Steph’s POV

I’m standing in line at Giovichinni’s watching everyone look at me. I hate being conspicuous, but it can’t be helped.

Hector is with me.

The entire store got quiet when we both stepped in but I nodded at Gina and got into line. No one has approached me, spoken to me or said a word. They’re just watching me.

“Nosy idiots,” Hector mutters. “You are not an exhibit.” Hector continues to mutter angry words next to me and it’s fueling my own irritation. He’s right. I’m not a side-show.

“What?!” I finally yell. Everyone jumps a little. “Do I have something on my face? All my hair sticking up on end? What?”

Silence in the deli. Everyone is staring at me.

“You spend all of your time staring at me, looking at me, trying to figure out what I’m doing and why. Why don’t you find something else to do? I’m tired of being the subject of gossip in Trenton. Get a life, all of you.”

Faces redden, throats clear and eyes drop. Everyone quickly finds something else to look at besides me.

“Quite right, Stephanie,” I hear behind me. I turn and it’s Angie Morelli.

“Mrs. Morelli.” I smile but I’m tense. The last thing I need is a showdown with her in the middle of Giovichinni’s. I see people pulling out cell phones and cameras and I turn.

“Put them away.” I turn and stare at Mrs. Morelli. We said that in unison and we smile at each other. She turns back to everyone. “You’ve made her life a living hell for years, just like all of you gossiped about me. So go back to being ashamed and embarrassed like you were a minute ago. Pathetic people,” she sneers. “You spend your lives talking about other people because you have such sad little lives.”

Again, faces redden, throats clear and eyes drop. Mrs. Morelli turns to me and hands me a note. “The Burg,” she says, rolling her eyes. “Mr. Bennett said it best: For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbors, and laugh at them in our turn?“

“They need a new sport,” I mutter and she laughs.

“Yes, but they’ve grown to love this one over the past 75 years. Why stop now? Anyway, I assume this will mean something to you. Please come to my house when you leave here. I need an immediate answer.”

I smile. “Yes, Mrs. Morelli.” She nods at Hector and leaves. I open the note.

Invitation for a trip to Italy rescinded. No longer interested. Try Cuba and good luck.

I stare at the note for what seems like forever. No longer interested. Try Cuba and good luck.

Did I just get dumped? Again?

I mean, I made my choice and I love Ranger but this is heartless. This is cruel. I’ve been waiting for this op to end so I could tell him face to face, but he sent me a fucking note? Via his Mommy?

I feel my rage building. Hector tugs my sleeve. I’m next in line and I give Gina my mother’s order while the fury builds.

I’ve tried to be thoughtful. The guys have told me war stories (cleaned up, I’m sure) and the consistent message in them is ‘No bad news when on ops. Nothing breaks a man’s concentration faster than getting a ‘Dear John’ letter.’ Since Joe’s actions could affect Ranger, I’ve been waiting for him to come home to tell him that I’d made a decision. I’m not even sure how I planned to break it to him but I did intend to be more thoughtful than a fucking note!

I turn and stalk out of Giovichinni’s, Hector following me looking confused. I climb into the SUV and hand him the note. He reads it and lets off a stream of curses in Spanish. He finally calms and looks at me.

“How do you intend to answer?”

“I don’t know.”

Hector raises an eyebrow at me but I smile. “Ranger. I’m not changing my mind.”

He rolls his eyes. “I knew that, Angelita, but this is . . . I don’t even have the words for it.”

“I do. Cruel and cowardly. He had his mom deliver his break-up message. He could have done this so many other ways, but he told his Mom, which means it will hit the Burg the moment this op is over and he comes home. The story will be ‘Joey dumped her while he was still working in California’, not ‘They agreed to see other people’, which is what I was hoping for. Something adult. Something where neither of us was to blame.”

Hector is thoughtful. “No, Mrs. Morelli just stood up for you in the deli. I think there’s more to her than you may think. Let’s go talk to her.” He starts the car but turns to me and smiles. “And if you really thought you weren’t going to be blamed or talked about, you were kidding yourself. Most of the Burg took your promotion to CO as confirmation that you were sleeping with Ranger for years.”

I stare at him. “What?”

He nods and turns onto the Morelli’s street. “That was the gossip I was hearing.”

“Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

Hec looks at me in surprise. “I thought you already knew.”

“How?” I ask, bewildered. “You guys had me under lock and key.”

“We didn’t take your phones from you,” Hec says, parking in front of the Morellis. “I thought ML, Connie, or Lula had told you. They’re your gossip sources. That’s how I found out.”

“That whole ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t speak English’ shtick really works for you, doesn’t it?”

Hector grins and unlocks the doors. Meanwhile, I make a note to call ML, Connie, and Lula. I need to talk to them. They aren’t keeping me up to date.

---

Grandma Bella is standing on their porch staring at me.

“Meraviglioso, ora che puttana pazzo è qui. Che cosa vuoi? Hai già spezzato il cuore di Joey!” (“Wonderful, now the crazy bitch is here. What do you want? You already broke my Joey’s heart!”)

I stare at her for a moment before smiling. “By the way, thanks for Vordo. If you intended to use that to make me marry Joe, it backfired on you.”

She clutches her heart and looks at me in disgust. “You whore!”

I snort. “Congrats. You got exactly what you wanted.”

I step past her and into the house where Mrs. Morelli looks at me coldly.

“Really? You’re going to use my mother-in-law as an excuse for cheating on my son? Bella’s curses are completely ridiculous. Psychosomatic, I think. Otherwise I would be dead, bald, have three humps, have a million bunions on my feet and the list goes on.”

I stare at her. “I never said I cheated on Joe. I damn near killed him making him handle it since it was his grandmother who decided to curse me. It was worse than being a dog in heat.”

Not bad. I need to spend more time around Ram. His skill is rubbing off.

Mrs. Morelli stares at me. “Never having been a dog in heat, I don’t know what that’s like. I’ll take your word for it.”

I wince; gotta work on my insults now. Mrs. Morelli points to a chair and I sat down, wondering where Hector went.

The Morelli house is decorated just like my parent’s place: Floral couches, pictures of the Pope (John Paul II still occupying the most prominent place), and the heavy smell of Sunday gravy everywhere. I can tell she used oregano and lots of basil. I’m thinking ziti and I’m suddenly hungry. Ziti is Joe’s best dish and he’s a master at it.

“I assume you have a response,” she says, reaching for a notepad.

“No, I don’t.” She looks up at me sharply. “Whatever response I have I’m holding onto until he returns. I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize his safety.”

Mrs. Morelli stares at me then smiles faintly. “Thank you.”

I smile. “His life is important to me.”

“So, you’re moving on too?”

I nod. She smiles and passes the Entenmann’s coffee cake to me before going to the kitchen. She returns with coffee for us both. I slice a piece of coffee cake, she takes one and we both sit back.

“Personally, I’m glad you two are calling it quits,” she says. “You were never suited for each other.”

“Why not?”

“Because you never intended to settle down in the Burg,” she replies. I smile faintly and she smiles big. It makes Angie Morelli look like an entirely different person to see such a happy smile on her face.

“You think I wanted to settle down here?” she says. “I hated this place. I moved to New York after I graduated high school. I wanted to work my way up the ranks at Good Housekeeping. I wanted to be Heloise.”

We laugh. I can see Mrs. Morelli as Heloise. She’s already a saint among Burg housekeepers. Hector walks in and takes a seat next to me. Mrs. Morelli motions to the coffee cake and he declines with a wave. Mrs. Morelli motions to her coffee and, after a moment’s hesitation, Hector nods. Mrs. Morelli disappears to the kitchen and returns with a cup for Hector and cream and sugar. Hector adds a small amount of cream and one sugar before settling back against the chair.

Bella Morelli comes in and, after tossing a black look my way, goes upstairs without another word. Angie Morelli looks at Hector.

“I don’t know what he threatened her with,” she says, dragging her eyes over to me, “but can you ask him to tell me his secret? I’ve never seen her do that.”

I laugh and we sit for a moment enjoying the coffee cake and coffee, Hector carefully hiding his smile.

Angie Morelli sighs. “I moved back here only because my husband started became erratic after he returned from the war. He held it together as long as he could, but the government and the country didn’t care about military vets then like they do now. Anyway, I needed, he needed help, so we moved back here so Bella could help.” She sighs. “I threw my dreams of being Heloise away for all this,” she says ironically, motioning around her living room. I laugh in spite of myself.

“Anyway, I like you, Stephanie. I always have, but I never thought you were right for Joey. You’re a sweet girl and I’ll always be thankful you proved Joey was not a murderer but you’re too impetuous, too independent and too immature to be a wife. Joey needs a strong woman by his side and that’s not you. You’re childish.”

I stop eating my cake is surprise. “I’m not—”

“You are. I’ve watched it for years.” She sits her coffee down and leans forward. “Everyone thinks your sister is the selfish one. She is selfish but so are you. You don’t care about the feelings of others, unless that’s changed. You’ve never considered what it must be like to love someone and watch them lurch from disaster to disaster. You’ve never considered what it must be like to love someone and wonder if they’re sleeping with someone else when you aren’t with them. If you have, then you clearly don’t care. I’ve dreaded the day you and Joey showed up here engaged. I could only wonder if your children would be fathered by Joey or Ranger.”

I’m pale and stunned. “How dare you—” Hector stands, a clear ‘Let’s go’ on his face.

“Because I’m a mother. You aren’t a mother and from what I hear you have no interest in being a mother, but let me tell you something. When you see your child hurt, when you see them cry, all you want to do is go beat up the bully. When I saw my son, my adult son, come here in tears because you’d ripped his heart apart, I’ll tell you, Stephanie Plum, as a mother, I could have easily killed you that night.”

I’m sitting back, not smiling, staring at the ground. Where in the hell did that come from? Mrs. Morelli hasn’t raised her voice or gotten angry once this entire conversation. Hector stares at me, eyebrow raised and a fierce look on his face. I shake my head. No. I don’t know why, but I’m going to allow Mrs. Morelli to say this now. She could have done it at Giovichinni’s and she didn’t.

I’ll let her get it all out now. Then I’ll rip her to shreds. Hector examines my face and sits slowly, clearly unhappy about my decision.

“So right now I’m glad Joey’s done with you and I’m glad you seem to be over him. I think that’s the best thing for both of you. I will give you a piece of advice though.” I look up. “Remember that you have to love the best and the worst of someone. You don’t always get happy days and sunshine in marriage. Sometimes, marriage is storm clouds and rain, although in your case I suppose that might be bombed cars and kidnappings.”

She snorts and hands me another slice of cake. “Anyway, if you intend to make a life with Ranger, treat him better than you treated my son. Remember that he’s a person, with feelings, and deserves better treatment than your ‘in a relationship, not in a relationship’ antics.

No man is perfect and you aren’t perfect either. Find a set of faults you can live with and love that person with all you have. And I appreciate you holding the tongue lashing you clearly plan to give Joey to yourself until he returns.”

I stare at her and she nods. “Oh, I don’t think you’re wrong in that. He deserves it but you deserved the breakup you got. You never cared about his feelings when you ran around on him with Ranger. We’ve all heard the alley stories.” I pale and my eyes widen. “Well, when he broke up with you, he stopped putting your feelings first, just as you ignored his feelings every time Ranger took you to the alley.”

“Joe and I weren’t together—”

“Handy excuse. You broke up and got back together the next week. In between, Ranger had time to do whatever he wanted with you and my son was forced to keep his mouth shut and endure it. I’ll bet that if the situation had been reversed you would have called him every name in the book. Perhaps even run him over and broken his leg again.”

She snorts. “If you want to know why he doesn’t respect you and didn’t respect you enough to give you an adult breakup, that’s why. You haven’t given him a reason to respect you. You chipped away at his respect for you with your actions. You chipped away at my respect for you with your actions.”

There are no smiles on her face now. Those beady black eyes are pinning me to the chair and I actually feel powerless to move. “You don’t get to have it both ways. You don’t get to sleep with whomever you want then demand that the men sleeping you, and their families, ignore your behavior. Not if you want to be in a relationship.

If you want to sleep around with whoever you like, quit pretending to be in a relationship when it’s convenient for you. Be single and sleep around and quit trying to give it a veneer of respectability.” She refills my coffee. “In my day, we had words for women like you. Tease was the nicest one.”

It’s quiet in the living room. I’m too stunned to move. I’m stunned, caught off guard, and astonished. Hector is clearly pissed. He’s standing, furious, and glaring at Mrs. Morelli.

“Stephanie, esto no está bien. Nadie merece esto. Ella sólo quiere darte una paliza. Vamos. Ahorita mismo,” Hector growls. (Stephanie, this is not right. No one deserves this. She simply wants to beat you up. Let’s go.(right) Now.)

“No, ella pudo haber dicho esto cuando estabamos en Giovichinni’s . Ella no lo hizo. Voy a dejar que ella dice lo que quiere. Entonces me voy a arrancar le un nuevo anillo.” (No, she could have said this when we were at Giovichinni’s. She didn’t. I’m going to let her say what she wants. Then I’m going to rip her a new asshole.)

“Su relación con el hijo de ella no es nada de su maldita negocio de ella. Nadie tiene el derecho a darte una paliza, física o emocionalmente. Vamos.” (Your relationship with her son is none of her fucking business. No one has the right to beat you up, physically or emotionally. Let’s go.)

I stare at Hector in confusion. He sighs. “Nadie tiene el derecho de hacerle daño a su corazón ni a su cuerpo. Vamos.” (No one has the right to hurt your heart or body. Let’s go.)

I shake my head and Hec sits back down, clearly angry. Mrs. Morelli looks on calmly.

“Interesting . . . ” she murmurs. “Why didn’t you make him learn English?”

“None of your business,” I reply. Hector’s words and anger have broken the spell. I put lean forward, ready to start ripping her one. “I’m sorry you regret your life or how your life turned out—” I begin but she cuts me off.

“I regret nothing. I loved my husband and I did what I had to in order to ensure he was OK.”

“Fine. I respect, that but for you to sit here and tell me that I’m selfish is unfair. To tell me that you wonder if my children would have been fathered by Joe or Ranger is calling me a whore. Telling me that I deserve to be told to go to Cuba is mean and unfeeling. You don’t know me any better than the Burg gossips do and in 30 minutes you’ve treated me worse than the people in Giovichinni’s did.”

Angie Morelli looks at me and smiles. “No, I’ve finally said what I’ve always wanted to say to you. Bella and I have never been happy with the idea of you as Joey’s wife but if you were his choice, we would have accepted it. The fact that he may have met someone else, someone who actually cares about her life and other people and their feelings, thrills us.

He’s met a woman with her priorities in order and he finally sees what we always knew: that you’re selfish and he was never going to be the love of your life. I’ve paid attention to what would affect my son. You’re not me. You’re not Bella. You aren’t willing to make sacrifices for the person you love. Not without a lot of whining. You want everyone to make sacrifices for you. You want everyone to save you from yourself when you get in over your head.”

I’m red. Hector is clenching his jaw, clearly restraining himself.

“You don’t know how to be a loving partner. Here’s a hint: you put other peoples’ safety and well-being ahead of your own. That’s what I did for my husband. I put him before me because I loved him. Now, if that’s changed I’m glad, but I’m not willing to risk my son’s life on that.” She nods at Hector. “I hope he knows how to protect your back and his until you get the idea.”

She stands, the visit clearly over. “Maybe someday you’ll be a parent and you’ll understand. The idea is simple: Nothing means more to me than my child and I’d kill anyone who harmed him, including the woman he thinks he loves.”

I look at Hector, who is also standing, and shake my head. “Mrs. Morelli, you’ve had a chance to say what you wanted. Now, I’m going to say what I want.” I put the cake and coffee down and wipe my fingers. “I wouldn’t marry Joe because I didn’t want to be you.” Her eyes widen and Hector, sensing what I am about to do, sits back down.

“I didn’t want to be you and I didn’t want to be my mother. I wasn’t prepared to spend my entire life as another piece of the Burg gossip, never doing what I wanted to do and having everyone tell me what I should think and feel. Having everyone talk about me behind my back and smile in my face. No one is going to tell me how to live my life. I didn’t allow it at six and I’m not going to allow it now.

You say you don’t regret not staying in New York and becoming Heloise, but clearly you do. You regret not getting to follow your dreams in life, but you despise me for doing that. And you may not think that being a bounty hunter is a good profession for Joey’s wife but I’ll tell you this.”

I stand up and lean closer to Mrs. Morelli, who has gotten paler, lips tight, during my speech. “If he’s met another woman on this op who is like me that means he’s met a cop or some sort of investigator, someone who carries a gun and works a dangerous job like I do,” I whisper in her ears. “Are you and Bella really ready to welcome home a woman like her? She’s not going to be in a kitchen cooking Joey’s meals and washing windows waiting to have his babies any more than I would.”

Mrs. Morelli smiles. “Yes, we are. Unlike you, this woman is skilled at her job and takes it seriously. You? You don’t take anything seriously, not even your own life. He realized that he had more of a relationship with her, after six weeks, than the lifetime he’s known you. What does that say about your relationship with him? What does that say about you? You just blew up another BMW a few weeks ago—”

“The BMW was not my fault—”

She rolls her eyes. “Surprise, surprise. It’s not your fault. We’ve never heard that before.”

“Mrs. Morelli, you don’t know jack shit about me. You don’t know everything I’ve done to improve at this job—”

“When you no longer had a choice. And clearly you still aren’t doing a good job if you’re still blowing up cars.”

“You don’t know anything about me,” I grind out. I sit back down and, after a slight hesitation, so does Mrs. Morelli. “Your information is about six months old. So quit assuming you know how I do my job based on what you’ve heard. Just like the Stiva’s thing, you don’t know the truth about it, just the gossip you’ve heard.

As for the alley stories, well I am single and I can date and sleep with anyone I want.” Mrs. Morelli rolls her eyes. Hector is staring daggers at her at this point. “I’m not Joe’s wife but if I were, Ranger knows we would not have been anywhere near the alley. As I said, Joe and I weren’t together anytime you heard an alley story.”

I’m purposely ignoring the time I cheated on Joe with Ranger. That was incredibly hot sex in the Porsche and I refuse to feel guilty about it. Bella cursed me with Vordo. She can just deal.

“And if Joe had decided to date other people while we were off, I would have dealt with it. I dealt with all the stories about romantic dinners at Rossini’s when we broke up. Never once did Joe take me out for a romantic dinner, but every time we broke up, when he dated someone else, they got the romantic dinners and flowers.

I got nothing, but he said he wanted to marry me. I got pizza and Rangers games on TV while he drank beer and farted on the couch. Good way to show romance there. What a way to romance me to the altar,” I state, heavy on the sarcasm. Hector looks amused. “Is that how your husband romanced you? If your husband’s idea of foreplay was to tell you ‘The boys miss you’, while looking down your shirt, then I understand why Joe’s shit at it.”

I sip my coffee and wonder why I ever thought that was cute. Angie Morelli sits silently, staring at me.

“So thank you for the appreciation that I proved Joe was not a murderer. It’s the first time any Morelli has ever thanked me for that and if saving your son’s life isn’t enough reason for you to not only respect me but worship me, then I was never going to have your respect anyway.”

Hector shifts in the seat, hiding his amusement.

“Ever since I got him off on the murder charges, I’ve helped him by providing him with information that helped him solve his cases and look really smart in front of his bosses. So I guess my job is just a hobby but Joe’s job is important? I’ve never been thanked for helping him, but when I was accused of murder, he had no problem hiding my despised ex-husband in his house and allowing me to walk around thinking I would be arrested at any moment.”

Hector is allowing a small smile to curve his lips now. He’s enjoying this now.

“If Joe really wanted me to consider being his wife, he could have offered me what Ranger did: Support. Encouragement. Assistance. That’s what you gave your husband but your son didn’t give that to me. He could have believed in me but he never did. He could have helped me improve but he never did. He treated me like a pet, like I was just playing at this but I needed the money.

This was my job and clearly, if I was smart enough to catch an experienced cop, I might have some skills at it but my boyfriend was never willing to help me. I was determined to get it right, even if I didn’t always do it clean, or without drama, or without needing some help. Thankfully, the local security expert was willing to help. Otherwise, I would be dead right now.”

Hector’s biting his lip to hide his grin. So am I. I hope Ranger is OK, wherever he is.

“I’m the most successful bounty hunter on the East Coast, regardless of what you’ve heard,”—her eyebrows rise—”and Joe never once encouraged me in this job. Ranger has, repeatedly. Even now, while he’s overseas, I’m running his company because he needed someone he trusted to do it. Joe didn’t even trust me to watch Bob and we supposedly share custody of the dog.”

Mrs. Morelli’s red and stony faced. Good. I hope she’s enjoying this pillowcase as much as I am.

“So if Joe has rescinded his invitation to Italy, I’m fine with that because, yet again, he’s shown that he has absolutely no faith in me. He told me I had a year to consider it but eight months in, he’s changed his mind. And you say it’s because he met someone like me who carries a gun and does a dangerous job.”

I snort. “Well, I hope he respects her and her choices and her career more than he respected me and my career. I hope he respects her judgment and doesn’t belittle her abilities. I hope he doesn’t tell her things like ‘What do you do, sit in bed at night and think of ways to fuck up my life?’ or ‘Does this involve death? Does this involve sex? Then I can’t think of why else you’d be calling me?'”—her mouth drops—”or the always classic ‘Shit, I must be crazy to work with you.'”

Angie Morelli is red-faced and astonished now. Good. Time she felt the way I felt a moment ago.

“And I can’t wait to see how you and Bella really adjust to having a daughter-in-law who gets shot at as much as I do. I can’t wait to see how you adjust to someone who isn’t interested in giving up her guns for an apron and your ziti recipe. Can’t wait to see how Joe decides to juggle being in a relationship with someone who gets midnight calls to respond to crime scenes like he does. Someone who might go undercover like he does. Someone whose career might conflict with his happy home life.

I look forward to seeing Joe as Mr. Mom. Does he know how to change a diaper? Potty train a child? Calm a temper tantrum? Keep a toddler entertained?” I point to Hector. “Thanks to my partner, I’ve learned but I can’t wait to see how Joe manages.” I check my watch. “As a matter of fact, I think Hector and I should leave now because there’s a three-year-old in my office who will wake up from his nap soon and if his uncle and I aren’t in the building, he won’t be a happy little man.”

I stand and so does Hector, no longer hiding his smiles.

“Everything had to be the way Joe wanted it. If he said don’t, he expected me to accept that. If he said no, I was supposed to agree. Well, I’m my own person and I don’t agree and just because he said so isn’t the way it’s going to be. That’s the way I run my life. I’m the person in charge of it.

And as interesting as this little chat was, I’m sure you never appreciated Bella sticking her nose into your marriage and I don’t appreciate you sticking your nose into our relationship. He asked you to pass on a message, not give me your opinions on my life and how I live it. I make my decisions and anyone who thinks they’re going to tell me what to do, including you, can kiss my ass.”

We head to the front door but as I reach it I turn back around to Angie, who followed us. “Thank you for the coffee, Mrs. Morelli, and the cake. I appreciated it. Have a good day.”

---

Hector’s POV

I’ve never been so proud of Angelita in my life. She’s cut him loose! And she told his mother to kiss her ass!

I look at my phone. I’m glad I taped that. I’m putting that on repeat and laughing my ass off later tonight. I immediately zip the file and send it to Ranger. Normally I wouldn’t, but he needs to hear that. He needs to know that she’s no longer the same woman. She’s turned the corner. She’s truly his and she’s making it clear to everyone. If he doesn’t get his shit together, she’ll leave him too.

Now, if we could just get her to take her safety more seriously . . .

I follow Angelita out of the Morelli house and climb into the SUV. I look over at Angelita, who looks red and angry.

“Why?” I still can’t believe I sat there and listened to that. “Why on earth did you sit there and accept that? It took everything I had to remember Mrs. Morelli was a woman and not threaten her.”

She’s quiet. “Because she could have said it in Giovichinni’s and she didn’t. That’s number one. Two, Joe and I have always battled pressure from our moms to get married. I wanted to know what she really thought of me and now I do. Three.” She turns to me.

“Because she’s just another one of who knows how many people lately to tell me, to my face, that I’m incompetent.”

My eyes widen. “Angelita—”

“No, don’t try to make it sound better than it is. You, Ram, Hal, Bobby, Lester, Tank, Pat, my parents, all of you have had a field day over the past eight months telling me, constantly, that I’m incompetent. It’s almost as if everyone in the Burg waited for Ranger and Joe to leave and then decided to tell me everything they’ve always really thought of me.”

I’m absolutely stunned and furious. “I have not called you incompetent.” She opens her mouth and I cut her off. “No, I’ve said that you’re careless with my life. You are careless with Mijo’s uncle. That’s not the same as calling you incompetent. I told you from the beginning that I had no intentions of dying because—”

“If you intend to do this job, you have to do it right. You have to quit relying on luck,” Angelita says, mimicking me. “Or ‘Even knowing that catching skips was your livelihood, you were slapdash doing it. Miss him today? Go home, take a shower, eat a doughnut. Tomorrow is another day.'”

I close my eyes and lean my head back against the headrest. I feel ashamed, embarrassed and sick to my stomach. Fuck! The day I pillowcased her and our trip to NYC. I did pretty much call her incompetent both times.

She’s right. She’s had months of everyone calling her a screw-up, including me, and she’s endured it without lashing out.

It’s silent in the SUV now. Angelita sighs heavily. “The only thing that’s worse than hearing someone call you incompetent is realizing you have absolutely no comeback for it. None. I had no rebuttal to either of those statements.” She sighs, grabs two bottles of water and passes me one. She opens her bottle of water.

“It’s one thing for you, or Hal, or Ram to tell me something that hurts because I know you mean the best for me. You guys are absolutely truthful with me and you don’t treat me like I’m too stupid or fragile to know things. You tell me and let me deal with it.

I can take that because I know you love me and you care. Yeah, you called me incompetent then turned around five minutes later and taught me how to get out of handcuffs. You’ve spent months with me improving my skills, teaching me everything I needed to know to do the job, making sure I’m prepared to handle myself anywhere and I’m grateful. But it doesn’t change the fact that all of you called me incompetent.

It hurts because I realize that no one respects me and they don’t respect me because they didn’t believe I took my job seriously. Even Lula didn’t think I cared about my life. Now that I am trained and prepared, everyone still thinks I’m a screw up. The cops refuse to believe I could pass Army PT at that level because I’ve always been as fit as they are.”

I smirk at that before sobering.

“My mother is proud of me now, for the first time, because I’m trained to do the same job I’ve been doing for years and the only difference between now and then is the fact that she sees that I’m prepared to handle myself. Because of it, she’s no longer begging me to get a new job. Now she’s impressed and proud and bragging on me. That’s depressing. It’s depressing to know that she might have shut up years ago about me being a bounty hunter if I’d just gotten some training.

She and Joe wouldn’t have called me incompetent.” She shakes her head. “But that’s the difference between her telling me I’m incompetent and you telling me I’m incompetent. She just wanted me to get a new job. You spent hours teaching me what I needed to know to help me do this job.”

It’s quiet in the SUV. She’s right. We spent months telling her, constantly, that she had to change, she had to get better at this job. For me, it was personal. My rep was on the line but I also had Mijo to think of. I’ve done everything I have to stay alive because he means more to me than my own life. I’m determined to stay alive for him and if I was going to die, for any reason, it was not going to be because my new partner got me killed.

“Mrs. Morelli?” She says quietly. I look over at her. “She wanted to pass Joe’s message along to throw that in my face. Joe’s message is one thing and I’m going to rip him to shreds later. Mrs. Morelli?” She snorts. “No better way to rip her to shreds than to tell her what it’s like to date her precious baby boy. Maybe now she’ll understand what I put up with that other women didn’t and now I’m not putting up with it anymore. Maybe now she’ll understand why he can get a date but not a girlfriend. Not a steady one, at least, besides me.”

“Well, if that was the objective, that was beautiful,” I tell her, a big grin on my face. “So, you and Joe were each other’s fall back?”

“Yeah.” She exhales heavily. “That’s what our relationship was.” She looks at me and stretches in her seat. “Did you record it?”

“Yes.”

“Can I get a copy?”

“Of course.” I raise an eyebrow and wait.

She’s quiet for a few minutes before smiling at me. “I want it to remind me of why I should never ever even think of giving Joe another chance. Not only was he an ass but his family hates me.” Her smile drops. “They’ve smiled in my face and let me think they wanted me to marry Joe and all the time they were dreading it.” Her nostrils flare angrily. “To tell me that she wondered if my children would be fathered by Joe or Ranger? That was the end of it for me. That pissed me off.”

Me too. I was absolutely furious. Unfortunately, Mrs. Morelli got a few good hits in, which is why I wanted to leave. No need for her to take that abuse but Angelita stayed and listened. As a father, I had to agree with some of Mrs. Morelli’s points. I don’t want anyone playing with Mijo’s emotions, no matter how much that person says they love him. She ripped Angelita a very nice asshole on that point and I had to agree 100%.

Problem is, like most of the Burg, she has no idea how far Angelita’s come. I have a partner, a headstrong one, yes, an independent-minded one, yes, but I have a true partner. After all, that’s exactly what Angelita has, a headstrong, independent partner. We mesh just right.

And I love my son but it’s not my place to get involved in his love affairs. Yikes! There’s a thought: trying to help my son navigate the tricky world of dating. Anyway, I hope I’ve taught Mijo to respect himself and look for someone who respects themselves as his partner when that time comes. I’ll need to follow Tank’s example there. He’s successfully broken a cycle of teenage motherhood in his family and I hope he’ll help me.

So Angelita ripped Angie Morelli a nice asshole too, a nice big one. She and Bella aren’t really thinking about how having a daughter-in-law in law enforcement would really impact them. They’re gloating that Joe and Angelita are permanently off but Angelita did a very good job of pointing out that Joe’s own selfish behavior is what kept her from committing to him, not Ranger.

Too bad they didn’t know she’d already made the decision for Ranger anyway. I grin mentally.

I got pizza and Rangers games on TV while he drank beer and farted on the couch. Good way to show romance there.

I have to tell Ella that. We’ll need to ensure Angelita has raised her standards far above that. This op needs to end. We haven’t been dancing in a while.

“Let’s go home, Hec,” she says and I turn the truck on happily.

She said home. She’s cutting her ties to this incestuous little hell hole in Trenton. She’s truly a RangeWoman now.

---

Steph’s POV

Our return to Haywood was quiet. I was thinking about the things Mrs. Morelli said and I have to admit, she got me good on one point.

She said exactly what I haven’t been willing to accept: being in a relationship, any kind of relationship, means you put that person’s well-being ahead of your own. That’s what ML told me months ago, late at night when I didn’t want to hear it.

All relationships are about change, Steph. Change, adaptation, no matter what you have to learn how to get along with the other person. You compromise in order to keep that person in your life. You can’t have everything your way in a relationship. That’s life, Steph.

Thanks a lot, ML.

That’s what Ranger was trying to tell me, that to be partnered with Hec meant I needed to put him first. All Ranger’s requirements for a relationship with him involved my personal safety. That’s all he’s ever asked for and I still screwed up. He was right. I never want to explain to Nikki or Manny that my stupid actions got Hector killed.

I never want to stand at Ranger’s bedside or graveside knowing that my actions put him there.

“No man is perfect and you aren’t perfect either. Find a set of faults you can live with and love that person with all you have.”

Ranger isn’t Dickie. He’s never cheated on me, he’s never lied to me, and he’s never treated me as if I didn’t matter. He’s not Joe, ignoring my abilities, lying to me, and constantly telling me how I ruin his life (unless I’ve just slept with him). I’ve been treating Ranger like Dickie, waiting on the moment when he’d disappoint me. I’ve treated Ranger like Joe, waiting for him to tell me that I’m a screw-up. I’ve been treating Hector like a tolerated bodyguard instead of as the partner I need.

Ranger and Hector aren’t Dickie. They love me and they care. It’s time for me to stop treating them as if they want to ‘put me in a glass cage and poke me with a fucking stick’.

Gotta love Ranger. When he uses the damn words, he paints a really good picture.

“Am I a bad partner?”

Hector sighs. “Bad? No. Occasionally unthinking? Yes.” I cringe. “You aren’t accustomed to having a partner, Angelita. This is an adjustment for both of us but I will say, if you are thinking about what Mrs. Morelli said in that regard then yes, she’s right. The idea behind a partner is you put their welfare first. You protect their back as you would your own.”

I’m really going to have to talk to ML. She’s always right.

He turns to me, a serious look on his face. “I apologize.”

“For what?”

“For what I said to you yesterday. I keep forgetting that you aren’t accustomed to having a partner who is prepared to have your back. Checking with someone is not your MO. Lula is not a partner”—I smile—”but I have to give her credit for one thing.” Hector grins. “She was always ready to blow someone’s head off to protect you. Problem was, more often than not, that someone was the wrong damn person or thing.”

We laugh. I remember all the times Lula drew that gun to protect me and he’s right. She was always willing to protect me when I wasn’t ready to protect myself.

Like Ranger.

“No, you were right.” I sigh. “Ranger asked me how I planned to explain to Mijo that my actions got you killed. He was right.” I look over at him and he grasps my hand and squeezes hard. “You told me not the make the mistake of thinking I was safe just because I was in Trenton. I have to think about you and me both when I do things.

It’s just that I’m tired of never getting a chance to be alone. I need to have time by myself, Hec. I haven’t been on my own since the guys moved me out of my apartment. That was over eight months ago.”

“Really?” Hec looks mystified.

“Really. The closest I get to alone time is when I’m in the apartment but there are still RangeMen underneath me.”

“Point Pleas—” He trails off and I nod.

“Exactly. You go offline and disappear all the time. I haven’t been able to. It’s not fair.” I turn to him, frowning. “Are you chipped too?”

Hector nods and we continue down the road to RangeMan. I’m thinking about how I can make a point.

“We have time to make a stop?” We’re a block from the building.

“Sure. Where to?”

“My apartment.”

We reverse direction, travel to my former apartment and let ourselves in. It’s clean and tidy thanks to Grandma but I’m looking around. I need something that says ‘I live here’ and I finally find it. I grab a few odds and ends, Hector locks the door and we return to Haywood.

As we park, Hec turns to me. “If I can make ‘alone time’ happen, will you promise, solemn promise Stephanie, that you will not venture out on your own?”

I smile. “Hector, if you can promise me true alone time, no one popping up, I will love you forever.”

Hector grins. “You mean you don’t already?” I laugh. “Where did I go wrong?” he asks playfully. We enter the building and I call Ella and ask her to meet with me on 7. Ten minutes later she arrives with a legal pad.

“Hello, dear,” Ella says. I give her a big hug and she grins. “The brown bear cookie jar is moving in?”

“Yup. And he needs cookies!” She laughs. “You decorated Ranger’s other places, right?”

“Right?” She says, looking suspicious and excited.

“Well, I’m here, Rex is here, and my cookie jar is here. I’m moved in.” Ella beams happily. “Time for this place to look like a home.”

“Oh thank god! Color? Please tell me we’re adding color!”

I nod. “Navy, white and green at minimum. No pink. Some grey. Maybe some purple. The beige look needs to go.” I look around. “This is my home. I need to feel as if this is my home.”

---

Ranger’s POV

I drop into the chair exhausted. I’m nearly done with this one. I want to hand this over to the authorities before Christmas and toast the New Year with my Babe. I’m trying to decide where to take her as a surprise. Where would she like to go? Hawaii? The Bahamas? Someplace where she can put on a bikini and bask in the warm sun. That much I know.

I take a shower, continuing to think it over, and fix a salad for dinner. I sit down and there’s a new voice recording from Hector. I slip on my headphones and listen.

I nearly choke on my salad when I hear someone call Steph immature. I continue listening and I realize it’s Angie Morelli. I’m wondering why Hec sent this to me and I realize that Babe must have ripped her a new asshole. Otherwise he’d never test my temper like this.

At the end of the recording, I’m grinning like an idiot. Best line? ‘Joe didn’t even trust me to watch Bob and we supposedly share custody of the dog.’ I laughed my ass off at that. Damn. I never even wondered what happened to Bob. And she told Angie Morelli to kiss her ass!

I dial Hector. “What did the note say?”

“Invitation for a trip to Italy rescinded. No longer interested. Try Cuba and good luck.”

Fuck. That’s cold. I can’t believe that idiot said that. Worse? He had his Mommy deliver the message. That’s worse than breakup via text message. On the plus side, he’s finally given up. Tank was right; he fell for Sharon.

“What did I miss in that recording?”

“The sheer beauty of watching your woman rip her that new asshole. She’s getting good at it. She slammed her parents too.”

I know my eyebrow’s risen. “Really?”

“Yeah. I think she’s making the break with the Burg. You ready for her?”

“Yeah.”

“Be absolutely sure, Ranger. This isn’t the same woman. I don’t think anyone’s ready for her.”

---

Three hours later, my phone beeps. I check. Babe. I call her back.

“Yo.”

“Are you OK? Are you safe?”

I smile. Her standard hello. “I’m fine, Babe. What’s up?”

“OK, I’m going to say this and I need to get it out all in one go so don’t stop me and don’t interrupt.”

I sit up in the bed. This is going to be good.

“I love you, Carlos. I’ve loved you for a very long time and I haven’t wanted to accept that because I was scared and I haven’t understood why because you confuse me but I’m not fighting it anymore. I’ve moved in. Rex is here, I’m here, the brown bear cookie jar is here, all of my shoes are here and there are Tastykakes in your cabinets. Ella and I are repainting this place. It’s going to be navy and white and green with some purple thrown in. I’m extending the apartment across the 7th floor so we have more space. I’ll never really know how to cook beyond what Hec’s taught me so far and I’ll only clean when I’m pissed. I’m still not ready for babies or marriage but I love you and I’m ready to be with you. I need you to give me words but I promise to give you words too. I promise to love you for the rest of my life and I’m not running around without Hector because he’s my partner and my life is important and if knowing that I’m safe and sound will help you concentrate on your op, I’m willing to do what I have to so you can come home safe and sound because I have a lot of things to tell you and—”

“Babe.” It comes out as a breathless whisper. “Take a breath before you faint.”

I need a moment. I can’t believe she’s finally telling me this. I wonder if Hec is recording this call. I’m going to need to have this one to listen to until I make it home. I hear Steph take a big breath.

“OK. Umm … anyway, I wanted to tell you that. It’s nearly Christmas. How much longer do you have?”

“I’m aiming for Christmas.”

“Good.”

“If I finish before Christmas, what do you want to do, Babe?”

“I don’t care. Just come home.”

I consider telling her. “Are you sitting?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Good news. I’m aiming for Christmas.”

“What’s the bad news?”

“I’ll need to take another assignment overseas, a short one, to cover my tracks.”

Silence. “So, you’re leaving again?” She sounds upset and bewildered.

“I asked Les to find me something overseas for six weeks. To establish I was in the Middle East. That was my cover story, so I need to be seen over there. He found something in Syria for two months. That’s probably my best bet.”

“Oh.” She doesn’t sound any happier. “So I really will be in charge for a full year.”

“Yeah. I promise, Babe, Les is looking for something short, preferably not that dangerous. He’s already on it.”

“OK.” Resigned.

“Babe?”

“Hmm?”

“Te amo.” Crap. I need to do this in English. “I love you too, Babe. I’m sorry for the crap words I’ve given you so far but I promise to give you better ones from now on. Words that actually let you know how I really feel. And I’m glad you’ve moved in. Do whatever you want to the apartment—”

“But no pink?” She sounds amused and I smile.

“Preferably.”

“What about a room for Julie?”

“Her favorite colors, last I knew, are green and purple. Right with your color scheme but check with her.”

“Oh good.”

“I love that you’re considering Julie too, Babe. I love that you’re trying to fit into my life and I know that I’ll have to fit into yours.” I consider this. “Any chance your mother could serve less gravy?”

“She’s learned how to cook RangeMan meals.”

“One moment.” I consider this. “Has hell finally frozen over?”

“Stop!” Babe’s laughing. “Dad’s actually eating vegetables.”

“I’m checking for the Four Horsemen.” I’m grinning. I love this with her.

“Grandma’s moved to Florida.”

I tilt my head back in silent laughter. “Does Stiva’s know?” Judging from the laughter, I guess so. “Do the men know?”

“The Miami men live in fear of a call from her. The Trenton men actually miss her.”

“What?” Never thought I’d hear that.

“Yeah. Grandma’s known company wide as a weapon of mass destruction. If I threaten Grandma, every man is immediately worried I might make good on the promise. Trenton’s enjoying their rep as the roughest, toughest men in the company. They miss their example of ‘testicular fortitude’, as Ram calls her.”

I’m laughing into the pillow. Fuck. I gotta wrap this up. I miss my Babe.

We hang up 30 minutes later. I’m still smiling. Nothing raises my spirits on this op faster than she does. I text Hector to send me the audio for that call.

It arrives 20 minutes later. I put on my headphones, slide under the sheets, and put her declaration on repeat.