Chapter Nine

Tank POV

After Steph caught the information we'd omitted from the file and Ranger had gone back to his office, I told her she should read the file that I'd compiled on her husband. I knew it was going to hurt her, and maybe make her angry, but other than the stuff my wife told me, I didn't know her that well. We'd only met a handful of times in New York, and never for long visits. I didn't know whether the hurt or the anger would prevail.

I left her alone to discover the secrets her husband had been keeping from her and went to Ranger's office and sat on the couch while I waited for him to look up. When he finally did, he had a glint in his eye that told me he made me wait on purpose. If I hadn't known the guy for twenty years, I'd be annoyed but instead, I'm just amused. I play little mind fucks with him too, when I can.

"Impressive, right?" I asked. No embellishment was necessary; we both knew to what I was referring.

"I'm both surprised and impressed she found what was missing from the file," he conceded.

"I gave her the dossier on her husband," I began. "She's reading it now. And I have no idea how she's gonna react."

"Well, while we wait to find out, what do you think should happen with Research & Administration?" he asked.

I thought about it for a moment. "If Rodriguez is going to be spending more time in Philly because of his sister's condition, we must consider whether he can keep up with the time-sensitive demands of research. I think he can still do Admin, especially since at least part of it can be done from home. I propose we split the role in two and let him handle the Admin. We watch her for the week and if she continues to impress, we offer Steph the Research position."

Ranger nodded slowly. "If we continue to grow at the rate we have been, then it could turn out to be an entire department of researchers we'd need."

"Then we're agreed?"

"Yes. Let's watch and see how she does this week before we make any final decisions, but I think splitting the role before it becomes too big is a good idea. Let's talk to Rodriguez about that and make it happen."

We sat in silence for a moment, then Steph banged out of my office and into Ranger's, looking slightly wild-eyed. She bolted past both of us and into Ranger's bathroom, slamming the door behind her. We stared at the door and soon we heard retching sounds from within. I looked over at him and he looked a little disconcerted.

"Fuck," he said softly.

"I guess we know how she's going to react. I'm gonna go in and make sure she's alright."

I made my way to the bathroom door and knocked softly. "Steph? Are you okay?" I pressed my ear to the door and listened. I could hear soft crying from the other side. "I'm going to come in, okay?"

The door opened slightly, and I took that as permission to enter. Steph was sitting on the tile floor next to the toilet and had her eyes hidden behind a wad of toilet paper. She was sniffling, and I could tell she was trying hard to hold back any other emotions she might be feeling. Jeanne Ellen told me that Steph tried hard to never let anyone see how she might really be feeling, second maybe only to Ranger.

I watched her sympathetically, then offered her my hand. When she took it, I tugged her gently to her feet and gave her a hug. "I'm sorry, Steph. I know this has to be a punch in the gut for you."

"He has an entire other family, Tank. He's a lawyer. How in the world did he ever think he'd get away with this? He has twin boys with this other woman. He lives in fucking Connecticut! He married her right after I had Zoë four years ago!" She burst out into a fresh batch of tears and I felt my protective instincts come roaring to the surface at the feel of my fragile sister-in-law's breakdown.

Another thirty minutes later and Steph was asleep in my arms, though thankfully I had moved us to the couch in Ranger's office.

"Ranger," I said quietly. He looked up with an eyebrow cocked in my direction. "I need to use the toilet. Come over here."

His lip quirked up in amusement, but he rose from his desk and came over and sat down on the other end of the couch. I gingerly moved her from my lap over to his and he wrapped his arms around her as she settled into his lap. I quickly went and did my business and when I came back, I motioned that I could take over again, but he waved me off.

"You know she's married, right?" I teased him as I sat on the other end of the couch. He gave me his well-practiced blank face with a hint of glare coming through his eyes. I chuckled softly. "I wish she had gotten pissed instead. Pissed I know how to handle."

"She still might. It was a big thing she just learned. Unfortunately, or fortunately, hers was the first marriage so it's the legitimate one. She has a long way to go."

Steph started to stir in Ranger's lap and he looked slightly pained for a fleeting moment. She murmured something in her sleep, then sat bolt upright, eyes flying open.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry," she said, scrambling off his lap.

"It's fine, Babe," he said reassuringly. "You had a big shock."

Her brow knit together for a second, then her eyes widened. "Oh fuck, my husband's a bigamist with another fucking family!" Her hands clenched into fists at her side as she spoke.

"Are you angry now?" I asked.

"Yes! It wasn't bad enough that he was cheating on me, now I find out he not only cheated on me multiple times with multiple women, but he also actually married someone else right after I pushed his daughter out of my body, and he had kids with her too! How could I have been so stupid to never know about any of this?" she moaned.

"When we get angry," Ranger said, "we usually take each other to the mats, or hit a punching bag for a while. Want to try it?"

Steph thought for a moment. "I think I'd like to beat the hell out of something for a while, yes. And I suppose it can't be him."

"Not right now, anyway," Ranger said, smiling slightly.

Steph blinked rapidly and said, "let's go, then."

We got her set up in the gym with gloves and a helmet. I think the bag weighed more than she did, so we didn't want her to get hurt. We gave her some pointers, then stood back so she could do her worst. She wasn't half-bad and by the time she was too tired to continue, she looked a little more in control of herself, with a faint smile of accomplishment on her lips.

"Thank you both," she said. "Other than Gigi, I don't think there's anyone else I would have rather been around when I learned that my entire life is a lie."

I patted her on the back while Ranger graced her with his two-hundred-watt smile. He only brought that one out when he was trying to impress a woman or discombobulate an opponent, and I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. What was he doing?

She left about thirty minutes after that, promising to come back early the following morning to continue doing more searches and I nodded my head. "Go home and kiss that kid of yours," I said gently. "I'll be home in a couple of hours."

After she left, I turned to Ranger. "Don't even think about it. She's still married, and she's not your type even when she's not."

He smirked. "There's nothing to worry about. I wasn't doing anything."

I narrowed my eyes. "See that it stays that way. She's a good woman, with a young daughter. She's an innocent. She doesn't need Ranger Manoso playing with her."

He moved past me to sit in his office chair. "Nothing to worry about," he repeated. "I won't go there."

A/N: Hehehe.