Chapter 14

A few hours later, a soft groan escaped Riley as she tried opening her eyes, immediately regretting that as a shot of pain zipped through her forehead. Tears instantly stung her eyes; the pain was too strong for her not to cry as they began slipping down her cheeks in two rapid streams. It was excruciating and Riley was sure her head was going to explode any second, swallowing incredibly hard, not even realizing she had dried blood on her mouth. Something wasn't right, Riley went to move her arm and felt her chest tighten when she moved her head, opening her eyes just a little and noticed her wrist was in a huge massive steel cuff. She slowly moved her head to look at her other wrist, seeing the same thing and let her head drop as the tears poured harder.

"John…"

"Isn't here." That cold voice stated from the shadows, causing Riley to instantly begin trembling from head to toe, breathing quickening. "Wake up love." He said it so sincerely that Riley almost believed he actually had a heart. "Open those beautiful eyes for me."

As soon as she did, Wade punched her right in the face, watching her head snap to the side as a stream of blood spilled out of her mouth, forcing her to cry out in pain. He loved watching her torment and relished in the fact she was completely defenseless, not able to fight him off like all the other times. It would be kind of sad really, he enjoyed a good fight and knew Riley could give it to him unlike any other. She had that kind of fire inside that he slowly wanted to extinguish, hoping she realized she would never lay eyes on John Cena again.

Riley coughed and spit out more blood, her head moving to hang in front of her again, raven locks haphazardly all around her. She felt dazed from that blow and slowly pried her eyes open, the pain even worse because of the lighting in the basement, even though it was dim. She knew exactly who had her and Riley had nobody to blame but herself, knowing she was in this predicament because she left John's side. Wishing she hadn't, Riley knew it was too late when Wade punched her again, this time in the stomach, causing her to nearly vomit. That made her momentarily forget about her face swelling up, hoping he didn't jostle any teeth.

"What's the matter, love? Not in the mood to fight me back?" Wade taunted with a sadistic laugh, enjoying how much pain she was in because it was nothing compared to what she'd put him through. "Come on Riley, show me just a little of that fire.

Riley could barely register where she was, but heard what Wade said, immediately lifting her head with some inner strength she didn't even know she had, spitting blood right in his face. "Fuck you." She whispered, knowing exactly what he wanted and she wasn't going to give it to him.

"That's lovely." Wade wiped the blood from his face and punched her again in the stomach, her cries of anguish fueling his already raging craving for her. "Again!"

"FUCK YOU!" She screamed and that followed with another blow to the stomach, causing her knees to buckle this time. "Stop it, Stu."

"SHUT UP, YOU FILTHY SLAG!" Wade roared, grabbing her by her hair roughly and pulled her against him as far as the chains would let her. "Shut your mouth right now or I'll be forced to use this!" He pulled thick black tape and smirked when she began trembling.

"Why are you doing this to me?" She could only whisper, biting back another cry of pain when he yanked on her hair more. "What's happened to you? Where's the man I used to love?" All Riley wanted was some answers, ignoring the throbbing pain searing through her stomach. When he released her hair, Riley began sobbing violently, shivering from the cold damp basement that surrounded her naked form.

Wade snorted and raised a slow eyebrow, deciding if he should answer her or not. "Don't ask questions either!" He ordered, gripping her bruised chin in his strong hand, forcing broken jade to meet his dark orbs. "You're mine Riley and the sooner you realize that, the better off you will be." He spat angrily, swinging the ring of tape around his finger tauntingly, knowing he would have to use it so she wouldn't try screaming for help.

Not that it would do any good.

He decided he wouldn't have his way with her at that moment, knowing he had to keep up appearances above, smirking wickedly. The first part of his master plan had gone flawlessly and Wade couldn't wait to put phase two into action. Riley was back where she belonged and he was going to make sure she never left his side again unless it was over his dead body. As if anyone could take him out, the thought made him chuckle sardonically. Once they were back at the hotel, however, he was going to take his time thoroughly punishing her for leaving and betraying him.

"Stu…"

"Keep your mouth shut." He ordered, wondering what was so hard about following instructions. The sound of tape stretching echoed throughout the basement and Riley could barely get out a scream before he shoved a piece of tape over her mouth, causing more tears to fall. He smirked and snaked his tongue out, running it up her cheek to lick some of her salty tears away, groaning from low in his throat. "Delicious." He purred and grabbed her cheeks, dark eyes flashing. "I will return shortly and then the real fun will begin, love." Wade promised and stepped away from her to head up the stairs, squaring his shoulders, licking his lips. 'She belongs to me now, Cena. Now it's time to make you suffer for what you did.' He thought, the door slamming shut and locking signaling to Riley she wouldn't be escaping anytime soon.

~!~

Anthony looked around his father's dressing room, his wide blue eyes taking everything in, and waited for Riley to come back. He already missed her and frowned, little eyebrows scrunched up in frustration. She was nice to him and, even for a three almost four year old; Anthony could tell his father thought the same thing. He walked over to where his father sat and yanked on his jean shorts, gaining John's attention.

"Daddy, Riey?" Anthony asked, looking back at the door, wondering where she was. "Riey."

John frowned, having wondered where Riley was himself, knowing it didn't take that long to go get something to drink in the cafeteria. Why didn't he force himself to go with her? He was out of his mind to let her wander off by herself, especially since he knew the Nexus, more important Wade Barrett, was in the building. Still, he trusted her judgment and didn't want to smother her, knowing Riley wanted to regain some of her independence, not blaming her a bit.

"I don't know bud, but she'll be back soon okay?" John rubbed his temples when Anthony extended his arms, wanting to sit on the couch with him. "She went to get something to drink."

A knock sounded at the door as John and Anthony's heads both snapped up, looking at each other simultaneously, wondering who it was. Normally, John would've just called out a 'come in', but due to recent events, he wasn't taking any chances. He set Anthony on the couch, telling Anthony to stay put and headed over to the door, slowly opening it. He was immediately ready to fight at the sight of Wade and David from Nexus, blue eyes narrowed to slits, cracking his knuckles. Ready to defend his son with his life, John stood in the doorway, refusing to let them walk inside because he didn't want them seeing he'd brought his on the road, not if he could prevent it. John raised a slow eyebrow when Wade smiled and extended his hand, his eyes never leaving Wade's for a second because he knew how slick he was.

"Good evening Cena." Wade greeted politely, not making any moves to attack him, even though he really wanted to.

"What's the catch?" John shot back, not trusting Wade because he knew how the man operated, flat out refusing to shake his hand.

He'd put Riley through complete hell, he wanted to punch Wade right in his fat nose and break it. Too bad he hadn't broken his back with that Attitude Adjustment when Cena defected from the Nexus, breaking script. Next time they were in the ring together, he would be sure to rectify that and make sure he ended Wade's career for good.

"There is no catch, Cena." Wade still had that same smile on his face, chuckling. "We just wanted to say how sorry we were for treating Riley as we did. She didn't deserve any of it. We just wanted to come by and apologize to her if it's alright." He explained, hoping David didn't screw this up as he glanced over at his fellow Nexus member. "Isn't that right, David?"

David nodded, too busy thinking about what he'd done to Riley earlier, but managed to keep a straight face. "It was wrong; no lady should ever be treated that way." He lied, surprising Wade by how smooth it came out, and both looked inside the room not seeing her anywhere.

"She's not here." John wasn't sure if that was smart telling them, folding his massive arms in front of his chest. "But she'll be back soon. She went to get something to drink and hasn't come back yet." His nostrils flared, blue eyes turning to pure ice as he stared at both men skeptically. "Have you two seen her?"

Wade shook his head, not doing it too fast or that would raise John's red flags even more. "No, we just arrived not long ago." He lied, looking somewhat concerned even though it didn't reach his eyes. "I do hope she's alright. Did she tell you she was going anywhere else?" He asked, playing the concerned part to perfection, knowing he was probably knocking John for a loop.

"Daddy, Riey?" John cringed when Anthony once again asked him where Riley was, wishing she would walk through that door so he knew she was safe.

"She's off somewhere kid, she'll be back soon." David quickly said, winking down at the little take that looked the spitting image of John, wondering when the man had the squirt.

"I'm sure she's just off seeing some old friends." Wade insisted, stepping inside the room since he had John's attention on his son for the moment. "She was great friends with a few of the Divas on the roster. Anyway, that's not the only reason why I'm here, John." He waited for John to stand up after setting Anthony back on the couch, those apprehensive blue eyes staring into his.

"What's up?" John knew this was about the angle and rubbed the back of his neck tiredly.

"It's an offer I would like to extend to you, since after all, I am a gentleman." Wade bowed almost mockingly, knowing at that precise moment while John wondered where Riley was, she was chained below them in the basement completely naked. "We want you back with Nexus, John. You were a great member to our team and you know as well as I do that together we were unstoppable. You know you miss wrestling and dominating the entire roster alongside Nexus. We make better allies than enemies, John; even you have to see that." Wade made several valid points and hoped John just went along with it, knowing the man wasn't the brightest man on the planet.

John couldn't help the longing that filled his body, having missed being in the small ring and he also longed to become the world champion again. "I don't have a choice, Wade, considering the writers are keeping me with you guys no matter what." John informed them somewhat bitterly, wanting to destroy Vince for forcing him back into Nexus. "Apparently, me being Nexus's bitch have made ratings soar and Vince wants to keep it that way." He snorted, glancing back at his son before his eyes locked on Wade again. "Riley won't like it when I tell her, but I can't do anything about it. So you don't need to extend an invitation to me because of the boss." He ran a hand down his face in frustration, wondering where Riley was at and hoped she was alright, knowing Wade would be with her if he was the culprit.

Anthony eyeballed the two large men with his father and frowned, definitely getting a bad vibe from both of them. Something definitely wasn't right; he could feel it pulsating through his tiny body, slowly slipping off of the couch. While the men talked, which Anthony didn't understand any of it, he knew something was wrong and hauled off, kicking the smaller man right in the shin. For a small boy, Anthony was very smart and could smell a rat anywhere. Something told him they knew where Riley was as he kicked him again, scowling.

"Hey! You little brat don't kick me!" David groaned, holding his shin, growling. "John man, keep your kid on a goddamn leash!"

Wade raised an eyebrow down at the little guy, wondering if he could sense something wasn't right with this, immediately brushing that away. He was a child, children didn't know anything. "John, that's very unprofessional of you not to handle your child properly." He stated, folding his arms in front of his chest and ignored David's whining about his shin.

"WHERE'S RIEY? I WANT RIEY NOW!" Anthony shouted, feeling his father pull him away from David when he went to kick him again.

"Anthony, stop it now!" John ordered, fed up with these two jackasses telling him how to raise his son, glaring angrily at them. He was growing more worried with each second that passed by and Riley hadn't returned yet. "Anthony, don't kick people it's not nice, aight?"

"Riey…" Anthony whimpered, tears stinging his eyes and looked up at his father, wishing he understood why he kicked that mean man. "Where Riey, daddy?"

'The kid knows.' David thought, seeing how distraught he was and glanced at Wade, knowing they had to leave before the kid got anymore suspicions. He didn't know how the squirt knew, but he did and that didn't bode well for his and Wade's master plan.

"We'll go out there and search for her if she's not back in an hour, okay?" John tried soothing his son and putting his mind at ease as he began crying softly, breaking his heart. He had no idea where to start looking for her, which frustrated John even more than he already was. "Are you sure you haven't seen her?" If Wade knew where Riley was, he wouldn't tell him anyway, but he also wouldn't be here talking to him either.

"I told you, John, I haven't seen her since the last time we were all together." Wade stated, wondering if the man would be stupid enough to accuse him of kidnapping when there was no proof. "I just want to apologize to her for everything I've done. I've decided to go to therapy for my anger issues because I know I'm not perfect. She deserves someone better than me…someone like you." That left a bad taste in Wade's mouth, but he somehow managed to say it with a straight face.

"I haven't seen her either ever since you betrayed us in the ring and jumped script." David piped in, immediately regretting saying that when Wade shot him a deadly glare, swallowing hard. "That's all behind us now though, time to be a team again."

If he didn't shut up, Wade was going to maim him once they were alone again.

"She wouldn't just run off without saying a word." John grunted, more to himself than Wade and David, wondering what the hell was going on. "Would she?"

Wade shrugged, holding his hands up. "I honestly don't know, John. Riley is capable of anything, maybe she just decided to return home?" He suggested, watching the anguish fill his eyes and bit back a wicked smirk, clapping John on the back. "Don't worry, we'll find her, I'll help if you want."

After countless hours of searching, John finally gave up and took a sobbing Anthony back to the hotel, not knowing what happened to Riley. Wade had even helped look for her, which wasn't something the man would normally do given his past with Riley. He couldn't have taken her, even though John wanted to believe he had because then he would find Riley.

Still, something wasn't right as he drove off in the opposite direction of Wade, both of them parting ways. Wade had already instructed David to put Riley in the trunk of his car, after wrapping her up in a thick coat, refusing to let her get sick on him. John had no idea she was in the trunk, completely knocked out with her mouth taped shut so she couldn't scream if she did wake up.

There would plenty screaming for her to do later on once they arrived at the hotel.