A/N: Thanks a million, billion, gazillion to everyone who supported me with reviews and feedback. Your kindness and encouragement means the world to me. Love you all, babes! —Dee

oOo

Epilogue—Vindicated

Hope dangles on a string
Like slow spinning redemption
Winding in and winding out
The shine of it has caught my eye
And roped me in
So mesmerizing, so hypnotizing
I am captivated

—Chris Carrabba

oOo

Two months later, October

Stephanie woke up to the sensation of blood thrumming through her veins and a hot mouth whispering over her body. She shivered, tensed, and when the mouth reached that certain spot an orgasm shuddered through her. She spread her legs wide and twisted her fingers in the thick silk of Ranger's hair, pulling until his mouth came up to meet hers, his body covering her in a blanket of fire and need. As he slipped inside her she arched up to meet him and surrendered to sensation.

After another shrieking, pulsating climax, they lay side by side on the king-size bed in the penthouse apartment on Haywood Street. Stephanie's broken rib was finally healed, and that fact had produced an exponential expansion in the diversity of their lovemaking. Ranger's inventiveness in bed was unsurpassed.

She rolled her head to look at the bedside clock then back, wrinkling her forehead at Ranger. "Hey, it's almost seven. Aren't you going running today?"

He gave her a lazy smile, the beauty of his face, the perfect proportions of his body gripping her heart as always. "Nope."

She stretched, catlike, and rolled toward him, putting her head on his shoulder and stroking a hand over the rocky ridges of his abs. "Does this mean you aren't dragging me down to the gym, either?"

He cupped her chin in his hand and tilted his mouth down to hers, his lips soft and yet demanding, his taste indescribable. "We're taking the day off, Babe. Happy birthday."

"Thanks. But I was going to draft the proposal for the Woods Company this morning. It's less than a week until the meeting, and I need to get the particulars of the security system from Les and the personnel estimates from Tank." Stephanie raised her eyebrows at him. "And I need to go shopping, get a couple more black suits. If you're going to drag me to all these meetings I need more business clothes."

"It'll have to wait a day or two." He grinned, his playful look making her heart flutter. "I've got plans, and you're my hostage for the day." The grin turned wolf-like, eyes darkening, and Stephanie rolled on top of him, her mouth working, lips nibbling around his pecs, teeth clamping onto his nipple turning his grin to an open-mouthed catching of breath.

"My turn for breakfast," she murmured against his abs, and kissed her way down the pathway to heaven.

oOo

"So where are we going?" Stephanie asked as Ranger drove the Turbo up the ramp and out of the garage.

"You'll have to wait and see. Remember, you're my prisoner today, and I've got handcuffs."

A flush of heat engulfed Stephanie, a turmoil of fear and excitement filling her at the idea of being handcuffed, at his mercy. Ranger couldn't prevent a laugh from bubbling out of his chest at the look on her face.

Stephanie pouted for show and relaxed into her seat, her absolute trust in Ranger assuring her that it was going to be a good day. After a few minutes she realized they were heading for the shore and happiness lit her face when they made the turn for Mantoloking. They'd spent almost every Sunday at the house there, some of the best days of Stephanie's life.

Her family, well, really her mother, hadn't been happy when she brought Ranger to dinner a week after they returned to Trenton. It conjured up the unpleasantness of ten years ago when Stephanie had been so innocent, thinking that if she loved him her family was bound to love him, too. This time she and Ranger were both prepared, and neither expected rejoicing at the announcement that Stephanie had moved in with him, though they were hoping for acceptance.

The opposition was so vehement that they hadn't stayed for dessert, nor had they been back since. And when she got around to returning her mother's plethora of phone calls Stephanie flat-out refused to discuss her relationship, telling her mother that in no uncertain terms. After thirty years under her mother's thumb, always seeking the approval that was never unconditional, she hadn't realized how liberating it would be to just say no. So now she and Mrs. Plum had a polite, stilted phone call once a week, carefully avoiding any relationship topics.

Ranger's family, on the other hand, had been overjoyed that their beloved Carlos had found a woman he loved. And Stephanie discovered that flan rivaled pineapple upside down cake as the best dessert ever.

oOo

Ranger spent the drive in his usual zone, thinking and planning. Thinking about what an asset Stephanie was to RangeMan and congratulating himself for convincing her to work for him. Planning how he was going to engineer the events of the day to get the result he wanted. He found his chest tight with uncharacteristic nervousness. He knew without doubt that Stephanie loved him, but he wasn't a hundred percent certain how she was going to react. She had a way of surprising him, always.

He slid his eyes sideways to assess her mood. She sat relaxed back into the leather seat of the Turbo, the beautiful blue eyes bright and curious, her full lips curved in a half-smile. He'd chosen this car for the drive today because he knew it was her favorite of all his cars.

One of the pluses of having Stephanie work for RangeMan was that he could give her a company car. He'd chosen a Mazda MX-5 hardtop convertible, similar to the one that had been repossessed when she was unemployed, except in a glossy black. It was gratifying to watch the way the joy lit up her face when he took her down to the garage and gave her the keys.

It turned out that with her business background Stephanie was a natural at sales and marketing. She was a real people person, with a knack for seeing what was most important to a prospective client and keeping it front and center. One of the first things she did, even before she was supposed to be back at work after her surgery, was take over preparation of new business proposals. As soon as she was able, Ranger began to include her in all his meetings, respecting her input and evaluation as well as her power to charm the customers. In less than two months she was as valuable to the business as Tank or Lester.

Ranger had been apprehensive about Mrs. Plum's constant pressure for Stephanie to go back to Joe Morelli. Stephanie had been raised to respect her elders, especially her mother, and had spent her whole life trying to conform, to gain approval. But she'd shown a strength that surprised and delighted him, limiting her contact with her family. She'd decided she would no longer put up with her mother's pressure, the constant harping, and she'd stuck with her decision. And it helped that Morelli had just kind of faded away once Stephanie moved in with Ranger. The last Ranger heard he was seeing Suzy, the ICU nurse.

It was a tremendous relief that Stephanie had recovered so well from the gunshot wound. In spite of her teasing about him making her work out in the gym, she'd been faithful in doing the rehab program prescribed by the physical therapist. She'd gone to the PT office a few times, and then gotten an outline of the treatment so that she could do it on her own in the gym at RangeMan. Ranger still felt pangs of guilt when he saw the ugly scars marring her creamy skin, but whenever she sensed that he was blaming himself Stephanie would tell him in no uncertain terms that it wasn't his fault. She'd thank him again for saving her life, telling him how lucky she was that he had such good instincts.

Every time he looked at her he knew he was the lucky one.

oOo

They walked hand in hand up the steps into the beach house. As always Stephanie was drawn to the wall of windows looking out over the ocean. No sunbathers were out on the sand in October, but the sun was warm and numerous people walked or jogged on the beach.

Ranger came over to stand behind her, snaking his arms around her waist, and she turned into him.

"What a gorgeous day," she murmured, raising her face for his kiss. "Do you want to go for a walk on the beach?"

"Sounds good," he said.

As they moved across the great room Stephanie spotted something that she'd missed in her beeline to the windows.

"Oh," she exclaimed, "presents. And is that a cake?" She skipped over to the dining table. On its gleaming surface was a small pile of wrapped gifts and a white bakery box. "Omigod, from the Tasty Pastry? How did you know?"

Ranger looked down his nose at her. "The great Manoso sees all, knows all." But his twitching lips betrayed him and she spun toward him and leaped, her arms around his neck, legs around his waist. He caught her with ease and hugged her tight. "It's a special birthday, so I wanted to make it special for you."

Stephanie wrinkled her nose. "Don't remind me. Thirty, jeez. Does this mean I have to grow up?"

"No way," Ranger answered. "You're still the nineteen-year-old girl I fell in love with, and I don't want you to ever change."

Stephanie returned his kiss with enthusiasm and then dropped her legs to the floor. "So when can I open my presents?"

"Whenever you want. It's your birthday, after all."

Stephanie pursed her lips, considering. "Let's go for our walk first and I'll open them when we get back."

The sand glowed gold with the brightness of the sun, and gulls soared overhead, their raucous calls floating on the balmy breeze as Ranger and Stephanie walked at the edge of the water holding hands. The tide was receding and Stephanie scuffed along and picked up shells and bits of flotsam, enjoying the beauty of the day. There was no place on earth she loved better than the beach, and nobody in the world she'd rather be with.

After a light lunch of salad and bread and cheese, Stephanie opened her presents, an exquisite diamond and sapphire necklace and earrings and bracelet, a gorgeous embossed black leather messenger bag that would be perfect for business meetings, and a new state-of-the-art laptop.

"Oh, Carlos," Stephanie said, sitting on his lap on the couch. "This is just too much."

He shook his head. "It's just a token, just a small way of showing you how much I love you."

She pressed her lips to his. "I love you, too. Thank you so much."

His mouth took control, and the fever of his kiss sparked straight through Stephanie, prickling her skin and making her go damp with desire.

"Let's go upstairs," she murmured.

"Don't you want cake?"

"Bring it up." Her grin was wicked. "That way I can have my cake and eat you, too."

oOo

After they showered again and dressed, Ranger led Stephanie downstairs to the couch.

"I have one more thing for you," he said, sitting and gathering her onto his lap.

She leaned back against his chest and looked out at the Atlantic. "But you've already given me so much."

"There's a story that goes with this one." He rested his cheek against her hair. "This is something I bought for you nine years ago."

Stephanie turned her head to stare at him. "Nine years ago? You were in the army and, mmm, I must have been at Rutgers."

Ranger used a hand to bring her head back to his chest and stared out at the sea, remembering. "I had a week of leave before I started Officers Candidate School in September, and I came back to see you."

"But you never came to see me." He couldn't see her eyes but the hurt showed plain in her voice. "Did you change your mind?"

"I came to your apartment early one morning." The agony of that morning still tore at Ranger's heart. "Just as I arrived, you came out with Dickie and got in his car and drove away. So I went back to Georgia."

Stephanie swung around to straddle him, framing his face in her hands, tears glistening in her eyes. "When exactly was it? Because I wasn't with Dickie. I didn't date at all until after I heard you'd gotten married, and that was just before my senior year. This would have been junior year, right?"

"Yes, it was the first of September, the first week of school for you."

The realization came clear on Stephanie's face. "The first week of school junior year my grandfather had a heart attack, a bad one. My mom called me from the hospital really early in the morning and Dickie's older sister was working there. She called Dickie to give me a ride back to Trenton."

Ranger's face went blank. "You weren't with him?"

Stephanie shook her head.

"Then I'm an idiot, and it cost us nine years."

Stephanie brushed her lips across his, sweet and tender. "There's no way you could have known. And we're together now. That's all that matters."

Ranger just shook his head, eyes closed.

"Hey," Stephanie said, her hands still on his face, forefingers tapping his cheekbones to get his attention. "So what were you going to give me?"

Ranger cradled her in one arm and tipped her to the side so he could reach into his pocket. He produced a small, square aqua box and handed it to her. "This."

"Tiffany," Stephanie said, holding the box in both hands, staring at it.

"Open it, Babe."

She took the top off the box and gasped. The huge square-cut diamond blazed in the sunlight, mesmerizing, hypnotizing. Stephanie raised her eyes to Ranger's, the tears flooding over and running down her cheeks.

"Oh, Babe, don't cry," he said, drawing her close. "I love you with all my heart and soul. Marry me, Stephanie, please."

Stephanie buried her face in his neck, unable to contain the sobs that burst from her. "Yes," she wept. "Oh Carlos, I love you so much I don't know if I can stand it."

Ranger took the box from her hand and slipped the diamond on her finger. Its narrow platinum band was a perfect fit and the gemstone captured the sunlight shining through the window wall, refracting the light into dazzling prisms of brightness radiating across the room. Then he enveloped Stephanie in his arms and held her until the sobs quieted.

"There's something else," he said. "Remember the other day when I had to go to New York? Well, I stopped at Tiffany and got these." He produced another aqua box.

Stephanie's fingers shook as she opened it. "Oh, Carlos, they're perfect." Inside were matching platinum wedding bands, his and hers.

"So now all we have to do is figure out when we're getting married," Ranger said. "Whatever you want to do is fine with me. We can have a big celebration with all our friends and family, or if you'd prefer something small and quiet, that's fine, too."

Stephanie studied the ring sparkling on her finger. "I'm afraid once my mother finds out she's going to try to take over, and there's no way I'm going to let that happen. Can't we just elope or something?"

His smile blazed as bright as the ring as he produced a folded piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to her. "Somehow I thought you might say that, so here's your last present."

Stephanie opened the sheet and read, "E-ticket confirmation, Continental Airlines… Newark to Las Vegas, first class, omigod, this is today!"

"I didn't know if you'd want to get married on your birthday or not, so this way we have some options. We get to Vegas at eight, plenty of time to get married tonight. Or if you'd rather not have our anniversary be the same day as your birthday, we could get married tomorrow. Or if you want to hold off on the wedding, we can just have some fun gambling, maybe see a show, and then fly home tomorrow night. Whatever you want, Babe." He held her eyes, waiting, hoping.

Stephanie bit her lip, looked at the diamond on her finger again, at the platinum bands in the box, at Ranger, and a joyous smile burst through. "Let's get married tonight. It's the best birthday present ever."

Ranger's smile was just as brilliant. "Can you be ready to leave for the airport in a half hour?"

She kissed him hard and long. "You bet your sweet ass I can."

And so they flew off into the sunset together, following the dusk westward.

The end