Chapter 21

Lost.

That was the only word John could think of that described how he felt, wondering what he had done wrong. From the moment he'd woken up and found out Riley had escaped from the hospital, all he could think was what had he done to make her run off so suddenly? Then he thought about what she wanted to find out and hunted Doctor Adams down, who simply told him she couldn't reveal the results of the pregnancy test due to patient confidentiality. John was livid, not believing he was being kept in the dark and left the hospital with Anthony in tow, which couldn't stop crying ever since he found out Riley had left them.

It shredded John's heart every time tears fell from his little boy's eyes, the pain turning slowly into hidden anger. How could he be so stupid to fall for a woman who clearly had too much baggage and pain of her own to even consider a relationship? It was simple. John knew he couldn't help who he fell in love with and didn't regret saving Riley from Barrett. He would do it all over again in a heartbeat because no woman deserved the kind of abuse that Barrett put Riley through, no matter the circumstances.

It just absolutely sucked that while he was being Riley's knight in shining armor, he also fell in love and let her run off with his heart.

Anthony would heal from the pain, but John knew it would take him longer to do so, wondering if he would ever see Riley again. There was a reason she ran off, a reason she didn't trust him enough to let him help her with whatever she was going through. He couldn't begin imagining the type of disgusting vile things Barrett did to her down in the arena basements, which were now checked on an hourly basis by order of Vince. He didn't need another scandal in his company apparently and was doing everything in his power to cover his ass.

She needed time to heal and John was going to give her that, deciding she would contact him when she was ready. He'd already tried calling Justin, knowing that would be the first person Riley would run to, only to find out he hadn't seen or spoken to her either. It was as if Riley Jade Morris had vanished off the face of the planet. Someone had to know where she was, hell the woman didn't have that much money on her due to Barrett freezing all of her accounts, including the one for insurance, which left John paying for her hospital bills.

Then again, maybe Riley had a secret bank account hidden from Barrett and she was using John to plot her escape. John immediately shook his head at that thought, knowing Riley wasn't that kind of woman. Something scared her and John had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach it had to do with that pregnancy test Doctor Adams gave her just hours before Riley's sudden disappearance. If she was pregnant, that definitely would be a reason to run off without leaving a note or anything saying she would be alright.

Riley left nothing.

John looked over at his little boy, his arm wrapped protectively around his shoulders while Anthony slept on him, both of them on a plane headed toward Los Angeles. That's where John was catching up with the Raw roster, needing to get back to work since he didn't have the slightest idea where Riley could've gone. And as long as he was on the Raw roster, he could keep tabs on Wade Barrett and the rest of Nexus. It didn't matter if they were split up into two groups now, the Corre on Smackdown! and the Nexus on Raw.

John would make them pay by beating the living hell out of them in the ring.

"John?"

He was jolted out of his deep thoughts and looked up, tilting his head slightly at the sight of his longtime friend, Randy Orton. "Hey man, what's up?" He greeted softly, nodding when Randy ushered to the seat beside John near the window, being careful not to wake Anthony up.

"Not a whole lot, how about you? I heard some things on the road." Randy admitted openly, never one to beat around the bush, which John respected him for.

John sighed heavily and nodded, glancing down at his son again, the pain in his heart flaring up all over again. "Yeah well, what I had to deal with is over. I'm back on the road ready to kick ass and take names." He stated, hoping Randy dropped the subject, not wanting to talk about Riley if he could help it.

"Yeah you sound like it."

Randy didn't know what to say because he'd heard through the grapevine of the company that John had stayed with that woman, Riley Morris, who was found in the arena basement a few months back. He could hear the pain in John's voice and had a feeling things didn't turn out well with the woman, though Randy honestly wasn't surprised. John was always so upbeat and lively, but right now he looked like he'd shot his puppy or lost his best friend, something to that effect. It unnerved Randy because he was dubbed one of the locker room leaders of the company and didn't want John's mind clouded when he stepped back in the ring, wondering if sparring lessons were in order.

"If you need anything, let me know okay?" Randy offered finally, deciding it was best not to bring up the subject or pry into John's personal life, their friendship having dwindled over the past couple of years.

"Yeah thanks man, I appreciate that." John managed a half smile and leaned back in his seat, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Hey Randy, I got a favor to ask you."

"What is it?" Randy asked, pulling his gaze from the window to John, arching an eyebrow.

"I need you to…spar with me a little in the ring. I haven't been in the ring in the past few months and I need to freshen up a little." John explained, also being dubbed a locker room leader, and this was one of the many reasons why. "Would you mind doing it a couple of times?"

Randy smiled; glad John was putting the business before his personal life, knowing it was going to be hard getting through whatever was bothering him. "Sure man, no problem. We can spar as many times as you want before you get back in the ring." He extended his hand and John took it, both men nodding simultaneously. "And I mean it, if you need to talk about anything; I'm here for you John."

John knew what Randy meant by that and nodded, pulling his hand out of the handshake. "I know…I just need time to sort shit out in my head before I talk about it." He stated quietly, not sure how else to word it and honestly didn't care, just wanting to toss himself back in his work so he couldn't think about Riley for at least a little while.

Randy understood that, remembering when his marriage fell apart with his now ex-wife Samantha, immediately pushing her in the far recesses of his mind. He hadn't talked about his personal life with anyone in the company, keeping his personal and professional lives completely separate like Mark Calaway had done. He didn't know how Mark managed to do it, but Randy learned from the best and nobody knew that Randy had divorced Samantha. He preferred it that way, though didn't wear his wedding ring because not only was it not safe in the ring, but he honestly didn't care if anyone noticed.

So far, no one had and it'd been six months since the divorce finalized.

"So what's up with you lately?" John decided to be nosey, wanting to get his mind off of his own grief for a couple minutes and knew Randy was the perfect outlet. "How's Samantha and Alannah?"

Randy smiled at the sound of his daughter's name, masking the disdain for his ex-wife. "They're good, Al is getting so big. I can't believe how fast she grew up. How's your little guy doing?" He ushered toward the sleeping Anthony, causing John's face to fall a little.

"He's fine, healthy as a horse and eats just like his old man." John chuckled half-heartedly, both men trying not to laugh loud when the little boy began snoring lightly. "Just like his old man." John echoed in a whisper, still not believing what a blessing he had in his life.

"He looks like you." Randy pointed out the obvious, causing John to nod. "That way Denise didn't want to be a mother anymore?"

"Something like that." John grunted, remembering when he called Denise to ask if he could bring Anthony back on the road because he had to return to his job, thanks to Vince's change of heart, only for the woman to practically toss their son at John and Riley without blinking. "Denise needed sometime alone and I was the one who offered to take Anthony on the road with me for a few months to give her a break."

"Damn I wish Samantha would let me do that." Randy muttered and immediately regretted it as soon as the words left his mouth, seeing John's eyebrow slowly lift in question. "We're divorced."

John's jaw dropped and he could only stare at his friend, wondering how the hell that marriage fell apart considering Samantha and Randy seemed perfect for each other. "Damn I'm sorry, Randy." He honestly meant it, placing a hand on the man's shoulder for support. "What happened?"

Randy scoffed, shrugging John's hand off his shoulder, hating to have any pity thrown at him. "Oh you know the same old shit I've been dealing with my whole life since becoming a WWE Superstar. Guy falls for girl; girl is left at home alone and decides the loneliness is too much so she screws anything on two legs that shows her the slightest bit of attention." He felt sick just talking about it, blue eyes adverting to the flooring of the plane. "She was in a threesome when I went home about a year ago and found her being fucked from behind while sucking some other guy's dick." He dropped his voice considerably, knowing the other passengers on the plane wouldn't appreciate his vulgar language.

"That's fucked up." John stated, not believing Samantha would even be in something like that, shaking his head sadly. "Did you know who the two assholes were?"

Randy chuckled ruefully, the bitterness dripping in his tone, his jaw tightening slightly. "Yeah I knew them. We both do actually."

Now John was too intrigued to back off the conversation, almost hesitating to ask. "Who was it?"

Randy turned his head until their blue eyes locked, tears actually filling Randy's. "It was two mother fuckers from the Nexus group. Or I guess they're in the fuckin' Corre group on Smackdown! now." He cleared his throat, knowing John would want to know the names because of what happened to that Riley girl a few months back. "It was the redhead and…Otunga…Now that I think about it; Otunga is still on Raw while the redhead went to Smackdown!"

"The redhead…You mean Wendy's little brother, Slater?" John gritted out, knowing those two had also raped Riley at least once, though John had no solid proof as far as the redhead went. Otunga on the other hand…That prick was going to have his ass handed to him by both John and Randy for all the pain he caused both men, John's anger surfacing. "Yeah, I know Otunga…more than I should…"

"What do you mean?" Randy couldn't help asking, seeing the anger ignite in John's eyes, clearing his throat awkwardly.

John felt sick at the memory of Joseph Henning telling him what David said about screwing a woman chained up until she bled on his dick. David Otunga was going to pay for what he did to Riley; John knew that woman was Riley David referred to in his gloating. What man in their right mind would gloat about screwing a woman chained up until she bled on his dick?

A sick demented one.

"There's no proof against him, but I know that mother fucker is one of the ones that raped and tortured Riley." He watched Randy's eyes widen and had to look away, the pain in his own too embarrassing for another man to see. "Now you know where I've been the past few months…"

Randy nodded in understanding, his already tightened jaw actually cracking because he was doing his best to keep his temper in check. "Apparently we both have issues with Otunga and I think we need to settle them." Randy growled lowly, folding his arms in front of his chest and looked out the window again.

"Sounds like a plan to me."

The rest of the flight was made in silence, both men letting their anger fester for what David Otunga did to both women they had deep feelings for. Randy would always love Samantha, but he could never forgive her for willingly screwing someone as downright sick as Otunga and Slater. John would always love Riley, but it was her decision to leave and if she never wanted to see him again, he wasn't going to chase her down. However, both men had one new goal in mind and that was making David Otunga's life a miserable living hell, which would start as soon as John was back in the ring.

Once the plane landed, John and Randy parted ways, promising to get together for a sparring lesson the following day before anyone else arrived at the arena for Raw. John carried his son upstairs along with their bags, still not believing Anthony had slept the entire flight from Seattle to Los Angeles, not waking up once on the ride to the hotel. He literally cried himself into a deep slumber and John checked his pulse, paranoid his little boy would never wake up again.

Anthony was just a very deep sleeper like his father.

Once John got Anthony settled in bed, waking him up long enough to change him into pajamas, John decided it was time to call Denise. He'd put the phone call off long enough and it was finally time to take Anthony back home to his mother as soon as possible. If he had to miss another show, Vince would have to deal with it, but John didn't want his son around while John was plotting someone's death.

"John, what's wrong?" Denise demanded as soon as she picked up, rubbing her eyes. "It's like three in the morning…"

"I know." John grunted, stepping outside on the balcony and knew this wasn't going to be an easy conversation with his ex-wife. "Everything is fine with Anthony, but…I have to send him back to you sooner than expected. Some things have come up and…he can't be on the road with me right now."

Denise chewed her bottom lip, glancing over at her sleeping boyfriend, and slipped from the bed to talk to John privately. "What happened, John? Talk to me." Even though their marriage didn't work out, Denise and John got along for the most part because they loved their son too much to put him through any amount of pain.

Closing his eyes, John cracked open a beer before giving the long explanation about Riley and everything that had happened.