Only two real things of consequence happened at the Smackdown taping that night. The first was my discovery that my decision to suspend Ambrose indefinitely had been overruled. He only received one week, which meant that he'd be back on Raw the following week.

Somehow, I doubted that meant that I would have a break from him for the next six days.

The second was that Reigns, Rollins, and Punk decided to corner Sheamus in the back and beat the absolute hell out of him. He came out of that fight with a broken right wrist. The doctor thought he'd probably need surgery to put a pin in it.

Sheamus waved off my apologies with his good hand as we waited for the ambulance that was going to bring him to the local hospital, where an orthopedist was already waiting.

"Knew from the start that it might happen. I just wish that it wasn't right now, as things were starting to heat up. I'm sorry I won't be here to help you."

I shook my head. "Don't worry about that. Just worry about getting better."

He nodded. "I will, and I'll try to be back soon. In the meantime, keep the rest of the guys close. It looks like they're trying to pick us off, one by one."

"It does indeed seem that way," I agreed. "I'll make sure I take care of it."

Sheamus grinned at me. "I have no doubt, lass. None at all."

The ambulance pulled up then. I made sure he was in safely and on his way before returning to the building.

The rest of the show ran just fine, and I was shortly on my way back to the hotel for the night. I thought furiously as I drove, trying to find a way to make all of this madness end. It was hard to believe that less than twenty-four hours ago I'd been happy. It had all evaporated in a matter of hours, and I was frustrated and angry once again.

Wade was waiting for me in the lobby. He took one look at my face before cautiously reaching for my hand. "Room service and naked cuddles?"

The first smile of several hours touched my lips. "As long as room service includes booze."

"We can make that happen," he agreed. "Come on, love."

I dropped my bags and fell back on the bed the minute we walked through the door. Wade sat beside me, bent down to kiss me, and then unceremoniously dismissed me to the shower while he ordered food for us.

I came out with my hair dripping, wrapped in a fluffy bathrobe.

"Feeling better?" He asked from his position sprawled on the bed.

"Marginally," I admitted, sitting beside him. "My day really went to hell after I left you this morning."

He nodded. "I heard. Any word on Sheamus?"

"Two pins in his wrist. He should be back in about six weeks." I rubbed my forehead absently. "They're hunting you guys down."

"So it would appear."

"As if that wasn't bad enough," I added, reaching for one of the bottles of beer he'd ordered, "I had a visit from Mr. Ambrose this morning."

Wade raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? And what did he have to say?"

"Just that he knew I'd spent the night with you, and he hoped you were worth all of the misery. He also decided to get nasty and ask if you'd been any good in bed. I told him you were, and he'd probably hear me screaming your name tonight."

I glanced over at him and saw him trying hard not to laugh. "Oh shut up," I said, even though I was trying not to laugh myself. "I hate that he's being such a weirdo."

"It's obvious, isn't it? He's got a little crush on you."

I shook my head. "Well, hopefully he gets the hint now. I'm not available. Even if I was, I'm not interested." I turned towards him. "Nobody warned me that this job would be this way."

"Would you still have taken it?" He asked.

I shook my head. "I really don't know. I've never in my life felt so stressed out before. Any moment of happiness I have is fleeting, because the next disaster comes along and blows it to hell. I really don't know if it's worth it."

He reached out and lightly brushed some hair out of my face. "It's been a long day," he said. "It's been a very difficult day, from the sounds of things." I nodded my agreement. "The important thing, I think, is that no decisions need to be made tonight. Tonight you can relax again."

Grateful, I turned and bent down to kiss him. "Thank you."

"For what, love?"

"For being the bright spot in every day so far."

He smiled. "I'm just returning the favor."

I could feel a little of the day's tension melting away. I had no idea how he managed to have that effect on me, and at the moment I wasn't too inclined to question it – I was just grateful for it.

We settled in for the night, ate our room service and watched terrible television. We made love and I once again fell asleep nestled in the crook of his arm.

The morning came too quickly, and I was getting prepared to leave again all too soon.

"Did you mean what you said last night?" He asked, buttoning his shirt.

"Which thing? The one where I asked you not to stop or told you to go faster?"

He grinned. "I gathered you meant both of those things, based on your reaction. Unfortunately, I was thinking about earlier in the evening, where you don't know if you'd have taken the job if you knew what it would be like."

I took a deep breath while I considered it. "Honestly...even though I met you, and I am so happy for that...I think I would've passed if I'd known about all of the other things."

He nodded. "It's understandable, love. You could still just walk away, you know."

I laughed, a bit bitterly. "I don't think I can. I'm too far into it now to just quit. I need to see it through."

"Even if it wrecks your happiness?"

I smiled, standing up and walking over to him. "How could it ever do that?" I asked. "You're right here." I stood on my toes and kissed him.

"Careful," he teased in a low voice, "you'll give me a huge ego. I won't be able to walk through any doors because my head will be so swollen."

"I'd rather you have a tough time walking for other reasons."

"So fresh," he laughed, bending down to kiss me again. "Are you sure you need to go back to Stamford?"

I nodded. "I have way too much to catch up on. But I'll try to come back a few days early."

"I'd really like that. I'll miss you terribly, you know."

"Now I'll have a huge ego."

"Still, the fact remains. Now go on before I do something entirely un-manly and throw myself at your feet, begging you to stay."

"Well, we can't have that," I agreed, standing on my toes again to kiss him one last time. "Be safe. Call me tonight. I'll see you soon."

"I will. Wouldn't miss it for anything. You'd better."

I walked out of his room and out of the hotel feeling almost as good as I did yesterday morning, but that feeling was tempered by our discussion last night.

It was starting to hit me that I didn't want this job any longer. I didn't want to be on the hook for all of these injuries. I didn't want to play this game of human chess. But, as I'd told Wade, I realized that I was in too deep to stop now.

I had to see this through, one way or the other. Maybe it was time to accept Heyman's match and be done with it. It was a match I knew that I couldn't win anyway, and at least I'd go down fighting.

My phone beeped and interrupted these thoughts. I expected it to be Wade, but it was Ambrose.

'I didn't hear you screaming last night. Too bad. I'd been looking forward to it.'

I raised an eyebrow. This didn't sound like him.

'It would've been nice to imagine I was just about to choke the life out of you and the last words out of your mouth were screams begging your boyfriend to come save you.'

I felt a chill run down my spine.

'You are way out of line, Ambrose,' I replied.

'Oh Lizzy. I'd never be able to do it. It would hurt me much more than it would hurt you. You just made me so angry yesterday. I needed to work through it.'

'And have you done that?'

'Not yet. I'd still like to beat your boyfriend to a bloody mess while you watched, but I know that would make you upset. I don't want to make you upset.'

I shook my head. This was getting so bizarre. I had no idea how to handle him.

'Thank you,' I finally elected to say.

'You're welcome, sweetheart. Since I have the week off – thanks, by the way – what do you say I come to Stamford and we chat over dinner?'

'You're pushing your luck.'

'Just like you're pushing yours. I'm still pretty pissed off, Lizzy. I'm trying to be nice by wanting to talk to you instead of beating the shit out of your boyfriend. I'd accept that offer if I were you.'

I debated this for several minutes before I finally answered.

'Dean, I'm going to be straight with you. I'm exhausted. I am stressed out almost to my breaking point. I need a few days away from everybody. It's not personal.'

So that last bit was a lie, but he didn't need to know that.

It took a few minutes for him to respond.

'I get that. Just promise me that you will make time for me soon. I think we have a lot to talk about.'

I readily agreed. I hadn't expected it to be that easy to dissuade him, and it worried me a little bit. Then I recalled Wade's words about a little crush – if he still thought he had any sort of chance with me, maybe he'd decided to be nice.

I just wondered how long it would last.