He could hear the sound of laughter coming from the living room as he entered their house. The squeaky voices of the television mixed with his daughter's sweet and innocent laughter brought a smile to his face. It was the only thing that did lately. He quietly pushed open the door and saw both his wife and daughter comfortably sitting on the sofa watching cartoons. Not fully ready to face his wife, he turned and headed up the stairs to change before going back down and heading inside.

"Daddy!" cried the little girl as she jumped from the sofa and ran to his arms. He eagerly picked her up and kissed her hair, looking over her shoulder and watching as Stephanie looked away. They hadn't spoken since last night and somehow he didn't think it was going to get any better. Not when she had pulled a disappearing act on him. He felt his anger build as he thought of where she could have been.

"Daddy, me and mommy are watching SpongeBob. Do you wanna watch it with us?"

He looked into her clear blue eyes and smiled. He glanced at his wife, trying to gauge her reaction yet he couldn't read her face. She wore a blank and uninterested expression. "Sure why not," he answered and moved to sit down on the sofa. When he did, Stephanie finally looked at him and managed a smile for the benefit of her daughter. They sat in silence for a few minutes until their daughter was preoccupied before any words were spoken.

"Where did you go last night? You didn't get in until late" he whispered, turning his head to face her.

Stephanie panicked for a second. She didn't know that he had been awake when she had got in. She quickly said the first thing that came to her head. "I was at my parents."

"And you decided to come home at 6 in the morning?" he asked, his eyebrows raised in a questioning manner.

"I fell asleep and when I woke up I came home. I had to go to work today you know." She turned to look at him and was taken aback by the look on his face. He knew she was lying. They held each other's gaze before she looked away. Right now was not the time or the place to admit that she had cheated on her husband.

Robert knew as soon as she looked away from him that she didn't stay at her parent's last night. The question was, where did she stay? "Jennifer honey, would you go to your room for a little while? Mommy and Daddy need to talk about grown up stuff." He smiled down at her but was met with her little frown.

"Are you gonna fight again like you did last night?"

Her question cut through the both of them as they didn't know that she had heard them. Stephanie swallowed the lump in her throat and put on a reassuring smile. "No sweetie, we just need to sort something out. You can come back down when we're finished OK?"

Jennifer looked between her mother and father and put at ease by their reassuring smiles, she hopped off her father's lap and headed to her room. They both waited until they heard the door close before the inevitable war of words began.

"So you stayed at your parents house then?" he said sarcastically, moving away from her on the couch so that they were at opposite ends.

"Yes," came her simple reply and it immediately infuriated him.

"Don't treat me like a fucking idiot, Stephanie. I think I deserve better than that," he fumed.

She saw the deep hurt in his eyes and she did feel sorry for him, but not nearly as much as what she thought she would. To her, her reaction to this whole situation was the final nail in the coffin. Yes she felt bad about what she did. She had broken her vows and had cheated on a man she had promised her life to. But deep down inside of her, she felt somewhat apathetic.

"Do you have nothing to say for yourself?"

"What do you want me to say, Robert?" she all but exploded. Lately all it took was one word from him and she automatically got angry. But there was no need for tact right now. They were having this fight whether they wanted to or not.

He shook his head and stared daggers through her. "I want you to tell me where you were, Stephanie! I want you to tell me if you spread your legs for some bastard last night! That's what I want you to say!" He wasn't expecting the sharp slap across the face that he received as a result of his angered words.

Stephanie stood and glared down at him as he held his stinging cheek. "Don't you ever talk to me like that."

He stood and was met with an intense and angry stare that was reciprocated right back to her. "Why won't you answer my question?"

She felt like telling him the truth but she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of being right. So she didn't. "I can't believe you're actually saying this to me right now."

They stood there, locked in an intense gaze, neither moving, hearts racing and minds whirling around at warp speed. Suddenly he felt guilty. He'd never had reason to question her fidelity before and despite what they were going through, he didn't think she would do that to him. He bowed his head before raising his eyes to hers. "I'm sorry."

She had to strain to hear him but hear him she did. She felt hot tears stinging the back of her eyes. She had guilted him into apologising to her yet he had nothing to apologise for. In fact, it was she who should be saying sorry. She couldn't deal with this right now and she felt her legs leaving the room before her mind had caught up to what they were doing. Robert bowed his head and wiped at the tear threatening to fall down his face. He'd really done it now. He just hoped to God that she would forgive him for accusing her like that. He heard the front door slam shut and this time, he didn't stop the tears from flowing freely down his face. What the hell had he just done?

Stephanie had been driving in circles for around an hour. In fact, she had been circling a particular block but just didn't have the courage to park the car and go knock on his door. For all she knew, he could have picked up some other woman tonight, just like he had picked her up last night. Hell maybe he wouldn't even remember her. Although something told her that he'd felt the same weird connection between them that she'd felt. Finally pulling up on the side of the road opposite to his apartment block, she took a deep breath and decided to just go for it. God help her but she was drawn to him and she knew deep down that he was the only thing that would make her feel better because he simply made her feel. Walking inside the upscale apartment block, she suddenly realised that she didn't have a clue where to find him. The last time she'd been here she'd been attached to his lips, completely unaware of her surroundings. She caught the eye of the night watchman and hesitantly walked over to him.

"Are you alright there, madam?" he asked, his old but kind features wrinkling slightly with his question.

"Ahhh....yes. Yes I'm fine. I'm actually looking for Paul...." she stopped mid sentence and mentally kicked herself. She didn't even know his last name. God she was going to look like such an idiot right now. "I'm looking for Paul's apartment."

"There are a few Pauls in this apartment block, miss. You're going to have to be a bit more specific," he said gently.

His easygoing and non-judgmental manner put her at ease and she relaxed. "Tall guy, long blond hair, very well built...."

"Ahhh, Mr. Levesque," he nodded and smiled at her, a knowing look coming across his face.

"Yes, I guess that's him. Mr. Levesque."

"Top floor, apartment A is what you're looking for. Would you like me to call up for you?" he offered.

"No! No that's fine. I'll just......surprise him. Thank you." With that, she turned and headed towards the elevator. It took the damn thing forever to reach his floor. She didn't remember it taking this long last night. Although she was pretty occupied to be fair. As the elevator pinged and the door opened, she walked onto the top floor which only seemed to have a few apartments on it and for whatever reason, they were going backwards. She counted them off as she walked further and further down the hall until there was only a right turn left to take. She turned the corner and immediately saw the door.

"A," she said to herself, a little triumphant smile crossing her face. But it quickly disappeared once she reached the door and realised that she would now have to knock it. She took a deep breath and at the same time questioned her sanity before lifting her hand and gently knocking the door. The few seconds she was left waiting felt like hours until finally the door opened and she came face to face with him. His slightly shocked expression did nothing to calm her nerves and all of a sudden, this seemed like a very bad idea.

"Stephanie? What....what are you doing here?" he asked curiously. This was the last person he expected to be standing on the other side of his door.

"I....nothing......never mind.....I have to go....." she turned and went to make a quick exit but stopped when she felt his hand on her arm.

"Wait!" he called after her, reaching for her arm and bringing her to a stop. As her head swung around to face him, unexpectedly he felt his breath catch in his throat. Her natural beauty shone through despite the sad look on her face and he had the over whelming urge to just care for her, something he'd never experienced in his life before. "Come inside," he said softly, manoeuvring his hand into hers and gently tugging her back through the corridor and into his apartment.

Stephanie could barely breathe as she got sucked into his intense gaze. His eyes never left hers, not once. Even when he had sat her down on his sofa and they were engulfed in a weird yet comfortable silence. "I didn't even know your last name. I had to describe you to the watchman," she said quietly in an attempt to break their silence. His little chuckle made her heart jump. Something so simple yet it evoked such emotion from within her. This was wrong on so many levels, she knew that. But why did it feel so damn right? Her thoughts were interrupted by his hand which was outstretched towards her. She looked at it and then at his smiling face before reaching out and taking it, gently shaking it up and down.

"Paul Levesque. I'm 34 years old, I run my own business, I like dogs, I listen to rock music, I'm a complete momma's boy and I like to work out. Very nice to meet you," he said playfully.

She couldn't stop the huge grin from spreading across her face at his words. She looked at the floor before bringing her attention back to him. "Stephanie McMahon. I'm 29 years old, I work in my family's business, I too like dogs, I listen to all types of music and I'm a complete daddy's girl. Oh and I run too!"

They both laughed and reluctantly broke their handshake. As Paul let of her hand, he caught sight of the sparkling diamond adorning her ring finger. He'd seen it last night but never paid any attention to it. Yeah she was married but that had never stopped him before. He wasn't out to destroy marriages but when he saw something that he wanted, he took it no matter what. And besides, it wasn't like she'd asked him to stop. Stephanie saw what he was looking at and immediately felt uncomfortable again.

"So, why are you here then, Stephanie?"

"I really don't know. I guess I just had to get away from my house.....from my....husband." Her words came out slowly, as if she were considering each one before she said it.

"You want to talk about it?" he offered and was surprised to see her head whip around in shock. "What?"

"Forgive me but I just find it a bit weird sitting here talking about my marital problems to my...." her sentence trailed off as she fell into confusion, confusion over what to call him. She didn't know the correct terminology for this type of situation.

"To your.....sordid lover, would that fill in the gap?"

She saw the cheeky smile that appeared on his face but she didn't' find it the least bit funny. "This isn't a joke! I knew this was a mistake coming here," she stood and again tried to make a quick exit and again was stopped but only this time, he had her pressed against the back of his front door, his hands pressed flat against the sturdy wood on either side of her head. He was so damn close and she could smell his wonderful cologne intoxicating her senses.

"That's the second time you've tried to run away from me," he stated, his deep hazel eyes boring a hole into hers.

"I shouldn't have come here," she replied, trying her best not to be affected by his close proximity.

His voice was low as he moved his face even closer so she could feel his breath on her lips. "Then why did you?" he all but whispered.

She held his gaze for a few moments until she was completely sucked in. There was no way she was leaving the apartment now. She couldn't, not when she could feel her need for him growing with every passing second. And she didn't have to wait very long as he ever so softly touched her lips with his own. He pulled back and looked into her eyes and when he saw no hesitancy there, just pure naked lust, he kissed her with much more force. He pushed his body into her, pressing her back against the door as their tongues slid together in a fierce battle for dominance. He grabbed her arms and raised them above her head before gently slamming them back against the tough wood. She moaned as he broke their kiss and moved to her exposed neck, kissing up and down the long column of her throat. He kissed a heated trail up to her ear which he nibbled on for a second or two. "I want you," he groaned into her ear causing every hair on her body to stand on end. He let go of her hands and her arms slid down to their normal position. Her lips were tingling from his kiss and she suddenly realised what he was doing. He was giving her a choice - the choice to leave and go back home or the choice to stay with him. As she gazed into his dark eyes that were clouded over with lust, she knew what choice she would be making. She pushed herself off the door and into his body.

She grabbed his face between her hands and ignored the sparkle coming from her left hand as she pulled his face closer. "Then take me," she whispered against his lips. It was all the invitation he needed as he forcefully pulled her against him and crushed his lips against hers. His tongue quickly stole into her mouth and she responded in kind, eagerly wrapping her legs around his waist when he picked her up and headed for his room.