Chapter 48

Sending the woman out planning a wedding and letting her wander about by herself was possibly the most idiotic thing Kane ever saw. With a known psychotic on the loose, obviously these people had their game plan well under control. Kane snorted, wondering how in the hell these people managed to run a billion dollar company without burying it. It was evident they were all idiots. Rajani sat in a secluded section of the park on a rather quaint iron bench with what looked like a magazine in her lap. Shaking his head, he began strolling towards her.

They were in Atlanta, Georgia for a house show and it was a crisp warm Friday afternoon in the mid-80's. Rajani wore a pair of blue jean shorts and a dark green tank top, her hair half up and half down, pooling over her shoulders. She was looking wedding dresses, trying to decide what style she wanted. So far, this had been her third one she sifted through and they were all too...much. She just wanted something simple and elegant, no frills with maybe a hint of lace.

Was that so hard to find?

Apparently so.

Trish had a family emergency, so she had to rush back to Canada to check on her fiancé and promised to meet up with her on Monday when they were in Miami. It would be so great being home again. She had no idea just how much of a homecoming she would be receiving though, completely oblivious to everyone around her plotting Cena's murder. When a shadow fell over her, Rajani's head snapped up and wide brown eyes met the intense hazel orbs of Kane.

What did he want?

"I-I didn't tell him okay?" She hastily stammered out, trying not to start shaking in his presence while looking back down at her magazine.

Rajani was referring to what happened at the hotel a few days ago, the night Stephanie brought Kane back into the mix of things. Kane cocked a brow, for once not wearing his mask. He wasn't out to draw attention to himself any more than his height already tended to do. Instead, he wore a white beater, blue jeans and his brown curly hair was pulled back into a low tail. What the hell was she on about? Oh yes, the other night in the hotel stairwell.

"I wouldn't have cared if you had." He said indifferently with a simple shrug of his shoulders, not about to get too close. She was at the perfect height to nail him in the nuts. "How goes the...dress hunting?"

"What do you care?" Rajani shot back, not able to bite her tongue and swallowed hard when Kane lowered himself to sit beside her.

He was so close, she could feel his hot breath on her neck and was thankful some of her hair took most of the brunt of it. This man terrified her. He had done nothing except torture and hurt her since they met. Now all of a sudden he wanted to be...friendly towards her. It rubbed Rajani the wrong way on every level. Standing, Rajani couldn't sit here in the park with him and pretend like everything was alright. As usual, Kane's hand shot out pulling her right back down on the bench.

"What do you want from me?" She demanded through gritted teeth, yanking her arm out of his grasp. "And don't touch me."

"Well Raj, I'll make a deal with you," Just to remind her who was the stronger and more vicious of the two, he ran his fingertips across her shoulders, watching her muscles tense. Then, he draped his arm over the back of the bench, stopping with the contact. "You sit here, have a civil conversation with me and I'll keep my hands to myself. Deal?" He could play nice when he wanted to.

If looks could kill, Kane would be dead on the ground right now. There was no choice in the matter. Her blood ran cold when he ran his fingertips across her shoulders, sending shivers of dread down her spine. Kane always had that evil deadly aura about him, though some of his acts seemed almost loving, like now. He was a very confusing man and couldn't be read, which made him that much more deadly.

"Fine." She reluctantly agreed, lowering her eyes from his to her clasped hands in her lap. "What do you want to talk about?" It was so hard sounding civil given their history, but Rajani pulled it off surprisingly.

"Your wedding."

Kane knew that was probably the last thing she would think of and, honestly, he didn't really care. She was getting married again. And to his former best friend of all people. He had imagined if things hadn't turned out the way they had, he would've been Mark's Best Man. He frowned at that, then shook it off.

"How's that coming?" He plucked the magazine from her lap and flipped through it idly, arching an eyebrow. "I'm thinking something a bit on the simple and elegant side, bit of lace...less...hideous."

"Y-You want to discuss my wedding, seriously?" Had Kane officially lost his mind and gone off the deep end? "It's going okay..." How the hell was she supposed to discuss wedding plans with HIM? Rajani's head swam with all the different possibilities of this being a setup and had to take a deep silent breath while he kept flipping through the pages. "I picked the colors. Purple and silver." When Kane's head snapped back to stare at her, Rajani immediately looked away from him, looking at the fountain across the way. "You got the same sparkle in your eye that Taker did when I told him. What's so special about those particular colors anyway?" She was clueless.

Well now he really did want to discuss her wedding, maybe it wouldn't be as boring of a topic as he had originally thought. "Purple and silver, really?" This may have been the closest thing him and Rajani had for a real conversation ever. "What shade of purple?" When she told him, he actually smiled, loving the innocent clueless expression on her face. She really did have no idea. "You don't know, do you?" Kane shook his head. "Those are Taker's colors."

"I'm sorry, what?" Rajani shot back, confusion filling her brown eyes and felt her insides start quaking when Kane began outright laughing at her.

He was LAUGHING at her! What the hell was wrong with him? Rajani was tempted to roll up a magazine and swat him a few times on the back of his head. Then her eyes went wide as saucers and her jaw dropped, the realization suddenly crashing over her.

"Oh god..." How the hell could she be so STUPID? Purple and silver had always signified Taker in the WWE and she had actually picked those colors for their WEDDING? "Oh my god..."

Why hadn't Taker told her?!

"You really didn't know?"

That was just way too hilarious and when she actually had the balls to roll up that magazine and raise it up like she was going to whack him, Kane took it from her, leaning over to drop a kiss on the top of her head. Hmm. She smelled like lilacs. Odd.

"Sweetheart, how in the hell did you not know that? Didn't he tell you?" From the look on her face, obviously not. Seems there was quite a bit that Taker wasn't telling his fiancée these days.

"I-I mean I DID, but...it just didn't register until now..."

Did Kane just kiss the top of her head? This was getting way too weird and Rajani couldn't let her guard down with him, not even for a second. The last time that happened, she ended up kidnapped and he nearly killed her with an ether overdose.

"Believe it or not, I was a fan of his back before I even knew him, back before we got together. Dwayne hated it because he always wanted me to cheer for him, but I honestly hated his character The Rock and I still do. Pompous prick." Rajani muttered that last part and rolled her eyes when Kane continued chuckling at her. "You can stop being Mr. Chuckles any time now."

"Oh no, Raj, you're just too funny." He snickered, grunting when she actually elbowed him in the ribs. Sighing, Kane stopped laughing. "A fan yet didn't remember his colors? Hmm, so how's work going?" Kane asked conversationally, switching the topic completely.

He instantly noticed the difference in her demeanor, how her shoulders sagged a bit and knew she was probably nervous. Rajani had absolutely no idea what was going on. She probably thought Cena was still on the run and would no-show the job on Monday.

"Miami, where you're from isn't it?"

Now Rajani was on high alert again and felt her heart start to pound again, pretty sure Kane could hear it. "Born and raised."

Drawing her knees up against her chest since she was small enough to do it, Rajani wrapped her arms around them. The last time she'd been in Miami, Cena had broken into her house and destroyed it. Then he proceeded to destroy Taker's house as well, vandalizing both.

"What did you mean that night at the hotel?" She asked out of nowhere, deciding to turn the tables on him a bit. "You said that I needed you. What did you mean by that?"

"Just that, Rajani."

Kane glanced down at her, shifting on the bench so he was somewhat turned towards her, seeing the defensive posture she had assumed. He idly wondered if she had done it consciously or if, at this point, it had become ingrained as a habit. It wouldn't surprise him if it was a new habit she had developed due to the circumstances she found herself in.

"You might not trust me and that'd be smart on your part, but before all is said and done, you're going to need me. A lot sooner than you may realize."

"Do you know something, Kane?"

She suddenly planted her feet on the ground and didn't take her eyes from him, trying like hell to read behind those slightly psychotic hazel eyes. This was it. Rajani was at a crossroads now and she didn't know if she could trust Kane, not with his association with Cena.

"How can I need someone I have zero trust for? Someone who kidnapped and hurt me, nearly killing me with an ether overdose? Someone who chained me up in the boiler room and was working with my psycho ex-husband? You can tell me a million times that I need you, but I don't believe it. You can say that you did what you did for money, but I don't believe that either. I believe you did it for a different reason and one that you'll probably never come clean about." How was that for some truth, Rajani thought, picking up her magazines to set them on her lap.

"Now sweetheart, in my defense, the ether overdose wasn't exactly planned. Accidents happen and I got you through it alright." Kane had indeed, by making her panic enough to get her adrenaline going and jumpstarted her system. He remembered that night quite well and was sure she still had nightmares about it. "And you don't have to trust someone to need them." He leaned down until their noses were practically touching when she looked back up at him, eyes steady. "You needed Cena." He whispered, seeing her flinch. "You needed him so you could forget, but deep down, I bet you never trusted him."

Tears pooled in her brown eyes because Kane had hit the nail right on the head. She had married Cena in desperation because she thought Taker didn't want her the way she wanted him. She thought he'd been screwing someone else, only he hadn't. The lady he'd been with had played a prank and Rajani still wanted to kill that bitch because, if that didn't happen, she never would've married Cena.

"So why am I going to need you so badly then?" She whispered back, feeling a single tear slip down her cheek as soon as his hand landed on her side, his touch making her nauseous.

Those beautiful brown eyes, such a lovely shade, they reminded Kane of dark chocolate. With the tears swimming in them, pools of chocolate, he had just made a funny and a smirk curved the right side of his mouth. "Now Rajani," He said gently, reaching out to catch a tear on his fingertip when it rolled down her cheek. "You already know I'm not going to tell you. There are just some things...you're not...allowed to know."

Not knowing what possessed her to do it, Rajani's hand collided with Kane's face a second later, smacking the taste out of his mouth. The sound echoed around them in the park and there were no witnesses. Rajani didn't care though, immediately stumbling to her feet as more tears fell, trembling from head to toe.

"I told you not to touch me."

The mean red handprint blazed on his cheek and Rajani knew she had to get out of there, especially when he stood up from the bench, towering over her trembling form and her eyes never left him. Not for a second. Considering how nice and considerate he had been when she had threatened to whack him with that magazine and when she had elbowed him in the side, Kane had let both incidents slide. She was not playing nicely at all. Shaking his head, he reached out and gripped her shoulders, tense and alert in case Rajani got frisky and decided to attempt kneeing him in places he preferred her knee not to go.

"When all of this is over, you're going to wish you had been a bit nicer, Raj." Kane informed her, squeezing gently, but also warningly and then stepped away. "I'll see you Monday."

"Stay the hell away from me, Kane, or I swear to god I will tell Taker about these encounters." Rajani threatened, turning and ran away from him before he could say anything else, tears flying behind her.

Kane had watched her go and shook his head. The woman was really too dense for her own good. Hell, the people surrounding her were the same exact way. Birds of a feather and all that...Shrugging his massive shoulders, he took off leisurely in the opposite direction she had run. He highly doubted she'd be reporting this encounter to Taker. He did wonder if Rajani had a secret death wish or something. One would think, she'd be telling her loving fiancé everything that happened to her, just to protect her vulnerable backside.

She didn't stop until she arrived back at the hotel, taking the backstairs all the way to the 3rd floor. Taker was out for the day at an autograph signing, so Rajani had time to clean up before he returned. Once again, she was hiding another encounter with Kane from him and didn't understand why. Maybe it was because she didn't want Kane to hurt Taker. Or maybe she didn't want to worry Taker any more than he already was because of the Cena situation.

Arriving back at the hotel, Rajani immediately peeled out of her clothes and jumped in the shower, scrubbing her body until it was raw while crying her heart out. Kane had scared the hell out of her in the park and she couldn't get his words out of her head. She would need him. Need him for what? Rajani didn't get it or understand what he meant, trying to push it out of her mind.