Author's Note: Hey Everybody! How are you all? I have missed you! :-) This is a Roman & Ashley story. I owe this story to Rainie! I have several other stories in the making, but for some reason I haven't been able to get them forward so you all can read them. Rainie suggested a Roman/Ashley story and once the idea hit... BAM! I could write again. So once this story is finished I'll be doing a Taker/Sara story and then I'll start my series. I'm super excited. I'm super excited about this one as well so please Enjoy!

Love ya all!

P.S. In this story... the current storyline will not be followed. I veered off once reaching Payback. Also Roman has only been married once, but he has no current girlfriend and sadly he has no children. Although his little girl is absolutely adorable!

Chapter One
Lost & Found

Thursday May 29, 2014

It was late. I was tired. I was hungry and I wanted a damn shower like right now. But first I had to carry my tired ass to my rental and to the hotel. Maybe I would just skip eating tonight. I was too damned tired to eat. I was too damned tired to take a shower but I'll be damned to hell if I was going to skip a shower. A hot shower; so hot that I just might burn my skin the fuck off. Or maybe a nice cold one because I was already hot and sweaty. Tonight had been a hard one, but I enjoyed every fucking minute of it.

A noise pulled me from my thoughts and I turned my attention on a dark spot coming from down the alley behind the large building of the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois. I could easily make out the two very large dumpsters, but it was the figure moving beside it that held my attention. The figure was small, child-like small. That's all I could make out so I walked closer. The closer I got, the more details I could see. It was a girl, nope it was a woman. She was dirty and from the looks of her neck and arms, she had been abused. Her clothes were torn and dirty and she was skinny as hell. And small. She needed a shower and food way more than I did.

I took another step and froze when I kicked an empty soda can, making a bunch of noise as it skidded across the pavement. Her head shot up and my eyes caught hers. I had no idea, but at that moment I was looking into the eyes that would change my life forever.

Earlier That Night:

"Hey!"

I turned at the sound of my teammate's voice, cocking my eyebrow in question.

"Did ya hear? Steph and H wanna see us in their office ASAP." Dean replied, a frown upon his face.

I nodded. "I'm headed there now."

"Headed where?" The third in our group asked as he joined us.

"To H's office to meet with him and Steph." I replied as we continued to walk, already dressed to the nines in our wrestling gear.

Seth grunted. "Me too. What do you think this is about?" He wondered out loud.

Dean and I both shrugged. "Probably about a new story line. Payback is this Sunday and once we kick Evolution's ass, we'll need someone else to fuck with." Dean snickered.

I nodded in agreement, but at the same time my inner thoughts wouldn't let me be too conceited or full of myself. There was nothing written anywhere that stated we would indeed beat Evolution and make history. Dean was just … well hopeful was too nice of a word. He was just so full of himself that he was sure we would snag the win and be victorious. In more ways than one. However I was being realistic. I knew we only had a fifty percent chance of winning so it made a fifty percent chance of us losing. Seth and Dean were overly optimistic and too damn confident. I was confident, but I was the more modest one of our group of three.

I hadn't a clue why WWE put us together. We were three totally different alpha males. Dean was cocky, arrogant and he was an ass most of the time. And to women, he was the number one ass of all assholes. He used women in the worst way and then dumped them just as quickly as he picked them up. They never saw it coming. Seth was a charmer. He charmed women right out their panties and when he left them the next morning, he always had them convinced that they dumped him. He's that damn good. He could talk himself out of a traffic ticket. Hell, I'm pretty sure he could talk himself out of a murder charge. Yes, he was that much of a fucking charmer. I could be a charmer and I could be an ass, but mostly I was just me. I was polite to society and to my bosses. I treated my family with love and respect. And the women that I picked up, knew the score up front. I didn't do relationships or love or happily ever afters. I tried marriage once and it failed. I'll never do it again. My career was first and foremost in my life and it took up a lot of my time. I liked it that way. But I was a man and I needed release. And my hand got old, fast. So I enjoyed women. All of them. Young, old, skinny, fat, tall, short. Women were sensual creatures. They were beautiful, funny, smart. They smelled good and their soft bodies felt amazingly sexy against my hard form. Yes, I loved women. So I didn't treat them like things. I treated them like human beings but they always knew the score.

R&AR&AR&AR&AR&AR&AR&AR&AR&A

"Thank you gentlemen for allowing H and myself to take away your valuable work out time." Steph started, a saccharin sweet smile on her face. I like Steph. She's nice, but she was a ball buster. All men should definitely be afraid of Steph. I did not envy H at all.

"I know you're wondering what you're next storyline will be and I'm anxious to tell you, that you three will become faces of the company." Steph's smile widened at her great news.

We just gap at her. Good guys? Really? The Shield? Could we be the good guys? Did we have in us? I wasn't so sure. Apparently neither did Ambrose or Rollins.

"Good guys? Seriously? Us? We aren't good guys, Steph." Seth flashed her one of those charming smiles of his and I was sure Steph may have melted just a bit.

However, she just nodded in assurance. "I'm sure about this."

H nodded in agreement. "Evolution is going heel and we're going all the way."

I shook my head in confusion. "But isn't that what's already kind of happening?" I questioned.

H nodded while Steph shook her head. "It's going to get worse and you three are going to come to the rescue each and every time."

Dean curled his lip in disgust, making me chuckle. "The Shield doesn't rescue, we invade, we attack."

Steph gave him 'the eye' and his lip returned to normal. Yep, Steph was definitely a ball buster. Thank fuck my balls would never be firmly in her grasp.

"An example," she stressed, her eyes narrowed on Dean. "The Raw after Payback, Evolution will get involved in a match between the Wyatt Brothers and the USOs with John Cena. They will attack the USOs and Cena, helping the Wyatt Brothers cripple them. You three will come out and help the USOs and Cena. That is only the beginning."

"It's gonna be a wild ride, Gentlemen. Be prepared." H grinned.

R&AR&AR&AR&AR&AR&AR&AR&AR&A

Tonight was a house show and it was in Rosemont. Payback would also be hosted in Rosemont. It was rare but it did happen. And it was Thursday night. We had been doing a lot of house shows lately since the WWE Network was created and launched. I was just glad that we were finally finished for the week. Well, until Sunday that is. I was looking forward to Payback. I loved doing the pay-per-view events because anything could happen and something always did. Whether it was back stage or in front of the cameras, pay-per-view events were always crazy.

I said good bye to Dean and Seth and headed towards my rental. It was late. I was tired. I was hungry and I wanted a damn shower like right now. But first I had to carry my tired ass to my rental and to the hotel. Maybe I would just skip eating tonight. I was too damned tired to eat. I was too damned tired to take a shower but I'll be damned to hell if I was going to skip a shower. A hot shower; so hot that I just might burn my skin the fuck off. Or maybe a nice cold one because I was already hot and sweaty. Tonight had been a hard one, but I enjoyed every fucking minute of it.

A noise pulled me from my thoughts and I turned my attention on a dark spot coming from down the alley behind the large building of the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois. I could easily make out the two very large dumpsters, but it was the figure moving beside them that held my attention. The figure was small, child-like small. That's all I could make out so I walked closer. I had to admit, my curiosity was piqued. The closer I got, the more details I could see. It was a girl. Nope those little curves definitely belonged to a woman. She was dirty-filthy and from the looks of her neck and arms, she had been abused. She had on a ragged pair of jeans so I couldn't make out what state her legs were in. On her feet was a faded pink pair of flip flops. Her clothes were torn and dirty and she was skinny as hell. I could make out her collarbone and the bones in wrists. She was seriously malnourished. She was tiny, maybe topping five foot one or two. Maybe. She needed a shower and she needed food way more than I did.

I took another step towards her and froze when I accidentally kicked an empty soda can, making a bunch of noise as it skidded across the pavement. Her head shot up and my eyes caught hers. She had beautiful chocolate brown eyes. I've always been told that I had beautiful blue eyes, but her brown eyes were damned beautiful. Hers were more caramel colored than chocolate, but right now they were darkened with fear and wariness. She had a small button nose and a pink cupid's bow mouth. Right now her cheeks were sunken in, but I had a feeling once filled out, they would be round, soft, and pink with health.

Yep, she was beautiful and scared to fucking death. I could understand why. She was in a dark alley with a strange man that just crept up on her. I was a big man. And she was definitely small. Fuck, she needed to eat.

I took a step back and held up my hands in an 'I mean no harm' gesture. Her chocolate eyes widened and she swallowed hard. I heard what sounded like a growl and I knew immediately it was her stomach screaming that it wanted food. And damn it, I wanted to feed her.

"Please don't run." I spoke softly, gently. I didn't want to spook her.

She took step back and eyed me warily. She wasn't taking any chances. I felt a spurt of anger shoot through me. Someone and I was guessing a man had done a total number on her. She wasn't going to trust me easily. I had my work cut out for me. So I took a deep breath.

"My name is Roman." Okay so really my name was Joe, but only family and very close friends called me Joe. Not even Dean and Seth called me Joe. Not that I called them by their real names either. We were friends, but we weren't close. "I'm a… um…" Should I tell her I was a professional wrestler? Chances were, I would scare her with that admission, but lying to her wasn't an option. I wanted her to trust me so I had to go with the truth hundred percent of the way.

I cleared my throat. "I'm Roman and I'm a professional wrestler for the WWE."

Her eyes got even wider and she took several steps away from me. Oh yeah, she had definitely been abused. Fuck! How did I approach this shit?

I took another deep breath. "I'm not going to hurt you." I told her softly.

I almost laughed when the expression on her face changed. She was now giving me a 'yeah right' look. Damn, she was adorable. I didn't laugh though. I kept my face neutral.

I tried again. "I'm really not going to hurt you. I don't have any sisters, but if I did, I would hate for them to be out here. I hate that you're out here. It might rain tonight." I replied, looking up at the sky which was clear as hell. Okay, so maybe it wouldn't rain.

Glancing back at the small imp, she was giving me another look. 'Are you serious' was written clearly on her small upturned face. Well, she definitely had a sense of humor and knowing that made me want to smile. It made me want to get to know her.

But she still didn't speak. So I tried again and this time when her stomach growled and she blushed, I grinned. "How about some food, little one? I know a great little place just down the road. It's open all night and they serve the best bacon cheeseburgers. With French fries and a chocolate milkshake."

Those brown eyes widened at the mention of a chocolate milkshake. So I teased her. "I'll even get ya two milkshakes." I offered, hoping she would take the bait.

She swallowed hard and I knew she wanted to say yes, but she still hesitated. So I upped the ante. "And what about a piece of double chocolate cake or cherry cheesecake."

She licked her lips and her stomach growled louder. Pain filled her eyes and I knew then she hadn't eaten in a while. She was struggling. She wanted the food, but she didn't want anything to do with me. I looked towards my rental and then back at her. She was staring at me, her head cocked to the side. She looked deep in thought. Damn, I hope she was leaning towards trusting me. I motioned towards my SUV.

"My rental is an SUV. I like to bike ride sometimes when I've got some down time so I rented a bike. You can sit in the back seat where I can't reach you or hell, I'll even let you drive."

Her eyes widened than narrowed and she shook her head slightly. I mentally cursed. Damn it, she needed to eat. "You need to eat, little one. Please let me feed you."

She licked her lips, took a small step in my direction and nodded. I felt something in my chest give away and I realized it was relief. She was going to come with me. Thank God. She took another step and then another until she finally reached my side. She was still a good twenty feet from me, but she was coming with me so I was okay with the distance. We walked in silence towards my SUV. I beeped the lock to open it and without a word she climbed into the back seat and shut the door. I grinned as I got into the driver's side. My grin widened when I turned and saw that she was way in the back, where the storage was. I gave her a grin and her eyes narrowed.

The drive to the diner was done in silence, but I was sure if I listened closely, I could hear the gears grinding in that pretty little head of hers. When I pulled into the diner, her eyes went wide and filled with tears. She angrily wiped them away, but I could tell she was happy that we were actually at a place that held food. Grinning, I got out and opened the door for her. She got out on the opposite side. Which only made me chuckle. She was definitely feisty and she wasn't trusting at all. I was proud of her for that.

We entered the diner and was immediately seated by an older lady with flaming red hair, bright blue eyes and a huge grin on her face.

"Well, well, well, my grandsons are gonna just hate me when they find out I got to serve Thee Roman Reigns. I'm gonna be their favorite grandma from now on. I'm Sophia and I am just tickled to be your waitress than evening." Her eyes causally glanced over at my companion and I saw the sympathy in her eyes.

I gave her a huge grin to distract her and she blushed. "Follow me."

She led us to a corner booth and handed us menus as we sat down. "What can I get ya to drink?" She asked politely.

"Two chocolate milkshakes."

Sophia winked. "Coming right up." She flashed another smile before walking away.

I had kept my eyes away from my companion for a reason and now that we were alone, I couldn't not look at her anymore. I readied myself for the shock, but I still sucked in a sharp breath at the sight of her face. Her eyes were a beautiful caramel-chocolate brown, and although they were clear and bright, they were filled with pain, anger, and fear. She was tired as well. I hated to say it, but she looked just tired of living. That broke my heart. Around her right eye was a faded bruise. Her cheeks were not only sunken in, but dirty and bruised as well. She had a split lip and dried blood on left ear. But it was her neck that had me seeing red. The hand shaped bruises clearly meant that someone in her near past had tried to kill her. That didn't sit well with me.

What also surprised me was that she was studying me. I couldn't help but wonder if she liked what she saw. She also hadn't touched her menu or said a damn word. I wanted to hear her voice.

I gestured towards her menu. "You know what you want?" I asked and she nodded. "Bacon cheeseburger with French fries, right?" I teased her with a smile. Her eyes narrowed but she nodded again. I sighed. "What's your name?" She didn't answer, she just blinked those caramel eyes. "Do you talk?" I asked hopeful. She nodded and licked her lips. Before I could ask another question, our waitress, Sophia returned with our chocolate milkshakes.

"Here ya go. Do you know what you want to order or do you need a few more minutes?" She questioned sweetly.

"We need two bacon cheeseburgers with French fries and an extra order of onion rings." I told her.

She nodded with a smile. "Coming right up." She took off again.

I once again focused my attention on my caramel eyed beauty. "What's your name, little one?"

She sighed, licked her lips, and took a deep breath. She was definitely struggling with the trust thing.

"Why?"

Her voice was so soft and undeniably sexy that it took me a minute to focus on what she said… or asked. Why? Why what?

"Why what, little one? Why do I want to know your name?"

She shook her head. "Why do you want to feed me?" She questioned softly. "What do you want from me?"

I cocked my head. It now occurred to me that her voice was hoarse. The bruises are her neck were much more recent than I thought. I took a deep breath.

"What makes you think I want anything?" I asked honestly.

Her tongue peeked out once again, gliding along her lower lip. "Because they always do."