Chapter Fourteen

Jeanne Ellen POV

Tank called me on the way home and let me know Steph was going to stay an extra few hours at Rangeman to do some more searches. I know she's been knocked down a lot in the past couple of days. When I heard about the porn videos I wanted to drive into New York and kill that bastard myself with my bare hands. No one would ever find the body and he'd never be able to hurt her ever again. Slimy fucker.

I put the vegetable casserole in the oven when Tank called so it was nearly ready by the time he walked in the door. He kissed Zoë on her forehead and she hugged his knees before turning her attention back to the cats, tugging a feather along the floor for them to pounce upon. She squealed delightedly whenever they caught the feather and yanked dramatically to get it out of their grasp when they didn't want to let go of their 'prey.'

I kissed him soundly, squeezing his left ass cheek as I did so, smirking when his eyes widened. It's so easy to get him riled up and I know he'll be eagerly counting down the hours until we're alone in our bedroom.

"You're going to pay for that, Baby," he said in his deep, gravelly voice.

"I'm looking forward to that, Lover. Dinner will be ready in about ten minutes."

He nodded. "I'm going to get changed, then." He went down the hallway towards our bedroom and I turned my thoughts towards The Dick again.

He'd be expecting Steph to go home after next weekend, and I wanted to make sure that would never happen. I understood that Steph wanted to make sure the divorce was filed with the courts before she told him she wasn't coming back, but there were so many secrets and facets to this asshole, and I really didn't want her to walk away with nothing if it could be helped. I'd always help her, but she deserved to take him to the cleaners, and he deserved to have nothing left.

Stephanie POV

I was twirling in Tank's chair, waiting for the results of one of the searches I was running when Ranger came into Tank's office and sank down in the chair opposite the desk. When I glimpsed him, he looked at me amusedly as I skidded to a stop, blushing furiously at being caught doing something so childish.

"Working hard, Babe?" he asked me, his mouth twitching.

"I am, actually. I'm waiting for the results for this search," I responded primly.

"Relax, Babe, you're not in trouble. I just wanted to find out how you're doing with everything."

I let out a sigh. "Honestly, I'm angry but I also feel a little numb. It seems like every day there's something new and horrible to add on to whatever was horrible the day before. And I'm confused by him. He's being so contradictory."

"How do you mean?"

I looked down, then back up at Ranger's face. He looked concerned and not at all judgemental, so I decided to confide in him. "When I called Richard to tell him I was bringing Zoë here, he basically told me that I sucked in bed, so I'd just need to look the other way if he slept with other women because I wasn't giving him what he needed. But then I find out he's uploaded videos of us having sex to the Internet. If he thought I was inhibited or bad in bed or whatever, why would he do that? To humiliate me? But I didn't know about it. I just can't reconcile the two actions, ya know?"

He nodded. "You're right. I don't think someone who thought a woman was bad at sex would upload videos of her having sex. It doesn't exactly say anything good about a man if his woman is not having a good time in his bed."

"You think so?" I asked him curiously. "There must be women who just suck even though their partner is good."

"There may be, but I have a feeling you don't fall in that category. If a man is giving his partner enough pleasure, she'll respond. It's a natural thing."

"If I didn't suck, why did he have sex with our nanny? Why does he have a second wife?"

"Because he's an asshole, Babe. He has no idea how to be a real man. A real man doesn't need to cheat on his partner. He doesn't upload porn videos of his wife and he doesn't make her feel like it's all her fault when he's caught."

I chuckled ruefully. "I wish I could believe that."

He smiled a little predatorily. "I can prove it, Babe, if you want."

I narrowed my eyes slightly at his tone. "Why do I feel like I'm a gazelle out in the grasslands all of a sudden?"

He laughed. "Babe. You are beautiful and extremely sexy. I'd have no problem showing you exactly how sexy I think you are. You'd see that a good partner can make all the difference."

I swallowed hard as his eyes bored into mine. I felt a little rush of warmth low in my belly and I felt a throbbing deep within me as I imagined having sex with this gorgeous Adonis in front of me. He smiled slowly and I wondered if he could tell where my thoughts just went.

My throat went dry as I tried to answer, and I licked my lips nervously. "Um. That's a nice offer."

"The pleasure would be all mine. And yours," he promised.

Was I seriously considering this? My panties were ruined and there was a part of me, not a tiny part either, that wanted to take him up on it. I blinked slowly and refocused on Ranger's eyes. "I'm in."