Chapter 11

"What the hell is going on?"

A shout that had me looking toward the door and seeing Mia stood there. My immediate thought was, oh shit, she's really pissed at me for being in here with Ranger and that annoyance was evident from the expression on her face. I stayed still, unsure of what to do or say and then realized that she was staring at Ranger, not me. What I couldn't understand was why that expression seemed to change from being annoyed to worried. A flicker of fear crossed her face, and I could swear that her dark skin seemed to pale as she stood there. That had me looking up toward Ranger and I could see exactly what had caused those emotions to change.

Ranger was stood bolt upright, his whole body tense, with an expression that I'd seen before. His eyes were black with fury on a face that looked dark and dangerous. The untamed beast was at large but it was almost as though he was in a different time and place, as though he wasn't really aware of what he was seeing. If that posture hadn't been enough to frighten Mia, then the gun pointing at her probably was. Where the hell the gun had come from, I had no idea, but then again this was Ranger, and he would never feel comfortable without a weapon close to him.

Fortunately, Mia had the sense not to say anything and was probably too scared to move but I knew that the situation needed to be diffused. Very slowly I rose from my knees to my feet aware that neither Ranger nor Mia were really conscious of me even being in the room. I took a deep breath and then moved sideways with my body facing Ranger and stepped across and into him. That had the effect of me moving his arm that was holding the gun sideways across his body so that at least it wasn't pointing at anyone. One of my hands went up to cup his cheek, my eyes intent on his willing him to look at me while I slid my other hand along his arm until I could slide the gun from his hold.

That he allowed me to take the gun was a surprise in itself, because I would never have imagined being able to disarm Ranger so easily. As his arm came around me, I threw the gun backwards to land on the bed, all of the time watching his face as I held my hand against his cheek. I felt his muscles slacken, watched as his face relaxed and then found myself being held tightly with his face in my hair. I could feel his breath across my ear and as it changed from the fast ragged breathing to a slow rhythm. I was sure the same was happening to me because I could feel my heart slowing down and almost sighed as I realized that the disaster that could have developed had passed.

I had no idea if Mia was still in the room because I was suddenly straddling Ranger's knee being held to his chest. It was as though the last few minutes hadn't happened and were a figment of my imagination.

"Carlos, maybe this young lady needs to know what just happened"

I was shocked at the sound of the voice and turned my head to see a man that I hadn't seen before, squatted down next to the chair. I was totally unaware that he'd even come into the room. Maybe Mia had told him what had happened and asked him to intercede. Way to be aware of my surroundings. He was maybe older than me with blonde hair that was cut similarly to Ranger's and grey eyes that looked intense. His expression belied what his eyes were saying though because there was a hint of a smile across his features. I watched as he stood up and disappeared from my view only to return with a chair that he placed facing me.

"I'm Luke and I've been trying to work through some things with Carlos. It appears that you seem to be the key to unlocking his emotions"

Yeah right. As far as I knew Ranger was the only one who was capable of doing that, he was the master at controlling his emotions.

"Carlos, why don't you tell Stephanie how you are feeling right now"

Okay, so this man knew who I was, but did he really think that Ranger was going to start telling me his feelings? I sat up slowly so that I could see Ranger's face and was surprised that his head was leant back against the chair with his eyes closed. I knew that he wasn't asleep and probably Luke did as well, but to me it just exemplified the fact that Ranger wasn't going to start talking anytime soon. Several minutes passed by in silence which was making me feel really uncomfortable. Luke obviously decided that Ranger wasn't going to be saying anything and I watched as he sighed before he stood up.

"I'll see you again tomorrow, Carlos"

Luke disappeared from my line of sight, so I assumed that he'd left the room which had me back to where I was before the whole incident with Mia.

"I thought that I'd lost you"

Came from Ranger, though his eyes were still closed. I wasn't sure exactly what he meant by that and knew that I had to be very careful with what I said. It would be so easy to take advantage of the situation and spill my guts out on how I felt about him.

"No. I'll never abandon you. I'll always be there for you when you need me"

Which was true. I knew that Ranger was far more proactive in how he helped me, but I felt that I'd proved myself with how loyal I was to him. I didn't have to help him get Julie back when Scrogg took her, but I did and even knowing how dangerous it would be I'd do it again.

"I know. Things happened when I was away, things that had me thinking that I'd lost you, that I hadn't saved you"

I assumed that he was talking about the after events of the hold up at the bank because it seemed that was the one time when there had been no one there to save me.

"I was okay. They let me go, but I missed seeing you afterwards"

I didn't want to worry Ranger about the whole debacle with Joe, mainly because I thought it was too much information and would probably have him feeling mad all over again.

"That was what sent me into a spiral. I just wanted to see you when I came back home, to ground myself. When I couldn't do that, I suppose what happened just seemed real and overtook all of my senses"

I knew that Ranger would seek me out when he came back home from a job, but I'd never really considered why he did it or why it was so important to him. That not seeing me, grounding himself, would have such drastic consequences. Damn Joe for what he had done because Ranger wouldn't have got into the state that he was in if Joe hadn't have stopped him from seeing me. Then to hear that I wanted nothing more to do with him must have felt like a punch in the gut. I know how I would feel if Ranger ever did that to me, I'd be devastated.

"What happened?"

Because to me that seemed important to his state of mind.

"The job that I was doing, well it went FUBAR and a woman who I should have been able to keep safe, she was killed"

I refrained from making an exclamation because I didn't want to break Ranger's current processes of thinking. I was already surprised that he was telling me anything at all about the job that he'd been involved in but what he had said had me trying to work out how relevant it was.

"You thought that I was dead because you couldn't see me, and that woman had died?"

I know that I was frowning as I tried to put the pieces together and just hoped that I was on the right track. If I had it right, a woman, who he was supposed to keep safe, had somehow been killed and I knew that Ranger took that whole protection mode to a whole new level. For some reason because he couldn't see me when he came back his mind had regressed him back to her dying, but instead of her being dead it was me. No wonder he'd lost it and was behaving as he was. He was protecting me when Mia had barged in and shouted at him and that was why he had allowed me to diffuse the situation and calm him down.

I was astounded at how deeply Ranger took my safety and I shouldn't have been. I should have been far more aware of how deep seated my protection meant to him and was annoyed with myself for having taken him for granted. For some reason keeping me safe had become instinctive and a part of his psyche. The death of that woman must have brought it to the forefront in his mind. I knew there were other things that must have happened on that job that probably plagued him, I mean he'd been badly injured, the woman had died, and hadn't he said that the job went FUBAR.

"Are you feeling more in control?"

Hoping that now that he'd actually given me some sort of explanation he would feel more in control.

"Definitely more in control and maybe feeling a bit stupid"

Yeah right. No one would dare suggest that he was stupid.

"So can you separate the woman who died from me?"

Because to me that was the crux of the problem.

"Definitely. Especially as you are here now"

I felt pinches to my side that had me squirming and then giggling as it tickled me. It felt good to smile and so good to feel in synch with Ranger again.

"I need to meet up with Stavro for my session. How about you join me?"

I raised my eyebrows in an attempt to communicate that no way was I going to be exercising, when in fact I couldn't because of my arm and ribs. I wasn't going to admit that to Ranger because I wasn't sure that he'd appreciate that I was injured as well. Okay, he'd have seen the cast on my arm, but he would know the cause of that, the bruises on my ribs, well that was out of sight so hopefully out of mind.

I walked alongside Ranger onto the decking and then stood back as he continued on to meet with Stavro. I could sit and watch.

"I'm sorry. I haven't treated you very well, have I?"

I turned to see Mia stood just behind me also watching Ranger as he approached one of the exercise machines. I wasn't going to answer her because it wouldn't do to piss her off anymore than I already had done, but I did.

"Ranger and I go way back and over the years we've become very good friends who have supported each other"

That sounded crass even to me but how the hell did I explain myself to Mia? In her shoes I'd be beating me up and running me off the property even if there was nothing between Ranger and me.

"I can see that now. I never really did understand you or where you fit into his world. He's all about control, while you are chaos. He's emotionally closed off while you, well you are so open and expressive. He portrays being dark and mysterious while you have a lightness and recklessness to you"

I turned to look at Mia as she said that really not too sure whether or not to be annoyed at how she was describing me. Then it occurred to me that she probably wasn't too far wrong, but how would she know anything about me? Surely Ranger wouldn't talk about me to her, would he? Or was I an amusing pre dinner anecdote that gave some entertainment?

"Would you please let me take a look at that cast, it really doesn't look as though it's doing its intended job"

I looked from Mia to the cast on my arm and okay it was in a disgusting state. It was no longer white, being a dirty grey and the section around my hand and wrist looked cracked with pieces broken off. I wasn't sure how that had happened. I suppose I took too long to respond to Mia, and she took my silence as a yes, because the next thing that I knew she had linked her arm through mine and was guiding me in through one of the large doors and inside. A hallway led to the front of the house and then into a room that had my eyes bugging out. I was so shocked I just came to an abrupt halt as I took in the array of equipment organized around the room. This room made Bobby's medical room look amateur.

"Don't look so surprised, I'm a doctor and work with private clients here. The house is set up so that they can stay here and benefit from my medical care while Stavro deals with any physiotherapy that's needed. I live next door in the cottage set back from the beach"

I wasn't expecting that explanation so was now totally confused. To hide my shock, I walked over to one of the walls where certificates had been framed and hung, interested in exactly who this woman was.

"Mia Manoso"

I whispered as much to myself than anything. Was she Ranger's wife? No, she couldn't be, could she?