Chapter 20

I grabbed my laptop, opened the search program and mirrored my display on the conference room screen. Silently, I entered his name into the search engine. Glancing at him a few times, I clicked options I don't typically use in a preliminary search. Information about his personal life appeared on the screen.

"Mr Andrews, is your wife aware you have another family in Oregon?" I asked. He tried to deny it, but I projected an image of his two families on a split screen. Andrews was clearly visible in both photos and showed the latest birthday party for him. A huge banner in both backgrounds read, 'Happy Birthday Daddy'."The picture on the right has Sheena, Mitchel and Jasmine. On the left is Leanne, Lori and Kevin. Do you still doubt my research?" I sweetly asked.

"No," he replied.

Tuck Turner laughed before stating, "If you're legally married to both women, you could be charged with bigamy."

"I'm married to Sheena. Leanne is my girlfriend," he confessed.

I went through a few more screens, "I hate to tell you, but look at the screen. Your wife knows about Leanne. She just posted this a few minutes ago." I projected Sheena's Facebook page. 'I would like to wish my husband's fiancée Leanne a very happy birthday. Happy 9th Birthday Lori. Thank you for adding me as a friend Leanne, we should get together with the kids soon.'

She tagged Andrews in a new post, 'Today I learned nothing is ever as it seems. Whenever my husband returns from his Oregon office, he's very loving and attentive. However today, he didn't come home when he said to expect him. I contacted his Oregon office and a lovely young woman named Amber, a temp receptionist, said he was unavailable and to check with his fiancée Leanne Gilbert. When I checked for her profile, I noticed my husband with his arms around another women and their children. By the way Phil Andrews, I'm filing for divorce.'

Oh how the mighty has fallen. "Do you need a lawyer?" Turner asked as he passed Andrews his business card.

"Does anyone else have any questions?" I asked as I disconnected my laptop from the projection screen.

"What do you recommend we should do with our thieving employees?" Siobhan asked.

"Contact the authorities and we can help detain them," Tank offered.

"And TPIG?" Lorena asked.

"The FBI shut down their companies earlier today," Lester replied.

"Our mole is detained and our policies rewritten," Ranger added.

"Only Carlos and I have full access to the client lists. If you choose to sign with another security company, we will understand. After all, it was a breach within Rangeman which caused your companies to be compromised," I stated.

"Why should we trust you with our security?" Andrews stupidly asked. I forwarded the data I just compiled to my FBI contact. Phil Andrews was guilty of insider trading among other crimes. He recruited a few familiar Burg men and women to handle the stocks. When this story breaks, it's going to be national news.

I really didn't want Rangeman to lose clients, but I also didn't want our men to deal with this asshole either. For now I needed to placate this criminal. With a shrug I answered, "It's completely up to you to trust us or not. We didn't have to find the moles planted within your company, but I felt it was my job to help protect you company's reputation. If this information gets leaked to the public, it's not just our reputation at stake. All of us could lose clients and revenue too. I will personally handle all your background checks."

"Who are you to Rangeman?" Tucker asked out of curiosity.

"I'm the assistant CEO," I replied. We had agreed to my new job title earlier today.

"She is also my wife," Ranger announced.

"Sorry Mrs Manoso, I meant no disrespect," Andrews stated in an attempt to redeem himself. I had already made a note in his file to terminate our relationship with his company. I don't want Rangeman to be associated with his company if he's the CEO. When they decide to reappoint a new company leader, I'll consider renewing their contract. As it was, we needed to hire more men to accommodate our expanding client base.

All the CEOs talked to our FBI contact, giving them the employee names and proof of their criminal activities. They would be dispatching men along side of Rangeman employees to detain these corporate criminals.

I was happy once our meeting ended and the CEOs cleared the building. My buddy Hector was shadowing Andrews. He entered the elevator to keep him in his sight. When Phil Andrews exited our building, he was immediately arrested.

My stomach started feeling a little queasy. I barely made it to the washroom before I was losing everything I ate for dinner. Carlos held my hair as I emptied my stomach. I heard Bobby talking to someone on the phone. No doubt he was calling Annie to check on me. "Overreacting," I groaned.

"Rangeman hasn't dealt with a pregnancy before," he stated.

"Morning sickness is not fun," I said while washing my face. I grabbed my spare toothbrush to brush the sick from my mouth.

"It will get easier. Celia had morning sickness just for the first trimester," he offered.

"Gives me hope," I stated after rinsing my mouth.

Annie knocked on our apartment door. Bobby followed her inside when Carlos opened the door. He was dragging our new sonogram machine behind him. I led them to the bedroom so I could lay back on the bed.

"This is going to be a little cold," she said as the cold lubricant hit my exposed abdomen. She moved the wand over my abdomen to show the babies on the monitor. Glancing at Bobby, she said, "I told you they were fine."

I wasn't looking at my babies on the monitor because I was busy watching my husband's face. A tear streamed down his face. He was crying, but I could still see the sheer joy he felt while seeing his children.

"Our babies, Babe," he whispered.

"Yes Carlos. Our babies."

"Nine weeks," Annie announced. "You may experience morning sickness for the next few weeks. Eat smaller, more frequent meals. No sudden movements." She printed the image for us to keep. It looked like it was printed on paper where the image could rub or fade after awhile. I asked Bobby to scan them so I could have a digital copy.

"I think the guys know our secret," I whispered.

"I want to shout it from the rooftops," he said. "If they ask, I will not confirm or deny until you're ready to let them know." My heart just melted a little more.

Carlos left me on the bed as he cleared our apartment so we could spend some time alone. It was a few stressful days questioning our friends' loyalty to Rangeman. We cleared them, but it still shook me to the core. I didn't like having the seed of doubt planted in my mind.

My gorgeous, sexy Cuban Adonis husband walked back into our bedroom stripping. His abs were flexing as he pushed his pants down his legs. I felt myself drool and his perfect, naked body approached me.

He crawled up the bed as he removed my clothes. Carlos spent time kissing my abs. My firm, defined abs showed no visible indication I was pregnant yet. At least other people couldn't see it, but I can. Pretty soon my muscle definition will disappear as I expand with our twins. Reading my mind, he said, "I can't wait until you grow round with our babies."

"It's going to take a long time to get them back," I complained. Carlos made me completely forget about my expanding abdomen. You can't see the little baby bump I already noticed.

"You can hardly notice," he said as he continued to kiss the very small bump he just found. After he spent a few minutes talking to our babies, he kissed his way up until my shirt and bra were gone. "So sensitive," he whispered against my breast. I wrapped my legs around him, pulling him into me.

"Carlos," I moaned as he sucked on the spot under my ear. I erupted as he pushed into me. He slowed the pace to draw out my orgasm. Another orgasm started building before the first one ended. We shouted each other's names as we released together.

I felt the electricity pass between our soul marks. Every time we have sex, it strengthens the bond. Finding my soulmate changed my life for the better. I'm more confident in myself. I love deeper than ever. My platonic connections are also very strong. As I continued to think about everything that's changed, a loud knock echoed through our apartment.

"If you don't want them to see us naked, we should get dressed and let them in," he wisely stated. I slipped from the bed and grabbed my clothes. Using our ensuite washroom, I quickly cleaned myself before slipping on my clothes.

"We need to know," I heard Lester whine.

"What do you need to know?" I asked.

"If the babies are okay," Lester answered.

"They're fine Lester. Here, see for yourself," I handed him the sonogram photo.

Lester studied the images for several minutes. He smiled when he touched the babies' image. "I think this one's a girl," he said as he touched baby A, the one at the top. "And this one is a boy," he added when he pointed to baby B.

"Can I be your son's godfather?" he asked.

Carlos placed his hand on my back, silently telling me he wants his cousin to be our son's godparent. "Sure Lester, if we have a son, you can be his godfather. Hector, if we have a girl, will you be her godfather?" Lester pumped his fist in victory.

"Si Angel, I would be your daughter's godfather," he said as he pulled me into his embrace. I could tell Carlos was happy with my choice.

My husband pulled me into his arms and said Hector was the best choice for our daughter. He would always protect our daughter. I didn't want to hope, but I couldn't stop myself. A mini me and a mini Carlos. I could almost see them running around Rangeman. I would love my children regardless what we have.

Our little party was interrupted. Dad called our apartment asking to meet with the core team. We told him to come up to our apartment. He sounded a little shaken. I waited by our open apartment door for dad to arrive.

"Dad, what's wrong?" I asked. He gently pushed me back into the apartment.

"It's your mother. She's been arrested for insider trading," he announced.

I went through the list in my head. Mom's name wasn't on the list. Suddenly, a thought jumped into my head. Ranger has fake IDs, passports and bank accounts for us in case we needed to go into hiding. I think he called them bolt holds. "Daddy, when you served with the Rangers, did you create alternate identifications and residences?"

"It was necessary for me to protect my family," he answered.

"Do you remember any of the names?" I was hoping he wouldn't say the name Winona Stevens.

"Walter and Winona Stevens," he answered.

"Oh Daddy, I'm so sorry," I said as I started to cry. "I didn't know."

"Pumpkin, what are you talking about?" he asked.

"Show him Carlos," I sobbed.

Hector pulled me onto his lap as I sobbed into his shoulder. Nothing he could do was calming me down. I needed all of my platonic soulmates with me. Lester contacted Manny. Bobby called Mary Lou while Tank called Eddie.

Manny burst through the door to hold me in his arms. "Stephanie, what's wrong?" he asked.

"I just destroyed our father," I whispered.

"How?" he wanted to know. He listened as our dad read the information out loud. "It's not your fault sis. She did it to herself," Manny said to comfort me. I didn't believe him and kept sobbing.

Within 20 minutes, I was surrounded by all of my platonic soulmates. Mary Lou held me in her arms as the men surrounded us. Our bonds were strengthening as we all embraced. I felt my anguish subside. When I was finally under control of my emotions, dad approached me.

"Pumpkin," he said as he pulled me into his arms. "She did this to herself. If she wasn't so eager to win favour with Angie Morelli, none of this would have happened. Your mother chose friendship and status in the Burg over her family."

"The others?" I had to ask.

"Joseph Morelli, Angie Morelli and Mooch Morelli have all been arrested with your mother. I have you, Valerie, Manny and the grandchildren. I have everything I could ever want in life," he reassured me. "Turn on the TV to watch the local news."

Tank did as requested and we caught the news as they repeated the charges. 'Insider trading, theft and sale of company secrets are just a few of the charges against these esteemed members of the Chambersburg community. Anthony Morelli was arrested earlier today on similar charges. Once again I announce Angie, Joseph and Mooch Morelli, Winona Stevens also known as Helen Plum, Dickie Orr, Terry Gilman and Joyce Barnhardt have been arrested for various corporate crimes and insider trading. If found guilty, they will serve a minimum sentence of 20 years in Federal prison,' the news anchor stated.

She cut to Joe's arrest. He was heard screaming, 'Phil Andrews at Global Accountants told us how to do everything. He helped us create a business to place men vetted to steal their secrets for us to build a stronger, wealthier company.' He was cut off when they shut the door to the van where thy shackled him to a floor bolt.

Dad wrapped his arms around me, "Pumpkin, you did the right thing by reporting these criminals. You proved Rangeman was not affiliated with the crime."

"You're my hero," Manny joked as he wrapped his arms around me and dad.

"Seriously Steph, you saved everyone working at Rangeman," Bobby stated.