Socialising into the small hours was a regular thing for Roman Reigns. One of the most important parts of being successful at the top of an empire like his was to have respect, loyalty, even adulation from both his underlings and also his peers, wherever possible. Entertaining guests for dinner followed by drinks in his living room often proved to be the best way to do business, even with people he didn't like. That was the reason why he and his wife Nicole found themselves engaged in conversation Mike Mizanin and his wife Maryse at gone midnight. The gentlemen had seen off the better part of a bottle of brandy, while the women were now working on their second bottle of wine.

Deep down, Reigns welcomed the interruption when Seth Rollins, one of his most trusted men, walked into the room and hovered near the door. However, the businessman in him knew that getting up and walking out of the room didn't send a good message to his guests. In turn, he knew that Rollins knew that too, which meant that there had to be a good reason for the intrusion.

"Excuse me," Reigns said to his guests, downing his latest brandy and setting the glass down on the coffee table in front of him. Nicole tried to catch his eye with a questioning expression, but he ignored her.

Rollins lead the way out into the vast, marble-floored entrance hallway, and Reigns pulled the door gently closed behind him. "This better be good," he said, a sharp edge to his voice.

"Good isn't the word, boss," Rollins said cautiously. "But it is important. The two women who were here yesterday, the redhead and her partner, are here, saying they need to see you right away."

Reigns' expression darkened in anger and the sharp edge remained in his tone. "They're not supposed to be here until tomorrow evening."

"I reminded them of that," Rollins said. "The redhead said she knew, but she had to see you now anyway because something has gone wrong. She wouldn't tell me what it was."

"Give me fucking strength," Reigns growled to himself under his breath. "Where are they?"

"I had Styles show them to your office. He'll be in there with them to keep an eye on them till you get there."

"Right," Reigns grunted, then stormed off towards the office.

Thanks to her nerves, Bayley was finding it hard to sit still in the expensive leather chair in front of Roman Reigns' desk. There was a very real possibility that she and Becky might not make it through the night if this meeting went badly. She was beyond grateful that Becky had agreed to do most of the talking. As the more confident of the two, she stood the best chance of pacifying Mr Reigns. The smartly-dressed man with long hair who had lead them to the office was now standing against the wall near the door. His role in the meeting to come was obviously to be seen, but not heard. Glancing at Becky, she got what was intended to be a reassuring look in return.

Then the office door flew open. Bayley nearly jumped out of her skin. Reigns stormed into the room, the top two buttons of his white shirt unbuttoned and a thunderous expression on his face. She genuinely wondered if he was about to kill them both right there and then.

"Who's going to explain to me why I've just walked out on two guests, to come and speak to people who aren't supposed to be here?" Reigns demanded aggressively as he walked around behind his desk. He didn't take a seat. Seemingly his anger wouldn't permit him to sit down.

"We're very sorry, Mr Reigns," Becky began, not faltering, to her credit. She took the flash drive out of her pocket and put it on the desk. "We completed the job exactly as you instructed. There's the drive, with all of the data from Flair's computer. Unfortunately, there was a complication."

Reigns didn't even look at the flash drive, instead alternating his glare between Becky and Bayley. "What complication?" he asked threateningly.

Becky could feel her hands starting to shake as the time to mention Ronda Helmsley's name approached. "Someone else was in the house, trying to do the same job we were doing. She walked in on Bayley, but she didn't know I was there too. I came from behind and knocked her out. Remembering how specific you were about Flair not knowing anyone had been there, we decided to take her with us. It was only when we got home that we got a proper look at her and realised who it was."

"I'm not liking where this is going," Reigns snarled. "Am I about to hear the name Helmsley?"

Becky couldn't meet his eyes. She didn't know how he had arrived at the correct conclusion so quickly, and she wasn't going to guess. "Yes. We kidnapped Ronda Helmsley. She's tied up in our basement right now."

Reigns let out a low growl, so full of rage that Becky seriously considered getting up and running. As he leaned forward over the desk, resting both tightly clenched fists on its surface, Becky felt sure he was about to give his man by the door the order to take them away and dispose of them. Then, after closing his eyes for a couple of seconds, he said, "I've got a better idea. What I want the two of you to do is go back home, fetch Ronda Helmsley and bring her here. Now."

"Yes, Mr Reigns," Becky said, quickly getting up and heading for the door, with Bayley following right behind. She didn't want to imagine what the original idea he'd had was, before deciding that this new one was better.

When the door closed behind them, Styles took a couple of steps closer to the desk. "They kidnapped Ronda Helmsley. My god. What are we going to do, boss?"

Reigns looked up at him with a nasty little smile on his face. "AJ, we can either look at this as a problem, or an opportunity. I know which I prefer. Get on the phone to Dean Ambrose. Tell him to get his ass over here now, and I do mean now."

Styles nodded his acknowledgment and walked quickly from the room.

Left alone in the office, Reigns picked up and pocketed the flash drive, then took a moment to compose himself before heading back to the living room. Bad impression or not, his guests were going to have to leave. There was now a much more important situation to attend to.

On his way back across the entrance hallway, Reigns saw Rollins standing guard near the front door and gestured with his head for him to join him. As they walked over to the living room, Reigns refastened the second button on his shirt. The small change was to signify the transition from pleasure (allegedly) back to business.

When he walked back into the living room, he found Nicole doing her best to entertain their two visitors, who both looked at him as he walked in. "Mike, Maryse, I have to apologise; some urgent business has come up that I must attend to right away."

Mizanin finished his brandy and set the glass on the table beside Roman's. "Nothing to apologise for, Roman. It happens to us all from time to time. Maryse and I have had a very enjoyable evening. We'll have to do it again soon."

"Definitely," Reigns said, feigning anticipation that he didn't come close to feeling.

"Next time you can come to our place," Maryse said excitedly. "Nicole, you'll love the new pool we've just had put in. There's a jacuzzi..."

"I'm sure you can tell her about it another time, honey," Mizanin said, using his tone to tell her it was time to go.

"Nice to see you both," Nicole smiled sweetly.

"Mr Rollins here will bring your car around for you," Reigns said as he shook Mizanin's hand. He then kissed Maryse on the cheek and walked them to the living room door, where Rollins took over the escort duties. When Reigns turned around, Nicole was standing behind him with a concerned look on her face.

"What is it, baby?" she asked him when the coast was clear.

Reigns gave her a gentle kiss on the lips. "Nothing you need to worry about," he told her. "Head up to bed, and I'll join you later when I've taken care of what needs to be done."

"Okay," Nicole said softly, giving him a kiss of her own in return. She knew better than to ask probing questions when it came to business. If her husband wanted her to know what he was doing, he would tell her. If he didn't tell her, it wasn't her place to ask. That ground rule had been established long ago. "I'll be waiting when you come up."

"That I will look forward to," Reigns said, eyes glinting. He watched her walk across the entrance hall to the grand staircase, enjoying the view of her shapely legs and pert ass. Shaking it off, he told himself to focus on the events at hand. There were plans to finalise.

"That went better than I expected," Becky said as she drove quickly away from the Reigns mansion.

"It did, but it's not over yet," Bayley said nervously. "We've still got to take Ronda back there. Then what's he going to do with her? Even more importantly, what's he going to do with us?"

"I don't care what he does with Ronda at this point," Becky said firmly, not taking her eyes off the road. "This is all about making sure you and I come out of this okay. She got herself in this situation as far as I'm concerned, and it can be handled between the Reigns and the Helmsleys."

It seemed cold to Bayley to be so dismissive of Ronda Helmsley's fate, but the second point Becky had made was definitely true. The most important thing tonight was to keep on the right side of Roman Reigns, and that meant doing exactly what he ordered them to do. "What are we going to say to her?" she asked.

"Nothing," Becky said. "We say nothing. We go into the basement, carry her upstairs and dump her in the trunk without saying a word. As soon as we deliver her to Reigns, she stops being our problem."

"We could always take her to the Helmsley mansion instead," Bayley pointed out. "It's not too late to do that."

"We already talked about that," Becky reminded her. "I'm not taking her to Hunter Helmsley. Right now, I think there's a bigger chance of him killing us than Reigns. No, Bay, we're sticking to the plan."

Bayley looked at her girlfriend. "Okay, Bex. I trust you."

Less than an hour after Reigns had sent them to fetch Ronda, Bayley and Becky arrived back at the mansion. Becky parked their car in the same place they had been told to leave it last time. She noticed that the man at the gate had called ahead, as the man who had been in Reigns' office with them earlier was there to meet them, along with the guy she knew to be called Rollins. If she'd read things correctly, he was Reigns' right hand man.

"In the trunk?" Styles asked her as she got out of the car. She nodded, and he produced a knife.

"You're not going to kill her are you?" Bayley asked, standing the other side of the car with a horrified expression on her face.

A chuckle was her only response. Styles walked over to the trunk and opened the lid, immediately being greeted by angry, muffled shouting from the bound and gagged Ronda, who glared up and him as she tried to writhe against her bonds.

"Quiet," Styles said.

Then Ronda saw the knife in his hand. "Mmmmmphhh!" she screamed as loud as she could, eyes wide in fear as she focused on the blade.

"I'm going to free your legs so you can walk into the house," Styles advised her. "I have instructions not to hurt you unless you make me."

Styles leaned into the trunk and used the knife to cut through the tape around Ronda's ankles, then did the same for the bonds below and above her knees. "Okay, climb out," he ordered her.

Being uncooperative was tempting for Ronda, but she knew that while she still had her hands tied, she was too vulnerable to whatever violence might come her way as a punishment. It didn't take a genius to figure out that she had been brought to the Reigns mansion, which made her feel confident that no one would harm her until she was face to face with the man himself. Then things might get interesting. But then, although Reigns was her family's rival, he was no idiot. He would know how severe the consequences of hurting her would be. Awkwardly, Ronda managed to sit up in the trunk and swung legs out over the side. Styles gave her a helping hand to get out, and made sure she was steady on her feet.

"This way," Rollins ordered, standing near the mansion's open front door.

"Tmmph mmph ommh mmm," Ronda tried to say to Styles, using her eyes to gesture to her gag.

"Just walk," he told her impatiently, giving her a shove towards the house. "I don't want to have to tell you again."

Bayley couldn't help feeling guilty as she walked beside Becky, following Ronda and Styles into the house. She was imagining how scared she would be in Ronda's position. The bigger problem she had in mind was what Reigns was going to say or do to them next. They had done everything he'd asked. Now they just had to hope that was enough to stop him from having them killed.

Reigns was standing in the entrance hallway when Rollins walked in, followed by Ronda and Styles, then by Bayley and Becky. "Ms Helmsley, welcome," he greeted his unwilling guest, as if she was an old friend he had invited over for dinner. "If I could just ask you to take a seat in the living room, I'll be with you shortly. Mr Styles will show you the way."

For a moment, Becky watched Ronda being lead away across the entrance hallway, then returned her attention to Reigns, knowing that he was going to address her and Bayley now. The smile she saw on his face took her by surprise. "Thank you for the unexpected gift, ladies. And thank you for the flash drive. You've done well tonight, given the circumstances you found yourselves in. Come back tomorrow at the time we previously agreed, and you'll get your money."

"Thank you, Mr Reigns," Bayley said, feeling like she might piss herself out of sheer relief.

Reigns gestured towards the front door with his head. "Get out of here. I've got business to attend to."

"Yes, sir," Becky said. Both women turned and made their exit as quickly as they could without making it look like they wanted to run.

"Oh my god," Bayley gasped out when they were back in their car. "I never want to experience anything like that again. I've been so scared for the past few hours."

"Me too," Becky said as she fired up the engine. "I've got an idea though, Bay."

"What's that?"

Becky pulled away and slowly drove down the driveway. "I'd make a bet he's going to have one of his men take Ronda somewhere else. He's not going to keep her here. That would be too obvious. We're going to wait further up the road, and we're going to follow the first car that comes out of here."

"Why would we do that?" Bayley asked nervously.

Becky glanced at her girlfriend and smiled for the first time in a while. "Call it insurance."

In the mansion, Reigns headed for the living room as soon as Bayley and Becky closed the front door behind them. Walking in, he saw Ronda sitting on the couch were Mike and Maryse Mizanin had been enjoying their night not so long before. She eyed him warily, her nostrils flaring as she breathed through her nose. Styles stood beside the couch, ready to grab her if she was stupid enough to try and make a run for it. Lastly, a scruffy looking man with messy blonde hair, wearing dirty jeans and a simple black T-shirt slouched on the other couch, until he noticed Reigns' presence and made more of an effort to come to attention.

"Thanks for dressing for the occasion, Ambrose," Reigns quipped.

"Sorry, boss, but Styles said you wanted me to come straight over. I was in bed."

Reigns seriously doubted that was true, given the distinct smell of alcohol in the room. It was more likely that Ambrose had had a woman with him, probably a whore if his track record was anything to go by. This time, Reigns decided to let it slide. There were bigger things to worry about. "Join me outside for a moment," he ordered Ambrose.

"What's going on?" Dean asked quietly once they were out in the hallway. "That's Ronda Helmsley in there."

"Thanks for the clarification," Roman said just as quietly, managing not to roll his eyes. "What you're going to do is, take her to your place. I don't want her here, for obvious reasons. Hunter's not exactly going to be happy when he finds out we have her, and he just might be stupid enough to have a bunch of his goons try and storm the place to rescue her. There will be no point in him trying that if she's not here. You are to keep her at your place until I say otherwise."

"Okay, boss," Ambrose said, even though Reigns wasn't done speaking.

"And you are not to hurt her unless I say so," Roman emphasised. "Am I completely clear about that?"

"As crystal," Ambrose said. "Do you want me to take her now? I need something to tie her legs up with. I'm not putting her in the car how she is now."

"Go and find something then," Reigns said impatiently. "What do I look like, a fucking servant? And hurry up about it. Once I've got a picture of her to send to her dad, you can get her out of here."

Without waiting for a response, Reigns turned and walked back into the living room. Ronda looked up at him again, still wary, not that that was any kind of surprise to him. "Ms Helmsley. The first time we've met, I believe? I'm sorry it's not under better circumstances, but you know what they say about one man's misfortune being another man's opportunity. Your father is going to be rather keen to see you return home unharmed, obviously, and I'm willing to allow that to happen. But the problem we have here is that you're now a commodity; a very valuable one at that. A person who wishes to acquire a commodity from another person must pay them something in return. That's the most basic principle of business. So, I'm afraid you're going to have to be a guest of Mr Ambrose for a while, until your father and I can work out a deal that's acceptable to both parties."

Ronda glared menacingly at Reigns, but didn't give him the satisfaction of trying to abuse him or plead with him. He would get his payback for this, her father would make sure of it.

"Right now," Reigns went on, taking his phone out of his pocket, "I need to get a picture of you, to prove to daddy dearest that you're enjoying our hospitality."

Go ahead, enjoy your moment, Ronda thought as he aimed the phone's camera at her. It was upsetting to think about how her mom and dad would react when they saw the picture. Her dad's initial horror would quickly be replaced by anger, but her mom would probably be inconsolable. Although people outside of the family would find it hard to believe, they were both loving parents. They would stop at nothing to bring her home safely, and Ronda trusted them to pull it off. That was why she wasn't being more uncooperative with Reigns herself. There was no point risking getting herself hurt or killed before rescue came, although the mention of being taken somewhere else was very troubling.

"Thank you," Reigns said, smiling as he studied the picture he had just taken.

Ronda made sure to commit that smile to memory, in the hope that she could have it at the forefront of her mind when she pulled a trigger on the bastard at some point in the future. That was the ideal outcome at this point. Then she could move on to exterminating the two bitches who had brought her here.

"Mr Ambrose will be back for you shortly," Reigns told her. "Nice to have met you, Ms Helmsley. I've got a phone call to make." He walked out of the living room and across the entrance hallway to his office. After sitting down behind the desk, he picked up the phone. He knew that no matter what time it was, someone would answer the phone at the Helmsley mansion on the other side of the city.

"Helmsley residence," a male voice said after only three rings.

"I need to speak to Hunter urgently, please," Reigns said politely.

"Mr Helmsley isn't available at the moment."

Because he's in bed, Reigns thought. He maintained his politeness as he said, "He will be when you tell him Roman Reigns is on the line."

"One moment," the voice said. One moment turned out to be two minutes before Hunter's voice came on the line.

"Reigns?" the familiar voice said. "Have you got any idea what time it is?"

Reigns ignored the irrelevant question. "Hunter, I think we should meet in my office first thing tomorrow morning. Something quite interesting has happened."