Chapter 7 – Confessions & Avoidance

Kali shifted a little on the couch as she watched the girls all sit down on the floor in front of the couch. Seth was to her immediate right with her hand in his and Dean and Roman had turned a couple of metal fold up chairs around and were sitting in them backwards. Nicky – was pacing behind the couch; knowing this wouldn't be easy, but stayed out a view she hated it when he paced and he knew it.

Kali licked her lips as she pulled Seth's sweatshirt around her torso tighter; she was almost swimming in it. She sighed softly as she was looking around the room. She hated being the center of attention, but knew she needed to tell them what was in her head. "In 2004 Nicky was training at OVW; which as you know used to be WWE's go to spot for fresh rookies and blood to sign. By 2006 he was in the Spirit Squad in WWE." She rolled her eyes.

"Don't roll your eyes Kaliana." Nick admonished using her full name. "It was money, it paid the bills and it was a storyline; terrible or not." Nick said from behind her. He always knew when she was rolling her eyes; specifically when she would talk about his time in the 'spirit squad'.

Seth enjoyed her full name; it was very beautiful and seemed to fit her perfectly.

Kali couldn't help rolling her eyes again. "Anyway – by May of 2008 he was doing dark matches for WWE. I was in college and on the weekends I would travel with my brother to house shows so we could at least spend time together." Kali rolled her lips together. "Stephanie approached me and asked me if I would like to valet a wrestler or two. I didn't have to get involved in the matches with the exception of a slap here or a flirt there. The money they paid me was helping with tuition and books for college. So I valeted for Dave Bautista for a year."

Seth could feel her starting to shake slightly; his hand tightened around hers when he noticed she'd suddenly got quiet. "Go on Kali."

Kali chewed her bottom lip as she started to fidget a little in her spot. "I was - walking back to my dorm room from a frat party when someone grabbed me from behind; I don't remember how they got me to go with them, but when I woke up I was blindfolded and duct taped to a bed. The whole time he had me, he whispered and would make me whisper. Anytime I started to scream he would literally beat the shit out of me."

"The whole time he had you? How long were you captive?" Roman asked wide eyed.

"Six months – it took me six months to get out of the restraints he kept me in." Kali stated as she pulled the sleeves of Seth's sweatshirt up and showed the barely there scars. "Handcuffs were pretty hard but I finally worked them over my wrists while he was sleeping one night. I picked the door lock and ran. I didn't stick around to see who he was; I just ran."

"That's why you whisper." Dean stated bluntly. He looked over as Roman punched him in the arm.

"Shut – up." Roman growled through clenched teeth.

"It's okay Roman. Dean's right; it is why I whisper. For the longest time I didn't say much at all; months of therapy and five years later and now I'm just barely getting back to who I used to be. I'm slightly scared of the dark for obvious reasons. He kept me blindfolded for the entire six months. My eyes and head hurt so much from the daylight I started getting migraines. I stay awake most nights because I just got so used to forcing myself to stay awake and wait for him to make a mistake so I could run that I really haven't tackled my sleeping issue or the lack there of. Some nights I can sleep; others I stay awake and sleep in the car or plane when traveling."

Seth was letting his thumb rub against the back of her hand. "So…What else happened while he had you?" He asked curiously.

"I know what you're thinking, but he didn't rape me he never even touched me in a sexual why. I'm not sure why, but I can only be grateful that he didn't. If I'm this fucked up from six months of being left in the dark, I can only imagine what being raped for six months would've ultimately done to me."

"So wait…what did he do to you than?" Dean asked.

"He would take my top and jeans off and I would sit around in my bra and panties for hours…days even and he would talk to me about the outfits I wore to the ring and I figured it was some lunatic fan…b-b-but after today I don't think he was a fan – I think he was someone who works for the company." She shook her head. "He mentioned how I was traveling with Nicky again and said he was glad I seemed to be having a nice time with the guy from the Shield and that he'd gotten to me once and he could do it again."

Roman growled. "He's been fuckin watching you the whole time." Roman could feel his blood starting to boil. A small hand on his jean covered thigh forced his eyes down as Emilia was attached to the hand.

"Calm down; if you get upset she'll get upset and no one needs to be blowing their stacks right now." Emilia pointed out.

"Now do you all understand why she was terrified of you last night when you cornered her?" Nick demanded, looking at all 3 Shield members, including Seth who currently held his sister tightly. "I nearly lost her…"

Seth had one goal in mind now and that was finding the son of a bitch that abducted and beat this poor woman. Nick's sister. He already had feelings developing for her, but there was no way she wanted a man in her life. He had to back off as soon as she was healed, but that wouldn't stop him from killing her abductor. He had to be a guy in the company, that much was certain. "I promise you, we all do actually, that nothing like that will EVER happen to you again. You have my word on that." Both Dean and Roman nodded stiffly, agreeing with their brother and team mate, all 3 of them pissed by what they just heard, but they were holding their tempers in check for Kali's sake. Just like their group the Shield always said – they were a shield for injustice and this was DEFINITELY injustice of the worst kind.


It had been five weeks since Kali told everyone what had happened to her. The boys had one hell of a WrestleMania debut. They won their match against Big Show – Also known as Paul Wight – Sheamus – Also known as Stephen Farrelly- and Randy Orton.

Two weeks ago her ankle was given a clean bill of health and Seth had disappeared after that. She hadn't heard from him in 2 weeks. She would've thought he disappeared off the face of the earth if he hadn't been showing up on the road for the house shows, Raw and Smackdown. She could take a hint. She was currently sitting in catering going over snap shots and getting ready to go down to ringside for Raw. Her earbuds in her ears as she was listening to whatever would help her focus and keep her mind off of the off the one man who seemed to be avoiding her now; even though nothing was really helping.


Dean checked the clock and noticed they were ready for Raw early. They'd cut a promo and that was really it. Ever since Kali had told them about her abduction Dean had really pulled back into himself and was disconnecting with everyone but Seth and Roman. He'd noticed Seth had started distancing himself a couple of weeks ago from the violet eyed beauty once her ankle had fully healed. It really didn't take a genius to see how the two of them were extremely perfect for each other, but Seth was being stubborn and Kali didn't know how to fight for him.

Roman walked into the locker room as he nudged Seth. "You're dark honey blonde mouse is in catering. If you were any kind of smart you'd go talk to her." Neither he nor Dean could figure out what was going on with the man. But they also knew not to push him with the temper he carried.

It wasn't that Seth didn't want anything to do with Kali, but the poor woman had been abducted and held captive for six months. They still hadn't figured out who it was because the asshole hadn't made another attempt to attack Kali since that night a few weeks back. There was no way Kali wanted anything to do with another man, especially after what happened. So Seth was protecting and steeling himself from heartache he knew would happen with Kali. "Loralie is down there with her." His eyes moved to Dean, seeing him tense slightly and shook his head. "She's better off without me looming over her. Come on, we gotta finish getting ready." The subject was officially dropped.

Roman shook his head at both his brothers. "Hard headed - the both of you; completely fuckin hard headed." Roman knew Loralie was a touchy subject for Dean since he'd pulled back. "You guys are both fuckin idiots." He grumbled as he walked out of the room and down to see Emilia. He was already ready for their promo. He had finally bit the bullet and asked Emilia on a date and since then it had been entirely smooth sailing for them

Emilia watched as Roman stalked into her mock office and looked as if he was going to blow up. "Babe what is it?"

"My two best friends are fuckin idiots; that's what it is." Roman bit out.

"Let me guess, Kali and Loralie." Emilia laughed softly when he shot her a look. She stood up and wrapped her arms around his neck and softly kissed his lips. "Thank you for being so concerned for my friends, but its Seth and Dean's own fault if they want to be idiots." She pulled him over to the couch as she sat him down in front of her as she started massaging the tension from his shoulders. "Calm down babe."

Roman stood from the couch as he backed Emilia into her desk before he lifted her and planted her on the top of it as he stood between her legs. "Is it really so difficult to just tell a woman you want to be with her?" He asked.

Emilia laughed. "I don't know. You tell me how long it took you to ask me out and there's your answer."

Roman growled against her neck as he softly kissed the overly sensitive skin. "I hate it when you're right." He pulled back and looked into her eyes. "I supposed I should get used to it. You're always going to be right."

"Now you're understanding…" Emilia couldn't help giggling out when he growled against her neck once more.


The girls refused to let Kali go anywhere alone, so one of them would set up shop with her until she had to go to ring side – then Nick would met up with her and take her back to the hotel; tonight it was Loralie's turn so she set up everything in the cafeteria in the far back with a long table. She was currently working on 4 different ring attires for four different divas.

She focused on that with her own ear buds in, smiling over at Kali every couple minutes when they both began bobbing their heads together. She didn't mind working in the cafeteria with Kali, at least her friend wasn't completely alone in case that psycho decided to make an appearance. The PPV Extreme Rules was coming up soon.

Kali knew Seth was avoiding her because he thought she was broken; maybe she was. She had zero ability to make her voice go above anything other than a whisper; the big guys in the back scared the hell out of her. She should've just kept everything to herself and not let him get so close to her. She'd trusted him and that was the dumbest thing she could've done.

Loralie felt a presence and looked up from her laptop, immediately pulling her ear buds out and felt her emerald eyes widen. She stood up and walked over, gently nudging Kali to get her attention and pointed at who was watching them. It was Seth. He looked nervous, both of his hands shoved into his cargo pockets while shuffling his feet. It was the cutest thing she'd ever seen in her life. "I'm gonna go out for a quick smoke break. Talk to him." She said quietly, squeezing Kali's shoulder gently and walked past Seth with a smile, heading outside. She hoped they could work things out because they would be very good for each other.

Seth watched Loralie leave and was thankful because he had to talk to Kali about this. It was eating him up. Roman was right. They were being stubborn and hard-headed, especially him. He was treating Kali as if she was shattered glass and that wasn't right or fair. Right now, she looked anything but and was possibly the most beautiful woman he ever laid his eyes on. "Hey, can we talk or is this a bad time?" He rumbled softly, glad nobody else was in the cafeteria and stood right in front of her long table. "I don't wanna bother you if you're busy trying to get our arrangements done, but I do need to talk to you."

Now he wanted to talk? After 2 weeks of nothing?

He called and text randomly over the few weeks it took for her ankle to heal and then suddenly Larry tells her it's healed and he disappears; she hadn't heard a peep from him since. Kali exhaled softly. "It's okay Seth. I get it." She couldn't understand why she felt so hurt.

She barely knew this man.

There was something inside of her just pushing her towards him and she already knew – him not talking to her or avoiding her for the last two weeks – it didn't take a brain surgeon to realize he thought of her as a broken little mouse. She stood up and closed her laptop. She needed to take a beat; she needed to walk away before she went crazy.

Kali looked in his eyes. "I'm broken; let me stay broken, because no one can fix me." She whispered out as always; at one point she thought he could fix her, but clearly that wasn't the case anymore. She turned and left catering; she couldn't let him see the pain on her face or the tears that had suddenly began to gather in her eyes.

As much as she wanted to deny that she felt anything for him; she couldn't.