Okay, I swear that the last chapter marked the end of the worst of the angst. There might still be moments, but it won't be as bad as the last few chapters, I promise.

Just a heads up for those who have been asking, there are 17 chapters in this story (the prologue plus 16 chapters). So we're almost half way. Also, the end of tomorrow's chapter will bring us back to the events of the prologue.

I don't own them, make no profit, etc… Rating for language

…

Ranger stared at the phone he had just hung up, trying to make sense of the conversation with his accountant. But there was no good explanation he could come up with. He called Tank.

"Get me on a flight to Trenton tomorrow," he said. Calling Steph wasn't going to cut it. This was going to require a face-to-face show-down.

He leaned back in this chair and stacked his hands under his head. He hadn't seen Steph since he'd dropped her off at the airport two months ago. His lawyer had drawn up the divorce papers, ready to be filed as soon as the baby was born. Until then, staying in Miami seemed like the best choice for both of them. God knew they couldn't be in the same room together.

As long as they kept their distance, he could control his emotions over the whole situation. Now, though, she was threatening that stability, even from a distance. He had spent years perfecting his self-control, to the point that he rarely felt strong emotions, much less gave in to them. One look at Steph and her swollen belly and all that fell apart.

The phone rang again: Tank with flight information. It was an early flight, early enough to get him to Steph's apartment before she left for work. Good. They could get this out of the way, and he could actually get some work done in that office.

A knock sounded on the door and Jose, his second-in-command at the Miami branch stuck his head in. "That take-down is lined up for 0200."

Ranger nodded. "Have everyone here and ready to go by one thirty," he said. "Does the time still work for Lucinda?"

"She said no problem."

Ranger nodded and Jose disappeared. As long as it went smoothly, he should still make it to the airport in plenty of time. In Miami, it was worthless to try to get a skip out of a club before midnight. It also usually required the talent of Lucinda, a high-end hooker who regularly worked the club scene. Then again, Steph could manage it too, but Steph had a style all her own. Lucinda was pure Miami. She was also expensive, both for distractions and sex.

…

She was leaning against his car when Ranger got there. He glanced at his watch. It was 3:45 am, and he had to be at the airport by 4:30. He hadn't slept, and his bad mood lingered. Still, he gave Lucinda a polite nod. "Good job."

A coy smile curved her lips and she sashayed up to him. Her leather mini-skirt was skin tight, moving with her hips as she walked. She was wearing a thin, slinky silk top that showed off all of her breasts. Her slim legs were a mile long, topped off by four inch heels.

Warily, he watched as she stopped in front of him. She ran her fingers down his chest and started at him through lowered lashes. "Do you have plans, Carlos?" She dragged out his name in a low, husky voice with just a hint of a leftover Cuban accent.

He wished he could say that he was unaffected by her little display. But he was a man and Lucinda was very good at her chosen profession: namely, seducing men. "Yes, I have plans already," he said. His voice was calm and cool, even if he could feel his internal temperature climbing.

Her mouth dropped into a sexy pout, and her body brushed strategically against his. "That's too bad," she purred. "I'm finding myself in need of some non-work related relaxation."

He ignored his dick, which was screaming that the most expensive hooker in the city was offering it up for free. "You're a beautiful woman, Lucinda."

She smiled.

"But I'm a very married man."

Her eyes widened in shock before she was able to school her features. "And does your wife know how lucky she is?"

He chuckled, thinking about just how lucky Steph thought herself to be. "I'm sure," he said mildly. "I have a flight I have to catch. Jose will have a check for you."

She pouted for another second, but walked away. Mentally thanking her for adding to an already high level of sexual frustration, he climbed into the car and headed for the airport.

….

Steph stepped out the shower and slathered on cocoa butter lotion, trying to prevent stretch marks. Her hands slid over her belly, already well-rounded. She didn't want to think about what she was going to look like in another three months.

She pulled on the maternity-sized cargo pants Ella had bought for her. The first day she had worn them, the Merry Men had taken one look at her belly and slowly backed away. Now they were all reading up on what to do in case she accidentally had the baby in the office. She would laugh, but their absurd level of preparedness has saved her ass more than once.

She was making faces at a bowl of bran cereal and drinking de-caf coffee when she heard the locks tumble on her front door. "Hey Joe," she yelled. On the nights he worked, he usually stopped by in the morning to check on her. They had a crib halfway set up, and he was going to finish it for her sometime this week.

But it wasn't Joe who appeared in the doorway of the kitchen. Ranger stared at her, his expression blank. "Expecting someone?"

Her mouth opened, but she couldn't seem to make sound come out. He slid out a chair at the table and dropped into it, his long legs stretched out in front of him. The silence in the room was thick, as she frantically raked her brain for a reason he would show up unannounced. But nothing was coming to her. Her mind was muddled by his presence - not just his sudden physical presence, but the way he seemed to suck all the oxygen out of the room only by walking into it.

The last time she had seen him, she had been terrified at the thought of never seeing him again. But as the months passed, she had started to think that maybe it would be for the best. "What are you doing here?" she finally managed to say.

"Can't I stop in and see my wife?"

She blinked. "Still an ass, I see."

He folded his hands over his stomach. "Still as fucking gorgeous as ever."

Her eyes flew to his. He wasn't smiling. In fact, he looked more distant and angry now than he had when he walked in. But god, did he look good. His hair had grown out farther, and was pulled back. He was dressed in his standard black t-shirt and cargo pants, but every muscle was outlined. A flash hit her of the last time they had been together: his hands over her skin, her mouth on his perfect chest, his ragged breathing in her ear. The sounds and feel of that night haunted her. She dragged her gaze from his chest to his eyes and found him staring at her, his eyes darkened with lust.

A flush covered her face at being caught and she jumped up from the table. She dumped the rest of her disgusting cereal down the sink and kept her back to him, trying to regain her balance. She barely resisted fanning her face to combat the heat searing through her at just the memory of his touch.

Over the past two months, he had never been far from her thoughts, even though she had tried desperately to forget him. She hadn't succeeded – had never really thought she could – but she had come to the rational conclusion that a relationship between them was impossible. The best she could hope for now was distance.

He spoke from directly behind her, making her jump. "I got an interesting call from my accountant yesterday."

She stiffened. That's why he was here. In spite of all her adult decisions about distance and space, her heart had leapt for one traitorous moment, thinking he had changed his mind about her. That maybe he hadn't stopped loving her as instantly and irrevocably as it had seemed.

"There a particular reason you're not cashing the checks I send, Stephanie?"

He was still standing too close. She shrugged and tried to appear blasé. "Sure. I don't need the money."

He glanced toward the dining room, where a changing table, baby dresser, and half a crib had already been set up. "You need more space."

"There's plenty of space. Now, if that's the only reason you're here, you can go. I need to go to work."

He crossed his arms. "What about medical bills. Insurance. Maternity clothes. There are plenty of things you could spend that money on."

"As you know, I have excellent insurance. And I don't need the money."

He kept staring at her. Well, he could keep staring, because she wasn't about to change her mind. It was bad enough that she worked for him. In reality, her salary was his money. But at least that money, she earned. Because of the baby and her job and this damn marriage, Ranger had complete control over almost every aspect of her life. She hated it. And taking his money would only tighten the net.

"What do you do with the checks?"

"I shred them." She smiled and then said as sweetly as she could, "I'd hate for anyone to get a hold of your bank account numbers."

His face darkened.

"I know this will come as a shock to you, but you don't control me, Ranger. I'm not cashing those checks, and I'm not spending the money. We're perfectly fine on our own, so you can just get back on a plane, and go back to Miami."

"I have a responsibility--"

"I know! You feel responsible. I married you, didn't I? You won. Congratulations."

He dropped his arms to his sides and took a menacing step toward her, though his voice never rose. "It's not about winning. You need more space. You need more security. You're going to need clothes and food and everything else, so take the goddamn money."

She rolled her eyes toward the ceiling and pursed her lips as if she were thinking it through. "Nope. Thanks though. Nice seeing you." She smiled brightly tried to brush past him, but he grabbed her arm and held her still.

"Stephanie," he all but growled. He yanked on her arm, and she landed squarely against his chest. She braced herself with her hands, hating at how her breathing hitched at the feel of those powerful muscles under her fingertips, and slowly looked up at him.

He was staring down at her. Tension was radiating from his body, but the look in his eye was pure lust. The moment stretched, and she held her breath, terrified to see what his next move would be. Half of her prayed his mouth would lower to kiss her, and the other half prayed he wouldn't. She wasn't sure she could handle the feel of his lips on hers.

His gaze was dark, boring into her. She wanted to close her eyes, to break the moment, but she couldn't. His head started to lower, and without any permission from her, her body leaned into him, seeking his touch.

"Fuck," he said. He shoved her away from him, so that no parts of their bodies were touching. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. When he opened them, his expression was perfectly calm and blank. No trace remained of the man who had been desperate to taste her.

"Come on, I'll drive you to work."

Disappointment she couldn't stop seared through her, but it was over more than the almost kiss. No matter what happened between them, he could go from hot and furious to cold and remote in a split second. There was a part of him he kept removed from her, one that she could never touch. It didn't matter that they were married and having a baby together - he would never let his guard down completely. Even that night in Miami...for a moment she thought he had. She had thought that his mask had finally cracked. But within minutes of it being over, he was back to being cold and distant. Cruel, even.

Her original thought was right - it would have been best if he had just stayed away.

"No thanks. I'll drive myself." She walked past him and grabbed her pocketbook from the couch. Just before she slammed the door, she turned back. "And by the way, I scrubbed the inside of your toilet with your toothbrush. And those protein shakes? There was two cups of sugar mixed in there." She smiled again. "See ya!"

She slammed the door and marched down to the parking lot. She gave the tire of her car a vicious kick before getting inside and slamming the door. And though she tried to keep her anger directed at him for showing up and disrupting her life, deep down, she knew she was more angry over her own reaction to him. She hated that desperate part of herself that had been begging for his touch.

…

Ranger stood in her kitchen and listened to the door slam behind her. He couldn't help smiling. He should have guessed she was wrecking havoc while she waited for him that night.

He sighed and scrubbed his hands over his face, disgusted with how he had handled that. So much for his good intentions. One glance at her face and every good intention he had flew out the window and all he could think about was fucking her. Worse, he wanted to stay, to just be with her, sex or not. Seeing his grandmother's ring on her finger wasn't helping clear up his jumbled emotions.

He shouldn't have come. He should have just called and fought it out over the phone. Though it probably wouldn't have made a difference. Steph was almost as stubborn as he was. While he was there alone, he looked around the apartment. It needed better security, and he was going to have it installed whether she liked it or not.

…

Steph watched the clock at work that day. Ranger wouldn't leave. It was his business; clearly, he had a right to be there. But he was driving her crazy. Every hour or two, he would walk past her cubby, to the kitchen or the break room or someone's office. Each time, she would stiffen, afraid he was going to say something to her about their earlier conversation. He never did though.

She told herself she wasn't disappointed.

At 5:03, she realized he and Tank were holed up in his office, and she used it as her opportunity to sneak out. She wasn't sure if Ranger was watching from the cameras in his office, but either way, he didn't stop her. She breathed a sigh of relief when she made it into her apartment and locked the door behind her.

She had meant to call Rachel from work that afternoon, but Ranger's presence changed her plans. She knew good and well that he didn't want the two of them communicating, and he wouldn't have reacted well had he found her on the phone with Rachel or Julie.

She made the call now, checking in and updating Rachel on her last doctor's appointment. Now that they had official confirmation that the baby was a girl, Julie got on the phone to start telling Steph all the names she liked. Currently, she was voting for Katherine.

Before she hung up, Rachel jumped back on the line. "Steph, Lilane called me today."

"Who?"

"Oh, Carlos' mother. I guess he told her generalities and that you guys were married, but wouldn't give her any contact information. I wasn't sure what you wanted to do."

"Uhh--" Steph stopped, not sure of her answer. It was one thing to go behind his back to talk to Julie - it was another to have a relationship with his mother. "I'd hate to see his reaction to that," she said. "But I also won't keep a woman away from her grandchild because he's upset."

"Well, maybe after the baby's born then."

"Sure," Steph said. "Maybe by then Ranger will be reasonable again."

There was a chuckle behind her. She gasped and froze. If he had heard all that...she spun around. But it was only Joe.

"Oh my god!" She put a hand to her chest and blew out a breath.

"Everything okay?" Rachel said on the phone.

"Yeah. Joe's here." She got off the phone with Rachel and glared at Joe. "You scared the crap out of me."

Joe grinned. "Sorry," he said, clearly unrepentant. "Who did you think it was?"

"Ranger. He's in town."

His grin dropped. "Want me to stay?"

She snorted. "You think I'm going to rearrange my life because he decided to grace us with his presence? Get real. But there is this matter of a crib--"

"I'm ready." He held up an allen wrench in one hand, and a bag from Pino's in the other. "This should be all we need."

"Nice!" She grabbed the food. "I'll eat while you set up the crib."

He rolled his eyes, grabbed back the food, and sat down on the couch. Two hours later, the crib was officially baby-ready and Joe left on a call. It wasn't until she was getting ready for bed that she noticed the new alarm panel by the door. The floor bolt was new too. Wandering around the apartment, she counted new locks and motion detectors on each window, and several things that looked suspiciously like cameras. She flipped off each, just in case, then dug her phone out of her bag.

"Are these cameras in my apartment?" she said when he answered.

"They're not on a continuous feed. They have to be activated, and they take snapshots every five seconds."

"Get rid of them."

"Not a chance." He hung up.

She went back to each camera and held up her middle finger for a full ten seconds, just to be safe. Her phone rang.

"Nice," he said when she picked up.

"I thought you said they weren't on."

"No, I said they had to be activated. I activated them."

"Turn them off."

He was silent for a moment. "They require a password to activate. There are two passwords, one for me and one for you. No one else can turn them on or see the images. It will only be activated if there's an active threat against you or the baby."

That information slowed her down. It actually was a good feature to have if, god forbid, the baby was kidnapped or anything else. "And you won't spy on me?"

"No."

Regardless of their current relationship, Ranger didn't lie. Ever. If he said no one else had access, then no one else had access. "Fine. They can stay."

"Good." He was silent again. She was about to hang up, thinking he already had, when he spoke again. "We didn't get a chance to talk earlier. How are you feeling?"

"Okay," she said. She was a little suspicious of where this was going. He wasn't the type to make small talk.

"Have you been to the doctor recently?"

"Yes."

"And?"

"And everything's fine. We're both healthy. Looks like I'm due on December 12th."

"Okay. I'll call again in a couple weeks and check on you. If anything goes wrong, or if you go into labor, call me immediately."

She nodded, forgetting that he couldn't see her, wondering what brought about the change of heart.

"Steph? Call me immediately."

"Oh, yeah. Sure. What changed your mind?"

"What do you mean?"

She sat down on the couch and pulled her feet up under her, cradling the phone against her ear. "I didn't think you cared."

"Of course I care. We just haven't been able to have a civil conversation in person."

"Tell me about it," she said. She leaned her head back on the couch and closed her eyes. The baby kicked, and she ran her hands over her stomach.

He was silent for another minute, and again she thought he'd hung up. Then he said, softly, "Bye, Steph."

Her heart flipped over. "Bye." She hung up and sat there for another minute, trying to figure out what that meant. Probably nothing. Still, it was nice.

…