Disclaimer: The Plum universe belongs to JE. Typos are my bad.
Ranger's POV
"All eyes on Stephanie." I ordered through the comm unit, reinforcing that I don't want anything to happen to her, in spite of the reminder not being needed in my opinion. My men know that heads will roll if Babe gets so much as a scratch on her.
"Oh, trust me, Cuz, all eyes are most definitely on Beautiful." Santos was quick to add, making sure to be heavy on the suggestiveness. I should have left his ass back in Trenton.
Ignoring his innuendo, I tracked Babe's movements through the club's cameras that Hector was able to remotely tap into. Additionally, I have several men posted inside and they all have body cams to offer additional viewpoints. We're leaving no room for error. No bounty is worth putting Babe in unnecessary risk.
"I'm in." Babe's voice floated through our comms just before she came into view entering the extremely selective VIP area.
Ah yes, Santos was of use to this operation after all. All his partying around means he still has several hook-ups in various entertainment venues in Miami.
We're currently running a distraction job in one of the most iconic nightclubs in Miami. Popular with celebrities, socialites, and anyone willing and able to dish out the outrageous prices. Due to the prolific attendees on an everyday basis, nabbing a certain high bond FTA would be risky to civilians given his propensity for violence. He's very good at keeping a low profile, yet his love of drug fueled get-togethers in the VIP section meant that we needed less muscle and more distraction to be successful. Miami Rangeman tried a similar plan with a contract worker, but they couldn't even make it past the main door. Silvio reached out to Tank and I to ask for assistance. After little deliberation, we both thought Stephanie would be perfect for the job given her unique way with people. I ran the plan by Babe, who was quick to accept. I'm positive she wasn't completely kidding when she said getting to go to the beach would be payment enough.
"Oh she's feeling herself!" Santos clapped loudly, making me want to punch him in the face. "You go, Beautiful!" His encouragement reverberated inside our stake out van. I should have left him back at Rangeman. Monitor duty will be too good a punishment for him.
Babe was dancing to the music, capturing not just my attention. Her movements to the upbeat tune weren't downright obscene, but they were sexy beyond belief. And as much as I'd like to say that I disagree with Lester, it's true that Babe is enjoying herself in the semi-packed elite area.
"Damn." Cristian, Rangeman Miami's newest hire, must have felt enabled by Lester's unfiltered commentary. "She taken?" He asked as Babe continued to sway seductively on our screens.
"Yes." I gritted out just at the same time as Santos said 'no' with too much confidence for someone who doesn't know shit.
"So…?" Cristian cut his eyes to me before quickly snapping them back to the screens. He's here to shadow on a distraction, so it's great that he remembers that he's still on his probationary period. And most importantly, on the clock.
"She finally kicked to the curb her on again off again nobody several months ago." Not caring about the repercussions, Santos beamed at me as he pointed out that Babe is very much single and ready to mingle.
"Wow. I'm surprised none of y'all are lining up at the chance to go out with Ms. Plum." Cristian is turning out to be not as sharp as we deemed him to be during his hiring interview. He served with the younger brother of one of our longtime Miami men. Cristian Sanchez came highly recommended and had an exemplary record in the service, yet he has a lot to learn if he wants to stay on board with Rangeman. How he's so oblivious to who Stephanie is tells me a lot.
"You've caught the attention of our mark." Silvio said, his confident voice relaying the vital info in a concise manner.
A quick perusal of the other camera views gave me a visual of our mark, Sergei Volkov, as he tracked Babe's movements from his seated position on the most exclusive booth in the already selective section. He tracked Babe with hawk-like precision, clearly getting a read on his prey.
"Do the hair thing!" Santos instructed without further explanation, which had all of us watching expectantly.
Stephanie didn't need any hints as to what my cousin was referring to. Incorporating her hands into her solo dance, before I knew it Babe's right hand had migrated to her head. Gripping her hair, Babe gave her curls a quick yank as she tilted her head to the side so her hair could sweep across the tops of her shoulders. Moving her head from side to side had her curls sweeping from one side of her head to the other, a move that reminded me of how Babe throws her head back in ecstasy just before she's about to orgasm.
"That's it! You got 'im hooked!" Santos pumped his fist as he congratulated Babe's smooth game.
I didn't bother snapping at Lester. He must have developed some sort of lingo with her because Santos would suggest she do 'the thing' and Babe would, further entrancing us all. Less than twenty minutes of her dancing, seemingly oblivious to those around her, was as much time as Volkov was apparently willing to let pass before he made his first move.
A waiter approached Babe, tapping her shoulder lightly to get her to stop her sensual movements for a brief second.
"For me?!" Babe made sure to yell to ensure we could hear her despite the loud music. "No." Shaking her head, Babe played the part and told the waiter that she hadn't ordered a drink.
"Courtesy of the gentleman!" The waiter had to lean in close to deliver the message, subtly pointing to Volkov, who now stood by the side of his booth as he waited expectantly for Babe's reaction.
"Oh!" Babe took the drink, fluttered her eyelashes towards Volkov as she resumed her dancing. The quick glance was all the acknowledgement she gave him, returning her full focus to her enjoyable dance as if oblivious to all the eyes on her.
"You're up, Javi." Silvio is proving why he's one of my top Miami men in leadership, keeping his eye on our target.
Javier Alvarez served in our unit. He's been with the Miami branch since its inception. Like Santos, he's earned a certain reputation when it comes to the ladies. It reached my ears that one of Rangeman's top clients offered to be Javi's sugar momma not that long ago. The fact he was able to turn Mrs. Lee down without ruffling her feathers is a clear testament to his skills.
Javi easily meshed with Babe, dancing behind her as he crowded her against the railing overlooking the general dance floor below. As predicted, it didn't take long before Volkov interrupted the nearly indecent dance. I'll have to have a chat with Javi, because he most certainly got way too up close and personal with Babe.
"Sorry. Didn't mean to poach your woman, Sir." Javi raised his hands up in the air in open surrender, moving away from Babe as quickly as he'd arrived. The other patrons nearby followed quickly, moving away from the man everyone knows is clearly psychotic.
"Your woman, is that right?" Babe cocked her head to the side to give Volkov the once over. Despite her six inch platform heels, Volkov towers over Babe by several inches. Unintimidated, Stephanie arched her eyebrow in open defiance to his alleged possession of her. "You only bought me a drink. We haven't even introduced ourselves. How am I supposed to know what name to scream at the top of my lungs tonight?" Babe laughed sultrily, eliciting a predatory smile from Volkov.
"Sergei." Flashing his teeth, he bent down to whisper how sexy finds her dancing.
"Your name's sexy." Babe threw back, flashing him a playful smile as she once again began swaying to the music, her back to the railing.
Volkov got close, passing his left hand across his jaw, a deliberate move to show that he's ringless. Babe reached for said hand, complimenting it.
"I'm a big fan of jewelry." She said as she simultaneously made a show of inspecting his hand up close. "I'm particularly fond of necklaces." Without warning, Babe guided his hand so he could lightly wrap it around her neck. As she forced out a laugh, the gold and diamond necklaces she wore to attract attention to her cleavage sparkled in sync with her rising and falling chest. The dress Babe chose for this distraction has a very pronounced neckline, which she's using to her advantage.
"Santos!" This time I did snap at him. I didn't want anyone, much less Volkov, putting their hands anywhere on Babe.
"What?!" My cousin was quick to share that he didn't tell her to do that. "Beautiful did her own digging. Dude's into some serious kinky shit and it's not a secret."
I kept my eyes glued to the monitors, yet ready to bolt out of our surveillance van to be able to get to Babe's side quickly. Babe had Volkov's undivided attention, having piqued his interest further by the bold move.
"Besides, I'm not the one corrupting her. Don't let the innocent blue-eyed look fool you, I saw her paging through the newest installment of that popular spicy novel series when she stopped by to pick up her files at the bonds office last week." From the corner of my eye, I saw the pointed look Santos gave me. "This one's all on Connie and Lula." Shuddering, he said he got a copy of the book to see what the women were reading. "That shit is straight up porn!" Lester hissed, sounding too scandalized for a man who's most definitely seen and done it all.
"You're up." Silvio said to Becker. He'll make an appearance to give Babe a speedier exit plan, especially as she's had to continuously deflect Volkov's wandering hands.
Becker set out to execute exactly what we planned, looking furiously around the lower level. Stalking around, he made a show of weaving through the patrons on his hunt for his target.
"Oh shit!" Babe slipped away from the railing, tucking herself against Volkov's back to use him as a human shield. When he asked what was the matter, Babe said Becker was her asshole ex-husband. With the pretext of using him for balance as she tried to hide from a pissed off looking Becker, Babe successfully placed the tracker on the collar of Volkov's flashy button down shirt.
"Of course…" Switching to Russian, he gave Babe his version of a nickname. His guards were quick to follow after him as he escorted Babe away from view of the lower level, but he shook his head in the negative. The dumb fucker thinks he'll get some favors from Babe for the assist.
I was waiting in the shadows near the service door leading to the back alley, ready to pry Volkov's filthy hands off Babe. My hands fisted automatically when I heard Volkov try to detour to the Valet out front, but Babe was ten steps ahead of him and quickly kept him on our planned exit path.
Volkov was cuffed and shoved in the Rangeman SUV Memo was behind the wheel of. Lazaro, his partner, quickly and efficiently shackled Volkov before piling into the front passenger seat. They're partners for a reason, their bumper clearing the alley in less than thirty seconds after Volkov exited ahead of Babe.
Cristian rode with Lester as they followed behind the fleet SUV set to deliver Volkov to the Miami-Dade precinct. With Silvio in charge of giving orders to the remaining men inside the club, I guided Babe down the short distance towards the Turbo. With Miami being all about lavish living, of course I have a convertible Porsche 911 Turbo at my disposal when I'm in town.
On the drive back to Rangeman, Babe's first order of business was to reach into her captivating cleavage to remove her mic. Turning off her earpiece and the mic, Babe returned them to their respective charging cases before setting them on the middle console.
"Great job, Babe." I praised as she reached for my comm unit. Just the quick swipe of her fingers sent delicious shivers straight to my dick.
"We did a great job." Not one to take all the credit despite being the main reason why we got the elusive Volkov well under an hour, Babe said she couldn't have done it without us watching her back.
We rode in silence for the remainder of the drive as Babe enjoyed the ocean breeze. Smirking at her simple joy, I knew driving with the top down would help Babe fully shed and leave the job behind us.
Parking in the underground garage, I turned off the ignition without bothering to put the top up. I plan on taking Babe on a surprise beach trip tomorrow. She'll get her wish, getting to enjoy a sunny beach swim before we head back to Trenton early next week.
"Thank you." Smiling, Babe thanked me for opening her door to help her out of the Turbo. With her dress being so short and how low the Turbo is to the ground in comparison to a fleet SUV, Babe needs some assistance to avoid flashing the lace thong I know she's wearing.
"Babe." Mirroring her smile, I guided her to the elevator. Per my opportunistic ways, my hand stayed pressed to the small of her back during the entire elevator ride.
The second we were inside of my penthouse apartment, I backed her up against the closed door. Locking eyes, I couldn't hold back another second. Crashing my lips with hers, it didn't take more than my initial probe before our hungry kiss morphed into a full on tongue dueling affair.
Needing to breathe, I used my hold on the backs of her thighs to lift her off her feet while we gasped for breath. Instinctively, Babe wrapped her smooth, long legs around my waist without any further prompting from me. With her tight hold and using my upper body to keep her pressed against the cool wood, my hands skimmed up her sides.
"You like hand necklaces, Babe?" I murmured against her lips as I lightly closed my right hand around her delicate throat.
Babe burst out laughing, the vibrations of her merriment rumbling across our pressed chests. "I don't even know where that came from." She confessed, chuckling just as she looped her arms around my neck and leaned forward to kiss me again.
Our lips and tongues kept us very occupied while I trailed my hands down her sides, reaching behind me to remove her heavy shoes. To show her appreciation for my fleeting foot massage, Babe left nipping kisses across my jawline. When her hands speared through my hair as our lips met again, my hands slipped under the hem of her sinfully tight dress. Our joint moans further ignited our desire.
"I'm glad you like this, because I chose it specifically knowing how much you like it when I wear a little black dress." Babe murmured against my lips as she further pressed herself against my front.
"Babe." I growled, confessing how close I was to plucking out the eyes of every man, including my own men, who laid eyes on her tonight.
"Trust me, I know." Babe said my death glare was a very obvious warning to all. "You know…" Kissing me with a heavy dose of tongue, Stephanie said the cat will finally be out of the bag by morning. "They're going to figure it out. I'm surprised they haven't already." Laughing throatily, Babe told me that I wasn't very good at keeping my cool facade.
"Babe." My pointed glare emphasized my protectiveness of her isn't new. "You okay with going public, Stephanie?" I asked seriously as I pushed several curly strands away from her face. I want to be able to see her beautiful face clearly.
"Yes." The mischievous grin that spread across her pretty face gave away what she was thinking. I was grinning wide before she voiced that she wants everyone to know that I'm taken too.
Knowing that pretty soon our secret will be public, or at least within Rangeman, knowledge, I carried Babe to the bedroom to show her how much I like her in this specific little black dress.