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Thank you all so much for your patience, I hope it was worth the wait.

You wouldn't read this chapter now if it wasn't for Stace, who was there for me through the whining and the bitching when my muse just up and left...Dank Dir Schatzi!!

I appreicaite all your feedback, and if I didn't get a chance to thank you in person, I'm sorry, but thank you very much for your reviews.

Hey God!

Final part

It took us the better part of two days to find Pirelli, and I'm pretty sure I lost an account because they felt neglected. I really didn't give a shit. Only Steph mattered.

I was finishing up some paperwork when Connie called me. "You did it," she told me.

"Explain," I said, not sure what she was talking about.

"Helen Plum lost it when she found out Maria Cenetta ordered the hit on Steph. I don't think she's been off the phone yet, she's calling everyone that lives or has ever lived in the neighborhood, telling them what Maria did in great detail. That woman will never be able to live in the Burg again, or even buy food at Gioviccini's," Connie said. I could feel her grinning on the other end.

I smiled. That seemed like a fair sentence to me. As if reading my mind, Connie continued, "That's like going to prison for life for a Burg wife, you know. She'll be shunned for the rest of her days!"

Yep, definitely the right punishment. I thanked Connie and disconnected, I needed to get the rest of the fucking paperwork done.

An hour later I had the last contract signed, but a headache was slowly making its way to the front of my skull. I needed to relax, I decided, and headed to the gym.

Tank got off the elevator when I got on, he'd just gotten off his shift at the hospital.

"Any incidents?" I asked him, holding the elevator doors open.

He shook his head. "All quiet. Still no sight of Mrs. Plum." He grinned. "I betcha Steph's dad has her tied and gagged at home so she can't come visit."

"If that's the only way to keep the news from Steph, I'm for it," I said. "Knowing about Cenetta won't help her right now, it'll be soon enough when she's released."

Tank nodded, still grinning, and I let the doors slide closed. I made a mental note to ask Mr. Plum what he really did to keep his wife home.

After I'd run for an hour I was drenched in sweat, but the headache was gone. I was still tired and pretty much running on adrenaline, but I knew I could catch up on sleep once Steph was safe. The only thing that mattered now was that everything went according to plan and Pirelli was mine at the end of the night. I felt ready to finally wrap the case up tonight, I hate unfinished business.

The team was leaving in two hours, to be in place an hour before Pirelli was supposed to meet his client there. Tank, Santos and I were the main team, another two would be the backup, just in case. I had a failsafe for every part of the plan, nothing could, or would, go wrong.

Santos's snitch didn't know where Pirelli lived, and we had his girlfriend's house under surveillance so we knew he didn't live there anymore. Instead, the snitch had told Santos about a new client that was willing to pay extra for Pirelli's services. So much more that Pirelli couldn't refuse, in fact. I didn't know who the client was, or who he wanted dead, and I didn't give a fuck. It wouldn't happen anyway, since this was our chance to take the fucker down.

My phone rang just as I keyed open my apartment door on the 7th floor.

"I want to be on the team tonight," Hector said.

Tempting. Hector could be a loose canon, someone who'd hit now and think later. Just what I needed tonight. "You already did your part by taking care of Leonard," I told him.

"I had nothing to do with that," Hector said and I could hear the smile in his voice. "Just 'cause he decided Trenton was too hot for him right now, I can't take credit."
I grinned. "And the fact that he decided this an hour after you left his place is a coincidence?" I thought it was only fair to let Hector be the one to 'talk' to Leonard.
"Exactly." I thought a broken nose was the least of Leonard's troubles, since Hector always made it his mission to protect Steph as best as he could.

"You're keeping tabs on him, right? We need him back up here for the trial," I said. I wanted make sure everyone involved got their punishment.

"I know when he so much as takes a piss down in Charlotte," Hector confirmed. "And I want to be there when you talk to Pirelli."

"You're with Santos," I said. "1800 hours, in the garage."

Now we were a team of 6, the more, the better.

After I'd showered and gotten dressed, I went back downstairs to suit up.

I had my weapons laid out on the desk in my office. The .38 for the ankle holster. The .45 for my belt, and my Army knife as a backup. This was a three weapon minimum job.

I ran my fingers over the smooth metal of the gun and I remembered the conversation I had with Steph about them. I told her I was not relationship material because I was packing, and because I never knew what the next moment would bring.

What a joke. In Trenton, even housewives carried guns. And no one knew what would happen tomorrow, that's the whole fucking point: You never know.

I'd told Steph that 'someday', maybe, I'd change my opinion.

It turned out 'someday' was a week ago Sunday.

I just couldn't get over the timing. In a rational moment, I knew it was bullshit to think it meant anything. But the next moment, I had to wonder why Steph was shot the minute she said she'd be mine.

"Enough," I ground out, slamming my fist on the desk, making the weapons on it jump.

Tonight, I'd take the last step to get her out of danger. Tomorrow, I'd…fuck, I didn't know.

I rubbed my palms over my cheeks. A week had gone by and I was still a schizophrenic coward.

A knock on the office door interrupted my brooding.

"Boss?" Santos said as he entered.

"All set for 18:00?" I asked him.

"We'll be ready," he said. "But do you think it's a good idea to take Hector? He gets kinda protective about Steph…"

I smiled and Santos shook his head as he got my meaning. "You can be a sick bastard, you know that?" But he was smiling too and I knew he had a similar vision in his head.

The more pain Pirelli suffered, the better. Unfortunately, I had to somehow make sure he survived once I got my hands on him. I didn't want to, but I had to. If Steph found out I killed him, she would blame herself for it, I knew that.

More'n one way to skin a cat though, I didn't have to kill him to inflict maximum pain.

My thoughts must have shown because Santos grinned and shook his head again.

"Do me a favor," he said. "If I ever make it on to your shit list, give me a chance to apologize, OK?"

I barked a laugh as he turned and closed my office door behind him. Santos couldn't know just what special kind of 'shit list' Pirelli had made it on by hurting Steph.

There was business, and there were people I worked with that I liked more than others. And then there was my personal life, and I had friends and enemies like the next guy. And then there were the people I loved, and if you messed with them, you messed with me, whether you wanted to or not.

Pirelli had fucked with me and now I'd get to fuck with him. I told myself I'd do the same thing for my sisters, and that was probably true. But would I want to kill him so badly if he'd hurt any of them?

I shook my head and snorted, again with the thinking. I'd never learn. I should focus on the action and leave the thinking to others. Yep, I'd get right on that.

"Fuck," I murmured under my breath.

So we'd take care of Pirelli tonight, then what? Steph would be safe. For now. It didn't solve any of my problems with her.

Sooner or later, she'd get her memory back. It was only a matter of time until she looked at the necklace and remembered. And then she'd have questions. Once she remembered everything, it would be impossible not to tell her the truth, she wouldn't give up until she knew.

Then what?

Fifteen minutes to go time, my phone rang again. It was Ram. Ram was on hospital detail. My blood turned cold as soon as I saw his number.

"Talk." Tell me Steph is OK.

"Boss, we have a problem. It's Steph," Ram said.

I was out of my office and in the elevator before he had finished that sentence.

"What's going on?" Had this elevator always been this slow? It seemed to take hours to crawl down to the garage level.

"She…hold on." It sounded like a scuffle on the other end, then Steph screamed and Ram grunted.

I'd heard enough. I disconnected and sprinted to my Porsche, starting the engine before I had the door closed. Once again wishing for a Kojak light, I threaded my way through rush hour traffic as fast as possible. Twice I ran a red light and once I drove on the sidewalk, cursing under my breath, when cars blocked my way. All I could think about was Steph, I had to make sure she was safe. Probably I broke all existing traffic laws on my way over to the hospital, and it still took me almost a half hour.

Tank called when I was almost there, wondering where the fuck I was and I told him to go ahead without me, just be sure to bring the fucker in. I'd really wanted to be there for the takedown, but Steph was more important. Had we been wrong? Was Pirelli not the threat? Fuck, what if this was a copy cat, the shooting had made the front page. What if...fuck.

I took the last corner on two wheels and screeched to a stop in front of the ER's entrance, there was no time for parking. The tires were still smoking when I yanked the keys out of the ignition and almost leapt out of the car.

"Sir, you can't…" A rent-a-cop tried to stop me but I ignored him.

I was going as fast as I could, yet it felt like I was crawling, the sliding doors to the lobby seemed to get further away instead of coming closer.

I stopped and took a breath, shaking my head to clear it. I had to get a fucking grip!

I only glanced at the elevator, knowing I'd never have the patience for it. Images of Steph tried to muscle their way to the forefront of my mind, bound and gagged Steph, bleeding Steph. Dying Steph. I took the stairs three at a time.

How could I let this happen again? I'd left her with my best man and the hospital was monitored inside and out, you couldn't make it through the doors without being registered. What the fuck had happened?

I barreled through the fire doors on Steph's floor and was confused when I saw Zero at his spot outside her room.

Before I could question him, though, I heard Steph. "Let. Me. Go!" she seemed to grind out between clenched teeth.

If she was in danger, Zero wouldn't be calmly standing outside. And he certainly wouldn't grin at me. Was this a fucking joke or something?

"Good thing you're here, Boss," Zero said. "I don't know how much longer Ram can hold his own."

I pushed open the door and finally got it. I took a deep breath of relief and my heart rate dropped back to normal when I she wasn't in danger.

"What's going on?" I asked, taking in the scene, and trying hard not to laugh out loud.

Ram had his arms around Steph from behind; she was struggling to get free. I could tell that Ram had difficulty restraining her without hurting her. He was an ex-Marine who knew about 36 ways to kill a man with his bare hands, but against Steph, he was helpless. I glanced over to the bed where her small duffle back was open on her bed.

"Were you leaving?" I asked her.

She'd stop struggling when I opened the door and now Ram dropped his arms and she turned to glare at him.

"I was," she said. "Before your gorilla tried to stop me."

"Steph, you haven't been released yet. Did you talk this over with the doctor?"
"I'm going crazy in here!" she said and rubbed her arms where Ram had held her in his iron grip. "I feel much better, and I promise to stay off my feet. But I have to get the hell out of here!"

Ram shot me a look, I nodded, and he backed out of the room. I knew he'd seen combat during his time in the Marines, I was wondering if he was comparing it to controlling Steph right now. He made a quick retreat and closed the door behind him.

Steph watched him go and then turned to me. I noticed she looked much better, but the effort of standing up was exhausting her quickly.

"You better get back into bed," I said, jerking my head towards her bed.

"I'm leaving," she said.

I closed my eyes for a second. Grabbing her and taking her back to her bed caveman style wouldn't help right now. I needed logic.

"Where would you go?" I asked. "You'll need someone to take care of you, at least for the next week or so. Did you plan on asking Rex to change your dressing?"

She glared at me but I could tell I'd hit a nerve. She hadn't thought farther than getting the fuck out of Dodge. But I knew she wouldn't give up that easily.

"I'll stay at my parents' house," she said, narrowing her eyes as if readying herself for another argument from me.

I nodded. "Yeah, that'll work. I'm sure your mother and grandmother would take care of you 'round the clock. You'll be in good hands. You'd have your own room and would only have to share the bathroom."

I had to bite back a grin when I saw Steph's reaction. As I'd planned, she was probably picturing her parents and grandmother hovering over her, smothering her, watching her every move. And she'd be trapped in their house.

She sighed and slowly lowered herself into one of the visitors' chairs, clearly in pain. "I can't stay here. It's driving me crazy," she repeated.

I could see that she meant it. Steph has always hated hospitals, but she never had to stay more than 24 hours in one. This time, it had been almost a week. I knew she was still in pain, but she just couldn't stand it any more. The worst part was that her mind was made up. Once Steph knows what she wants, she's going to get it. No one can talk her out of it. She'd die trying, if that's what it took.

"Look, how about a compromise. Why don't you come stay at my house?" I asked, surprising myself.

I'd never even shown her the house. I'd never invited a girl over, and only a few of my men even knew where the house was. But in these few minutes, I'd made up my mind. I would share everything with her, it was hers to take or leave.

I couldn't tell her about why she had the necklace, but maybe I could start over. I'd done it once, I could do it again.

Steph shook her head slowly. "You know I love your men, but I don't think I'd be up for that right now. It wouldn't be any better than at my parents'."

RangeMan had never even occurred to me. Ella was out on vacation this week and I'd be too distracted around work. No, I was going to take time off to be with Steph. Alone with her. Right after I took care of Pirelli once and for all.

I took a step toward her and squatted down in front of her. "No Steph," I almost whispered. "Not RangeMan. My house."

"What do you mean?" she asked, frowning.

I traced her jaw bone with my fingers and she closed her eyes, leaning against my hand. "Let me take care of you."

"The Bat Cave," she whispered.

I nodded although she couldn't see me.

"Where it's forever," she continued and leaned forward.

I didn't know how to answer that, now I was the one being confused. She looked up and reached under her sweater, pulling out the necklace I had given her. She was wearing it!

Steph lifted her arms and snaked them around my neck, pulling me to her.

A small smile spread over her lips. "Take me home Batman."

~ The End ~

A/N: I'm so sorry ot took me so long, thank you guys for staying with me. I know I didn't take you to the showdown with Pirelli, I hope you don't mind too much. If you'd like to know what happened, I'll give you an epilogue, just let me know.