I took Kat to Shorty's like she wanted and we had a great time eating and talking. Shorty adores her. I found out he's like a father to her. Her parents died in a car crash ten years ago and she doesn't have any family. I told her that she did now. I told her that Rangeman was her family. When we were finished eating, I took her to see a movie and then drove back to her place. We had agreed to take this slow, so I gave her a kiss goodnight and drove back to my apartment at Rangeman. The whole way back I kept thinking about how I'd never felt like this about any other woman in my whole life. I'm no Santos, but I've been with my share of women, and not one of them comes close to comparing to Kat. I just don't want to get hurt again if I open myself up completely, and Kat has the power to crush me.
A few weeks had gone by and the club schedule had finally been worked out. Kat and I were still dating, so I worked when she performed and was off when she was. It worked out perfectly. Everyone was getting to know her even better and they all think she's great; I just hope they don't love her too much. Kat and Steph became fast friends. They loved going shopping together, and Steph had a lot of fun helping Kat choose clothes for performing. Kat is actually bringing Steph out of her shell a little more and making her a little more confident. Kat even got Steph to come up on stage and sing a few songs with her; of course she was three sheets to the wind, but she had fun. It turns out, Steph has a pretty good voice too. Kat told me she was going to ask Steph if she would help out on some songs that she can't really sing, because she needs a back up singer. Things were actually going really well.
It was Friday evening and Tim, the owner of the club, called Rangeman and asked if we could come in early because he had something he wanted to discuss with us. He even requested Ranger's presence. We all arrived and entered Tim's office.
"You wanted to see us?" Ranger asked.
"Yes. Thank you for coming in early. I wanted to talk to you guys about some letters I received here. They are about Kat." I immediately looked up and my eyes narrowed.
"What letters about Kat?" He looked at me, but handed the letters to Ranger.
"I don't know if they are from some crazed fan, or from an obssessed lunatic, but I want to make sure she's protected. I spoke to her manager, Jake, and he said that she's received letters like this before. He said she prefers not to know about them because she doesn't want to be freaked out by them." I thought to myself that that didn't sound like Kat. She likes to be in charge of her life. "He said nothing has ever happened, but like I said, I just want to make sure she's taken care of." I appreciated him letting us know about it. Ranger echoed that sentiment.
"Thank you for bringing this to our attention Mr. Jensen. We'll take these letters and see if we can get anything from them. I'll also start scheduling more security, but it's too late tonight." Tim nodded.
"I understand. I appreciate your attention to this. She should be getting here soon and I was going to talk to her about adding another day to her performance schedule. Everyone loves her. This is actually the most popular club now, and I think a lot of that has to do with her. I'm also increasing her salary per show. She earns it." I smiled to myself, that's my girl.
When we filed out of Tim's office, Kat and the band were just coming through the back door. She grinned when she saw me, and took off running towards me. She jumped into my waiting arms and I kissed her. I could hear the guys whistle and holler. She rolled her eyes.
"Jealous much guys?" I laughed at Santos's reply.
"Hell yeah! How about some sugar for me?" He put his arms out, closed his eyes, and puckered up his lips. Kat winked at me and went to the bar and got a cherry out of the dish. She brought it over and stook in front of Lester.
"Ok, part your lips a little bit for me baby." His eyebrows shot up and he parted his lips. She took the cherry and shoved it in his mouth.
"That's all the sugar you're getting from me, stud." Everyone laughed. Then Lester pulled the stem off and handed it to her.
"I'll take it for now, but you don't know what you're missing." Then he wiggled his eyebrows. God I hate when he does that. Kat popped the cherry stem in her mouth, and it looked like she was chewing on it. When she pulled it out, there were two perfect knots tied in the stem. She handed it to Lester.
"I'll take my chances." Lester's jaw dropped to the floor and everyone was in hysterics. Then she walked over to me and put her arms around my neck and kissed me again.
"I've got to go finish getting ready, but I'll be done soon." I just nodded to her. The bass player came up behind her and nodded to me.
"Hey Kat, there's something in your dressing room for you."
"Ok, thanks Mike. I'll be back soon sugar." And she turned to go to the dressing room.
We were all gathered around talking and joking, when we heard a blood curdling scream come from the dressing room. I was the first one down the hall and I saw Kat take off out of the room and into the ladies room. When we walked into the dressing room. There were tarantulas crawling out of a flower box. I looked to Ranger.
"Ram, go find her. Make sure she's ok. We'll get things under control in here. I don't think Tim can open the club tonight now. I doubt she took the time to count how many there were, so an exterminator will have to come and check the club out. I'll go talk to Tim." I nodded and went to go find Kat.
I knocked on the door, but she didn't answer. I opened the door but the restroom was empty. I checked the bar, but she wasn't there. I looked out front and went around the entire building, but she was no where. I was starting to panic a little. I went back in to tell everyone she was missing. One of her bandmates asked if I looked out back. I told him I had gone around the entire builing. He told me to check again. I got everyone together and we walked out back. Kat was standing out there smoking a cigarette. She looked up at us with tears in her eyes.
"I don't want to hear any shit from anybody about me smoking a cigarette. I just opened a box, which I thought would have flowers in it, but instead it was full of tarantulas. I'm a little fuckin freaked out right now." I could see her shaking. I came down the stairs and looked at her.
"Kitten, it's ok. No one is going to say anything. We just want to make sure you're going to be ok." She took a drag off her cigarette and exhaled.
"I just need to calm down. My nerves are completely rattled right now." She finished her smoke and put it out. I walked up to her and wrapped her in my arms. She broke down and started to cry. When she was done, I let her go.
"Thank you Ram. You're always here when I need you." She smiled at me and hugged me again. Ranger cleared his throat.
"Kat, Tim isn't going to be able to open the club tonight, so you don't have to worry about performing. I seriously think it would be best if you came back and stayed at Rangeman for a little while. Until we know who is doing this and why, it's not safe for you to stay by yourself at your place."
"Are you sure that's really necessary?" Ranger and I both nodded.
"There's room at my place gorgeous." Lester wiggled his eyebrows.
"Knock it off Santos!" I looked at Kat and tucked a curl behind her ear. "You can stay with me if you want, Kitten. I can sleep on the couch." She smiled at me and whispered.
"I'll stay with you, but you won't be staying on the couch." I smiled.
We left the club and went to her house so she could pick up everything she needed. She packed everyday clothes, and then she packed performance outfits. When she was finished packing I loaded everything into the SUV and we took off for Rangeman. When we arrived her phone started to ring. She looked at the caller id and rolled her eyes.
"Hi Jake. I was going to call you once I got settled. I'm fine now. That's not necessary. But...no. Look Jake, I just really want to relax right now. Fine. I'll see you in a bit." She disconnected and looked defeated.
"What's going on Kitten?" She looked to me.
"That was Jake. I guess he went to the club and Tim told him what happened. Now he's hell bent on coming over here to make sure I'm ok. He'll be here in 10 minutes." My jaw tightened.
"Ok, I'll let Ranger know after I take your stuff up." She nodded. I didn't like Jake, and this was pissing me off.
When we made it up to the apartment I called Ranger and let him know about the phone call. He got everyone together and we were waiting for Jake to arrive in the smaller conference room on the first floor. Jake was shown in and he immediately went to Kat and pulled her into a tight hug. I wanted to rip his arms off. There was just something that was off about it. The hug seemed to be way more than just a professional or concerned hug.
"Kat, I was so worried about you. Why didn't you call me?" Jake demanded.
"I told you, I'm fine now. I was going to call you when I got settled here." Jake looked at all of us.
"Thank you for offering to put her up, but she'll stay with me. I'll keep her safe." His hands had not left her body, and I was sensing she was a little uncomfortable. I stepped forward and pulled her to me.
"Kat agreed to stay here with Ram. We can protect her much better here." When Ranger told him that she was staying with me I thought I saw a flash of anger in his eyes.
"Kat sweetheart, I really don't think you'll be comfortable here with all of these men around. Just come back to my house with me where you can relax and not be bothered." Kat looked at him.
"Thanks Jake, but I've already got all of my stuff here. I'll be perfectly safe here, don't worry." He pursed his lips together.
"Katarina, I will not have you staying in a building full of dangerous men like them. How do you know that one of them isn't responsible for all of this? These things didn't start happening until they appeared." Kat looked like she was getting angry.
"Jake, you have been good to me, but you are treading on very thin ice right now. These are the best Men I've ever had the privilege to know. I consider them part of my family...my only family, and I will protect and stand up for them as such. I don't ever want to hear you say another negative word about any of them. Now I'm tired. I just want to go upstairs with my boyfriend and rest. You can leave now and I will call you tomorrow." My chest puffed up with every word she said. When she called me her boyfriend, I couldn't help the grin that spread across my face. Jake tried to make one last ditch effort.
"Kat, I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything by it, I'm just worried about you. Please come stay with me so I can make certain you're alright?" Ranger'd had enough.
"Kat has voiced her intentions. She wants to stay here. End of discussion. Hector, will you show Jake out?" Hector nodded with a grin and grabbed Jake by his upper arm and forcibly led him out of the conference room. When he was gone, everyone clapped and cheered. Kat looked around at everyone puzzled.
"What's that all about?" Tank grinned.
"People don't defend us like that little one. Most people just look at us and see bad men, thugs, and what have you. Very few actually see 'us'. That's just one of the things that makes both you and Steph so special." Kat blushed.
"Well, he was being a prick! I had to set him straight, because I really do consider you guys my family, and no one messes with my family." Everyone hugged and kissed her, and we all filed out of the room and went our separate ways.
Kat and I went up to the apartment to get ready for bed. When I came into the bedroom, she was laying there already asleep. She really was exhausted. I carefully climed into bed and pulled her to me. She settled her head on my chest and I wrapped my arms around her. As I was falling asleep, I thought about how easily I could get used to this.