The smile disappeared from Randy's lips as he came face to face with Maria. The elevator was packed full of her little diva friends, and they all immediately stopped talking when they saw them. They sneered and looked at Katrina in disgust; he had to remind himself that he couldn't touch them, that he never raised his hands to women.
Obviously Maria had told all of them about Katrina's alleged prostitution. Of course she had, judging by all the stuff he had heard at the gym this morning. He had to protect Katrina from it as much as he could, and that meant telling her what was being said so she could keep away from it while he handled the situation. It also meant beating the shit out of any man who dared say something to his face like they had done this morning. His knuckles were bruised and his hand hurt like fuck but he wasn't going to tell Kat he had gone against his word and hurt a few people.
"Well, look what we have here," Maria said as they stepped out of the elevator. "Three of you and one of her. I hope you bastards pay her what she's due. I heard lying on your back all day is pretty tiring work."
Bitch.
He looked down at Katrina and saw how tense she was. And scared. Terrified, actually. He didn't know how she had come to fight these women by herself in the first place but whatever foolhardy bravery had pushed her to do that had obviously deserted her now.
"May I have a word?" he growled out, stepping aside so Maria could precede him.
Before Katrina, this was something he could have easily handled without thought. Most people were afraid of the monster they had seen him become so many times in the past. But now he had to find a balance between the man he used to be and the man he wanted to be. For Katrina. For himself. Maria obviously thought he had gone soft to blatantly disregard his warning like this. She was deliberately hurting Katrina, and that was something he had never tolerated; even before he'd realised he loved her. This shit had to stop today. The less Katrina heard the better. Even if the rumours were true. Or especially if the rumours were true.
It couldn't be true. It couldn't be.
How was he here? She'd left him in Chicago.
Her heart pounded in her ears and she felt her strength slowly slipping from her body. Those brown eyes that had invaded her nightmares for so long were burning into her now, the lips curling into a smile that never reached the eyes. A shiver went through her body. Her stomach knotted and then turned. She was Grace all over again, stuck in her nightmare. His stale breath on her neck, his heavy weight pinning her down, his fists on her body over and over again...
Powerless. All over again.
She was vaguely aware of people talking around her, of arguments erupting, of Jeff's hand tightening over hers. But she couldn't take her eyes off the sinister smile. She could feel him as if it had been yesterday. She was right there. Paid for, for the whole night. George. Fucking George. The monster. The rapist. The paedophile.
"Hi, Gracie..."
The voice of her nightmares.
The smile got bigger and she felt physically sick. The air stunk of all the things she had left behind, almost gagging her.
No. No, she couldn't be here. It wasn't safe here.
She pulled her hand free from Jeff's and slowly backed away. The eyes never left her. Her skin crawled and she felt sweat start to form on her brow. The noise from the restaurant penetrated her daze, and she remembered Hunter was sitting in there. Hunter, Shawn and Steph. Only a few steps away from prison sentences. She had to go. They couldn't see her like this or they'd know.
She turned the other way and forced her legs to move to the stairway. Slowly at first, because she felt wooden, frozen; and then faster, until she was running.
Running as fast as she could. Up the stairs. Away.
Jeff followed Katrina, calling out to her and frowning when she didn't stop running. It was like she hadn't even heard him.
"Kitty, stop," he called again.
Wow, she was fast. They were five floors up and his lungs were burning.
"They can't hurt you again, Kat. Don't run; you're hurting your ribs."
Maria and her friends weren't going to dare touch her again; she had no need to be scared. But what the fuck had she meant about paying Kat for her services? Had she guessed? No. No, of course not. Maria was just making reference to recent events; she couldn't possibly know about Grace.
"Kitty, I mean it."
But she kept going. He caught up with her on the fifth floor and grabbed her arm to force her to stop. She tried to pull away but he turned her around and gripped both of her arms.
"I'm not going to let anyone hurt you again," he said breathlessly. "Do you hear me?"
She didn't answer. She didn't even look into his eyes.
He frowned as he studied her closely. She was shaking. Her whole body was visibly shaking.
"What's wrong?"
She didn't say a word. Instead she turned away from him and tried to run again but he put his arms firmly around her to restrain her.
"Look at me," he said. "I promise I'll protect you. Okay? Look at me."
Slowly, she lifted her gaze to his. He saw her eyes and his breath caught. They were flooded with pain. And fear. So much fear.
"Kat?"
"I need to get away," she whispered. "I need to go."
Then it hit him. This wasn't about Maria. It was about Grace.
Grace...
"He called you Grace," he whispered.
"In private? Why? So you can beat her again?" Brie sneered.
Randy's eyes narrowed on the mouthy twin. So hypocritical. He wondered what Maria would say if she ever discovered that he'd slept with most of her so-called friends as well before things had got serious with Katrina. They never had a problem with him then; now all of a sudden he was the devil himself.
"Whatever you want to say you can say in front of all of us," Nikki added.
He looked at Maria and saw the satisfied smirk on her face. She obviously didn't think he would.
"What are you trying to do here? You think this will make me love you?"
Maria had the audacity to laugh, drawing even more attention to them from the people in the lobby.
"After you've been with Katrina? I don't want to even breathe the same air as you."
From the corner of his eyes he saw Katrina and Jeff back away. Good. He wanted her as far away from these women as possible.
Some Divas chuckled at Maria's comment. Some threw in comments of their own. But he didn't take his eyes off his ex. She was the cause of this, therefore the one he needed to thwart.
"It doesn't matter to me what she was," he said.
"What she still is," Eve sneered.
He snapped his head round to the Diva, and she immediately shut her mouth.
"I think we should follow Katrina and Jeff," John said beside him. "Now's not the time or place for this."
"Now's the perfect time," he said.
He was surprised how calm he sounded. The smile slipped slightly from Maria's lips. Maybe she was finally getting how much danger she had put herself in.
His lips curled.
"You can go around saying anything you want about the fake miscarriage and that I beat you until you were a bloody mess. Hell, tell them I'm gay and used you as my cover because my father would have disowned me. I don't give a shit."
The smile disappeared completely from her lips now. He moved closer to her until his face was only inches from hers.
"I couldn't give less of a shit about you, or what you say and think about me. You don't matter to me. At all," he said. "Katrina, on the other hand... I warned you. You. Do. Not. Fuck. With. Her."
"What the hell's wrong with you? You'd ruin your life for a woman like that?" Nikki asked.
Nikki had never handled being the 'other woman' well, either. She was obviously still bitter about that, and he siding with Katrina had to be rubbing salt in the wound.
"I'd pick Katrina over any woman in the world. I'd do anything for her. I'd risk everything.So I'm going to say this one last time, just in case you didn't understand me the first time. You fuck with Katrina, you fuck with me."
He moved closer still, and watched in satisfaction as fear filled Maria's eyes.
"And you don't want to fuck with me."
Maria took a step back and broke his gaze.
"Don't let him scare you, Maria," Mickie said. "You're not alone anymore. We can deal with him together."
"Oh, it's not me you should be scared of," he chuckled as he walked past Maria.
He paused. Maria's creepy uncle stood a little distance away, just watching. Why hadn't he said or done anything in defence of his niece?
With a shake of his head he continued to the stairway, John right behind him.
"Do you think that will stop them?" John asked as they half-ran up the stairs.
"No."
"Is it true?" John asked.
"I don't know. Maybe."
"And you're okay with that?"
"I've got to be."
"Good."
He stopped to look at John.
"Really?"
"I think there's more to the story. And the more I think about it the more it breaks my heart. I mean, how old is she now? Twenty four, twenty five? How young could she have been when that happened? I think she needs someone who'll love her despite all of that."
Why hadn't he thought of that? Hunter and the McMahon's were so protective of her that this wouldn't have happened on their watch. He didn't know the whole history there, but Katrina had been a part of that family for years. So if she had been a prostitute before that she couldn't have been more that a child.
A child.
"Are you alright?" John asked.
A child...
Before he could answer he heard Katrina's voice yelling, "Stop. Please stop."
And the next instant he saw Jeff almost flying down the stairs towards them. Without stopping to think he blocked Jeff's path.
"Get out of my fucking way," Jeff growled.
He'd never seen Jeff so angry, and the man had been angry with him a lot since he started seeing Katrina. His eyes were stormy, his nostrils flaring and veins were popping out of the side of his face.
"What's going on?"
"If you don't move I'll push you down the fucking stairs," Jeff threatened.
He had no doubt that he really would.
"Jeff!" Katrina called again.
Jeff didn't turn, not even when Katrina finally caught up with him and stopped at the top of the flight of stairs.
He'd seen her look terrified when they had seen Maria but now it had gone beyond that. Now she also looked desperate. And panicked. What the hell was going on here?
"Katrina?"
"Don't let him go. Please," she begged.
"I have to," Jeff snapped. "I need to."
"You'll ruin my life. You'll ruin my family!"
And then she sank down at the top of the stairs, hugged her knees, dropped her head and let out a gut wrenching sob. It was enough to make Jeff turn around and take the few steps up to her. And to break his heart.
He'd never seen her cry before. She'd always been confident. Strong. Assertive even. Looking back at it now he could see she had been the one in control of their relationship. But now she seemed... lost. Vulnerable. Not in control of anything. Watching her in so much pain hurt more than he could ever have imagined.
He knew!
How? She had been so careful, but still she had lost everything. Everything. What the hell was she supposed to do without Jeff? He'd become part of her in these past few months, part of the new her. But now he knew about Grace, knew about George... How would she ever look him in the eye again? She would see Grace in everything he said and did.
She felt his hand on her shoulder and froze. It was over. Yet everything still hung in the balance. If Jeff went back downstairs there was no telling how much he would hurt George. And the moment Hunter, Shawn and Steph found out what was happening George would die.
"Don't touch me."
"It's me," Jeff said.
She lifted her head and met his gaze. She saw Grace, just as she'd thought she would, looking back at her from those emerald eyes. Ruined. Everything was ruined.
"I said don't touch me!"
Jeff moved down a couple of steps and held his hands up.
"Let me go down there. I can fix this," he said.
"You can't fix anything. Nobody can."
"If I tell Hunter_"
"Really? What do you think Hunter will do?"
Jeff bit his lip and looked away. He knew the answer to that as well as she did. But how much did he know? And how did he know it? More importantly, when had he found out?
"When?" she asked.
She prayed he wouldn't insult her intelligence by pretending he didn't know what she was talking about.
"It doesn't matter. It doesn't change anything."
"It changes everything."
"We're friends for life_"
"When?"
"You're not getting rid of me."
"From the beginning? Yesterday? Last week?"
"I love you, Katrina. Nothing's going to change that."
She grunted.
"Answer the fucking question. It's the very least that I deserve."
Jeff ran his fingers through his hair and briefly looked down at the men who stood silently at the bottom of the flight of stairs. Randy had made no move to find out what was happening but she could see the worried frown on his face that told her that he was going to try.
"Let's go talk somewhere private," Jeff pleaded.
"I'm not going anywhere with you."
Jeff met her eyes for a moment and then looked away again.
"Answer me," she repeated. "Please."
Jeff sighed and his shoulders slumped.
"The night Angie left me."
She sucked in a breath. That had been weeks ago. He'd been lying to her all this time. Pretending. Making a fool of her. Betraying her trust, the trust that had been so hard to give in the first place. All his uncharacteristic behaviour made sense now. He'd been indulging her. Pitying her.
She wiped the tears that were silently falling down her cheeks. She'd thought Jeff was one of the best things to have happened to her pathetic life but he'd just proved she'd been stupid to let her guard down. He didn't really care about her.
"Was that before or after you called me a selfish bitch and told me to stay the fuck away from you?"
"Kat..."
"Before or after?"
"After. I was hurt. Angry. But I would have come back to you. I would have apologised. You know that."
How was she supposed to believe that now?
"Everything's been a lie."
"No."
"That night..."
Even that beautiful night was ruined. It had been a pity fuck. Meaningless.
"No. Never that night. It was pure and honest. It was everything I feel about you."
"Bullshit. I'm going to do you a favour and do what you didn't have the balls to do that night. Goodbye, Jeff."
She stood up and tried to stop her tightening chest. It felt like cutting off a limb. But Jeff was just one man in a long line of men to abuse her; she had to let him go like she had let the others go.
"Don't do this."
"You lied. I can't ever trust you again."
"Let's talk about this. Let me explain," Jeff pleaded.
"You can't. There's no going past this."
"I found out by accident. You can't punish me for that, you can't go back on all your promises to me."
"I'll have all your shit outside the door in ten minutes. Have a nice life Jeffrey."
Then she turned away and started the long walk up the stairs. Her tears kept falling even though she told herself over and over again that she was doing the right thing. She would never get past the trust issue. Walking away was the only thing she could do.
She'd come face to face with the devil today, felt everything good she had tried to build around herself fall away to expose all the shit beneath it. But it was the thought of not having Jeff in her life that had completely broken her heart.
What the hell was she supposed to do now?
Jeff watched her disappear around the next flight of the stairs and slowly turned to face Randy and John.
Was this how real heartbreak felt like? Like he would never be whole again? It was funny how losing Angie hadn't hurt even half as much as this did.
"What the hell is going on?" Randy demanded. "What have you done to her?"
He shook his head. If Randy wanted a chance with Kat this was something she had to tell him herself.
"I fucked up," he answered. "Go after her. She can't be alone right now."
"Jeff_"
"Go."
Randy hesitated for only a moment before walking past him.
"Do yourself a favour. Don't push this," he said. "Not right now."
"How do you expect me to help her if nobody's telling me what the fuck is going on?"
"I don't know," he said. "Figure it out."
Randy continued up the stairs, taking two at a time.
"Are you okay?" John asked.
No. But he would be. Just as soon as he got to the lobby. He would never forgive himself if he let that paedophile go like Kitty had asked him to.
His blood started to boil again as he turned and shoved his way past John.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. She didn't want you going down there, and I don't think I should let you, either. You look like you wanna hurt someone."
Kill. He wanted to killsomeone.
"All this will blow over, Jeff. Next week will be another story; you know what some of these people are like."
Was John actually following him?
"I know."
"And after what Randy did to Masters, I really doubt anyone's going to say anything to her face," John continued. "Her past is her past. We don't know why she was a... Nobody has a right to judge."
What?
He stopped and turned so quick that John almost crashed into him.
"What are they saying?"
John frowned.
"Um... That she was a prostitute in Chicago."
Fuck. If Kitty Kat heard that he didn't doubt for a moment that she would run. Disappear.
"I thought you knew. I thought that's what this is all about."
He turned around and ran down the last flight of stairs. Out of all the people here who knew Katrina's past only one would say such crap.
The dick who'd abused her.
"Jeff, wait!"
He burst through into the lobby and scanned the crowd. He couldn't see the man anymore but he couldn't have gone far.
"Dude, what's going on?"
"Stay out of this, John."
The man wasn't in the restaurant either. Hunter and his family were still sitting at their table, huddled together. They were probably planning their revenge on the Divas, blissfully unaware that the man they needed to go after was here.
How could Kitty ask him to keep this from them? They were her family.
Hunter looked up and met his gaze questioningly. But he knew instantly Katrina was right. He couldn't say anything. If they were planning to destroy the women who'd fought her they would actually kill this bastard. They'd get arrested and probably lose everything. It would ruin their family, just as Kat had said.
He, in the other hand, had nothing to lose.
He turned away from Hunter and rushed out of the restaurant.
"I know you're probably hurting right now but don't do anything stupid," John said, following him again. "I shouldn't have opened my big mouth. Randy was going to sit both of you down and tell you everything."
He was only half listening.
Where the fuck was that dick? Had he been checking out? He thought back but couldn't remember if he'd been holding any bags. He'd been too focused on Maria, he'd merely given the short, balding man a cursory glance when he'd said Grace's name.
Then he saw him.
Outside, waiting for his car calmly like an innocent man. Dressed in a crisp blue suit, hands in his pockets, a smile on his face. Sickening.
He didn't know how it happened but one minute he was in the lobby and the next he was in top of the bastard, punching the shit out of him, gaining a little pleasure from the screams, from the begging, from the sickening sound of crunching bone when one punch broke his nose. From the blood...
This was one of the people who'd destroyed Katrina. Today he would be put down like the fucking dog he was.
He hit as hard as he could, but only a few unsatisfying seconds later someone was pulling him off, restraining him.
"Stop! Are you insane?"
"I said stay out of this!"
He pushed John off and tried to kick the fucker but he was pulled back again. And someone had the balls to actually help the pig shit up and ask him if he was okay. A small crowd had gathered outside the hotel, and they were all looking at him as if he was crazy for beating up a weak, defenceless man.
"Someone's calling the police. Get out of here, Jeff," John urged.
Judging by the number of cell phones out, more than one person was calling the police. But the police could have him. Right after he'd done what he needed to do.
"What's your fucking name?" he growled, still trying to shove John off.
The man looked at him nervously as he accepted something to wipe his nose. He had evil, beady little eyes. Guilty eyes. Which one was he in Amazing Grace? Joe? Bobby? John?
He imagined every detailed scene he had read and felt sick all over again.
"Tell me, you sick fuck!" he shouted.
"Calm down. What the hell's wrong with you?" John snapped. "They're going to haul your ass to jail any minute now."
"You know what? Forget it. Let's wait for the fucking police."
As he had known, the man didn't particularly welcome that idea.
"There's no need for that," he said quickly.
His voice was high, like he hadn't gone through puberty.
"Oh, I don't know. I kinda really want to be your cellmate right now. You and me behind bars with no hope in hell of escape."
Then a black SUV pulled up and the man looked relieved. He knew straight away that it was his car and he was going to run. He tried to move but John's arms were a vice around him. And the hotel security had got in on the action, too.
"No matter where you go, I'll find you," he spat out as the man took his keys from the valet and rushed into the car. "This isn't over."
"Yes, it is," the man said as he get into the car.
And he smiled. With his broken nose and bruised face he smiled.
With all his strength he pushed John off but only managed to kick one of the doors as the car sped off.
He fell to his knees and screamed in frustration. How the hell was he going to find him again?
Number plate! Shit, why hadn't he thought of that? But the car turned out of the driveway before he could read the first letter. And with that the slime ball was free to prey on innocent little girls in Ottawa. To destroy them like he had destroyed Katrina.
"Get up."
"Did you get the plates? Was he a guest here?" he asked urgently.
If he was he could easily find out his name.
"I said get up," John said. "Move."
He finally looked up at John and saw how angry he was. The security guards were standing either side of him, also looking down at him sternly.
"He deserved it," he growled as he stood up.
He shoved past them to walk back into the hotel, ignoring the jeers and whispers of the people who'd gathered outside the hotel.
"Sir, you're going to have to come with us," one if the guards said.
Right. The police were coming for him. That meant he'd probably spend some time in a jail cell. And that dick would probably get away.
Fuck.
"Hunter's on his way."
Jeff stopped messing with the pencil on the desk to look at John.
"What?! Why?"
"Because I called him," John snapped, dropping down into one if the chairs lining the wall of the small office. "Do you have any idea what you've just done? The WWE champion arrested for beating up an old man? It's a PR disaster!"
"Right. Mr. Perfect Employee. Of course that's what you're worried about," he snapped as he stood up to pace the room.
The two security guards had led him to the Head of Security's office somewhere at the back of the hotel to wait for the police. The man himself was sitting behind his desk, his cold blue gaze not once leaving him and his nose turned up. His name badge said Kevin Jones. Besides telling him that he didn't take assault and disturbing the peace lightly, he hadn't said much else.
"I'm worried that there's a girl upstairs who needs you but you've gone and done something stupid," John snapped.
"No, you're the one who's done something stupid! Hunter's going to..."
Hunter was going to get involved and Kitty would hate him for life. She'd hate him a lot more than she did now.
"Hunter's going to fix this," John said confidently.
Yeah. By going after that man himself.
He sat back down heavily and let out a tired sigh.
"You can't tell Hunter what I did."
"It's probably all over the 'net by now," John said.
He dropped his head on the desk and closed his eyes. It was his fault. He should have played it cool until he found out the man's name and what the fuck he'd been doing here. Now when Hunter asked he wouldn't even be able to tell him anything useful.
"Why did you do it? What did that man do?"
"I said stay out of it. What are you even doing in here, anyway?"
"You obviously need a babysitter_"
"I can look after myself. Get the fuck out."
He lifted his head and met John's gaze. He knew John was just trying to help, because that was the type of guy he was. But Hunter was going to demand an explanation; he didn't want John hearing it, too.
"Seriously?" John snorted.
"Out," he repeated.
John shook his head and stood up, obviously still angry. But he was too much of a gentleman to slam his door on his way out.
"Fuck," he whispered as he dropped his head onto the desk again.
"So are you going to talk or not?"
He lifted his head to meet the icy stare of the Head of Security.
"It depends. Are you going to tell me what his name is?"
"You beat someone up and you don't even know his name?"
"I know what he did. I know what he is. That was enough."
Kevin Jones folded his arms and sat back.
"Well?"
He eyed the man. Mr. Jones didn't look like he cared one way or the other. It wouldn't matter if he told him the truth. And he really needed to unload right now.
"He hurt someone. A little girl."
Kevin frowned and sat forward.
"Are you saying...?"
"Yes. Since she was nine years old. Over and over again. But for some reason he's walking free while the girl... She'll never get over this," he whispered.
He looked away from the security guard and tried to calm his emotions.
"After I beat the bastard up he had the balls to smile at me, like he was saying, 'Fuck you, what the hell can you do?' I wanted to kill him."
"Nine years old?" Kevin asked.
He' turned his head back to Mr. Jones.
"Yeah."
"My little girl is nine," Kevin said.
Randy followed at a distance, not sure what he was supposed to do. Any other day he would have been elated that Hardy wasn't in the picture anymore but right now Jeff was probably the one she needed.
Because Jeff obviously knew what was wrong.
Katrina had run all the way to their floor, and he hadn't missed the nervous glances she'd kept throwing around her. But when he'd gone to help her with the door, she'd jumped a mile out of her skin like she hadn't even noticed him behind her, even though she'd glanced back at him a few times.
It was like she was lost in her own head. She was running scared. And something told him she wasn't scared of Maria like he'd first thought. This was much bigger.
"If he comes for his stuff, don't let him in." Katrina walked to the bedroom, her movements jerky as she scooped an arm full of clothes from the bedroom floor.
He stood just inside the door, a frown on his face as he watched her storm back across the room and throw the lot outside the door. She was an odd mixture of terrified and angry, but in the minute that they had been in the room she seemed to have become more angry than scared. Her face was dry now but her eyes were red from the crying she had done when she'd broken up with Jeff.
She was obviously upset about that, but again, he had a feeling this was a lot bigger than Jeff. Not Maria, not Jeff. And not the rumours about her prostitution because he hadn't got around to telling her about them yet. So was this about the rape?
Only a couple of days ago he'd seen her this scared. When he'd approached her after the fight. And when the trainer had tried to look at her.
When men had approached her when she was vulnerable.
"Talk to me, Katrina."
She said nothing else as she continued to gather Jeff's things from the suite. But John's words kept running through his mind. How old had she been?
Rape? Child abuse?
"And as soon as he gets his stuff you can go, too."
"I'm not leaving you alone." How could she even suggest that? She was scared of something, there was no way in hell he was leaving her to face it alone.
Something? Or was it someone? Someone Jeff knew about, judging by the scene on the stairway. Someone he was hell-bent on going after.
"I don't want you here. You're all the same," she snapped as she threw another load outside. "You all want to use me, you all want something. I'm done being anybody's toy."
"The last thing I want to do is use you. You have no idea how much I wish I'd done things differently, but I can't change the past. I can only promise to do the best I can from here on out."
"I don't want your empty promises," she said, grabbing another arm full of stuff. "I want you to stay the fuck away from me. I want everyone to stay the fuck away from me."
"I get that the shit happening right now is fucked up. But I'll fix that, I promise. I'll take care of you, Katrina. Last night... I thought we were on the same page."
"We're not even reading the same book, Orton." She snorted and hurled a suitcase to the door.
The case landed with a dull thud, spilling the rest of Jeff's things to the floor. And among those things was, ironically, a book. The book full of rape and paedophilia that he'd tried to read before.
He frowned.
Then he looked at her face and saw how completely pale she'd gone.
The book. The book about an abused little girl writing about her life so her friend could understand her. The book about the little girl who'd been sold to men by her own mother.
No.
No, no, fuck no!
So many revelations in one chapter…