Just as he was about to pick up the phone to call the service someone knocked on the door. He grabbed the door and swung it open. He froze as his eyes traveled up and down the body of the woman that stood before him.

When he regained his composure he mumbled only one word. "Hi."

Steph In The Right Direction

Chapter Nineteen

Damns she looks good. He thought to himself as he opened the door wider to usher her inside. But any warm feelings he was having were immediately washed away when he felt her hand sweep across his ass, followed by the low purring of her voice.

"Rrrricardo. Thank you so much for inviting me over." Amanda said, obviously laying on the sex appeal a tad too thick.

"Keep your hands to yourself Amanda, this isn't a social call." Ranger replied as he closed the door and joined her in the living room.

Amanda let her long, black coat slide slowly from her shoulders and land in the middle of the floor. "But Ricky, you know we were never good at business. We were always much better at the, how did you say… social aspects of our relationship."

Ranger reached for her coat and tossed it swiftly onto the couch. "Time to cut the shit Amanda. I know what you want, and for once, I'm going to give it to you.

Amanda's eyebrow jerked upward and she was just about to speak when the speaker buzzed. Ranger walked to the door and hit the button. "Yeah?"

"Boss, there's a package here for you. Deliverer says you were expecting it." said the voice through the box.

"Yes, please bring it up ASAP."

Ranger let go of the button and turned around to face the enemy one last time.

"Ok Amanda. Here's the deal."

Amanda opened her mouth to speak, but Ranger held up his hand to quiet her. "No interruptions. For once, you're going to sit there and listen to what I have to say." he said fiercely.

She slumped down defeatedly onto the couch as she watched him open the door and take a package from one of his many flunkies. When he rejoined her in the living room, he was wearing a scowl she hadn't seen in years.

"I know you want money because that's what you always want." He paused and waited for her to respond.

"Go on." she urged suddenly feeling happier about the direction of the conversation.

"I'm going to give you a very large sum of money and in return you are going to do two things for me." he explained.

"What? And how much?" she asked as her voice switched from sweet and sultry to harsh business woman.

"You're going to sign over complete and total custody of Erica to me and you're going to leave New Jersey and never return."

"And why the hell would I do that?" she asked as her anger began to rise.

"Because I'm about to give you 20 million reasons to do it." His eyes dropped from her gaze and he quickly tore into the package that had finally arrived. "My lawyer drew these up a few hours ago. Everything has been looked over and it's all in order. I just need your signature and then you'll finally get the money you've always wanted."

Amanda rose quickly from the couch and placed her hands on her hips. "Now hold on a damn minute Ricardo. I am not agreeing to this. How dare you try and steal Erica away from me, then demand I leave. This is ludicrous."

"No Amanda it's not. If anything it's just long overdue. You've got Erica stowed away at some boarding school and she barely knows either of us. And every time you start running low on funds you come crawling back to me. I'm sick of the games. I want a life, and I want one without you in it."

Amanda took a step back and thought about the offer. "Fine. I'll leave this god forsaken state but I keep custody of Erica."

Ranger dropped his head and laughed. "No deal sweet cheeks. As long as you have custody of my daughter you will never let go. You will do what you have always done, and that's use her to get leverage with me. But I'm done with this, and so are you. Sign the damn papers. This is your last chance."

"And if I don't sign them?"

"Then my men put you in a car, drive you to the boarder of New Jersey and dump you on the side of the road. But not before taking your credit cards, which I pay for. Then I call my lawyer and get them started on selling the Miami property. It should bring in a nice chunk of change. And last but not least, I close your bank accounts since of course they still technically belong to me."

"You wouldn't dare. I'm your daughter's mother."

"Unfortunately you are. But as soon as you walk out this door, I'm going to do something I should have done a long time ago. I'm bringing Erica to live with me. So the way I see it, you have two choices. One you take the money and get the fuck out of my life forever. Or two, you leave the money and I force you out of my life forever. Either way, in about two more minutes I'm going to have you thrown out of this building and it will be the last time I ever have to look at your spoiled ass."

Amanda opened her mouth to speak then closed it. Opened once more, then snapped it shut again. She dropped her head and stared at her Manolo Blahniks. A minute later she held her hand out to Ranger. "Give me the pen."

"Smart choice." Ranger said as he walked over to the intercom speaker. He punched a button then said, "Hal, I need you to escort Amanda to the airport. Get her a one-way ticket to wherever she wants to go."

"Will do boss."

Amanda smacked the signed papers against Ranger's chest. As he grabbed for the papers she placed her hands on either side of his face and kissed him. Not slowly and passionately but hard and angry. When he pushed her away her Bobbi Brown Calypso Coral lipstick was well worn off.

"One day you're going to regret this Ricardo." she spat at him.

As he held the door open for her he laughed. "I doubt that, I really doubt that.

Stephanie stood in the garage of the Rangeman building staring at the keycard in her hand. She had been there for fifteen minutes already debating about whether to go up or not. Finally she made up her mind and slide the card through the slot. Within seconds the elevator doors opened.

When the car came to a stop her knees were shaking so badly she couldn't stand still. But when the doors opened and she came face to face with Amanda, her fear suddenly turned to anger.

They didn't speak. Instead they each stepped aside and continued on their path. Amanda entered the elevator and punched a button while Stephanie banged her fist against Ranger's door.

Stephanie turned around for one last look at the woman and glared as she watched Amanda touch up her lipstick while the elevator doors slid to a close. When she turned back around she was face to chest with Ranger. Her mood softened slightly until her eyes met his face. The anger flared again.

She took a step back. "That shade's all wrong for you Ranger." she said through gritted teeth.

She took another step back. "The next time you want to humiliate me, please remember you've already done enough damage." she said as she turned and made for the elevator.

As soon as she hit the button to call the car, she felt herself being swept off her feet. Literally. Ranger scooped her up and tossed her gingerly over his shoulder.

"Put me down!" she shrieked.

"Not a chance Steph. You're not moving one more inch until you give me a chance to explain."

"Name one reason why I should even give you the time of day, much less the time to explain?" Stephanie shouted as Ranger tossed her onto the couch in his apartment.

"Fuck. Because I'm in love with you Stephanie Plum, that's why." he shouted back at her.

"Oh." she said softly.

"Now sit there and don't fucking move or I'll call the guys downstairs to catch you and stun your ass. I'll be right back, I need to wash this shit off my face."

Stephanie sat frozen on the couch. She tried to breath, and she tried to respond but her mouth appeared to have quit working. The best she could do was stare into his dark eyes and mutter, "Oh", once more.

To be continued….