Bobby meets His Match- Chapter 16
Sorry if you are a Morelli fan. I have never liked him, and I am not flattering to him in this chapter. Please leave feedback, as I live for it.
Bobby hesitated leaving the room, as he didn't want to leave Cathy, even for a minute. He sure as hell didn't want to talk to any cops about that asshole Anders. He walked into the hospital lobby, and "fucking great" he thought. It was Morelli and another detective. He fucking hated Morelli, and not just because he was Steph's ex. Morelli hated Ranger, and he considered the Rangemen " hired thugs." He was always trying to get Rnager arrested for something. Bobby was not a fucking thug, and neither were the others. He was a highly trained former SEAL. Bobby was certain any of them could beat the crap out of Morelli. And Ander's death was made to look like an accident, so why the hell was Morelli investigating it? There was no reason to think it a homicide ( even though it mostly was.)
Bobby swaggered over to the cops, pegging Morelli with an alpha-male glare. He wasn't going to speak first. Morelli said, " This is my partner Big Dog. We are here to talk to you about Scott Anders." Bobby just stared at them. "Do you know Scott Anders? " Bobby said, " I have met him." Morelli gave Bobby a sarcastic look. " You were seen manhandling him about a week ago outside his place of business." Bobby had total blankface. "Yes, I was serving him with a restraining order regarding a woman he was terrorizing." Morelli stared at Bobby, trying to peg him with a 'bad cop' look, but Bobby didn't flinch.
"He was found at the bottom of a cliff yesterday," Morelli said, trying to get a reaction from Bobby. "Well, if the guy fell off a cliff , what does that have to do with me?, " he asked having to restrain himself from getting in Morelli's face.
Morelli looked right in Bobby's face. " I know that you thugs are somehow involved with this. Just like I know Ranger killed Abruzzi a few years ago."
"I thought that Scott's death was accidental? And wasn't Abruzzi a suicide?" Bobby said, through clenched teeth.
Big Dog broke in, trying to diffuse the tension between the two men. " There is no evidence that the death is anything other than an accident. And there was no evidence that Abruzzi wasn't a suicide."
Bobby pulled himself up to his full height. " Ok, then, I have to get back to my girlfriend. I trust I won't be bothered again about this."
Morelli said, " we'd like to talk to her, too."
"You are going to question her regarding her ex's accidental death? " Bobby said through his teeth. "No fucking way will that happen. " He met Morelli's eyes, challenging him to defy Bobby. Morelli met his stare for a moment, then he and Big Dog walked out.
Then Bobby turned and walked back to Cathy's room.
Cathy looked around Bobby's apartment in the Rangeman building. She'd never been here before. But he'd insisted that she come to his place so he can "keep an eye on her." In fact, she'd been released from the hospital "in Bobby's care." After all, she did still have some symptoms of a concussion and was a little weak and her chest still hurt from her broken ribs. She hadn't wanted to admit that to Bobby, though, since he felt so guilty that he was the one who broke her ribs, even though it was while saving her life.
He'd been so solicitous of her. They had stopped at her apartment for her to pack a few things that she would need for the night and to feed her cat. Actually, Bobby hadn't let her pack a thing. She'd sat on her bed, and directed him what to pack for her.
She looked around the small one bedroom apartment, so reflective of Bobby himself. There was a huge TV and stereo system, a surfboard, medical instruments, and boxes of ammo on the coffee table. She was surprised that everything seemed so clean. She couldn't picture Bobby pushing a vacuum cleaner or scrubbing the tub. " If you are hungry, just let me know. I don't keep a lot of food here, but can call Ella for food. She cooks and takes care of everyone who lives in the building."
Ahhh, that explained the clean apartment and probably the clean bedsheets. Bobby turned to her and gave her that boyishly charming grin. Its nice to have a "housekeeper" here to clean the place. Its one of the perks of the job.
She was aching and her head hurt and she still has that nasty antiseptic hospital smell all over her. She just wanted to wash. She must have had a look of discomfort on her face, because Bobby sat her down on the couch. " How are you feeling? Are you in pain?" he asked, his dark chocolate eyes assessing her.
"Yes, " she said, but she knew her voice was weary. She was tired." My head hurts a little." Bobby touched her chest carefully. " How about your ribs?" Is it still painful to breathe? "
"it just hurts a little, but not all the time. But I'd like to take the bandage off and take a nice bath," she said, imagining being clean. "Ok, let me just check you over first," he said. Bobby sat next to her and shone his small penlite in her eyes. He put the blood pressure cuff on her, then put his stethoscope to her arm, watching the dial carefully.
She watched his long, dark eyelashes as he watched the dial. She could look at him without him catching her at it. Part of her hated the fact that he was so medical. Sure, she trusted him completely. But she didn't think of him like a medic, and she sure as hell didn't want him thinking of her clinically, as just another patient, just another body. She wanted him to think of her as beautiful and sexy,
She quickly shifted her gaze as he looked up, deflating the cuff. He put his fingers on her wrist, then looked up at her. "Your pulse is a little fast," he told her. He was so serious. 'yeah," she said, catching his eyes,. " I think its because of the extremely sexy doc sitting next to me. " Bobby paused for a minute, then his gorgeous smile spread across his face and he kissed her gently. " When you are feeling better, I'll really make your heart race," he said, his eyes now hot with the promise of desire.
"Right now, I'd just love to get clean," Cathy sighed. "well, your blood pressure is ok , so you can take a bath. But don't make the water too hot, I don't want you passing out in the tub.
Five minutes later, Cathy was luxuriating in Bobby's tub, filled with hot water. Usually, it would be awkward taking a bath in a guy's tube, but she felt completely at ease. Next to Bobby's deodorant soap, was a bar of Dove, probably courtesy of the mysterious Ella. Bobby had left her a huge, fluffy, Egyptian cotton towel on the rack. Not the threadbare one she'd expected in a guy's apartment.
She sighed and leaned back. She was feeling a lot better. She still didn't remember the drowning, which was probably a good thing. When she had asked Bobby about Scott, he'd merely said that she was safe and not to worry about Scott anymore. She knew there was probably a great deal more to it than that, and she intended to find out-later. She sighed and let the warm water relax her.
Bobby had just knocked on the door to check on Cathy, and the brief glimpse he got of her breasts above the water made him rock hard. He tried to quell his desire. Fuck. He was NOT going to make love to her until she was fully recovered. He wasn't going to be a pig.
Cathy lay under Bobby's cool, soft sheets, cradled up against his big, warm body. He had re-bandaged up her ribs after she got out of the tub. Now, he was running his fingers lightly over the bandage, his face dismayed. " I am so sorry that I hurt you like this," he said. " I would never hurt you on purpose." His mind strayed back to the other time that he had almost hurt her accidentally.
Cathy's eyes roamed lovingly over Bobby. He always felt so guilty when something bad happened that he couldn't control. He always felt like he should be able to control everything. Like he had failed if anything bad ever happened to anyone he loved . She grabbed his hand, and interlaced her fingers with his. "Bobby, you saved my life. Who cares about a few broken ribs?" She snuggled against him and closed her eyes.
Bobby cared. He shouldn't have had to break her ribs, he shouldn't have put her in a situation where she had to escape Anders. He should have taken the fucker out when he first saw him, instead of giving him some damn warning. Bobby knew it was his fault she'd almost died, he'd failed to protect her from that bastard. He smiled slightly as he remembered the satisfaction he got from torturing Anders. So far, he'd managed to avoid talking to her about Anders, but soon she'd find out. The situation with Anders had put the question of his getting therapy aside, but he knew it would come up again. Especially if she found out what he'd done to Anders.
As he leaned down to kiss her now sleeping face, he hoped when she found out she wouldn't hate him. " Go to sleep, baby. I love you," he whispered. Then he clutched her to him and drifted off to sleep.
Cathy had insisted on going to the office that morning, so Bobby had dropped her off with the order to "take it easy." He'd told her to call and he'd pick her up and take her home. They hadn't had sex last night, but she had enjoyed just sleeping in his arms. She was glad to be back in a suit and heels. Wearing heels made her feel strong and sexy. Bobby's gaze had slowly roamed over her legs when he saw her, then he gave her that heated smile.
Her secretary, Monica, had left her a huge pile of phone messages, so she thought she'd return those first. Sitting and talking on the phone certainly qualified as "taking it easy." She was behind in a couple of cases, although Monica had managed to find someone else to deal with a couple urgent ones that had come up. It felt good to be back at work.
She was so engrossed in catching up that she didn't even notice when Monica came in.
"Oh, Cathy, you look so good. We heard that you had drowned and we were so worried. But I heard that tall dark, handsome boyfriend of yours was such a hero."
Obviously Monica hadn't heard about what had caused Cathy to fall in the pool, and since Cathy wasn't sure herself, she just let it go.
"I'm fine, Monica. Bobby took good care of me," she said, trying to reassure her secretary.
"Its too bad what happened to that guy you used to date, huh?" Monica said.
What? What the heck was she talking about? Scott? She knew Scott had violated the restraining order and may have pushed her into the pool, but…
"What do you mean it soo bad what happened to Scott…"
"Didn't you hear?" Monica said. " he fell off a cliff when he was hiking and broke most of the bones in his body."
What? Cathy thought. She started to feel nauseous, then dizzy. Could that be a coincidence? She didn't even think Scott went hiking., so how could he… And why didn't Bobby tell her that when she asked? Something was going on here that she needed to know about.
The noise in the shooting range was deafening, even with hearing protection, as Bobby and Lester emptied clip after clip from their automatic rifles into the moving targets. Bobby loved the sound of the badass rifles and the shells flying out the side as they fired.
Finally, the "cease fire" whistle blew, and Bobby and Lester unloaded the rifles, set them down, and went to check out their accuracy. Bobby had scored a headshot on every one of the moving, human shaped targets. Lester had gotten headshots in about ¾, and the rest were chest shots.
"Chest shots won't work if the enemy has body armour, asshole," Bobby teased Lester. "If you need the bad guys eliminated, you can always call us snipers."
"Shut the fuck up, man. Even if a chest shot didn't kill the perp, it would stun them."
Bobby felt his pants vibrate, indicating that his cell was ringing.
"Yo, Brown," he answered, swift and businesslike.
"Bobby?" Cathy's soft voice came over the speaker, her voice a bit wobbly.
'Hey, baby," his voice softened. "How are you feeling?" he couldn't help but smile every time he heard her voice.
"I am just tired and want to go home and relax with you. Can you come get me?"
Bobby noticed a tenseness in her voice, and he was pretty sure he knew what it was about.
"Sure, baby. I'll be there in a few."
He snapped his phone closed , frowning. He knew he wouldn't be able to keep the truth from Cathy for very long. He just hoped she'd still love him when he told her about Anders.