Unapologize

By: PricklySare

A/N: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed this story so far. I realize that some people weren't a big fan of the multiple POV, and that's fine. This story is moving on now. Let me know what you think.

I want to thank my beta, M, you're a great friend and a life saver in the middle of the night when I suddenly realize I can't figure out how to write a scene! Thanks also to everyone who gave input on what Ranger should say to Val! You guys got me over the writer's block that hit! --Sare

Chapter Eleven: Ranger's POV

I felt like I'd been frozen for hours, but logically I knew it had only been moments. How did everything get so totally FUBAR? I was more than a little confused and frustrated at Steph's reaction. I could understand being embarrassed, but why would she apologize and run out like she was being chased by the Slayers?

My emotions were still running wild as well. Believing that she loved me, and hearing her confess to her evil bitch sister were two very different things; and a part of me—a very large part of me, was floating well up into the stratosphere. She actually loved me, and would marry me today if I asked her. I couldn't very well ask her if she wasn't there so that meant I needed to find her. Now. Yesterday would have been better, but since I haven't mastered time travel, now was going to have to work.

"Lester, Bobby, Tank, we need to find Steph immediately." I bark out to my core team. I know they won't question my reasons, they already know. "I've got to get back to Rangeman. There is something I need to retrieve from my safe." I can't help the smile that tugs at my lips in response to the looks on the three large men's faces. I continue, "pull up her trackers and locate her. Did anyone see her when she left? Do we know if she left with the girls or did she take off alone?" I watched as the guys jumped to attention. Tank pulled out his smart phone and pulled up her trackers.

"I didn't see her exit the building, but my guess is she's not alone." Bobby said and Lester just shook his head. I was just getting ready to hit the door running when I noticed that her sister was still standing there. What the fuck?

Fury boiled up inside me and for the first time I wanted nothing more than to inflict pain on a female. She might be weak and 'feminine', but she wasn't innocent. Not like Steph was. I forced my fists to relax and I headed toward her. Fear flashed in her eyes as I approached and I knew the smile on my face wasn't friendly. I had a few choice words to say to Saint Valerie.

I felt more than saw my men go on alert. They had noticed the woman responsible for this FUBAR situation almost at the same time I did, and I'm sure they were concerned with what I might do to her. Sometimes I wished I really did send people to third world countries. Tonight, maybe I'd make an exception.

The guys were behind me when I reached her, not surrounding her, but close enough to pull me back if I snapped and went for her throat. I'm not really sure how I felt about that, and decided not to worry about it. I figured I could control myself enough not to cause her any physical damage, mental damage on the other hand...I made no promises. If she left terrified to close her eyes at night, that was okay by me.

I'm not a tall man, but I am built solid, and I used that to my advantage when I stopped in front of the poor excuse for a human being. I made sure my face was hard and blank, the only movement the slight flaring of my nostrils as I leaned into her face and said, "Stephanie has made it clear that she wants nothing more to do with you." I was standing so close that I could feel her shaking and I felt my eyes get a little harder, a little colder when I said, "I suggest you go home and explain that to your mother."

"You have no right to speak to me at all. Let alone about my sister." Apparently Steph's sister wasn't just a poor excuse for a human being, but she was dumb as shit too.

"You don't have a sister. Remember?"

"That's not true," she stuttered as she tried to take a step back only to realize that Lester was behind her.

I raised an eyebrow at her then gave her my parting volley, my voice low in my throat. "She is no longer your concern. Make sure Morelli and your mother understand this: she is mine." I gave a nod to Lester signaling him to let her by and just as she went to brush past him I said, "Don't believe for a minute that I won't protect her. You don't want to try to come at her again. Believe me, you won't like the consequences."

"Are you threatening me? I'll have you arrested. My husband is a lawyer and he'll make sure you won't get away with it." Stupid, stupid, little naïve girl. She really just didn't get it. She thought I was a criminal and a thug. I could show her just how thuggish I could be.

I felt my smile grow wide, the same smile that Colombian drug lords saw right before they were neutralized. It was the smile that would welcome them to Hell. It wasn't a nice smile. "He can try," was all I said and then I watched in satisfaction as she ran from the club. My job there was done. I turned to Tank and said, "Report."

"Boss, her trackers say she's still in the parking lot," he said. My heart kicked up speed as I headed toward the backdoor, the men on my heels. The likely hood that she was actually out there was slim. It was much more likely that she'd ditched her trackers, but I couldn't help but hope.

We found her tracker outside in the parking lot, along with the wire. "Dammit Bomber," Tank said. I pulled my phone from my belt and hit speed dial. The call went straight to voicemail.

"Check the gps in her phone," I told Tank. "Her phone is going straight to voicemail, but we could probably still track it unless she removed the battery." He pulled up her gps on his smart phone and shook his head.

"Bomber's gotten smart." I had to agree with Tank. I was torn between being agitated and incredibly proud of her. It would be easier to be proud if it wasn't me she was using her knowledge against. Couldn't anything between us be easy?

"Where do you think she'd go?" Lester asked.

"The beach would be my first guess," Bobby offered.

"She does like Point Pleasant," Lester admitted.

"Shit," I said. "Look, I need to run to Haywood still. When we get there, Bobby you and Lester take a vehicle out to Point Pleasant. Tank and I will hit any twenty-four hour food places between here and her apartment." I needed to get to my apartment. I wanted to have the ring that was sitting in my safe. When I found Steph I was going to do what I had wanted to do all along. I couldn't wait another year. My timetable was just pushed up and I couldn't be happier about it. Would it be difficult, definitely. Would it be worth it, without a doubt.

My cell rang as we pulled into the underground garage on Haywood. I looked down hoping that it would be Steph and felt a moment of panic when I recognized the number. "Fuck," I said as I answered the call. "Manoso." This just wasn't my night. The call was from my government handler. I knew even before she began speaking that I wasn't going to get a chance to find Steph. To find out what she was so upset about, and why she apologized. I didn't bother saying anything while my handler spoke. There was no point. "I'll be ready," was all I said.

Three sets of concerned eyes were focused on me when I ended the call. "The chopper will be here in ten minutes. I'm not sure when I'll be back. This is why I don't do relationships." I headed for the stairs and just as I hit the doorway I yelled out in frustration, "Fuck!"

Eight minutes later I was heading to the roof with the guys on my heels. "We'll take care of her, Ranger. Just get the job done," Tank said, placing a large hand on my shoulder. "She'll be here when you get back. Trust in her. Things will work out."

"Protect her. Her family and Morelli are going to cause problems and I won't be here to stand between them. She's going to need you guys. When I get back, I'm going to make it official." The guys simply nodded their heads.

Lester gave me a manly hug and said, "We've got her back. Just watch yours. Call of if you need us."

Bobby and I did a complicated handshake before I said, "Take care of her. I know she's going to need you. Especially with her luck."

"Will do, Boss."

When I heard the chopper I knew my time was limited. I pulled my phone from my belt and hit speed dial one more time. When it went straight to voicemail I sighed. This was not something I could or would leave on a message. Instead I just said, "Babe."

An hour later I was sitting in a secure room in an unmarked building that had more security than Fort Knox. The file in front of me contained all the pertinent information for the mission. None of it looked good. The possibility of survival was minimal at best, and I wondered briefly if this was fate's way of telling me that I didn't belong with Steph. Don't start thinking that way now, Manoso. Get through the mission, get done, get home. Then worry about Fate and your future.

The door opened and my handler walked in wearing a business suit with a skirt that was almost indecently short and a jacket that covered a shirt that showed more skin than it covered. Funny how her body no longer did it for me. I'd had another taste of Stephanie and no one else would do anymore. For a while I'd been able to slack my needs in her when duty called me away from Trenton, but not anymore. Steph was mine, even if she didn't yet realize it, and I no longer needed anyone else.

"Hello, Manoso," she almost purred. "Glad to have you back with us. Are you ready for this assignment?" I just looked at her, not saying anything. I knew her spiel and I wasn't interested. "Is there anything I can...help you with?" She asked me in what I guessed was supposed to be a sex kitten voice. It sounded fake and contrived.

"No, I'm good. When do I leave?"

The no nonsense tone of my voice must have thrown her off because she stopped and looked at me before saying, "Excuse me?"

"When do the wheels go up?"

"0400 hours," she replied, her voice decidedly less sex kittenish. She actually sounded a little perturbed. Strange. "Any questions?" she asked.

"None. It's an early day I'm going to hit the rack," I told her standing up.

I'm usually good at reading body language, but for whatever reason tonight I couldn't understand hers. "You have the information, but you might want this as well," she said, placing a key card into the file in front of me before turning and heading out of the room.

Looking down at the card I realized immediately what it was. Oh, shit. It was the key to her room. I removed the key card and left it on the table when I exited the room headed to my own rack. It was going to be an early morning and it had already been a long night.