A/N: So, I planned to have this out last Weds but I had a paper due that I was sadly forced to focus on and get finished first. Thankfully, it's done and turned in so now I can return to what I actually like doing! :D I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and as always a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has reviewed and/or followed this story. Your reviews encourage me to keep writing and make me feel amazing!

Chapter 7 – Decisions

The next morning I woke up to the sound of the sat phone ringing.

"We have some new information on the man that we believe is the main buyer for Al Fariq's mercenary services." Devin said as soon as I mumbled a sleepy hello.

"What do you know?" I asked becoming instantly awake.

"He goes by Ali when doing business with Al Fariq, but his real name is Ivan Belikov. He is the owner of the largest weapon manufacturing plant in Russia and he is making millions by selling weapons to people in Africa and the Middle East by paying Al Fariq to attack their armies and cities. He then comes in and offers the governments deals on large purchases of weapons to fight back against Al Fariq's forces."

"Does Fariq know?"

"We aren't sure, but if you can get some information proving that Belikov is indeed the man responsible for the attacks in Africa and the Middle East then the Russian government has agreed to help us shut him down. This will also solve our problem with Fariq, since he will lose 90% of his business, maybe more because we've also learned that most of the slaves he has been selling are prisoners of war captured while he's doing work for Belikov."

I groaned. In order to get information I was going to have to get into the most secure places of either Al Fariq's compound, or Belikov's. "Do we know anything about the other Special Forces operative that's inside Al Fariq's organization?"

Devin sighed. "His original mission was to eliminate Al Fariq, and he had just managed to get close enough to him to do so when Al Fariq offered you this job. The higher ups had a massive turf war with the army because they wanted to complete their mission and not worry about cutting off the buyer, but after hours of fighting they finally agreed that they would hold off. As soon as you have your information though, the orders he had will go through and Al Fariq will be killed."

I tried to feel bad about that but I couldn't. Al Fariq made money by selling humans and killing for profit. I couldn't see a reason for him to continue to roam the planet.

"Have you filled Tank in on the mission details yet?"

I sighed. "No, we took yesterday off to catch up."

As if he could tell there was something I wasn't telling him he said, "And what did you do?"

"He took me to breakfast, the fish market, and then to the beach. When we got back home he made me dinner." I said trying to sound nonchalant about the whole thing, but the truth is I wasn't. The whole night had a kind of magical quality about it and I now felt connected to Tank in a way that I had never felt connected to anyone before.

Apparently Devin didn't buy it either, "That sounds like a date, do you have feelings for him?"

Did I? I was definitely attracted to him, but who wouldn't be? The man was six foot three and solid muscle plus he the most amazing brown eyes that went from almost black when he was furious to a warm liquid chocolate color when he was looking at me. I also had a feeling he had opened up to me last night in a way he had never done with anyone else. Tank had always been the silent man at RangeMan and I got the feeling that he didn't have many close friends other that Lester, Bobby, and Ranger.

Ranger. That was a thought I'd had last night as I was listening to Tank tell me stories of their escapades while they were growing up in Miami. Ranger is practically Tank's brother, even if I was attracted to him, could I really act on it?

Apparently I was silent too long, because Devin interrupted my thoughts. "Oh my, you do have feelings for him don't you?"

Shit. He'd always been able to read me too well. "I don't know. Maybe. But I'm not sure that it matters."

He calmed down and I could practically hear him shift into best friend mode, "Why not?"

"I have so much history with Ranger, and Tank grew up with him. They also served for years together in the military and they think of each other as brothers. If I decided to try something with him I'd be afraid that I might come between them."

Devin was silent for a minute before asking, "Did you ever actually have any kind of relationship with Ranger?"

I took a minute to think about that, had we really ever had a real relationship? I knew we hadn't because Ranger had always been very clear that he didn't do relationships even if he was constantly insinuating that we may have one 'someday'. "No, I guess not."

"Then you're fair game. It sounds to me like Ranger messed up, plus didn't you tell me he moved on with some ex of his?"

"That's true. Tank said they aren't officially in a relationship, but that they share the same bedroom. But isn't there some man saying that bros always come before hos?" I asked.

Devin laughed, "Honey, you are not a ho, and I think that those decisions should be made by Tank. If Ranger is really his brother then as long as his intentions are good I don't see why it should affect their relationship, but it's his decision to make not yours."

I could understand that logic, but it didn't make me feel much better. I wouldn't ever ask Tank or any of the other Merry Men to give up their relationship with Ranger and I felt like if I decided to see what would happen between the two of us that would be what I was doing.

I guess that Devin knew I was having a hard time believing him, because a second later he groaned. "Seriously, Steph, you always put your happiness second. Remember you grandma's letter if that helps, just because Ranger acted like an ass and didn't treat you right doesn't mean that you should give up a chance at happiness with Tank. Maybe it will work out and maybe it won't, but you should give it a chance."

"What if I promise to think about it?"

"That's all I ask, honey." He paused and then got back to business, "I'm still looking into Belikov, and I'll give you a call if I find anything else out."

"Bye, Dev."

"Bye, honey."

After we hung up I stayed in bed for another few minutes trying to think about what Devin had told me. Maybe he was right and I should stop worrying so much about other people's feelings and give myself a chance at happiness, it is what grandma had asked me to do.

When I made my way down to the basement for my morning workout, I was shocked to find Tank lifting weights in the corner with no shirt on. I know that it's been a while since I've had a social orgasm, but even if it hadn't been I would have to have been dead not to notice the perfection in that man's body.

He was built, as all the RangeMen I knew were, but he wasn't overly built. I knew I had a type and my type (with the exception of the Dick, but we all know I never really was that interested in him) were well built muscular men who didn't look like they had been injecting steroids in secret. I was fascinated with the movement of his muscles as he moved the bar up and down over his head and I couldn't help but notice the small drop of sweat that was slowly making its way down the crevice of his spine. I seriously had to fight down the urge to walk over there and lick it off his back. I seriously needed some sugar.

As if he could feel me checking him out, the side of his mouth tipped up in an almost imperceptible smirk. No one else would have noticed it, but I had spent more time trying to analyze the Merry Men's blank faces than anyone and I knew I had a pretty good idea of what was going through his mind. He knew I was checking him out and he felt pretty damn good about it.

Something about that smirk sparked my inner Jersey girl. After all, you can take the girl out of Jersey but you can't take the Jersey out of the girl. I was wearing a read tank top over a black sports bra and a pair of black jogging shorts. I had only put on the tank top because I thought it would make him more comfortable while we were working out, but if he wanted to play dirty then so could I. I ripped my tank top off and jumped on the treadmill.

I knew I looked good. I'd spent the last few years working out on a consistent basis and limiting my sugar intake (granted I would never cut it out completely, after all I hadn't had sex in over 3 years), so my body was thin and toned.

I knew the moment that he noticed my wardrobe change because I was watching him through the mirror on the wall in front of me. His eyes widened and even from the distance I was from him I could tell that his eyes had turned the color of melted chocolate and he stumbled in his rep. I couldn't help but grin, it seemed like I wasn't the only one affected here.

It was about an hour into our workout that it finally struck me that I was trying to get his attention. I was definitely attracted to him and I could definitely see us going somewhere, but should I listen to Devin? I had always been the kind of person who worried more about what other people felt or needed than worrying about what I wanted or needed, which could be seen by both my relationship with Joe and with Ranger.

With Joe I had always wanted and needed more. I wanted to feel like I was more important than his work. I wanted to feel like we had some sort of deeper connection than just our shared past, and I needed to feel like I was more than just a booty call late at night when his "boys" needed me. I never got any of those things from him and I just let our relationship continue because it was what my mother wanted and what Joe wanted. I had been desperate to not only do something to make my mother proud but to also show her that I could be in a relationship that could be going somewhere.

But then I had always pushed him away from anything too serious, I think it was because I knew that while I did love him in the way you always love the guy who took your virginity, I never really felt anything deeper than that. I was just desperate to not be alone and confused about what I truly wanted out of a relationship.

With Ranger, I always wanted to feel like he needed me for something other than sex. I wanted to feel like I was important enough that he couldn't see his life without me. I needed to feel like he had a deep enough connection with me that he wanted to call me when things went bad in his day or he was about to go in the wind. I would occasionally get the midnight visit to my apartment to watch me sleep before he would disappear for a few weeks, but he would never intentionally just drop by to let me know he was going and he never once picked up the phone to just call me.

I know I had been in love with Ranger in a way I had never been with Joe. Ranger had always supported me and my decisions to continue doing my job even when he knew I was ill prepared to do it, and he was constantly there to back me up when everything turned bad. But at the end of the day, our connection was based on intense attraction only. I could list the things I knew about the man personally on one hand, and that just wasn't enough for me. I was in love with the man I thought Ranger was, but not necessarily the man he actually is. I would always have a connection to him, but I could also honestly say that I was done with that time in my life.

I glanced over at Tank who was now jogging on the treadmill while I spent some time with the weights. He had been there for me just as much as Ranger had been, maybe even more. When Ranger was in the wind, I would have Tank's constant shadow behind me. I always assumed it was because Ranger had ordered him to be there, but maybe it was something more.

These last few days had opened my mind to a part of Tank that I had never seen before. He had opened up to me and was letting me get to know who he truly was, and not just the parts of him he let the rest of the world see. I could tell by the way he had talked about his family that there weren't a lot of people he trusted with that information and it humbled me that he had chosen to share it with me.

I was definitely attracted to him, but I could also feel a different kind of connection beginning to form between us. When I had walked into the room I felt an electric tingle down my neck, a feeling that I had only ever felt before when I was with Ranger. It excited me because for a while I had thought that I would never have those kinds of feelings for anyone again. I had dated Damien briefly, but I had never felt this kind of excitement or connection to him. No one else had even gotten me interested enough to try a first date.

So the question was, did I want to open myself up again and see what would happen between us? I looked over at him and felt my heart speed up a little, would it be alright for me to even start something with Ranger's best friend? Devin's words filled my head and I remembered how he had told me that it was not my problem to worry about Tank and Ranger's relationship, and I couldn't help but think that Ranger and I had never truly been in any kind of relationship in the first place. He had always been very clear that his life didn't lend itself to any type of relationship. So if that was true, than this shouldn't be an issue and if Ranger was truly best friends with Tank he would be happy for us if we did decide that we wanted to try to see where our relationship would go.

I sighed, how could I even be sure he was interested in anything with me? After all, he had seen me at my worst. He knew how much of an awful bounty hunter I had been and how I had refused for years to even try and get any type of training. I had been an idiot.

But then I remembered the last few days, he had opened up to me in a way he had never done in Trenton. He had also cooked me a fabulous dinner and stayed up late into the night talking to me. Not to mention the pretty obvious flirting we were doing right now with our lack of clothing.

I looked up at him and noticed he was looking at me as if he could read all the thoughts running through my head and he smiled. Heck, he probably could since I'm pretty sure ESP was a requirement for working at RangeMan, but he didn't say anything so I let myself believe that he didn't have a clue what was going on in my head. Yeah, I may have matured but I still take the occasional trip to Denial Land.

"Would you like to spar for a little bit?" He asked.

I nodded and gave him a grin, "Sure, I love eating mat."

He laughed, "I thought maybe I could spend some time teaching you some Krav Maga. I think you'd like it because it essentially has no rules and I know it's not something they teach operatives."

I groaned, I could just tell this meant that I would be eating a lot more mat today than I had in our previous sparring session, but I could also see how knowing something that someone wouldn't expect me to know would be helpful. "Sure, just try not to kill me."

He smiled and then we both removed our shoes and stepped onto the mats. Tank spent the next hour going over different moves with me and then testing me to make sure I got them. By the end of the hour I could definitely say that I enjoyed the style, but I could also say that I needed a visit to my shower massager. If his body touched me one more time it was entirely possible that I might actually combust, and the sad thing was it was even intimate touching.

After we finished our workout, we both went our separate ways to shower and change before meeting for lunch. I spent that time giving my shower massager its workout. After all, there's a reason I spent so much money on the top of the line model!

When I entered the kitchen after my very satisfying shower, Tank was just finishing a couple of sandwiches so I grabbed us each a bottle of water and met him at the table.

When he sat down he turned to me and said, "Okay, so what's our mission?"

I sighed; I had really hoped to put off this talk because I wasn't really sure how he would take it when he found out what he would have to do. "How much do you know about Al Fariq and his organization?"

"Not much, I know he deals in slave trade of mostly men and that he's a mercenary for hire with no moral compass."

I nodded. "Yes, Devin managed to dig up some information and found out that the majority of his mercenary services are bought by a man named Ali. Ali is apparently Ivan Belikov, an arms dealer from Russia."

Tank nodded, "I've heard of Belikov, but I had no idea he was in to anything like this. He's a pretty well respected man in Russia."

"It's the way he makes his money. He pays a fee to Al Fariq and Al Fariq starts wars where he tells him to. Then Belikov comes in and sells his weapons to the area that is being attacked for a profit." I paused, "Do you know how Al Fariq gets the men he sells as slaves?"

Tank shook his head.

"He captures them. All the men he sells were prisoners of war or men he captured from his enemies, like you."

Tank took a minute to think about that. It was seriously wrong that most of these men were completely innocent people in the wrong place at the wrong time and forced into a life that was neither easy nor escapable. "So, what are we going to do?"

"I have to be back in two and a half weeks for what Al Fariq refers to as his monthly sale." I paused, "He sells all the men he's captured in the last month to the slave buyers he agrees to do business with. He expects me to be there to buy as well as to take him up on his new job offer which I now know is to become the new middle man between him and Ali."

He grimaced, "That's not going to be safe, Al Fariq's temper is well known."

I knew that. I also knew if we were caught we would probably end up dead, but I was trying to be positive. "There's already another Special Forces soldier in Fariq's agency, apparently his mission was to get close enough to kill him but when they found out about Ali they decided that they wanted to get rid of both parties instead of just one. The Russian government has agreed to shut down Belikov's business if we can get evidence that he is indeed buying services from Fariq, so our mission is to find the evidence at either Fariq's compound or at Belikov's."

Tank nodded, "Okay, so what do I need to do?"

I blushed, "You have to pretend to be my slave."

Tank blinked at me in surprise.

"Fariq gave you to me as a test, if I don't come back with you as a well-mannered slave then I will blow my cover or in worst case scenario he will think that you were more trouble than you were worth and request that he be allowed to kill you."

"So what do I need to do?"

"Essentially it's a perfect cover for you; he will expect you to be my bodyguard. For the most part it will allow you to be with me wherever I am except for when I'm negotiating with either Fariq or Ali."

Tank sighed in relief, "I can handle that."

The rest of lunch we sat in silence eating our food and relaxing. After lunch Tank decided that he was going to read up on all my files related to Al Fariq so I gave him my laptop and left him to it. I knew those files from front to back and reading them just made me sick. So instead I decided to go shopping, maybe it was time to open myself up to a new relationship and maybe it was time for a trip to Victoria's Secret. After all, sex underwear always made me feel more confident.