me and was sitting with her legs crossed, spinning the silver band around in her hands. "So how are you going to find this thing?" She asked, when the first page of crests started showing up on my screen, there had to be over a hundred just on this page.

"One by one."

"This could take you all week." She said.

I nodded. "Could, I'm going to start sorting them alphabetically. I'll also limit the search to family names that are at least as old as O'Donnell's." I explained.

She nodded. "Could this be the O'Donnell family crest?" She asked. "Maybe He's part of the actual family."

I shook my head. "No, the O'Donnell family crest is a shield with a red cross on it, and there's a helm from a suite of armor on the top of the shield." I nodded towards the crest in her hand. "That shield has clovers on it," I pointed to the small creature guarding the top of the shield. "and this crest is topped with a fox. Too bad we can't tell if there is any color on it."

"Would color help?" She asked.

I shrugged. "Every detail helps."

"You know an awful lot about this." She said, and I prayed I hadn't said to much. I could tell she was watching my profile, but I kept my eye's dutifully on the screen, my face as blank as I could make it.

"Question two," She started and I felt my heart fall into my stomach. "Why do you know so much about the O'Donnell family? Have you worked on cases about them before?"

"That's two questions." I pointed out. "But, no I've never worked a case on the O'Donnell's before. Lots of people know about the O'Donnell family." I added easily. "They've been causing problems for generations."

"Not in the U.S" She said. "And you haven't lived in Ireland since you were a kid."

"So I keep up to date on local news." I defended. "It's not a crime to miss my homeland."

"There's something else." She pressed. "What aren't you telling me?"

I shook my head, not ready to tell anyone about my connection with the O'Donnell's. It was personal and none of their business. What I knew about them wasn't important to this case. I knew the anger I was feeling was probably clear on my face, but I kept my eye's away from her, scrolling through the photo's on my computer.

"Chicken," I finally said when it became clear she wasn't going to drop this easily. "I'll take the shot."

She nodded. "Fine,"

After the question, we sat in silence for another hour. She helped me look through crests trying to find an identical match to the one we had. We made it all the way to the letter "C" before Julie broke the silence.

"There's yours." She said, pointing to a crest on the screen.

I nodded after a moment, when she looked to me for conformation. The crest on the screen was indeed mine, a match to the one I wore around my neck. The shield was silver, trimmed in gold; a large hawk with his wings closed stood watch on the top. On the shield was a pair of swords crossed over a decorative blue cross.

Under the photo was my family name "Connalay" and a brief explanation of what the name translated too and where it had first been found in written records hundreds of years ago.

"Why is there a red slash through the name?" Julie asked.

"Because there are none of us left." I said sadly. I'd noticed the slash on a couple of other names too, but it hurt to see it on my own. "The slash means that the bloodline has either been lost or has become so thin it can no longer be traced."

"But you're sitting right here." She said. "You should E-mail them and tell them they're wrong."

I shook my head. "Legally my name was changed when I was adopted. Besides, I'm a woman, I would have lost the name when I married. Site's like this follow names through a male line, where the name is more likely not to change."

"Have you ever considered changing your name back?" She asked.

I nodded, "Someday." As soon as I was sure, I wouldn't be hunted down and killed for clamming it. Then I realized something I should have noticed right away. "How did you know this was my birth name?" I'd never told her.

"It was in your file." She said. "Ranger passed around a summary before you got here, so some of the main guys around here could get a feel for you. I was in on the meeting."

I did my best to keep my face blank, but on the inside my eyes narrowed. "That file was supposed to be sealed."

She stood up. "One sec," When she returned she held out a two-page profile on me. There was a picture as well as some basic info like my birthday and school history. It has Col. Lowry listed as my father and a list of his boy's. After the boy's was mention of my adoption from Ireland and there after my name was my birth name.

"What's wrong?" She asked. "It doesn't go into much detail."

That was mostly true; it didn't list some of my more colorful charges or mention the case I'd pressed during my time in the military. It didn't mention my family or how they were lost, only that I had no living blood relatives. None of that information could get me killed.

"It's nothing." I told her, passing the profile back. I didn't want to press the issue. I was afraid of mentioning the fact that my last name was a secret. I didn't need anyone here getting hurt because I was discovered amongst them or because they went digging into my history. "How many of these profiles were there?" I asked.

She shrugged. "Four or five, Ranger collected them back after the meeting, he would have gotten rid of them. Your file will be locked in his office."

"Why do you still have one?" I asked.

She blushed. "I was curious." She said. "And I like that picture of you."

Julie and I retreated up to our separate rooms after finishing the last of the "C" names. It had been a long day and we would both need to be back on an early schedule tomorrow. I brushed out my hair and striped down to just my panties before crawling into bed, as a last minute decision I moved my hunting knife under the bed.

o0o0o0o0o

The next morning I woke early and pulled on some running shorts. I was interested in exploring the RangeMan gym Julie had showed me. I tied my hair back, braided it and twisted the braid into a bun so it would be out of my way. Adding a black, RangeMan tank top that I found in my closet I headed downstairs.

I didn't run into anyone in the elevator, but there were already a handful of big, bulky, RangeMen working out when I swiped myself into the gym. A few looked up when I walked in and a couple of the guys who'd introduced themselves to me said good morning. I waved my own greeting, but found my eye's trained on the far side of the room, where a row of treadmills were set up.

Julie was on the farthest one, near the wall, her head down and her eyes closed. She had ear buds in, listening to some music I couldn't hear, completely set in her own zone. Like everyone else she was set up in black yoga pants and a tight black shirt that showed off her toned body. Her hair was tied up in a messy bun, but lose strands had fallen down and were sticking to the side of her neck.

I felt someone move up behind me and then a large hand came down on my shoulder.

"Morning Red."

I recognized Lester's voice and tensed at the name. I knew he hadn't meant anything by it, but I could still feel myself slipping into full blown rhino mode… I hated being called Red.

"Morning Lester." I said. Before he had time to react, I grabbed his hand on my shoulder and stepped backwards using my shoulders to knock him off balances and flip him. The move only worked because he hadn't been expecting it. Lester easily had me by a hundred pounds and he was at least six inches taller than I was.

He landed flat on his back in front of me, spread eagle on the mats. The gym went silent; the only noise made was a groan by Lester as he looked up at me.

"Don't ever call me Red again." I said, my voice low and far more menacing then I'd meant it to be. "Please." I added, and then I offered him a hand up.

"Holy shit Lester," Someone from the other side of the room called out with a chuckle. "She just kicked your ass."

I watched Lester's eyes narrow at the comment and saw the corner of his mouth turn up in a grin. I made to pull my hand away, but it was too late. He's hand locked around my wrist and he yanked me forward off my feet.

I switched tactics just as quickly, using his own move against him, tucking into my fall and tumbling over him. The roll pulled my wrist free and I landed in a crouch almost a yard from him. He pushed himself to his knees and blew some of his hair out of his face. "Nice move."

I grinned. "It's not one of my best." I teased back. The atmosphere in the gym had changed to the more lighthearted feel of a sparring match and some of the other guys had come to stand around the mat's where Lester and I where.

Lester let lose a full-blown grin and tugged his t-shirt off tossing it off the mats. "This is going to be fun."

I copied his move, striping my tank-top off, which left me in just my dark purple sports bra. A couple of the guys wolf whistled and one made the comment that Ranger should hire more women. I let my eyes roam across our audience and noticed most of them were standing on Lester's side of the ring. Clearly rooting for the home team.

Then a voice called out behind me. "Kick his ass Shilo."

I glanced over my shoulder and found Julie rooting for me. Her eyes raked over my body and I felt my face flame. She eyed my back, no doubt seeing the trail of black stars that ran the length of my spine. I wondered if she'd make the connection to the smaller set on my wrist. What can I say, I'd had a big family, everyone deserved to be represented.

"Oh come on Niña. Does family mean nothing to you?"

I turned back to Lester as he spoke up and found him pouting at Julie as she turned traitor on her uncle. I heard Julie giggle behind me, but kept my eyes trained on my opponent as Lester took a step forward.
"Sorry Uncle Lester." She said. "Girl power, we gotta stick together."

Lester's eyes flickered between the two of us for a second and then he grinned again, and I remembered Julie telling me that the core team knew about her sexual preference. Lester's eyes locked on me, sizing me up quick, then as he stalked another step forward. "Don't think I'll go easy on you just because you're a girl." He said.

I nodded and gave him my best 'come and get it look' before responding. "Don't think I'll hold back because you're old."

This got some smart comments from the guys watching and I heard a few of them placing bets on who the winner would be. Lester started moving to the left, so I mirrored him as we circled each other.

"Age is just wisdom and experience." He said. "I've worked with Col. Lowry before; I bet I know all of your movies."

He lunged then, moving surprising fast for a man of his size. He was stronger, but I was faster. I managed to dodge his first string of hits, but wasn't able to push him back. He moved to hit my shoulder and I ducked under his arm, tagging him in the gut with my elbow. He kicked out a foot and tripped me as I made my escape.

When he tried to pin me down, I shoved my knee into his ribs and rolled him over, sitting on his chest and pinning one of his arms to his side. "How'd you like that move?" I asked with a smirk.

"I've had better." He said, twisting to the right and throwing me to the left.

We exchanged sets back and forth; His size making it easy for him to direct the battle, and me using my speed and short stature to sneak in hits. He made a wide swing with his right and caught me in the shoulder. Without giving me the chance to recover, he hooked me around the waist and we went down again.

We rolled back and forth, neither of us able to keep the other pinned for more than a moment. We were both breathing hard and slick with sweat. I landed a sharp hit below his ribs and he responded by knocking me back over when I tried to roll away from him. Since this was just a friendly sparing match, neither of us was trying to draw blood and I knew he was being careful not to hit my side, where the bruises from my first night in Trenton were still dark.

When we separated again, we both took the chance to try and catch our breath. Lester waved a hand at me. "Why can't I call you Red?" He asked.

"I don't like the name Red."

After my adoption, Col. Lowery had enrolled me at a public school near the military base. It was a small school and I'd been the only kid with red hair. Add to it the fact that I joined up half-way through the school year, was skinny with freckles, and talked different from the rest of the kids because of my accent and I was the perfect target for every want-a-be bully for miles. I'd learned real fast, how to fight dirty and protect myself. One kid in particular had always called me Red. In the seventh grade, I broke his nose and started my list of juvenile crimes.

Lester shrugged. "Everyone here get's a nick-name eventually. I'll just have to keep trying them out."

"You can call me whatever you want, just not red."

"We should call her Galaxy." Someone behind me said. "Look at all those stars."

Lester and I spared for another ten minutes before he swiped my feet out from under me and pounced. Once my arms were pinned to my side, I was pretty much done for. Lester was too heavy for me to throw at this angle and to tall for me to try to get my legs around his neck to yank him off.

He leaned over me and grinned. "Say uncle." He taunted.

"No," I said stubbornly, attempting to wiggle free.

He leaned down a little farther and lowered his voice so he wouldn't be overheard. "Julie likes you, I can tell; don't break my niece's heart ok."

I flushed again, hoping that no one would notice under the flush from our sparing.

"Let her up Lester, you're going to crush her."

Lester looked over his shoulder at whoever had spoken up. "Tell her to surrender first."

While he had his head turned, I put my fists together and shoved them into his gut. He gasped and leaned forward giving me the chance to bring both my legs up and flip him over my head. I scrambled while he was trying to catch his breath and leapt onto his back. I got one of his arms pinned under his own body the other pulled across his back.

I twisted sideways and stuck one of my knees on the back of his neck to help keep him still. I leaned over and put my lips near his ear. "Never."

I didn't care what question he put my answer too. It fit for them all. I'd never surrender a fight and I'd do my best to never hurt Julie, if she gave me the chance to hold her heart. It was in that moment that, even though I swore to never fall in love again, that I realized I was falling and falling hard.

Pov- Julie

She had to know something about the O'Donnell's. Who kept tabs on a mob family half-way across the world, unless there was something specific she was watching for? Maybe she'd done undercover work on them before and was using our investigation to help her gather more information on them.

She'd promised that any information she knew about the O'Donnell's wouldn't put our hunt in jeopardy or endanger the guys here. Any information on what kind of trouble the family was in would help our investigation, so she must not know something too big. Maybe it was personal? Maybe she knew a member of the O'Donnell family?

I shook my head and tried to focus on my music. I'd already been in the gym for an hour, unable to sleep because my brain wouldn't shut up. I knew Shilo was keeping something from me, something big that she didn't want to talk about. I also trusted her, so I felt bad about prying.

I'm such a jerk.

I'd know I was pushing her buttons last night when I'd asked about the O'Donnell's. She had clearly wanted me to stop asking, and I went ahead and threw a question at her under the pretence of the game I'd started just to get to know her better. I'd tried to take advantage of the fact, that she'd trusted me enough to be honest with me.

I was brought out of my thoughts by a low bang that shook the floor of the gym. I jerked my head up and found Shilo standing on the other side of the gym dressed for a workout with a scary dark look on her face. In front of her, laying flat on his back and out of breath was my Uncle Lester.

I yanked my headphones from my ears and powered down my treadmill, stepping off the machine. The room had gone quiet, as everyone took in the sight before them and I wondered what I'd missed, clearly Lester's mouth had gotten him in trouble again.

Then she spoke, her beautiful alto voice dripping with menace. "Don't ever call me Red again." She said darkly. Then her face softened, marginally, and she added the word, please. She held out a hand to help him up and then Zero spoke up from the other side of the room.

"Holy shit Lester." He said with a chuckle. "She just kicked your ass."

I smirked at the statement, it wasn't too often someone was able to surprise my Uncle Lester and I couldn't remember the last time someone had been able to flip him off the mats. Lester's eyes narrowed at the comment as he moved to except Shilo's hand up and she saw it too.

She pulled off a wicked tumble and the energy in the gym changed from tension to excitement as the guys got ready to see the new girl in action. I'd heard a few of them talking about her when I'd first come in and it seemed like most of them were interested in seeing her foot work for themselves. Everyone knew she had training, they probably wanted to see just how good she really was.

Lester had a big grin on his face and he shook out his shoulders and got ready for a tussle with Shilo. They both had their eyes locked on the other, waiting for the fight to start. Most of the guys in the gym had moved to stand on Lester's side of the mat's, all of them waiting to see him put the new girl in her place. I'd seen them do this same initiation with some of the other new guys and had gotten that same thing just a couple of months ago for myself. Hal had handed me my ass.

I moved to stand on Shilo's side; Tank caught my eye from across the room and grinned at me. He should know by now that I'd never miss the chance to see someone wipe the floor with Lester. Tank had been the only one who bet on me in my first real tussle. I still wasn't sure how much money he'd lost on me.

Lester flexed, and in a very macho move pulled his shirt over his head with one hand. For a guy who'd just turned forty he still looked pretty good, but I was putting my money on Shilo. She was younger, faster, and I was betting she had a few moves up her sleeve.

Shilo had her back to me. Her long leg's bare, and her perfect ass covered with a tiny pair of black shorts that left nothing to my imagination. Her hair was twisted and braided up on the top of her head, and under the harsh gym lights, it only looked a shade lighter then blood.

I felt my eye's go wide as she cross her arms in front of her chest and pulled her tank-top off. The first thing that caught my attention was that her royal purple, sports bra was definitely not RangeMan issue. From all of the wolf whistles, I wasn't the only one who liked it. The second thing I noticed was the intricate path of stars that started at the base of her neck and traveled all the way down her spine, disappearing under the band of her shorts.

The stars were all black, some larger, some smaller. Some filled in while others were only thick outlines. Some of them had five points, others had eight. The largest one was right in the middle of her back and half covered by her bra, but even from this distance I could see the intricate pattern of woven knots inside of it.

I felt the corner of my mouth tilt up in a smile. Well, well, well, what do you know? We had matching tattoo's. I watched Shilo's head move slightly as she took in the room, no doubt seeing all of the guy's watching. I was standing behind her and wanted to make sure she knew I had her back.

"Kick his ass Shilo." I called out.

Shilo turned to look at me and I got my first good look at her tight stomach and slim hips. She was drop dead gorgeous and I felt my body flame, and a rush I hadn't felt in awhile ran straight between my thighs. She smiled softly at me and as she turned back to face off with Lester. I caught sight of the strip of black ink at her wrist. It was then I remembered her story about the stars on her wrist, how she'd gotten them to represent her family. Was it possible the ones on her back meant the same thing? There were so many of them.

Lester's voice cut though my thoughts as he said "Oh come on Niña. Does family mean nothing to you?" I giggled remembering how I'd rooted for Tank in his last fight and shrugged my shoulders throwing 'girl power' out as an excuse for why I was hoping Shilo would win.

Lester eyed me knowingly and then turned his glance to look over Shilo and I knew I'd been caught. What could I say? She was beautiful, powerful, and full of secrets. I was crushing hard and I wasn't going to apologize. I just hoped my dad wouldn't catch on as quickly as Lester had.

Lester and Shilo circled each other, feeling out the completion, and I grinned like a mad man when she called him old. They finally came together, exchanging some simple combinations. As they warmed up, their moves got more complicated. Lester's size was an advantage, since Shilo couldn't lead him around the mat like he was doing to her, but she managed to keep ahead of him, ducking around wide swings and side steeping a couple of kicks.

I wasn't paying much attention to the actual fight; I kept getting distracted by Shilo's long legs, or the way her abs tensed and released as she went toe to toe with Lester. Under the flush of her workout, I noticed a small sprinkling of light freckles along her cheeks and shoulders. There was also a beauty mark near her left knee.

After another set of moves they pulled apart, sweating and breathing heavy. I found myself watching the way her full chest rose and fell with her breathing until Lester spoke up, asking why the name Red had set her off. She refused to give details, simply saying that she didn't like it and I made a note to bring it up in a later round of our game. What can I say? I'm nosy.

One of the guys mentioned the name "galaxy' when the topic of giving Shilo a nick-name came up. I wondered if Shilo knew that it usually took months for someone to earn a nick-name around here. Obviously, she'd made some strong first impressions if the guys were already considering giving her one.

Shilo and Lester met again on the mat's and this time he managed to knock her down and straddle her chest, pinning her arms. I knew from similar experience that Lester was heavy in that position. Shilo was probably stronger then I was, but from this angle it didn't look like this would end well for her.

Lester taunted her with making a public surrender and she refused. He leaned down and whispered something to her, I tried to read her face but there were mixed emotions there. Probably Lester had said something smart again, trying to get under her skin. Then Lester made the big mistake. He underestimated his opponent and looked away.

Shilo wiggled her hands free and shoved both fists right into Lester's gut. I winced with the others in sympathy pain and grinned when Shilo managed to bring both her legs up between Lester's and flip him over her head again. She didn't give him the chance to recover before pouncing and with her knee on the back of his neck, Lester lost.

Lester tapped the mat twice, our single for forfeit and the gym erupted into noise. Money changed hands and some of the guys complimented Shilo's technique. Most of them just teased Lester for losing his concentration.

I picked her shirt up off the floor and made my way over to her. She smiled when I stopped at her side and grabbed the shirt from me. "Thanks."

"No problem."

"I meant for rooting for me." She said. "I'm guessing that was some sort of initiation and I was supposed to lose."

"I've got your back." I promised her. "and yes, I can't remember the last time a new person won their initiation fight."

"I got lucky." She said with a shrug.

"Luck can save your life."

She pulled the shirt over her head and glanced at the clock up on the wall. "I'm going to go take a fast shower." She told me. "Want to keep looking over crests with me afterwards?"

I nodded. "Sure, I'll meet you on five."

I watched her leave and then gathered my things from where I'd left them against the wall. On my way out I saw Bobby talking with Tank as he flipped though an impressive wad of money.

"You beat against Lester?" I asked.

He smiled at me. "Yes, I think Shilo's a safe bet."

"What do you mean?"

Bobby exchanged looks with Tank and shrugged. "She just feels right." He said. "It's like she was meant to come here."

~Darkrose

Question one- Do you have a tattoo?