Chapter 7

Vince paced up and down along the dusty concrete floor, his eyes firmly trained on the door as the wrestlers started to filter into the room. His jaw was clenched tightly, his teeth practically grinding together as he tried his best to hold in his temper, knowing he had to keep a clear head if he was going to pretend it was business as usual today. Although the truth was he felt sick to his stomach knowing his daughter had deceived him in this way, running around with that no good son of a bitch behind his back. Never before had she defied him in such a manner. Never before had she disobeyed his orders. Swallowing thickly Vince's fingers pressed firmly into his palms.

As his gaze remained on the door ahead, he failed to notice that his son was watching him from across the room, slightly frowning as he paid particular attention to his father's mannerisms. Shane knew his father and knew by the clenched jaw and the tense shoulders that he was out for someone's blood this morning. He recognised the signs all too well. God knows he had been witness to it a number of times over the years. He was only glad that he wasn't the person on the receiving end and he started to ponder who it might be.

As if on cue, Stephanie walked through the door, flicking her hair over her shoulder and Shane noticed his father almost snarl as he became aware of his daughter's presence in the room. He sighed softly muttering to himself as he saw his sister approach him. "What the hell have you been up to Stephanie?"

Stephanie was oblivious as she smiled and approached her brother, tossing her planner down on the table next to him. "Hey Shane. What's up?"

Shane shifted in his chair as he returned her smile deciding he was going say nothing and leave it for now. It wasn't the time or place for questioning her. He would talk to her after the meeting and find out just what was going on. Licking his lips, he raked his fingers through his short dark strands.

"Good morning little sis. Sleep well?"

Stephanie's blue eyes widened appearing slightly startled for a second before she forced a smile as she sat down next to him. "Fine thanks."

Shane smirked to himself as she busied herself with her planner unable to miss the blush that had slowly crept across her cheeks the second he had enquired about her evening. Well, well. It looked like Stephanie had been holding out on him about something or was that something actually a someone? He knew for a fact he was going to enjoy their chat later on and find out.

As he sniffed and turned in his seat to continue their conversation, he noticed Stephanie was looking ahead, her expression almost shy and her blue eyes wide as her attention focused elsewhere. Shane glanced in that direction and found the reason why his sister currently resembled a teenage girl with a crush. Paul had arrived. As he pulled back a seat and took his place directly across from them, he noticed Paul wink and smile at his sister. Of course she smiled back, a huge grin spreading across her face before she quickly glanced down at her planner. Suddenly everything became crystal clear to Shane. Paul was obviously the reason why Stephanie had been blushing like a school girl and if that was the case, he may also be the reason for his father's anger. Letting out a slow breath, Shane rested back in his seat suddenly having a horrible premonition that all hell was going to break loose in the McMahon family.

Just then his father cleared his throat and began to speak. Shane gave him his full attention quickly pushing his worries to the back of his mind for now.

"Thank you all for coming at such short notice. I've called this meeting today in an effort to get ratings back up. I've discussed things with our writing team and we've come up with some ideas."

Paul's head was bowed as he absently doodled on his notebook, his mind deliberately shutting Vince out. He wasn't in the mood to listen to any of his crap today, not when it was his phone call that had dragged him here in the first place ruining any plans he had made for this morning. Although of course the morning hadn't completely blown entirely.

Paul smirked to himself as he remembered Stephanie's earlier wake up call. God knows he could wake up to that everyday or more specifically her because there was no one else on this earth he wanted to be with. Paul raised his brown eyes letting them fall on the woman across the table. Her head was resting on her chin as she listened intently to her father, her teeth gently pulling on her bottom lip as she concentrated. Paul was more than content to sit there and just watch her, admiring everything about her from her soft full lips to her big sparkling blue eyes, eyes that were as blue as the ocean. He'd lost count of the number of times he'd found himself drowning in those eyes. Her overwhelming beauty just drew him in and more often than not he would find himself wondering if this was all a dream and if he was just imagining the fact that this gorgeous, smart woman was in love with him. It all seemed too good to be true but he thanked his lucky stars every day that it wasn't.

Just then he saw a movement to his left and out of the corner of his eye he saw Shane looking at him with an almost tentative look on his face. Not sure what was up with the Boy Wonder, Paul gave him a small curious smile before turning his attention back to Stephanie. He immediately saw the shocked expression on her face and as Vince's words registered in his head, it became obvious what had caused her reaction.

"…a love triangle which will eventually lead to divorce."

Vince looked at them both as he delivered his bombshell and silently congratulated himself as he witnessed their surprise and their confusion. They should have known better than to disobey his wishes and he was going to make sure they learnt that lesson the hard way. "Now moving on to other matters……."

Stephanie couldn't listen to her father anymore as she started to feel nauseous. Her stomach was doing somersaults as her slightly trembling fingers gripped onto her pen. Now she knew without a doubt that her father knew about her and Paul. She was sure of it. What the hell was she going to do? Unable to stop the sick feeling she had in her stomach, Stephanie felt someone watching her. She looked up expecting it to be Paul but he was staring at the table and his jaw was clenched and taut with his anger. He obviously realised Vince knew the truth and who could only guess the impossible obstacles that would now stand in the way of them being together. Because she knew her father and she knew there was no chance in hell he would give them his blessing. Not now, not after their deceit.

Stephanie's eyes absently darted round the table but she stopped with a start as she saw the person who was watching her. Andrew. What the hell was he staring at her like that for? And what was the deal with that stupid grin he was wearing? Not that she was even going to bother about him because he was the least of her worries right now. All she wanted was for this meeting to finish so she could get the hell out of here and talk to Paul.

Suddenly she was aware of the sound of the chairs scraping back. Thank God her prayers had been answered and it was finally over. As she went to leave the table, she felt someone pulling on her arm. Turning around she saw it was Shane and there was no mistaking the look of concern in his brown orbs.

"Stephanie, I think it's time you told me the truth about what the hell is going on and why dad looks like he is about to blow a gasket." he hissed at her.

Stephanie sighed and nodded her head. "I'll meet you outside. Just give me a minute."

"No Stephanie. Now!"

Without giving her a chance to do anything else, Shane quickly led his sister out of the door before any one could realise they were gone. It was for her own good after all. He had to get her out of there before his father got hold of her and when he asked her what the hell was going on, Stephanie needed to be honest with him and tell him the truth. Maybe then he might just be able to help her.