Surrender 01 - Surrender

you’re better.”
    “No! I mean, thanks for the offer, but I’ll be working night and day over the next few weeks, so you’d be wasting your time hanging out here,” he added quickly, hoping he hadn’t hurt her feelings.
    “OK, I get it. You want your space back. We’ll take off, but you’d better call us if there’s anything at all that you need. Do you understand?”
    “Yes, of course, Mom. I’m going to head up to bed. Let me know when you get back home, OK?”
    He gave his mother a hug, then managed to walk up the stairs without flinching. As he tugged off his shirt, he winced. His shoulder felt like it was on fire. Sam hadn’t realized he’d been shot a couple of weeks ago, and had landed a punch in the exact wrong place. Rafe had seen stars for a moment, and Mickey had called the fight, then proceeded to lecture Rafe for the next fifteen minutes about being a stupid idiot.
    Rafe didn’t allow many people to call him an idiot, but he made an exception for Mickey. He’d known the guy since he was in grade school.
    After a hot shower he felt far more human and decided he’d survive. He also had his appetite back, so he made his way downstairs again to grab a sandwich. After he’d finished, the doorbell rang. His staff had already turned in for the night and he didn’t want his parents to be woken up, so he rushed to the door to find out who could be rude enough to come calling at almost midnight.
    Rage filled him when he saw who his unwelcome visitor was.
    “Good evening, lover. It looks like I got here just in time . You seem to be in need of some tender loving care.”

Chapter Thirty

    “What in the hell are you doing here, Sharron?”
    “Now is that any way to talk to your wife?”
    “You haven’t been my wife for several years . Get the hell off my property before I have you arrested.”
    “But, baby, I miss you so much.” She dropped her coat, revealing a skimpy red teddy, and not much else. Before he could slam the door in her face, she grabbed ahold of him .
    Rafe quickly gripped her arms and pushed her away in disgust.
    When she realized seduction wasn’t getting her what she wanted, the waterworks began.
    “Oh, Rafe, I need you . I thought I wanted something different in my life, but I just can’t seem to live without you. Please don’t be so cruel,” she sobbed as she reached for him again.
    “So for the past three years you’ve done nothing except cry over our broken marriage? Was that before or after my former best friend dumped you?” he mocked.
    “No, of course not. I tried to live my life, attend parties, smile for the cameras, but all of that was nothing but a show. Once a woman’s been with a man like you, there’s ultimately no moving on. I need you, Rafe. Please. You used to love me so much. I know you still do,” she wailed.
    She was a great little actress. She’d really missed her calling in life. Rafe didn’t know whether it was vindictiveness or just because he’d had a hell of a day, but he invited her in by opening the door wide.
    “Oh, thank you, baby. I knew you’d missed me, too,” she said as she once again threw herself at him. He brushed her off and started moving down the hallway.
    “Follow me.”
    Her five-inch heels clicked on the hardwood as she practically ran to keep up. He imagined her modified breasts were about to spill from her lingerie. Nothing about her manufactured body did a thing for him. When he’d met her, she’d been real, not some plastic Barbie Doll.
    He really should have known what she was. She hadn’t tried to hide her greediness all that carefully, Rafe reminded himself. But he’d just assumed she appreciated the finer things in life — nothing wrong with that — but he hadn’t realized that the finer things were the only things she appreciated from him.
    “Sit down,” he commanded.
    She sauntered over to his office couch and sat, arranging herself in the most appealing way she could. He gazed at her, wondering if there would be even the slightest spark inside him. After all, he was incredibly sexually frustrated.
    As his gaze traveled from her expertly made-up face, over her breasts, and then across the top of her thighs — he felt nothing, not even the barest twinge.
    Interesting.
    “Why don’t you sit with me, Rafe? Better yet, why don’t you take me to your bedroom — I’ve learned a few things over the years that I think will make you a very happy man,” she promised.
    “I have a better