A/N - Please enjoy, this obviously is in the M section for some, urm, naughty content but this is nothing compared to what's to come! ;) Ray gets a chance to sort out Conor's problems at school, and then takes a trip to see his brothers at the gym.

Fucking Abby just didn't seem like fun any more. She was beautiful, sure, but he was kind of used to her face now. She would lie there, passive, letting him get his fill and it was boring. He wished she would slap him, or bite him, or dig her nails into his skin, anything to make him feel connected but she never did.

The morning was usually okay, she didn't wake up until he was inside her, hammering her furiously, and she would take it silently. But every night was the same damn thing, like she couldn't be bothered. Maybe she didn't enjoy it any more, Ray mused as he flipped her over and slammed into her. Any sound she bothered to make was instantly muffled by the pillow. Maybe she was too old for this, she certainly felt dry. Menopause. He shivered at the thought, instantly losing any shred of enthusiasm he had left.

"Did you come?"

That she even had to ask told him they didn't work together any more. Ray simply got out of bed and stumbled to the shower, his goddamn balls ached and he needed to release.

He hid under the water, burying his face in the stream of the shower as he leaned one arm against the tiled wall and used the other to try and regain some sort of erection to orgasm. Maybe he could think of her. Her in her little red dress and little Louboutins. He smiled as he pictured her wrapping her lips around one of those little coloured cigarettes, he could almost see her tongue shaping the smoke as she blew it out of her mouth.

It didn't take him long. His fist pounded the bathroom wall as he came and he swallowed down the guttural roar he wished he could have shared with her.

Abby was dressed by the time he came into the room again, she had showered in Bridget's room to speed the morning along. As Ray headed towards the door, grabbing his keys, she muttered,

"Where are ya going, Ray?"

Ray scowled. "To work. Got shit to do."

Abby put her hands on her hips and pouted, there was no way in hell. "No. Conor's meeting at school, we talked about this."

Fuck. Ray had forgotten. He had spent all night awake, knowing there was something he had to do but totally unaware of what it was. He wrinkled his nose, this was not what he wanted today.

"I have to see-"

"I don't even care, Ray." Abby was adamant. "What kind of example are you setting for your son, huh? Avoiding responsibility like that? Telling him it's okay not to care?"

He groaned loudly, if he said he didn't give a damn she'd never stop, "Fine," he muttered bluntly. "But you take your own car, I got business to deal with as soon as this shit's done."

Abby begrudgingly accepted and Ray hurried out. Slipping into his Mercedes, he turned the air conditioning up to the max to try and cool himself down, he was feeling hot and frustrated. Pulling out his phone, he texted,

Can we meet?

He drove off quickly and waited for a response, checking his phone way too often to see if she had answered. He tapped the call button for Avi and waited for him to answer.

"Yes boss?"

Ray cut across the lane as he almost missed the exit and gave the driver behind him the finger as they beeped loudly.

"Need you to call Ezra, tell him I can't do today. Gotta go off grid for a coupla hours."

Avi was already dialling. "No worries, everything okay?"

"Yeah." Ray didn't like to talk a lot. "Then check with Terry if I can come use the ring. I gotta get some fucking energy out of me."

"You got it, boss."

Ray took the turning into the school grounds and parked up at the front. He groaned as he spotted the other car, he knew it was some big shot lawyer asshole's. Trust Conor to pick the worst kid in the school to punch.

"Fuck."

Abby drew up beside him, she looked seriously irate. She slammed his car door shut for him as he got out.

"You cut me off, Ray, you would have caused an accident!"

"I had to take a call." Ray put his hand on her elbow. "Lower your voice."

Just saying that annoyed her more. Abby stormed ahead of him toward the principal's officer, the other father was already sitting there.

"Donovan."

"Mr Potter," Abby said with huge apology in her eyes as she shook his hand before Ray could get to it. "I am so sorry we are meeting like this."

Ray's phone buzzed and Abby glared at him, almost daring him to take the call. He gave Potter a tight smile and stepped away. It was Avi.

"Ezra's pissed but he will cope," he said. "Terry says any time from two works for him."

He nodded and slipped the phone away as the receptionist came out to greet them. What a waste of his time, Conor would only kick this asshole's kid again anyway and they'd end up here again. Taking Abby's hand supportively, he smiled at everyone.

"So let's all talk."

He took the prime seat in the room in an instant, it put Potter's nose out of joint from the get go. The lawyer looked at Ray in annoyance and looked beseechingly to the principal.

"This isn't complicated, Mr Mattheson, his son punched my son in the face."

That was the only fact they all knew for sure but Ray was quick to jump to Conor's defence. "Conor's not proactive, he's reactive. Now I don't know what else happened, but it's not a simple as that. Conor's not a bully, but he gets defensive."

Abby looked at him speaking with wonder, it seemed incredible to hear him so tuned in to his children. She nodded to back him up as Ray looked at Potter with a casual smile. Potter, on the other hand, shook his head.

"Your kid's going around telling everyone he's friends with Tommy Wheeler."

"He is friends with Tommy Wheeler," Ray corrected. "He's a client of my best friend's, Tommy comes by the house a lot. He's in town at the moment, promoting a film. Do you want to come?"

Potter looked monumentally frustrated as Mattheson beamed, his shiny round head glistening under the light as he looked between them. "I think Mr Donovan is offering an excellent mutual ground for the boys, don't you think? This is wonderful, just wonderful."

"Your kid apologises to mine," Potter muttered in annoyance. Ray shrugged.

"He won't apologise for something he didn't do," he said. "But offer's on the table." He stood up and rebuttoned his jacket. "I'm sorry I can't stay longer, but I think we've found something to work on."

He walked out, leaving Abby to wrap up the meeting. Ray just wanted to get away, he had so much to get done and now his appointment at the gym was set, he at least had something to aim for that afternoon. Driving around, sitting in traffic, whatever he was doing, he was realistically thinking about sparring and obsessing about Alexia calling him back.

When he arrived, Bunchy was full of nervous excitement as he bounced around Ray at the entrance to the gym. Ray was pretty sure he had never seen him in such a state.

"Mickey been around?" he asked. Bunchy shook his head.

"Ray, seriously. Terry took on this new client, one-on-one, lunch time appointment." He skipped up the stairs in excitement. "Wanted to box, he thought it was a dude. Turns out..." He held his hand on the door for a second and caught Ray's eye. "She's not."

Ray almost laughed. "Terry getting kicks punching a girl now?" He rolled his eyes, whatever made the gym money, he guessed.

"She's fucking hot," Bunchy said, stopping Ray from entering. "But it's, like, private so you have to wait ten minutes until they're done."

Ray snorted as he looked at him. "Are you seriously going to stop me going in there?" Bunchy looked like he might be up for the fight but then paused and shook his head, stepping aside nervously as his older brother took control. Ray gave him a nudge aside as he pulled the door back and looked up at the ring.

Terry was barking, telling her to keep her hands up over her face. Ray smirked a little as he approached the ring, watching her tight little body twisting and weaving around the canvas. She wore tight black shorts and a cropped top, both with white ribbing, and she ducked and bounced on command. Ray watched the sweat dripping down her abs as she moved.

"And stop." Terry patted her shoulder and she lowered her arms. Ray let out a possessive growl as he saw Lexi standing up there, wiping the perspiration from her brow with her forearm.

"You gotta be shitting me."

His rough tone caught her attention in an instant. She froze, unsure of what to do. They had never really laid down rules about what would happen if they came face-to-face but she knew that even Ray's own office didn't know about their rendezvous.

Ray didn't care. He grabbed onto the ropes and pulled himself up into the ring. He stared at her, making no effort to hide his interest, and Terry glanced at Bunchy.

"I told you to keep him downstairs. It's a private lesson."

"It's okay," Alexia said calmly, trying to keep control of the situation. "It's not a problem."

"Yeah, it is." Terry was furious. "I said two o'clock Ray." He looked apologetically at Alexia. "I am so sorry, this is my brother, Ray."

Ray extended his hand to shake hers, she gave him an awkward kind of fist bump with her boxing glove. Taking off his jacket and shoes, Ray smirked a little as he laid them all out on the corner of the canvas. Wallet, phones, keys. It was eerily familiar.

"You want to box?" She nodded. "Women shouldn't fight."

A small smile played on her lips as she pushed her damp hair back from her face. "Women who get assaulted in public areas should be able to protect themselves."

Assaulted? He laughed, that was just like her to tease him with something like that. He'd teach her a lesson for that later.

"You want to box?" he repeated coolly. He flexed his fingers and slipped off his wedding ring. Terry could already tell where he was going and shook his head.

"No way, Ray," he said firmly. Alexia watched with amusement as Ray unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it off.

"Do you?" she asked challengingly. "I might be new but I've got some killer moves."

Ray laughed. "Yeah, I bet you do," he said coolly, staring at her and making no effort to hide the way he was looking at her body. Terry moved between them awkwardly.

"Miss Stranhope, please-"

"Lexi, it's Lexi," she insisted with a smile. "It's okay. I'm sure you taught him everything you know."

That was all he needed. Ray wound his fist back and gave her a gentle punch to the shoulder. She returned with a sharp, strong right hook. Ray laughed at the force, she was much stronger than he had anticipated.

"Nice," he said, looking over approvingly at Terry. "Impressive."

Before he could even turn back to look at her, she came at him with a few sharp jabs and a kick to his inner leg that knocked Ray to the floor through lack of concentration. He grunted as he fell onto his knee and yanked her down hard, pulling her flat to the mat and straddling her.

"Very impressive," he muttered as he leaned over her, his voice just loud enough for her to hear. "Why'd you not message me back?"

"You have your appointment set," she whispered as she scrambled out of his grip. "I don't have time."

"Make time," he demanded. "I have to see you tonight."