A/N: I'm so happy you are all enjoying this story and thank you for leaving reviews. The next few updates may be a little less frequent but I don't expect anything more than a one or two days in between. Now back to the story.

Chapter 12

Ranger POV

My heart was racing as I rushed up the stairs to Stephanie's apartment not giving a damn that Tank would probably question me later for knowing exactly which one was hers. I was able to pick the main lock in less than 30 seconds but didn't have time to get the floor bolt and chain done before I heard her scream. Knowing the door was wood I gave it a quick kick slamming it open. Drawing my weapon before entering I rushed in.

Seeing the damage done to her apartment had me thinking whoever was trying to hurt her was probably looking for something. The question is what. We cleared the kitchen and living room as we made our way around to the bedroom. I had just stepped over the threshold when she stumbled into my arms wet and covered in baby powder. I scooped her up and brought her out into the living room knowing Tank would take over the apprehension.

I started whispering to her in spanish. I knew she couldn't understand me which was a good thing since the only thing I could think of telling her was that we were only just beginning and that I couldn't lose her yet. As I was caressing her hair I noticed that the sleeve of her white and blue robe was turning red so I rolled it up to reveal that she had a slash on her arm from a knife.

She didn't seem to recognize that her arm had been cut so I continued to hold her until Hector gave me a knowing look when he knelt down in front of us. It took everything in me to pull away from her and proceed back to the scene of the crime. I noticed the perp had entered through her fire escape as I walked through her room.

In the bathroom I could see Steph had put up quite the fight. The man was lying unconscious with his hands and ankles cuffed in the still full bathtub. It took me about ten seconds to recognize him as the skip we had been tracing all morning. His hair was a different color and he now had facial hair but nothing could hide the protruding ears and widow's peak. I also noticed a skull and bones tattoo sticking out from the neckline of his shirt that would cover his left shoulder.

I pulled out my phone and showed Tank since it seemed neither him nor the others in the room had recognized him yet. When he finally understood I told him to take him the long way to the station for booking knowing that he would take him down to our sub basement and question him for motive first. I also made a mental note that we would need to do some additional skill training focused on attention to detail. Most of my men may be retired from the army but they should still be able to pick up when a skip has changed their appearance.

I asked Bobby to come take a look at Steph before leaving the bathroom. He followed shortly after just as I was scooping Stephanie back into my lap. Bobby sat on her coffee table and examined the cut before cleaning it up with some disinfecting wipes.

"Okay Stephanie it's not too bad and it doesn't look like it hit anything vital and the bleeding has slowed so it will just need a couple of stitches. Is it okay if we do them here or would you prefer I wrap it and we wait until we get to Rangeman." He addressed us.

"You can do it now." Stephanie said. Bobby nodded before getting his supplies ready. Stephanie winced when the needle first contacted her arm causing her to stiffen. I kissed her forehead hoping to calm her before remembering that my men were in the room watching us. Looks like we won't be able to keep our secret much longer. Bobby ended up putting in four stitches before applying a healing cream and wrapping the arm and then walking to the kitchen to help the guys who had been in there cleaning up the mess leaving me and Steph alone.

"Babe. You can't stay here tonight."

She sniffed a little, obviously holding back tears before responding. "I suppose you're right. I can't keep myself safe if I have no door and no window."

"There's an open apartment on four you can stay in. I would like for you to stay there until we can get everything settled." I told her. She nodded her head before burying it into my shoulder and I felt her tears start to fall.

Hector came back into the room and started speaking to me in Spanish so whatever he said didn't upset her more. "I packed up a bag of Stephanie's things and her hamster so she can come back with us. I assume she is staying on four but if not she can stay with me. The guys have been cleaning up the apartment and Hal and Ram volunteered to stay here tonight to watch the place until the door and window can be fixed. We aren't sure about the motive behind this yet and we don't know if he has any accomplices that might come back to try and finish the job. From what I can tell he was looking for something but I'm not sure if it is related to him being our skip or something completely different."He finished his thoughts not waiting to hear mine but knowing that I agree before heading down to the SUV's with the things he packed for Stephanie.

Stephanie had calmed herself down so I used my hand to pull her face away from me so I could look her in the eye. "Steph. Hector has your things. Are you ready to go now?" Instead of speaking she slowly pushed herself off my lap and stood beside me as I got off the couch. I held the arm that wasn't cut and guided her to the SUV getting in the backseat with her before Hector drove us to Rangeman with Bobby in the passenger seat.

Stephanie POV

After we got back to Rangeman, Carlos set me up in one of the open apartments. It was simple yet homey enough to still make you feel welcome. It was one bedroom with an open floor plan living and dining area and a bathroom accessible through the bedroom. The place was completely furnished so I didn't have to worry about sleeping on a rollaway cot. Not that I ever thought that would be possible but since I hadn't spent any time in one of these apartments I could only be marginally sure.

After dropping me off Carlos had told me to get some rest and he would be back down later. I slept for almost two hours before I heard a gentle knock on the door to find Hector standing at my door with meatball subs from Pinos. As we ate our food we talked about what happened and Hector tried to apologize for not securing my apartment better. I told him he shouldn't worry about it since there isn't really anything he could've done to prevent a brick going through the window.

We cleaned up and watched ghostbusters to make me feel better while playing a few games of scrabble before he had to go on duty for the night. I decided that I needed to clean up from my day before Carlos came back so I hopped in the shower not daring to take a bath after today. Carlos arrived about 20 minutes after I had gotten dressed and was working on my hair ready to take me back to his place for dinner.

It was interesting getting to go up to the seventh floor. I had originally expected it to be much larger and more sterile but it was perfectly decorated for the man who lived here. It had a warmth to it despite being mostly black, gray, and blue. It was also smaller because despite the building being massive Carlos had walled up a large portion of the floor. It was mostly a closed floor plan similar to mine much more expensive and the addition of an office.

Carlos led me to the dining room table and we enjoyed parmesan crusted chicken, roasted vegetables, and fondant potatoes prepared by Ella. Dinner was amazing and we kept our conversation to just getting to know more about each other. He told me about how he ended up in Miami at the age 14 living with his abuela after he stole a car after his father died from cancer. He struggled with the grief that came with his passing that he began to act out. Since his mom had so many other kids to attend to she thought it would be best if he went to live with Abuela.

I told him about my life growing up in the Berg with my perfect sister, overbearing but generally tolerable mother, and my father who was supportive but often missing in action due to his time in the military. For dessert Ella made a chocolate mousse cake that Carlos packed up so I could take back to my apartment.

On Sunday I slept in and then visited Bobby who cleared me for light duty since I hadn't hit my head on anything and he assessed that I wasn't going to suffer from some kind of PTSD episode by working in the office. Carlos had wanted me to take the whole week off to recover but I didn't want to let my work get behind so I had Bobby clear me so he couldn't argue anymore. Then I decided to spend the rest of my day with Ella baking protein oatmeal chocolate chip bars for the guys breakfast.

This morning I knew I had to go back and face reality since the guys were going to be discussing the man who attacked me at the morning meeting. Carlos had stopped by my fourth floor apartment to talk to me a little bit about what they found out so I wouldn't be surprised but I wanted to know if there had been any additional updates. Carlos also wanted to talk to me about telling the guys about us. I was hesitant at first but when he mentioned the guys observing us on Saturday I knew it had to be done.

I took my place just to the right of Carlos in the conference room. He apparently had been saving it for me. He started the meeting with this week's duty company updates, duty rosters, and the outstanding skips. He shared that the skips they had been looking for Stanley Brasher had been the man who broke into my apartment. It's funny I remember seeing his picture last year but when he was trying to attack me in my apartment I hadn't even noticed it was him. Carlos explained it was probably the adrenaline that kept the details out of my mind.

Stanley Brasher was apparently now in the sub basement of the building Lester told me I didn't have to worry about. Carlos assured me though that there was no way he would be able to get out of there to come upstairs and find me. Tank and Hector had been observing and interrogating him all weekend with a side of tactical starvation and I assume some torture but Carlos and Hector wouldn't admit to that. They had made no progress by Sunday morning but after Carlos made a visit downstairs he sang like a canary.

Brasher's motives were in fact not related to Rangeman or the fact that they were after him at all like the men had previously thought. Apparently he was hired to steal a diamond engagement ring from me. However when he explained to Carlos where he was told to look it turns out he was supposed to be taking the ring from the building two blocks down. Carlos then explained that the woman who lived in that building cheated on the man who hired Brasher and he wanted the ring back after they broke off the engagement but she was refusing. I couldn't blame him. I'd want it back too but I probably consort with the likes of Stanley Brasher.

To my surprise though once the men turned him over to the feds this afternoon the guys the company would be getting almost half a million and Carlos was intending to give me 20k for the takedown. I wanted to tell him that it was too much and that I really shouldn't get any at all but with all the men in the room I didn't want to speak out of turn. I will have to talk to him about that tonight during dinner.

Once Carlos got done with all the business updates he paused to take questions from the men. Hal was the only one to ask one wanting to know about when the men should get their vacation requests for the second quarter. I was able to answer the question that they needed to in by March 15th. Before Carlos dismissed everyone though he took my hand to have me come and stand by him.

"Men, as you may have noticed, me and Stephanie have been spending more time together. We have been on a few dates and are still figuring out where this is all going but we wanted to disclose our relationship to you." Carlos said.

"So does this mean you're gonna be kissing all over the office?" Lester asked. Hector reached over and slapped him on the back of his head. "What was that for it was a valid question."

"Lester, keep in mind what I said in the core team meeting this morning." Carlos said, turning his head between the members of his leadership team. I hadn't realized he told them before this meeting but I guess it would make sense. "As for the rest of you. No this does not mean we will be kissing all over the office. We will be keeping our personal and business lives separate."

"Well I for one am happy for you two. We got chocolate chips in our breakfast this morning!" Cal exclaimed, breaking the tension in the room with the other men agreeing. I noticed a small twitch in Carlos' lips before he returned to his blank face and dismissed the meeting.