I apologise.
I had to read the whole story again to write this chapter.
Steph looked through the papers on her desk again and shook her head. It was time to tell her husband the truth, and the timing couldn't be worse. They had been anxiously waiting for Kat all morning. And the fact that she had just had her first voluntary therapy session had them all hopeful again, even amid the shit going on right now. She seemed to be moving in the right direction. This news was probably going to change all that.
But it was better to tell Hunter now, so he would have time to deal with it before he saw Kat again.
As if on cue, Hunter walked into the office with his phone to his ear and a worried frown on his face. He'd been frowning a lot lately. They all had.
Hunter finished his conversation and threw himself down on one of the couches with a tired sigh.
"Those damn lawyers still won't tell me anything," he grumbled. "I should have gone down there with Jeff myself. All I want is a fucking name!"
"They're still trying to clean up the mess from the last time," Steph said with a little smile. The physical retribution the Helmsleys and McMahons had dealt before the cops had found the scumbags had been a little bit satisfying.
"Is Jeff going home or coming straight here?" she asked. "We can give him a few nights off, even though he's the current champion. He's been sitting in jail for two days."
"He said he'd rather come here. I just want to get this over and done with as soon as possible. I wish I could get them all," Hunter said. "I feel like the thought of them being out there is what holds her back from living her life, you know?"
"I do," Steph nodded sadly. "We might have to accept the fact that maybe we will never get them all. I think Kat accepted that fact a while ago, and we're the ones still struggling with it. What she wants more than anything in the world is to put her past behind her and enjoy the rest of her life."
"I know. I think Randy's the one who's going to finally help her do that," Hunter admitted.
"Look at you, accepting another man in your baby's life," Steph teased.
"I don't know how I missed it," Hunter said with a little smile. "It's like I blinked and suddenly there are two men madly in love with her and she loves them, too. I always thought I'd see the signs. I thought I'd be the one to help her navigate her first real relationship."
"There are just some things you don't discuss with a man who carries a sledgehammer," Steph chuckled. "Maybe it's a good thing that she went behind our backs. Randy Orton would never have passed muster, and I kinda love the guy now."
Hunter made a face and checked his phone again. But at least he was smiling now.
Steph looked down at the file in front of her again, and then slowly pushed it across the desk to her husband.
"There's something you should know," she started. "But before you read this file, I need you to promise that you will tread carefully."
She met her husband's questioning gaze as he stood up from the chair and walked to the desk.
"It's good news," she assured him. "Well, it's good news for us."
Hunter flipped the file open, then the look on his face changed to a strange mixture of rage and joy. Rage because he was looking at the face of one of the men who'd ruined Kat's life. Joy because he could finally get him.
"We found him," Hunter said, flipping through the pages.
"Yes, we did. One of the videos posted online of that fight showed the number plate of his rental. The private detective was able to track him down and get all this information."
"We know where he lives," he continued, a huge smile on his face.
"We do."
"We should pay the PI a huge bonus, Steph. It looks like he found out everything about this guy," Hunter said gleefully. "Look at this… it's like he's some sort of control freak. He does the same shit at the same time every day, no matter where he is. We know where he goes to drink. We know where he likes to walk. He likes parks?"
The smile left his face as he read that. It was obvious why the man liked parks. And as he continued to read, the frown returned on his face.
"We know his family," he finished.
Steph nodded.
"If anyone gives you any trouble at all, find me or call me."
"Yes, daddy," Katrina said, rolling her eyes as they walked into the arena.
It was very busy as usual as the crew were busy setting up, and several superstars and divas were already preparing. Her mind briefly went to Jeff. He'd be here tonight and she wasn't sure yet how she was going to deal with him.
"I'm serious," Randy said, pulling her to the side to let some of the crew go past. "Eve sounded a little bit crazy; God knows what she will do."
"Stop worrying," she said with a smile, linking her arm through his and forcing him to keep moving. "I'm more than capable of looking after myself. You might not see it like that after the past couple of weeks, but trust me on this one."
Randy stopped again and this time pulled her between two equipment cases along the wall. She met his serious baby blues as he put his hand gently against her cheek.
"I know you can look after yourself. But I'm not going to sit back and watch you struggle through something that could cause another breakdown," he said softly.
She looked down at the floor when he said this. But she had already known that knowing about her past would colour his actions and opinions about her.
"Katrina… You're not alone," Randy said, gently tipping her head up so she was forced to look into his impossibly beautiful eyes again. "I'm not saying you need to let me fight your battles, I'm saying let me stand beside you and fight with you. I will do everything I can to make you happy. Do you understand that?"
She sucked in a breath.
She understood all too well. She loved him too, after all. So that was why she was going to make sure he was happy, too. With someone not as damaged as she was.
But hearing those words weakened her resolve a little bit more. He'd said and done everything right lately; he was making everything so complicated. She hadn't been in the right head space to think about sex since Chicago, and she certainly wasn't ready to sleep with anyone now, but she felt a little of that old spark. She wanted to touch him, to…feel. It was stupid to think about kissing him, really stupid. But she couldn't help herself.
She bit her bottom lip as her eyes found his very talented lips.
There was hardly any space between them, and Randy would be the last person to stop her if she rose up on her toes to plant her lips on his.
"Katrina?" His voice was low and breathless.
She met his eyes again and was surprised to see the want in them. Maybe he'd guessed what she wanted. He'd always been good at reading her physical needs. But seeing the hope in his eyes was enough to knock her back into her senses.
"Um…I have to find Hunter," she said, looking away.
Randy put space between them quickly.
"Yeah, sure. I… ah, call me if you need anything. I have to find Ted and Cody."
She smiled at him then quickly walked away, glancing at the board to see where she would find Hunter.
"Remember what Jeff said? That he found a way to get him without involving Katrina? It's Maria?"
She nodded again. That had been the first thing she thought of when she'd read that. And Jeff's sudden interactions with Maria made a little more sense.
"I suspected Maria knew him since the night I fined them all after the fight," she admitted. "I've seen Jeff with her once or twice but I wanted to be sure. Only now I'm not sure of anything anymore, because Maria would have been the first to throw Jeff under the bus for assaulting her uncle."
"I'll make her talk," Hunter growled, slamming the file and turning to walk out.
"Remember what I said! You have to tread carefully, Hunter. I have a bad feeling about this."
"But if she can end this_" Hunter started, turning back to her again.
"If you go after her without all the facts you'll make things worse for Katrina," Steph cut in. "We have enough information to make things right, Hunter. But we have to be smart about it."
She could tell how much her husband was struggling to accept that, so she stood up and walked to put her arms around him.
"Let's wait to hear Jeff out. Okay? There's more to this than we know. And if Maria is the key, then threats aren't going to help us."
Hunter nodded, and she smiled and kissed his lips.
"We have a meeting to get to. Let's go get that over with before Katrina comes," she said.
Katrina just missed them. Hunter's assistant told her they wouldn't be long, they'd just gone to a quick production meeting. She'd been waiting a little while before she decided to go get a quick drink. Plus she also needed to check in with her manager, assuming she still had a job.
She avoided the stares as she made her way to catering. Starting that fight with Maria and her friends had to be one of the stupidest things she had ever done in her life. It had brought her all this unwanted attention – she wasn't in the right head space to deal with it.
She'd just grabbed a bottle of water when she heard Matt's voice behind her. Great. That meant Jeff was probably close by, too.
She didn't bother hiding her displeasure when she turned to face him, and her frown grew bigger when she noticed he was with his friend Shane and John Cena. She hadn't realised they hung out with Randy's friend.
"Wow. Not even a fake smile for me, huh?" Matt smiled.
"Would that make you feel better?" she asked drily.
"Yes," Matt answered.
So she gave him her best fake, toothy smile briefly before she took a sip of her water and started to walk away. There were too many eyes in the room interested in what was happening. God knew what new rumours they would cook up from this.
"You're savage," Shane said but without any malice in his voice.
Surprisingly, they were following her as she checked out the food that was on offer. Or perhaps not so surprising. She hadn't forgotten how annoyingly tenacious Matt was. But Jeff would most definitely join them before long so she had to get away as soon as possible.
"Where are you guys going?" she asked, turning to them again
John was the one to answer this time. He shrugged and said, "Nowhere. Just hanging out."
And that was when she noticed something different about him. Not physically, just in the way he was looking at her. Sadness? Pity? Too late she remembered he had been a witness to the whole Jeff debacle – her desperate pleas to stop him going downstairs as well as the beating in the hotel lobby. Had he been putting two and two together? His eyes suggested it.
With a stubborn tilt of her chin she held that gaze, silently daring him to say something.
John's brows rose in surprise, then a small smile appeared on his face.
"Aren't you on the wrong show, John?" she asked.
"I was doing media close by. Thought I'd stop by when Randy told me you guys were rejoining the tour."
Though she had told Randy the story herself and knew he wasn't going to discuss her secrets with other people, she had to wonder if the reason John had come to Smackdown was to talk to Randy about whatever conclusions he had drawn.
"How've you been?" Matt asked, cutting into her thoughts.
And then she saw the same look in his eyes. And Shane's.
"Just dandy," she answered curtly.
Had they been sitting around discussing conspiracy theories? Or worse still, had Jeff opened his stupid mouth and told them things?
"You haven't been picking up your phone since you went home. I thought something had happened," Matt continued.
"Like what?"
Like her almost falling completely off the wagon again? Like almost killing herself in the snow storm? Like watching her entire life falling apart again?
Of course Randy wouldn't have told anyone all of that, she was sure. Well, sort of.
She watched the man himself approach them, a smile on his face, and the frown on hers grew. She did trust him. She did. But maybe he'd needed to talk to someone about the past few weeks, too. Could she really blame him if he had?
Randy's smile slowly disappeared the closer he got to them, and by the time he stood next to her he was eying the other men as if they had done something wrong.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"Nothing," she answered quickly.
But Randy clearly didn't believe her. He eyed the other men suspiciously, and for a moment she believed he would actually hurt his friends if he discovered they had done something to her.
"Where's Jeff?" Randy asked.
"Not here today," Shane answered.
"He's kinda… held up," Matt added.
The way the men looked at each other after that told her there was a lot more to that statement. What had Jeff gone and done now?
Before she could ask them, Eve and a few other women walked in, and the look of disgust Eve gave her threw her off a little.
"Business as usual, I see," Eve snickered as she walked past.
She put a hand on Randy's chest to stop him from following the vile woman, and was surprised when she had to grab John's t-shirt to stop him, too. Something definitely wasn't adding up here. But did she really want to know if these guys had guessed- or been told- her secret? She wasn't sure what that would do to her, emotionally. Being exposed like that would be a hell of a lot more than the baby steps that her therapist had suggested.
Perhaps ignorance was the best route for now.
"Not worth it," she told them. "But tell me what you meant by Jeff being held up? Where is he?"
"Thought you didn't give a shit about him anymore," Matt said.
She threw Matt a look for throwing her right into the deep end the second she asked about her former best friend.
"She's pretending she doesn't," Randy muttered.
"Well, she's doing a real good job," Matt said.
Her anger welled up inside her, mostly directed at Randy. He knew the score! Jeff had betrayed her! She'd trusted him, she'd let him in! He'd destroyed the very thing that had made their relationship so special to her. She couldn't forgive that. She wouldn't.
"Forget I asked," she said, then turned to throw her unfinished bottle of water in the trash.
"Katrina_" Randy started.
"I'm fine. See you later," she cut in.
Maybe she should have left it another few days before coming back. Or maybe she should have just gone home and forgot about all of this. She could have just pretended none of this shit had even happened.
"Kat!"
Her heart lifted at the sound of Hunter's voice, and as she watched him rush towards her she felt the urge to cry. The past few weeks had been hell without him. Moments later she was engulfed in the warm embrace that would always be home, and she buried her face in his shirt as she held on tightly. Hunter released her just to look into her eyes and wipe the tears that had started falling down her cheeks of their own volition. He kissed her forehead then embraced her again.
This was home. This man would never hurt her. This man she could trust with her life. She should have concentrated on that instead of getting herself involved with Jeff and Randy.
"I love you, Sweetheart," Hunter whispered.
"I love you, too, Hunt."
Randy watched the emotional reunion, his respect for Hunter magnifying now that he knew where this story had begun. And as he heard the hushed conversations around the room, he realised this was the first time he'd ever seen them like this in such a public setting. Maybe Katrina would regret that once she'd had a moment to think, but for now she obviously had no idea she'd just made herself the hottest topic again.
Wrestlers and crew alike were openly staring, openly shocked; and he had to wonder how they had never realised this before. Hunter was always hovering somewhere in the vicinity, which had made pursuing Katrina very difficult in the beginning. He might not have known the nature of the relationship but he had known Katrina was Hunter's girl from day one.
"Unbelievable," Eve muttered behind them.
That woman was going to be a problem, he was sure of it. He needed to talk to Steph to find out what steps she'd taken to avenge Katrina.
And speak of the devil; Steph appeared at the entrance where she paused to look around. Eve's face transformed into a look of pure glee as she rushed to meet her.
"Steph, that bitch is back, and she's got claws into your husband again," Eve called out. "I tried to tell you this before; these men are the whole reason she's stuck around! If Hunter and all those other men didn't give her so much attention she would never have lasted around here so long."
Uh oh.
This was going to be interesting.
Maybe Eve didn't realise how much danger she had put herself in because she carried on talking as she walked beside Steph, offering her 'advice' even as her eyes kept darting to Hunter and Katrina.
The woman even had the nerve to come right to their group with Steph, obviously expecting fireworks.
But Steph gently squeezed Katrina's shoulder to get her attention, then it was her turn to participate in all the hugging and kissing and whispered words of love.
The look on Eve's face was priceless.
Obviously the penny had finally dropped.
"I think I need to sit down to watch this next part," Helms said.
Randy had to agree. If this was the moment Steph finally unleashed her wrath, he wasn't going to miss any of it.
AN: I apologise that this feels rushed. I didn't want to sit on it at all.
