A/N - It's been a while, huh? This one is dedicated to Brit7000 for constantly pestering me for this and also because she's awesome and gives me nice things. This is what happens when you give me nice things lol. Enjoy...

Eight hours. It had been eight hours since he had even the slightest bit of contact with his wife. Paul sighed in annoyance and angrily pulled his left kneepad on, letting it linger over his boot. After his workout this morning he had returned to an empty hotel room. His wife was gone and she had even packed her bag too. She didn't even leave a note. His blood began to boil just thinking about it. The mere fact that they were fighting over her asshole brother infuriated him even more. He had half a mind to go find the boy wonder and smack him in the face for causing a much unneeded shit storm in his marriage.

"Fucking stupid," he muttered under his breath, this time pulling on the right kneepad before flopping onto the bench and staring off into space, haunted by thoughts of things he wasn't quite prepared to believe. Asshole or not, he'd never accuse Shane of doing…..that…unless it was true of course. No. No, it wasn't true and he was acting ridiculously paranoid. So what? Stacy had a bruise on her arm. She was a wrestler. They always had bruises. Finger marks however? Well, yes. She was obviously grabbed a little too hard in the ring. Hard enough to leave such visible prints on the skin? Jesus. There he was, off again, letting his mind run away with him. His growing hatred for his brother-in-law was starting to cloud his sanity. Fuck.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Paul glanced up from his inner debate with himself to find his best friend looking down at him with a curious expression on his face. "Trust me, if you knew what my thoughts were they'd be worth more to you than a penny."

Shawn Michaels let out a small chuckle as he sat down on the bench next to his troubled pal and gave him a quick tap on the knee. "Alright then, I'll give you 5 bucks for them." It didn't even garner the faintest of smiles from the larger man, causing him to frown. "You're clearly not in the mood for jokes. What's going on, man?" He asked the question even though he had a pretty good idea of the reason behind his buddy's foul mood. He had encountered one Stephanie McMahon a couple of hours ago and made the mistake of asking after her husband. The death glare he got in response told him all he needed to know. The newlyweds seemed to be in the middle of quite the spat. When he still didn't get an answer his head began to shake. "I take it you don't want to talk abou….."

"I can't talk about it, Shawn."

That little admission caused the Heartbreak Kid to sit forward and lean on his knees. What the hell was going on? When his friend finally turned to look him in the eyes his concern only grew. "You can't?"

Paul let out a scoff and rolled his eyes at his own paranoia. "If I do you'll think I'm going crazy. Hell, I'm starting to think I'm going crazy."

"Paul, we've been through a lot of crazy shit together. This business is the home of crazy shit. I don't think anything you say can make me believe that you're crazy," Shawn reassured him. "Besides, I knew you were crazy a long time ago so you have nothing to worry about." His smart remark finally earned a small smile from the other man. A pair of slightly worried brown eyes met his own and he prepared himself for what he was about to hear.

"Before I even begin you can't tell anybody about this and I mean nobody, Shawn or it'll be my ass." Paul rubbed a hand over his face and let out a sigh. He couldn't believe he was even about to say this out loud but if there was one person in this world he could trust it was the man sitting beside him right now. Shawn was like a brother to him and as far as he was concerned they were brothers. Maybe if he finally got this off his chest it would stop bothering him so much. "Steph and I had a fight." At his friend's unimpressed stare he rolled his eyes and continued. "Don't look at me like that. That's not the reason why I….well, it's partly the reason but….."

"You're babbling."

"Just let me talk, alright!"

A brief silence encompassed the two men and it gave Paul a chance to gather his thoughts before speaking again. "Steph and I had a fight because of Shane. You know what happened to Trish right? You also know that the two of them were pretty much dating up until a couple of days ago when Trish came to the arena black and blue. You don't know how close they had gotten though. Trish had gone to Shane's apartment and I was under the impression that things were going great. Then the very next time I see her she's telling me that they called it quits and she got mugged on the street after leaving him at his place. But it doesn't make sense, Shawn. I didn't understand it then and the more I think about it the more confused I get."

Shawn started to get an uneasy feeling in his gut. Just what exactly was Paul getting at here? His eyes darted around the empty room awkwardly. "Confused about what?"

"About how things just ended so abruptly. About how he could just leave her on the street without calling her a cab and doing what any decent man would do and make sure that she got home safely. About how she ended up getting beaten on his watch. About the fact that he has been fucking Stacy Kiebler when they were supposed to be together. About how I walked in on them in his office yesterday and then earlier this morning I bump into Stacy and she has bruises on her arms as well. Then there's the fact that Stephanie seems determined not to talk about any of this and gives that fucker a free pass on everything." The outburst was out of him before he even had a chance to think about what he was saying. "Fuck, Shawn. Listen to that and tell me that something doesn't add up."

When all he received was nothing but silence for an answer, Paul simply laughed bitterly. "Great. I knew I shouldn't have said anythi…"

"Stop!" Shawn grabbed his arm and prevented him from getting to his feet. He took another few moments to digest what he had just heard before looking his friend dead in the eye. "I don't know what you're expecting me to say here, Paul. But fucking hell, man, if you believe even an ounce of what you are suggesting here then….I don't even fucking know."

"And what exactly do you think I'm suggesting?"

The question caught him off guard and Shawn's eyes glimmered dangerously. "I don't know, why don't you tell me?" If his buddy over there didn't have the balls to say it himself then he sure as hell wasn't going to say it for him. If he truly believed it then he would say it instead of dancing around it.

"Fuck, Shawn. What do you want me to say?" They were talking in fucking riddles.

"What you're thinking! You can't come off with things like that and then not follow it up, unless you don't think it's true."

"I don't know what to fucking think, OK? I don't know what to think."

At that moment Shawn felt bad about the way he had just acted. His friend was in a horrible position and it was causing friction in his marriage. "I take it Steph freaked when you told her?"

The mere mention of his wife's name made his temperature rise. Paul took a deep breath to calm his nerves but it did nothing to help his feelings on the matter. "That's the funny part. I haven't even said a damn thing to her. You want to know why we're fighting? Because I called Shane a whore. She gets angry at me for saying he can't keep his dick in his pants when he actually can't keep his dick in his pants and she knows it. He sleeps around and acts like a fucking prick and it's somehow my fault? I came back from working out this morning and she had left our hotel room. She even packed her shit and just left. I swear to God, man…"

"Alright just….take a breather here, OK?" That was Paul's second outburst of the day and it became very clear to Shawn that the other man was pissed off to say the least and was it any wonder, what with all this shit hanging over his head? He was never one to bitch or outwardly show emotion like that. His nature was much more stoic. The fact that he had erupted and twice no less was all the proof he needed that this was eating him up.

"I haven't mentioned any of this to, Steph and it's causing stupid fucking fights between us. How in the hell am I supposed to go tell her that I'm starting to think her brother's a…" He inhaled slowly and looked up to the ceiling with his eyes shut. "Nothing. He's nothing and I'm being ridiculous."

Shawn absently shrugged his shoulders. He didn't know what to believe. The way it was put to him, it did seem like there was something somebody wasn't telling Paul. The pieces of the puzzle just didn't add up but at the same time, that didn't necessarily mean what he thought it meant either. In his mind, there was only one way to find out. "You're not being ridiculous. You're looking out for your friend. I know how close you and Trish are. She's like a little sister to you, man but there's only one way you can ease your conscience and find out what really happened if it happened at all."

Paul knew what he was about to hear and didn't like it one bit. He didn't like it when he thought it himself and he didn't like that his friend was about to say it either. Slowly lowering his head back to meet the concerned gaze across from him, he took a moment for a look of understanding to pass between them before they both said the exact same thing in unison.

"Ask her."

Shane flipped through the papers in his hand. Some were spread out on the coffee table in front of him accompanied by his feet as he scanned the pages of the report. He had to meet his father in a couple of minutes to run over a couple of things, said report being one of them. A knock on the door prompted him to lift his head and he couldn't have been any happier to see the person who walked through it. "Steph!" She was just the person he wanted to see. "What's up, lil' sis?"

Walking into the room and taking a seat next to him on the sofa, Stephanie didn't enjoy her brother's jovial attitude. "Quite a lot actually, big bro."

Her sarcastic tone wasn't lost on him and Shane bit back his smile. What could possibly have crawled up her ass today? He couldn't wait to find out. "Oh?"

"Paul and I fighting."

That was music to his ears. Trying really hard to keep biting back his smile, he frowned and set down the papers to look at his sister face on. "You guys are fighting?"

"Yes we're fighting, Shane and we're fighting about you. What the hell is going on with you, huh?"

He hadn't been expecting that little nugget of information but it sure as hell made him smile, he couldn't even stop it from happening and he let out an amused little laugh to go with it.

"I'm glad you find it so funny."

"Steph…"

Stephanie held up her hand and cut him off. "Don't 'Steph' me, OK? What is going on, Shane? You promised dad you would stop sleeping with the Divas yet here you are seeing two of them at the same time. How can you be so reckless? Sleeping with Stacy in your office, in the hotel? Dad's going to…."

"I don't give a fuck about what Dad says." This time he cut her off. What the fuck was her problem? "I'm a grown fucking man, Stephanie. I can do whatever the hell I want. Besides, I don't think you're in a position to give off to me about sleeping with the talent."

Her eyes widened in shock at the fact that he would actually bring that up. "That's completely different and you know it."

"How is it any different?"

"Paul is my husband."

Shane scoffed at her answer and shook his head. "He wasn't your husband when you guys were screwing around to begin with. How is that different from me and any diva?"

"Shane….." she was slowly losing it with him and was forced to take a breath to calm her nerves. "Paul and I were never 'screwing around' and you know that. Nothing happened between us until we knew for sure that things were serious. I can't believe you would even bring this up."

"Of course I'm going to bring it up when you're being a fucking hypocrite. Why shouldn't I fuck whoever I want? Because my daddy says so? Sorry, but I'm not you, princess. This place is one giant orgy anyways. Everybody is sleeping with everybody. I don't see why it should be any different for me and I don't know why you think you can sit there and judge me when you went and married the guy you were fucking."

Stephanie's face turned up in disgust. Who the hell was this man sitting beside her right now? She couldn't believe the way he was talking about her marriage, like it was something cheap and dirty. His entire attitude was worrying. He had always been a bit of an asshole but recently things were getting worse. It seemed as if he didn't care about anything but himself. And she had gone to bat for him causing a huge fight with her husband in the process. She found herself sitting there wondering why all of a sudden. If her brother wanted to be like this then he wasn't worth her time and he certainly wasn't worth starting fights over.

"Don't look at me like that. You have no right to judge me, Steph and quite frankly, I don't give a shit if you do or anybody else for that matter."

"And that's the problem isn't it, Shane? Seems as if the only person you care about anymore is yourself. What the hell has gotten into you?" she asked, almost in disbelief at his dismissive attitude.

Shane laughed bitterly. Of course she wouldn't understand, hell, it had taken him all this time to figure it out himself. He was Shane McMahon. He was untouchable and could do whatever the fuck he wanted. He was set to inherit this business and start running things. If he wanted to fuck Stacy Kiebler then he would. If he wanted to fuck Trish Stratus then he would. If he wanted to fuck his wife when she told him no then he would. As his ex-wife's image ran through his head, a dirty sneer tugged at his lips. To think that he had wasted so much of his life tied down to Marissa of all people. It annoyed him to no end and he couldn't have been happier to sign those divorce papers.

"Shane?"

He broke out of his reverie to find his sister looking at him with a slightly worried expression on her face. It amused him. "What?"

"I asked you what happened with Trish and why you guys ended things." A nervous lump gathered in her throat and she swallowed it down, incredibly anxious about his answer. The horrible sneer that had appeared on his face a few moments ago returned as he scoffed.

"Why the fuck do you and Paul for that matter think this is any of your business? First I have him storming into my office interrogating me about this and now you? Who the fuck do you think you are? It's none of your business."

This time it was her turn to scoff. "When your behaviour starts causing fights in my marriage then it most definitely is my fucking business. And you didn't answer my question."

Shane was about to tell her to fuck off when the idea hit him like a bolt of lightning. Damn. Why hadn't he thought of this before? He fidgeted with his hands and dropped his gaze to the floor for effect before looking back up at her. "Steph….I don't think I should tell you."

"Oh for God's sake!"

"Fine! But don't shoot the messenger. Trish came to my apartment that night, things were going great, I thought we were finally going to take things to the next level and then out of nowhere she pulls up and tells me she can't. I asked her why and she told me it was because she was in love with someone else. Obviously that pissed me off and we fought. She wouldn't tell me who but I don't think you need two guesses to figure out who it is. I sure as hell didn't. I asked her if it was Paul and she left. That's why we broke things off, alright? I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want to upset you. Trish is in love with Paul and quite frankly I'm not surprised and I know you aren't either, Steph. When I watch the two of them together it makes me sick, the way they flaunt their relationship in front of you the way they do. It's a fucking joke."

Stephanie was frozen to the spot. She couldn't believe what she had just heard. It made perfect sense. Trish was in love with Paul. Trish was in love with her husband. She felt her stomach churn at the thought and an intense wave of jealousy washed over her body. She felt it all the way to her fingertips. It was overwhelming.

"Steph? You alright?" Shane feigned concern as he pressed a hand to her shoulder. The colour had completely drained from his sister's face and it made his heart leap. If Paul wanted to play then he could fucking play. Let's see how he got out of this one. He didn't need Trish to tell him that's why she refused to sleep with him that night. She could use Stacy as an excuse all she wanted but he knew the real reason was because she loved that fucker. Maybe this would finally wake Stephanie up and make her see her beloved husband for what he really was. Giving her a gentle shake to get her attention, he once again called her name.

Her blue eyes met with his but she was barely paying attention. She hadn't spoken to her husband since this morning and had absolutely no idea where the hell he was but in her gut, she had a pretty good idea of where he might be and she didn't like it one bit. Suddenly standing up, she absently waved goodbye to her brother and made for the door. "I have to go."

The sound of the door sliding shut brought a smile to his face. Shane grinned wickedly and shook his head in amusement. Things were about to get very interesting.