Author: plumfanatic
Title: Ikergyermek Rokon (Twin Cousin)

Rating: NC-17 SMUT
Spoilers/Warnings: possibly any and all books

Disclaimer: Most of these characters belong to Janet Evanovich and I am not profiting from the use of them, except of course Ranger and maybe some of the Merry Men and that is not financially.

First of all I want to thank everyone for the get-well wishes and the kind emails. Things are improving for me in some respects while they are still determining the other problems. I have tried my best to write this chapter when the pain allowed. So that means I have trashed the chapter at least a dozen times or so. Bear with me, I hope this chapter helps get my writing to flow again. For those who were concerned that I might not finish, I made a promise I will and I intend to keep it. Anything happens to me and Trish gets to do it!!!

A huge thanks to Trish who has been a rock for me the last 3 months. She's an incredible friend. And Stayce, who is always willing to give me a bit of her precious time.

A brief synopsis to remind you where we were. It's lunch time everywhere.

Ranger & Steph are in NYC posing as a married couple. Today they are having lunch with Ranger's almost ex-girlfriend, Dawn (they never got that far) and her hubby who is one of Ranger's best friends…Jeremy.

Joe is bringing Terry Gilman into their info gathering circle at lunch and hoping this plan won't backlash.

Zigana is having lunch with Tank, Meri Maisonet and Andy what's his name from the Treasury Dept. Z fills them in on her suspicions about Ascher, the man they met at the club the previous night. (Remember the Club? Celebrate good times, come on!) She is also feeling a bit queasy about Terry.

Ascher Trillion, yes he is one of our villains, is up to no good with Stephanie's unmentionables.

And the team of Lester and Meri have commandeered the user friendly office aka the Dart Room for the next month.

Chapter 21

Joe and Terry finished their meal in silence, as they were each lost in their own thoughts.

Terry's mind was whirling. How had she missed this? Surely if anyone was dealing diamonds, she would have heard something by now. However, Joe had some very convincing evidence and he wouldn't be asking her for help if it weren't true. Well, life had been a little on the dull side in Trenton for quite a while now; this might liven things up for her. Moreover, it would give her a chance to annoy Joe's pathetic little girlfriend.

Joe could almost hear her mind humming. Terry was quick and he knew she was already running possible scenarios through her mind. He could only hope bringing her into this wouldn't come back to bite him in the ass. He took a deep breath before warning her, "I know I don't have to tell you to be careful, but you need to know that it's believed they are dangerous and lethal. They are suspected of killing their own people and probably a few others."

Terry flashed him a brilliant smile that lit up her eyes. "I like dangerous, Bucky. That's why you and I were always so good together."

"I'm serious, I want you to keep your eyes open and listen for anything you hear that may sound out of the ordinary, but watch your back. I don't want you getting hurt."

Joe opened Terry's car door while she entered the special cell phone number for the secure line they were using into her phone. She leaned into him to ask in a low voice, "Isn't your precious Stephanie going to be upset with us working together again?"

They were so close Joe had to take a step back. Christ, this was going to be all over the Burg in ten minutes he thought.

"Steph already knows we're going to be working together. She knows it's the job and she's fine with it." He took her by the arm and guided her into the car. He gave her a light kiss on the cheek and said, "Thanks Griz, I owe you for this. Be safe."

"Don't you forget it Bucky, I will collect," she promised. This time he is going to pay up, she thought as she pulled away, Stephanie be damned.

Joe ran his hand through his hair shaking his head once again hoping he wasn't going to regret bringing her into this.

rangerlovessteph

Stephanie turned her head noticing all of the other people in the restaurant as she took deep breaths to keep from hyperventilating. They were at an isolated table but still she had no desire to make a scene in front of Dawn and Jeremy. She kept telling herself she wanted to hear this. After all, Ranger never opened up his past to anyone. Dawn was obviously a very important part of his life and if he was so willing to expound on it she could be patient and listen. He was being Mr. Talkative, thanks to Dawn. She was starting to like this woman. She not only had quite an impact on her "husband"but also managed to have the master of brevity become almost loquacious.

Dawn could see Stayce was about to jump to conclusions here, she knew the mental wheels were grinding. She was going to have to give Carlos some lessons in Wo-Man when this was over. Stayce was overly sensitive to every word he spoke. She signaled to the waiter and ordered a couple more bottles of Chianti.

"Yep, that's me, just call me Delilah." Dawn laughed. "Give me a break Carlos, you wanted a physical relationship and that's it. You were never interested in settling down. Hell, you rarely saw any woman more than once…you just picked a new one from your flock of groupies when you felt the urge."

Jeremy almost choked from trying to hold in his laughter at his wife's accounting of his best friend's sex life. Ranger looked at Dawn in disbelief. Stephanie shifted her eyes to Ranger and burst out in uncontrollable laughter. The second she did, Jeremy lost his control.

In a strangled voice, Stephanie managed to say, "You…" she chortled, "had a…" she snorted, "flock of groupies?" It was too much. Dawn and Jeremy lost all restraint and laughed out loud. Dawn had tears running down her cheeks.

Ranger sat there tapping his fingers on the table trying to maintain his appearance of control, deciding where to dump Dawn's body. He struggled to hold back his own laughter and retain a modicum of his machismo.

Stephanie turned to Dawn, "How did he know which one to choose, did they have to do titty shots or hold a 'Lotto for Carlos'?"

"No, but that would have been hilarious to see," Dawn managed through her laughter. "I can see it now. Scratch tickets. Match 3 Glocks to win an hour with Carlos, the Cuban Sex God…Match 3 utility belts to win an evening!"

Steph jumped in choking, "No, no…match 3 pairs of black Silk Boxers and," she lowered her voice to a whisper waving her hand to Dawn to move in closer, "win the whole night with the Master of the Doomsday Orgasm."

Ranger gave in finally to the hilarity of it all. He was glad Stephanie could make a joke of it even if it was at his expense. He prayed this was a good sign and not just the effect of all the wine Dawn had been giving her. He brought her hand to his lips to kiss as he drew her in close to him. He nuzzled into her neck and asked softly against her ear, "Doomsday orgasm Babe? You haven't experienced that one…yet." He nipped at her ear lightly sending electrical shocks to her toes.

Stephanie crossed her legs tightly and tried to rub the goose bumps off her bare arms.

The laughter at the table quieted and they agreed to allow Carlos to resume his story.

Ranger went on. "Dawn and I met while she was a civilian teaching language classes on base. I was taking her advanced Farsi class. Languages come easy to me. Since we were in and out of the Middle East so often I was assigned as the designated translator for my team." He kept his eyes on Stephanie while he spoke. "She was quite an inspiring teacher; it was the only class I ever had in my life I didn't need to force myself to attend. We talked after class a few times and then soon we were meeting for dinner. It was all innocent, we got acquainted and I taught her some Spanish dialects she didn't know. Every time I asked her to go out for more than dinner, she refused. She was the most frustrating woman."

"I was frustrating? Why would any intelligent woman want to go out with the president of the "Bed a Bimbo" club?" Dawn asked. "And what about the five hundred times you told me you weren't exactly relationship material? You wanted to have sex with me, and that isn't what I wanted." She stopped briefly and smiled at her husband who was shaking his head accusingly at her, he knew her so well. God, she loved Jeremy. How many husbands would sit there and listen to their wife discussing her relationship with his best bud, and keep her honest about it to boot?

Her face was feeling slightly warm when she continued, "Okay, well, sure I wanted to have sex with you, give me a break, who wouldn't." She held up her wine to clink glasses with Stephanie in a toast. Stephanie reciprocated with a knowing nod and smile.

"I wasn't interested in casual sex, I can have that in the shower by myself," Dawn continued, ignoring both men shaking their heads.

Ranger gave Stephanie a curious look as he patted her on the back when she choked on the wine she had been drinking.

"Everyone knew all about your groupies," Dawn continued, "and I wasn't about to be something else that came easily to you or any other man."

Stephanie wasn't too surprised when Dawn mentioned that Ranger wasn't relationship material, he had told her the same thing. She imagined he had been saying that since the day he joined the army.

Ranger shifted his gaze to Dawn, "I owe you an apology. I should have realized sooner that you would never have been a woman that would have a casual relationship with me or any other man. My only excuse is that I was young and thought I was about to make my mark on the world. Lucky for you I was an idiot or you could've been stuck with me permanently."

"Maybe," Dawn smiled looking into Jeremy's eyes as she interlaced her fingers with his. "Being stuck with you wouldn't have been too horrible; however, it would have totally ruined my chances to be with the real man of my dreams." Jeremy leaned in and kissed his wife with obvious love and trust.

Jeremy decided they might get through this quicker and less painfully if he took over. As much as he loved his wife, his best friend was taking quite a beating here. He turned his attention to Stephanie and resumed the story.

"As if you would have ever made a commitment, Manoso," Jeremy chided. "Stayce, I'm not sure how you managed it. Never in my wildest imagination would I have thought of him settling down. This man has a serious relationship phobia. From the way his eyes lit up yesterday every time he spoke of you, we both knew you had to be unique."

Stephanie was slightly confused. If they knew about the operation, surely they knew she and Ranger weren't actually married. "I don't know about unique, maybe I'm more of a challenge than he's used to," she said with a devilish grin.

Dawn filled everyone's wine glass once again and offered a toast to Stephanie. "To Stayce, may she be a challenge to Carlos for the next sixty years."

Everyone, including Ranger, downed their wine with enthusiasm. Ranger held Stephanie's gaze as they drank and she imagined she saw love in those stunning dark eyes.

Jeremy continued with the story. He explained how he had run into Carlos and Dawn at a diner near the base. He had fallen for Dawn the minute he saw her. "Of course he wouldn't tell me much about her other than I shouldn't bother calling her," Jeremy told Steph. "Naturally I bet him that he would soon be the best man at my wedding with Dawn because I was done for. I think he knew I was serious so he backed off and left the path clear for me."

Ranger sat back listening, relieved that Jeremy had jumped in to finish for him. He had Stephanie's fingers laced with his, resting on his thigh. He was making small circles with his thumb in the palm of her hand. Touching her had always been as much a need to him as a pleasure. Being here with her and two of his most intimate friends was something he had never imagined. Was it possible that he and Steph could meld their lives and make it work? He didn't envy the life that Jeremy had made with Dawn, knowing it was never going to be a life he could live. Nevertheless, a life with Steph would always be filled with excitement and yes, challenge. He came out of his reverie when he heard Rachel's name.

"Carlos of course had to fulfill all of his duties as best man, including getting friendly with the maid of honor. Rachel and Dawn were best friends since the fifth grade. So it turned out that we were all at the alter again a few months later with Rachel and Carlos." Jeremy watched Stephanie as he spoke and was pleased that he didn't see any animosity when he started to bring up Carlos's ex-wife. That was a major point for her in his book.

Stephanie was feeling the effects of the wine and the closeness of Ranger. It was odd learning so much about him. She had been afraid at first, but it was part of what made him Ranger. She knew more about his ex-wife now too. She couldn't resent her. Rachel and Ranger's marriage hadn't lasted long, but they had Julie and she was a blessing. Jeremy and Dawn were people she wanted to get to know better. The afternoon may have started wrong, but she was more than convinced that there couldn't be anything other than a wonderful friendship between Ranger and Dawn. However, Ranger was still going to pay for giving her the wrong impression. Why was it that men always leave out the most important details?

Ranger signaled the waiter to bring the check; they had been there for two and a half hours and hadn't even discussed business. It was time to move this meeting back to the RangeMan apartment. They gathered their things and headed out as soon as Ranger settled the bill.

rangerlovessteph

Zigana gave her updates to Tank, Meri and Andy. They were thrilled with the prospect of a viable suspect, even if it was mostly based on Zigana's intuition. This gave them something solid to dig into.

Tank confirmed that Elijah and Zander were on schedule and would be in Trenton by ten o'clock. The word on the street was that a certain party was still looking for "escorts". The two men coming in from the Florida office would be more than willing to be escorts. Hopefully this was the connection they were looking for.

Meri reported that she and Lester had spent the morning sorting through all incoming ships scheduled for the next two months that fit any of their criteria. The FBI had a couple agents working on narrowing the list down for them but it was still a tedious task with the wide spectrum of possibilities.

Andy presented a list of the most well-known traders and potential buyers that the Treasury Department was keeping a close watch on. He had already sent a copy to Ranger.

Ella came in to clear away the lunch dishes while they did some brainstorming before they each went their own way. Zigana was glad that it hadn't been a long meeting. She wanted some time alone before Joe returned from his date with the mob princess as Stephanie had called her. Okay, it wasn't a date, so why did she feel like she was being betrayed? She hadn't even met this Gilman woman and yet she knew they were going to be adversaries.

rangerlovessteph

Ascher Trillion let himself into Stephanie's apartment with ease. He knew she was staying with Morelli, but as soon as they got the message he had left over there she'd be back. Morelli wouldn't want the tramp in his home any longer. For a guy that had everything going for him, Joe Morelli sure turned into a pathetic waste he thought. How had a Morelli turned out so, so boring? Joe could have a half dozen women at any given time and here he was hooked up with Plum.

He went straight to her bedroom. He hadn't been seen and even though no one would recognize him he had still disguised himself as a further precaution. Ascher worked fast. He found what he was looking for when he opened the first drawer of her dresser. Her panties. He scooped them all up and shoved them in the grocery sack he had brought with him. The drawer next to it held the rest of her intimate garments. They too went into the bag. He quickly rifled through the other drawers until he was satisfied he had it all. Just to be certain, he looked in the closet. There was a laundry basket full of clean clothes on the floor. He dug through it and BINGO he hit major pay dirt. A single pair of little black panties embroidered with "Ranger" was at the bottom of the basket. He was going to have to go back to Joe's, but this was worth it. The slut was obviously doing that caveman, Manoso, on the side.

rangerlovessteph

Meri stared at the monitor without seeing the screen. Her mind had drifted back to the picture she had engraved on her brain of Lester walking through the office door this morning. He had dropped in to let her know he was going to be a little late. His morning workout had been interrupted. He still needed to shower. He was wearing a pair of low hanging sweats. That's it, nothing else, unless his shoes counted for something. His body still had the sheen of sweat. His hair, which had grown out slightly from the buzz cut he had been sporting when she first met him, looked as if he had already been in the shower. She noticed it curled a bit when it was wet which only added to his appeal.

She barely won the battle to keep her hands off of him. He was ripped, no doubt about it. There were plenty of guys in the bureau that looked fine, oozed sex, and even had a brain. Santos was different. He possessed an indefinable magnetism for her. She had been fighting his overwhelming allure for days now. Maybe she should just do him and get him out of her system. It's not like she didn't recognize his subtle flirting. He was obviously interested, or at least curious. Most men didn't see past her clothes and her lack of make-up. Of course that made it so much easier when she decided to go out clubbing, no one ever recognized her. She very seldom ever became intimate with any of the men she worked with, especially those in the Bureau.

Lester came in from his lunch break looking as if he had just woken up. Lester was ex-military Special Forces as were many of the RangeMen and had the ability to eat fast and squeeze in a power nap during his lunch break.

He crossed the room, leaned over her shoulder quietly asking, "Wanna share that daydream with me gorgeous?"

Meri was startled to awareness, shocked that he had been so quiet that she neither had heard nor felt his presence. His face was close enough that his lips brushed lightly on her neck as if he were planting little butterfly kisses there. She didn't dare move for fear of giving herself away.

The hell with it she thought and took the bait. "I'm not sure you can handle it Santos. You may not know what kind of fire you're playing with."

He placed his hand at the nape of her neck applying just enough pressure to send shivers down her spine. "I've always enjoyed playing with the flame before extinguishing the fire. But never forget, I can ignite it again and again before the embers die."

That was the final strike. She needed to vanquish the heat of working so closely with him or they would never accomplish a thing. If they released the tension they would be so much more productive and they could each move on she convinced herself. She only had to turn her head a couple inches for their lips to touch. "We'll see who extinguishes the flame first Santos," she spoke while brushing her mouth back and forth across his. Her tongue traced the outline of his lips before she kissed a path to his ear. "Did you lock the door?"