Everyone and anything familiar belongs to Janet. Any mistakes are mine alone.

I shouldn't be here. I know that, but right now I also know that I can't be anywhere else. I didn't need the trackers to tell me Stephanie is close by. My body reacts not unlike sonar whenever she's within touching distance. It's dangerous to be near her anytime, but after a morning like this one, it bordered on psychotic. I'd never hurt her, but if anyone tried pulling me off her, that'd be the last decision they ever made.

I turned off Hamilton and parked next to the curb in front of Vinnie's. There had been so much of it at the scene, the blood-soaked areas of my t-shirt haven't completely dried, and I wasn't willing to waste time changing it. I had to see her. And it had to be now. I already spied her standing in front of Connie's desk, and it didn't matter at all to me that she and Lula were there with her, or that Morelli will be hearing about this, I have to feel her against me again.

Connie's eyes went wide when I walked it, and Lula sat down hard on the couch that had to be fumigated weekly. Steph was slower to spot me. I watched her body go still, and before she could even turn around, I grabbed her wrist and yanked her to me.

She would have bounced off my chest if my hand hadn't already been in her hair, holding her head in place while I covered her mouth with mine. She was probably more than a little confused, because this usually only happens in private or in the alley alongside the building, not in front of the two biggest gossips in Jersey. My interest wasn't in Connie or Lula, so I blocked them out and used deliberate strokes of my tongue to get Steph's mind on me instead of on what they'd be reporting once I left.

She tried to step back when I finally let her breathe, but I wasn't letting her get away from me. I'd released her wrist only to use that hand to also cup her head so I could kiss her as deep, and for as long, as I wanted to. She must have decided that fighting me was pointless, because she suddenly opened wider, stepped closer, and kissed me back with renewed vigor.

She tasted like a jelly doughnut, smelled faintly of coffee, and felt like heaven. This time when oxygen became an issue, she didn't try to put any distance between us. Our mouths were only a millimeter apart as our breathing became less labored and our eyes were locked onto each other's.

Her lips brushed mine when she parted them, most likely to ask what the hell had gotten into me, but Lula's voice caught her attention.

"Holy lip-lock, Batman! I think I just wet myself here."

"Yeah," Connie added. "I was afraid my files were going to spontaneously combust when the two of you touched."

Normally, just the thought of either woman would instantly kill any lustful thoughts I may have had, but I didn't pay any attention to them. Unfortunately, Stephanie did. She gave her head a small shake, making her curls bounce enticingly, then met my eyes again. They haven't come off her since I first saw her through the window - except for when I'd been kissing her - and I knew I was starting to make her nervous.

"What's going on?" She asked me.

I could feel Connie and Lula sit up straighter as their curiosity ratcheted up a notch. There's no fucking way I'm discussing that in front of them.

"Outside," I told Steph.

She has every right not to follow me out, but she always does. I've said in the past that there are all kinds of love, and she inspires every one of them despite knowing that it isn't smart to take on a man like me. Even though I've fought the feeling, that's what made me fall for her. She doesn't fit into any mold, and she's more concerned about doing what's morally right versus what would be considered legally sound when it comes to protecting herself or someone else.

When we reached my truck, she opened her mouth to say something, which to me seemed like the perfect time to kiss her again, but gentler than I have been so far. She immediately melted into me and I was able to put my thoughts on hold for a few minutes longer.

"Okay," she said, when I ended that kiss, "that was good ... really good ... but now I want to know what's wrong."

"Binkie and the new hire he was assigned were shot early this morning."

She let out a small gasp and I could see her eyes start to fill up. I know she hates people seeing her cry, so I opened the passenger door of my F-150 and lifted her into it. I closed the door and rounded the hood, sliding back behind the wheel.

"They're not ... ?" She started to say.

"I've been assured by two different surgeons that they will make a slow but full recovery."

"Oh, thank God."

She looked down at her arms. The ivory skin of her forearms were now tinted a rusty red from being pressed tightly into my uniform. She went from pale to white as her own blood drained out of her face.

I quickly pushed her head down between her knees. "Breathe, Babe."

She inhaled and exhaled a few times and then resisted my hand.

"I'm better now," she told me, sitting up. "I'm sorry ... about the guys getting hurt, and for being a wuss when it came to hearing about it."

"You help no matter what reaction you have, Steph."

"What happened?"

"They responded to a break in and met up with the intruders before they could flee the wooded area behind the property."

"I hope those assholes managed to get few holes in them," she said under her breath.

They did. And they weren't as lucky as my men when it came to the bullets missing vital organs. But she and the police don't need to know that Trenton is now missing two of its residents. Binkie got a couple shots off before he went down, but only grazed one of the fuckers. I did more than graze them. Once I was sure my team was being patched up, I found out the identities of the men behind them needing to be and paid them an unexpected visit.

"My guys will be fine. And that is what's important."

"Poor Binkie. If he was scared just being lost in a cemetery with me and Lula, I can't imagine what facing armed criminals was like for him."

"He's come a long way since that night."

"We all have. Why are you here? Shouldn't you be at the hospital?"

"I was there until they were out of surgery. I had to notify their families as to where they are and what treatment they've received."

"If you needed backup, I would've gone with you for that. I'm not as good as you are in a crisis, but I have been known to calm people down during a major freak out."

She did that for me only minutes ago, she just didn't realize it.

"I don't require hand-holding, Babe."

She sighed. "I know you don't, but sometimes having someone around who cares about you helps. Why do you think I'm always bugging you?"

"Because you know I love you?"

"Yup. That ... and you're pretty good with a gun. That's always helpful when someone is trying to kill me."

Even after a fucked up day like this one she can still make me smile, if only for a moment.

"By now everyone should know that if they try to kill you, they'll have me to deal with."

"I think everybody does. That's probably why I haven't gotten any death threats lately." She looked towards the bonds office and at the two faces staring out at us, and then back at me. "What are you doing now?"

"I'm going to relieve Tank at the hospital. Both men should have been moved into rooms by now."

"Want me to tag along?"

"I'll be fine."

"Yeah ... you can handle everything. I got it."

I picked up her hand and pressed my lips to the back of it. "That doesn't mean I don't appreciate the offer." I glanced out the windshield at Vinnie's large front window. "Did I just complicate your life?"

"Yes, but it's nothing that I can't take care of. It's not like I'm cheating on Joe by kissing you, since we're officially broken up. Plus, once word spreads about that kiss, my mom will stop hinting at potential fix-ups. She's a little afraid of you. I'll just tell them that I'm so irresistible, you can't seem to control yourself around me. They don't need to know the truth."

My arm was already around her before I consciously made up my mind to kiss her. "That is the truth," I whispered against her mouth, right before claiming it again.

Her hands were clutching fistfuls of my hair and her heart was pounding so hard, I could feel the beats reverberating in mine.

"How about you check on the guys while I handle Naughty and Nosy here, and then you can meet me at my apartment when you're done for a glass of wine ... or something?"

"Steph ..."

"I know what I'm doing and also what I'm suggesting here." She closed her eyes briefly before saying what we've both been thinking. "That could've been you, Ranger."

"But it wasn't."

"It has been before. And it's a possibility every time you leave your building. What would you be feeling if I was the one in a hospital bed right now?"

That is something I never let myself contemplate.

"How about this question instead? What would be your biggest regret if you died tomorrow?" She asked. "Because I know what mine would be."

I knew our regrets would match, but I'd let her be the one to say it out loud.

"And that would be what?"

"Not taking a chance with you," she admitted. "I'm not real proud of being a chickenshit about us becoming an actual us."

"You have reason to be," I reminded her.

"Yeah, and you have plenty of reasons to question your sanity for loving me, but has that stopped you from doing it?"

"No."

"So I say we do something about it while we still can. Deal?"

I didn't even have to think about it. "Deal."

I came here because I needed her ... and I can leave now knowing that I'll always have her beside, behind, and belonging to me.

"You go scare the doctors and nurses into giving the best care possible to Binkie and ...?"

"Banger," I supplied.

She paused. "Banger?"

I nodded once.

She almost rolled her eyes, but caught herself. "I'm not asking. So you look in on them and then come see me. First thing tomorrow morning after we wake up, we'll both head to the hospital and cheer them up together."

They would be happy to see her. Maybe after nineteen hours of uninterrupted time with her first, I won't mind sharing her with them. And I'll likely even speed up their recovery by allowing her to be there with me.