***THIS STORY IS COMPLETED, BUT I AM POSTING CHAPTER BY CHAPTER***
Entwined
Chapter 1
White Skechers clomped against the hard arena floor as her amber eyes searched for the door, having already gotten past security. The woman was around five foot eight and had a curvy figure with her pale blue tank top and denim jean skirt that was ripped at the seams for style. Her long blood red hair was pulled up in a neat bun, a few tendrils framing her pale face, blue eyeliner bringing out her eyes even more and clear gloss on her lips. She finally spotted it and took a deep breath, a blue jean jacket hanging over her arm, her pass hanging around her neck. Bringing her hand up, she knocked three times and stepped back when the door opened, tears instantly filling her eyes at the sight of him.
"Daddy?" She whispered, having not seen him in four long years, and couldn't stop the tears from flowing down her cheeks.
Paul stared at his daughter, taller then her by a mere two inches, his wide eyes looking her over. "Gracie?" He whispered back, quickly stepping out into the hallway, pulling the door shut behind him. After staring at her for another moment, he pulled her into his arms for a tight hug, trying not to cry himself.
She laughed tearfully, holding onto him for dear life, and slowly pulled back to stare into his soft brown eyes. "Surprise!" Grace smiled brightly at her father, slowly turning around as he admired her. The last time he had saw her she was just getting ready to start medical school. Being twenty-eight and a fresh graduate, Grace figured coming on the road to visit her father -who was a manager for the wrestler The Undertaker, whom she never met before- wouldn't be a bad idea. "It's been so long."
Now that Paul was over his initial shock, he cleared his throat hastily, eyes scanning the hallway before taking her hand and guiding her into an empty dressing room, closing the door behind him. "Grace, not that I'm not thrilled to see you honey, but what are you doing here?" He asked confusion in his eyes. "I thought you were still in school?"
"I graduated about a month ago and decided to come see you." She frowned, her amber eyes filling with hurt, knowing he wasn't happy that she was here. "I should've called, I'm sorry father." She softly apologized, feeling him lift her chin, staring back into his eyes with such sadness in her own. "I-I'll go home if you want me too." Grace whispered, not wanting to anger him, and blinked her tears away so he wouldn't feel guilty about it.
"No, no! Of course I don't want you to go home, Grace! Don't be silly." Paul said quickly. He was genuinely pleased to see her, just shocked. Some warning would have been nice. "I'm just surprised to see you is all, honey. This is a nice surprise." He smiled at her, pulling her in for another hug, trying to reassure her he wasn't upset.
Grace sighed with relief and hugged him tightly, knowing her father didn't like surprises, but she couldn't help herself. "It's so great seeing you, father." She softly whispered; slowly pulling back again, silver bracelets on her wrists.
Her smile lit up a room and she looked up when a knock sounded at the door followed by it opening, revealing a large man with black symbols painted on his chest and he had long black hair with black armbands around his biceps. Another man stood next to him who was African American and had the same designs, both staring at Paul with unreadable eyes.
"'Taker is askin' for you." Bradshaw stated, glancing over at the woman before looking at Paul again. "He asked you to bring your visitor." They both walked away.
"Who is 'Taker, father?"
Leave it to 'Taker to already know she was in the building, how inconvenient. He looked Grace over really quick before nodding, as if to reassure himself. "He's...a co-worker." He said, not entirely sure how to explain their relationship. "I manage him. Come on, Gracie." He took her arm and guided her out of the room.
Not realizing what was happening, Grace walked out with her father, his hand taking hers, looking around and down the hallway before her father walked up to the same dressing room she'd knocked on only moments ago, reuniting with him. She smiled at him softly, wondering why he looked so nervous, and slowly guided her inside the dark room. A shiver went down her spine as the door closed behind them, feeling her father squeeze her hand a little more, and just looked around curiously, trying to adjust her eyes to the dimly lit room.
"Why Paul," A dark voice boomed from the center of the room, sounding amused. "I don't remember asking for a whore tonight."
Around him the Ministry tittered, all eyes on Paul and the woman.
"This isn't a whore!" Paul sputtered, shaking his head frantically.
"Really?"
Grace's eyes widened in both shock and revulsion, not believing what this man just said. She wasn't aware her outfit looked like a whore. It was a simple tank top with a denim skirt and Skechers.
"Then who is the delightful morsel?" Mideon inquired, licking his lips while standing next to his master like a good puppet.
"My name is Grace. I'm his daughter." She answered softly, biting her bottom lip when her father shot a look, and suddenly felt very uncomfortable. Who were all of these men and why was her father with them?
"Paul...really, a daughter...and why haven't we seen her delicious presence before?" It was a sultry purr.
Paul almost said 'because she has her priorities right', but swallowed hard. "Because she's a college girl, med school grad." He couldn't keep the pride out of his voice.
"Anatomy." Bradshaw murmured with a wicked grin, eliciting a round of chuckles from the Ministry.
Grace swallowed hard and this time squeezed her father's hand, letting him know she was more than nervous, keeping her head lowered, eyes on the floor, her Skechers suddenly becoming more interesting than anything else.
"Maybe she can show us her own and give us some tips?" Farooq suggested with a chuckle, rubbing his hands together.
Edge raised an eyebrow, wondering what had possessed Paul to bring his daughter on the road, knowing the type of men the Ministry involved. 'Dumbass.' He thought, shaking his head, looking over at his brother.
"Now, now gentleman, I'm sure we'll all have time to get to know the little...intern." 'Taker drawled wickedly, standing up from his chair, smiling calmly as the men lapsed into silence, an occasional snort escaping them every now and again. "Introduce us, Paul." He ordered softly, moving towards them with grace that eluded most men.
Paul really did not want to do that.
Grace could feel her father's reluctance and honestly didn't blame him. These men were frightening her to no avail, but she also refused to leave her father's side. She came here for him after all and refused to leave so suddenly, even though she was scared out of her mind. She didn't raise her head, noticing a pair of black, large boots come into her presence, and backed away when he reached his hand out to touch her out of instinct. That was probably a mistake, but she didn't care. She didn't want any of them touching her in ANY way.
"'Taker-" Paul winced as 'Taker's massive hand shot out and firmly gripped Grace's chin, forcing her to look at him. He knew first hand those fingers had a steel grip. "Her name is Grace, Grace this is 'Taker. Now-" He shut up when 'Taker arched an eyebrow at him, blushing a deep red. This was his daughter and he was being made to look like a coward before her. "Unhand her." He said firmly, insides quivering.
Looking amused, he did.
Grace was trembling from head to toe, not able to stop the fear from consuming her, covering her mouth with her hand. His touch sent a shiver of dread down her spine and Grace suddenly wanted to leave. "Father, is there a cafeteria somewhere?" She asked softly, watching as he turned to face her, the fear undoubtedly boiling in her amber eyes. "I'm...hungry from the plane ride. Where is it?" She smiled shakily back at him, biting her bottom lip when he quietly told her and nodded, kissing his forehead gently. "It was nice meeting all of you." She added as an afterthought before turning and heading for the door.
"Now Paul, keeping something as beautiful as that all to yourself..." 'Taker's voice followed her out of the room, a few indefinable emotions in his tone, none of them boding well for anybody.
"She is my DAUGHTER."
Grace practically fled down the hallway as fast as her Skechers would allow her to go, trying to blink the tears out of her eyes. She rounded the corner and ended up running into a brick wall, grunting as she fell back on her ass, her hands catching her fall. Her heart was pounding a furious tattoo in her chest and she was trembling slightly, tears glittering in her eyes. "Sorry." She whispered when she realized someone was towering over her, feeling strong hands reach out to pull her up by her upper arms, standing up on her feet again.
"Not a problem." Came a husky, Texan drawl, the hands lingering for a moment before pulling away, disappearing into a pair of jean shorts. "You really ought to watch where you're going, honey. Too many people back here won't think twice about mowin' you down." Steve Austin stared down at the redhead, bending down so he could look into her face, his blue eyes concerned when he seen the tears. "You alright?"
His warm blue eyes stared back at her as Grace nodded, the tears subsiding, a small smile on her face. He was gorgeous, sweet and had a drawl that sent her heart racing even more, for an entirely different reason. "Thank you for helping me up." She softly said, dusting her skirt off along with her tank top. "Do you know where the cafeteria is?" She suddenly asked, really not wanting to go back to that dressing room where her father was, shivering involuntarily at the thought. Goosebumps formed on her arms as she rubbed them up and down, trying to get the chill out of her system, wanting warmth.
"Yeah, down the hall a ways." Steve replied, watching her with raised eyebrows. She was a weird one, no doubt about that. "I don't recognize you, new?" He asked the obvious, gesturing for her to walk with him, heading towards the cafeteria. "And here I thought I knew just about everybody here. Shows you ya learn somethin' every day."
"I'm not apart of the company. I'm here visiting my father." She replied gently, smiling as they walked side by side down the hallway. He had the most beautiful blue eyes she'd ever seen on a man, not to mention how strong he was. He knocked her down and she'd been the one who ran into him. "And I agree with your sentiment, you DO learn something new every day." That was an understatement; Grace was suddenly worried about her father and wondered why he was involved with those men. She knew it had to do with his job, but they had degraded and insulted her, his very own daughter.
"Ahh...I see." Steve gave her a cursory once over, taking in the blood red hair and figured that was definitely dyed, her amber eyes not giving any indication of who her father was. He didn't ask either, not being one to usually pry too much. "Sorry for knockin' you down." He apologized, even though she had plowed into him. She'd quite literally bounced right off of him.
"I should be apologizing to you." She replied as they arrived at the cafeteria, turning to face him, staring into those blue eyes. "My name is Grace. Grace Bearer." She extended her hand, officially introducing herself, and smiled when his practically swallowed hers whole. "Thanks again for directing me here." She slid her hand out of his and walked inside the cafeteria, the fear completely gone along with the chill she felt earlier.
Steve watched her go; pretty sure she must have heard her wrong. Grace Bearer? BEARER? As in PAUL Bearer's daughter? There was no way in hell THAT man had made something THIS beautiful! No wonder she'd been on the verge of tears, she probably got the misfortune of meeting Paul's 'Phenom', snorting he shook his head and walked away.
Grace had some apple juice and a sandwich with chips before finally walking out of the cafeteria, not wanting to go back to that room. Any place, but there. She could feel the chills running through her body and rubbed her arms, suddenly slipping her jean jacket on and buttoning it up. She felt so violated and...dirty when around those men her father worked with. Though the blue eyed hunk she ran into...she suddenly smiled and squared her shoulders, knowing she would have to face the music sooner or later. Taking a deep breath, Grace arrived outside of the locker room door and knocked twice before entering, looking around as the door shut behind her.
