Chapter 36
"Money talks, but he can't beat my top lawyers, Raja."
"I know that bro, but at the same time, I have to try doing this on my own and Kane's information can be very useful right now. Even if I have to go see him alone." Taker was in no shape after that brutal match and it would take more than just a few days for him to heal up.
"Rajani, that's just plain out retarded." Dwayne said flatly. "You going to see Kane alone would be about the stupidest thing you've ever done." Next to her marrying John Cena, that was also pretty high on her retarded list of things to do. "He kidnapped you, what on earth makes you think he's going to tell you anything?"
Taker had a better question, but he wasn't asking it in front of her brother. What made her think Kane wouldn't kill her outright this time? He had damn near done it the other night. His green eyes narrowed, remembering her telling him about the 'accidental overdose', having a sinking feeling Kane used a little too much ether on her.
"Goddamn it Dwayne, will you STOP?" Rajani couldn't take it anymore and tossed her hands up in the air, whirling around with fiery eyes. "I KNOW I made a mistake okay? Marrying John was the WORST decision of my life, the worst mistake! I hate him for what he did to me, for sicking a monster like Kane on me! He USED Kane just like he did me. Believe it or not, we both have a lot in common, even though that's no excuse for doing John's bidding against me. But damn it, I have to do SOMETHING! John is not going to back down without a fight, he's too stubborn and pigheaded! So please, just BACK OFF and stop lecturing me! I'm not stupid either, I know the consequences of tracking down Kane, but right now it's my best fucking option!"
"No, it's not your best option! Your best option is going through my lawyers, staying your ass to wherever Taker is taking you, and seeing Cena put behind bars!" Dwayne said, his tone heated though he wasn't yelling. "You're being stubborn and insisting on doing it your way, your way is what got you into this mess! You rushed into marrying Cena without even thinking! Just like you're trying to rush to Kane."
"Get out." Rajani was done with her brother and pointed at the door, raising one slow eyebrow. "I'm done with this conversation. I am a grown ass woman and will do what I want, when I want, WHO I want, HOW I want. Do you understand me? I married John because of communication issues, which will be sorted out later. I was heartbroken, he flashed a ring at me and I took it. I admit it, I was wrong and stupid, but EVERYONE makes mistakes, even the great Dwayne Johnson." Snorting, Rajani walked past him to the door and opened it. "I don't need you to rescue me. I can handle it myself. I've done pretty well on my own so far, all things considered. Now get out and go back to your Hollywood perfect life and leave me the hell out of it."
"Yeah, I'll go back to my perfect Hollywood life, Rajani."
Dwayne's tone was scathing now, not believing she was going to let her pride and ego get the better of her. She was smarter than this, but she was going to run right into the enemy's open arms. How in the hell did she know that Kane and John wouldn't somehow make things square between them and work together again?
"Funnily enough, I'm sure we'll be seeing your story on the Lifetime channel soon."
Taker winced at that one, inwardly sighing when Dwayne stormed out, slamming the door shut behind him. Very tempted to run after him to pop his fake pectoral job, Rajani resisted as she kicked the door, growling. Dwayne could be a prick when he wanted to be and acted like he never made any mistakes. She wasn't going to just run right into Kane's open arms, Rajani was smarter than that. Of course, Dwayne would never give her the benefit of the doubt and Rajani refused to explain her actions to him any longer. The moment she got her new cell phone, she was deleting his number and cutting off contact. Her parents wouldn't like it, but at this point, Rajani just didn't care.
"Do you want to stay here and rest some more or come with me?" She asked bluntly, not looking back at Taker and blinked back the tears that threatened to fill her eyes. "Because I have a lot of phone calls to make today and that asshole wasted enough of my time already."
"Just what exactly are you doing today, darlin'?" He asked curiously.
The woman kept going on about a cell phone and he had always known she was addicted to her damn cell. Taker had teased her about it repeatedly. He was beginning to think his 'addiction' joke wasn't really that much of a joke at all. Taker wouldn't lie, just remaining on this bed sounded extremely great. He was pretty sure he wasn't up to running all over God's green earth today.
"If you need to make calls, why not do it from here or use my cell?"
"I have to go get a new cell phone because Kane decided to smash mine into smithereens." Rajani sounded thoroughly annoyed, hating it when she had to repeat herself. "I appreciate the offer, Taker, but I need my OWN cell phone because my lawyer is going to be calling me all day with information. Not to mention, I'm going to get a hold of a couple other people that might help me find out what the fuck John's been planning. This is bigger than just me, Beth and Phil and even you are in on this too because he had all 3 of you attacked. So you can either stay here and rest or come with me to the mall because that's the only place I can go for the phone I want."
Miami was her hometown. There was no way she was staying in a hotel another night. Rajani had been too tired to go to her actual home the previous night, emotionally drained.
"Oh and I'm not staying here tonight, we're in Miami and I have a house that's about 20 minutes from here. I'd like to sleep in my own bed at least one night that I'm in my hometown before we go to Dallas."
Taker had a feeling she would rip his head off his shoulders if he told her to just give his number to her lawyer, so he shut the hell up. Inwardly sighing, he reluctantly pushed himself up off the bed. Not about to let her going wandering around by her lonesome, even if they were in her hometown, Taker knew he had to trek along.
"Darlin', you ever think he attacked me and Beth because we're close to you?" Taker asked quietly, not minding the part about wanting to sleep in her own bed.
Taker didn't blame her, hotel beds sucked.
"Of course he did!" Rajani snapped, folding her arms in front of her chest, kicking the wall. "And he also attacked Phil, don't forget that. My lawyer is going to want a statement from all 3 of you regarding this and you need to tell her everything you know. Her name is Nora."
When Taker nodded, Rajani breathed a little easier and grabbed her keys out of her purse before heading out, Taker following suit. He grabbed her hand and Rajani flushed a little, squeezing it, both of them stepping on the elevator. Taker kept silent, figuring that would be best right now. Though, he returned the squeeze, watching as she hit the button for ground floor.
"I have a rental." Taker informed her after a moment, his bag was in the trunk of it. "We can use it."
"Thanks…"
Taker used his free hand to reach into the pocket of the loose, sweat pants he wore and pulled the keys out, passing them over to her. He was on energy conservation mode at the moment. They headed out to the parking garage and got into the rental, Rajani driving since she knew the area better than Taker. This was her stomping grounds after all. Pulling out of the underground parking lot, Rajani headed to the mall, wishing she would've brought her luggage with her so they didn't have to go back to the hotel once she was done getting her cell phone. The drive was made in silence, each in their own thoughts, until Rajani finally couldn't take it anymore.
"That morning I came to your room, I thought you regretted what happened between us and it hurt me. That's why I accepted John's proposal and that's why I got married. You were with another woman, so I naturally assumed you didn't want me the way I wanted you. It wasn't your fault, it was my own stupid decision to run off with John instead of thinking clearly, but at the time I was heartbroken over what I thought was rejection."
Rajani kept her eyes on the road while explaining, both hands on the wheel, keeping her emotions bottled up because she couldn't fall apart right now. That was a rushed jumble of words and given his current state, it took Taker longer than the usual to catch on. He blinked, finally shifting in his seat to stare incredulously at her. What kind of person married someone because of an assumed rejection? He was going to get them both in for cat scans.
"Darlin'...that woman was my friend and she's also my personal physician, Bonnie. She thought she was bein' funny." Taker had never been so tempted to throttle a woman as he had been that day.
Now Rajani felt even worse and it showed in her expression, frowning. "Hellfire..." She muttered, shaking her head and refused to meet Taker's gaze.
Hell, why was she feeling bad about assuming that Taker had been with another woman? From how the situation had been, it looked like Taker didn't want her, so Rajani had reacted naturally by walking away. She even asked Taker point blank if he regretted the kiss between them and his answer had been yes. Pulling into the parking lot of the local mall, Rajani found a parking space and cut the ignition, grabbing her purse.
"Do you want to come in with me or stay here? It won't take long, hopefully. I have a lifetime warranty on my phone so they should give me a new one without any trouble."
"I'll go with you."
The woman wasn't leaving his sight. That situation with Kane, while only for a night, had scared him to the point where if he hadn't already shaved his hair off, it might've fallen out. Considering John and Kane were both loose and were out of their minds...no, Taker would rather keep Rajani right where he could see her. Locking the car, Rajani walked inside the mall with Taker, not reacting when he grabbed her hand. Rajani was too focused on getting a new cell phone and walked over to stare at the mall's map, trailing a finger where she needed to go. They weren't as hard to read as people made them out to be, it didn't take a genius to follow the color codes.
"2nd floor, come on." She murmured, heading toward the escalator.
A few minutes later, Rajani arrived in the cell phone shop and walked up to the counter, releasing Taker's hand to do so. He sat down in a nearby chair and Rajani still didn't understand how he was standing right now after that lethal match the previous night. Clearing her throat to get the attention of an associate, Rajani smiled tentatively at a woman that walked up to the counter, placing her mangled cell phone with the paperwork on it.
"I need a new one, please."
If she inquired, he'd tell her the truth: painkillers. Some guys didn't take them because they were worried about addiction. Taker knew he wasn't one of those guys. He didn't become addicted because he knew better. Taker could go without, sure, and usually he did. WrestleMania, especially over the past few years, tended to be the time of want as far as painkillers went, like Vicodin.
All the woman could do was stare down at the cell phone. "Um...what happened to this one?"
"It was crushed by a 7 foot idiot that needs to have his head removed from his shoulders and shoved up his red ass." Rajani said with a smile on her face, though it didn't reach her cold dark eyes.
The woman blinked, swallowed hard and nodded. "I-I'll be right back with a new phone, Ms. Johnson."
"Thank you." Rolling her eyes, Rajani turned to look over at Taker, who simply shook his head back at her. "What? It was the truth!"
"Sometimes, Jani, it's alright to lie." Taker informed her, shaking his head again, a spark of amusement in his green eyes.
The woman probably thought Rajani was crazy insane or something for that. The story sounded so out of there. Reality was scary at times. When she rolled her eyes again, this time at him, he simply rolled his back.
"Like she's really going to believe me anyway?"
Rajani ignored Taker and turned back to stare down at the counter. Reading a few things regarding their policies, Rajani tapped her acrylic nails in boredom. A few minutes later, the woman returned holding a box that Rajani knew held her new cell phone.
"I-It's not the same one..."
"Same number?"
The woman nodded, taking it out.
The associate was giving Rajani an upgrade, free of charge. "It'll do." She said, trying not to act too excited, even though she was jumping for joy on the inside.
The woman activated her phone, which was also free of charge, much to Rajani's appreciation. No wonder she had stuck with the same cell phone company, they always treated their customer's right, unlike other cell phone companies. 20 minutes later, Rajani walked out of the store with Taker, once again their hands clasped and headed for the exit.