Chapter 44

Slowly opening her eyes the following day sometime, Angeni was in the arms of her husband and frowned at the damage Glen caused him. His face was heavily bruised, especially on his forehead near the temple. Glen hadn't been soft with his blows either, meaning to kill him and Angeni hadn't blamed him because he'd been set on fire. His cheek looked slightly puffed out and his nose was definitely bruised, but not broken.

He was still handsome through all the damage and Angeni knew she'd really hurt him by sleeping with Glen. They were finally even and hopefully they could move on from this since he wasn't leaving her. She very lightly ran her finger down his face and brushed her lips against his, not surprised when Mark didn't even stir, breathing very deeply. Extracting herself from his arms, Angeni was careful not to step on any glass before walking out into the living room, her eyes widened at the damage.

"Wow…"

"Yeah wow." Speak of the devil. Kane stood amid the mess, looking around with his mask on, so his face was unreadable as he surveyed her. "Your cell isn't working." He said when she arched an eyebrow at him, knowing he was supposed to call. Kane had been released and he had come back here, his arm wrapped in gauze and slathered in burn cream beneath the gauze. "Is he in there?" He asked, nodding his head towards the bedroom.

"Yeah, are you okay?" Probably a dumb question on her part, but Angeni was more or less asking just how bad the burn was. She cringed when he said second degree, thankful it wasn't third because at least it wouldn't scar nearly as bad. "Help me with this." Angeni requested softly, both of them lifting the tipped couch up and righted it, placing the pillows back on it. "I don't want you to leave." She said, seeing his bags were already packed, frowning. "Your place isn't rebuilt yet and the upstairs is yours as far as I'm concerned. Just stay." If he asked her to choose between the two of them, Angeni was going to hurt him, eyes pleading.

"You want me to stay…" Kane repeated slowly.

He had lost track of how many times he had mentally called this woman insane. She truly was. It was charming, almost, in a slightly strange, possibly dangerous sort of way.

"Do you know why he set me on fire?" Kane asked quietly. "Because it's the one thing I am honestly afraid of. *She had seen his scars, he had cause. "It wasn't the first time he's tried to burn me alive either, that is how much he hates me."The feeling was mutual. "Do you honestly want me to stay, Geni?" Because Kane couldn't promise anything but an effort at making the attempt to not finish what he started.

Angeni thought about it for half a second before nodding, managing a half smile. "He won't set you on fire again, not here anyway." Angeni wouldn't allow it to happen, placing a hand on his arm. "Besides, you need to talk to him about who the hell told him about what happened between us." She still hadn't gotten to ask Mark that and it was slowly festering inside of her, wanting to kill whoever the big mouth was. "You two are family and it's about time you started acting like it." Holding her hand up when he went to protest, Angeni didn't want hear any excuses. "Let's just take one day at a time and if it gets too bad, then I'll let you leave. Now take your bags back upstairs please." She wasn't asking, picking one of them up and handed it to him. "I'm gonna start breakfast and then…clean this up…"

Definitely insane if she ever thought THEY were going to act like family. Angeni really was going to have to hear their little history someday because obviously the woman didn't realize just why they hated each other. And he wasn't entirely sure if bringing up the affair, even in regards to who had been stupid enough to tell Taker, was all that bright an idea. It could possibly set Taker off into another spiral of insanity. Sighing, he headed upstairs, shaking his head. He loved Angeni, but he was beginning to question her survival instincts.

Surprisingly enough, both Mark and Glen did co-exist with each other at the cottage and didn't fight. The tension was thick in the air and Angeni had waited for them to tear each other to shreds, but it never happened. She cooked, cleaned and started going through some of Mark's boxes to set things up. Glen didn't help for obvious reasons, but he did keep Angeni company while Mark was busy handling business with the WWF.

Being a co-owner was definitely a lot of responsibility, probably more than Mark wanted, but with every action there was a consequence. Another week passed, Angeni wondered when they would have to go back on the road, but Mark hadn't said anything about it and wasn't about to mention it. She loved her cottage and had gotten it back in order for the most part, besides her torched garden outback, but that could easily be redone.

They hadn't fought because Taker and Kane -he pointed blank refused to call Kane by Glen and Kane refused to call him Mark, which was what he preferred- had come to an agreement. When they weren't here and finally back in the WWF, they'd settle their shit in the ring, where everything was legal. It was a tense agreement, but it worked and they were keeping Angeni in the dark about it because one thing they mutually agreed upon was that they didn't want her to be upset, worry or perhaps attempt to kill them both.

Kane arched an eyebrow as he stared out the window, wondering what the Hell 'Taker was doing now. "He has…a backhoe out there?" That explained the rumbling noise from earlier he hadn't bothered trying to understand.

"What?" Angeni stood up from the couch and walked over to where Glen stood, tilting her head slightly at what her husband was doing. "What is he…"

A big smile spread on her face when it dawned on her why he had a backhoe, violet eyes sparkling. It just made her fall in love with him even more. The weather had turned exceedingly warm and Mark was sweating profusely, wearing black in the sun. She got some lemons out of the fridge and started chopping them up. Whipping up a batch of ice cold lemonade before taking a huge glass out to him, Angeni stayed on the porch while he continued working.

Kane stepped outside with her, less idiotic than his brother in terms of clothing and the weather. He wore cutoff denim shorts and a white beater, his mask off since Angeni liked to badger him about it and his hair pulled back. He didn't care about Taker seeing the scars, he was the one who put them there to begin with. He arched an eyebrow. Technically, the ash would have been great for the dirt, save for the fact that Taker had used copious amounts of gasoline, which wasn't so good.

"Is he going to replant it…himself?" He heard a truck rumbling in the driveway and looked down at her. "Are we expecting company?"

"Surprise!" Stephanie shrieked when she came running around the side of the house, looking hyper and happy, John right behind her. John was also carrying a tree, not very big, but it was an apple tree, the roots wrapped in a burlap sack. "Wait until you see what we brought…Ron is here too! And Paul!"

"Under protest." Bradshaw smirked, eyeballing Kane for a moment. "So…where are we starting your orchard?"

Taker was going to give her a really big garden paradise apparently. "Well…" Kane said slowly, staring down intently at Ange to see how she would react to this. "He definitely goes above and beyond when he fucks up."

"O-Orchard?" Angeni looked at the huge apple tree and barely hugged Stephanie back, who clobbered her, glancing back at Glen. "Did you know about this?"

"Does it look like I know ANYTHING Taker does? Or even want to for that matter?"

"Good point."

Angeni couldn't argue with that and could only watch as Taker instructed Bradshaw to put the tree in the center of what used to be her garden. It was beautiful with red apples dangling from it already. She turned to Stephanie and Paul, who looked ready to keel over since his face had gone red.

"C-Come inside, I have lemonade made." Angeni would need to make a lot more now that they had three other people apparently staying with them.

"I really like your place. It reminds me Snow White." Stephanie pointed out, looking around with sparkling blue eyes.

"Thanks…"

Taker had shut down the backhoe, smirking when Ron came trudging around the house with a cherry tree. "You might as well just bring the flatbed around. Did you get everything?"

"If by everything you meant all those damn fruit trees, the flowers and rose bushes…the hedges…yes…" Ron grunted, setting down the tree carefully before wiping sweat off his brow. "This wasn't in the work contract, boss."

"And yet…I'm still paying you to do it." Taker snorted, glancing towards the porch, not surprised to find Angeni taking Stephanie and Paul inside, ignoring the look on Kane's face.

"So uh, how's that working out? Kane being here and all…"

"He's alive."

"There is that."

Angeni immediately sat Paul down in the living room with a big glass of lemonade and water, her smile convincing him to do it. He wanted to help Mark and the guys, but she told him they could handle it and he needed to relax. She even handed over the remote control so he could watch whatever he wanted, dropping a kiss on his forehead.

The fat man had helped her a lot since she came into the picture and had somehow wormed his way into Angeni's heart. Once Paul was settled, Angeni and Stephanie went into the kitchen to start making a few pitchers of lemonade, all the windows open with fans going to help the air circulate throughout the cottage. Mark was having an AC installed as soon as possible, even though it wasn't that warm yet.

"So…are you okay?" Stephanie asked, carrying a tray with glasses full of lemonade while Angeni carried another, both of them heading out back again.

"Yeah, I think everything is going to get better now." Angeni was thankful Stephanie hadn't asked her about sleeping with Glen because really it was nobody's business. "Glen said I need to work on my survival instincts when it comes to Mark, but I disagree."

Ron and John both fell silent when Kane finally made his way off the porch and ambled towards them, both men trying not to stare into his open face. The scars weren't as bad as they would have thought, but they were definitely there. "I, think I'll uh, go get the flatbed and bring it around."

"I'll help."

Kane sidestepped them as they hurried away. "Cowards."

"I hired them for their brains and muscles, not their inability to see us face to…ah, face in an outside setting."

Stephanie followed John and Ron to the front of the house to grab the flatbed with the tray of lemonade, leaving Angeni alone with Mark and Glen. She set the tray down on the porch and grabbed two glasses, walking over to her husband first and handed it to him before handing Glen one, the feeling of the fresh soil squishing between her toes amazing. Angeni still couldn't believe Mark went through all this trouble, her eyes landing on not only the apple and cherry tree, but everything else he apparently ordered John and Ron to bring.

"You are something else." Angeni murmured, accepting a kiss from him and leaned into his side, his arm wrapped around her waist. "As much as I love all the company, I have to ask you where are they all staying?" Glen had upstairs, the only other available room. "Poor Paul can't sleep on the couch…"

He smirked at the thought of Paul trying to fit his fat ass on the couch comfortably. Taker had a hard time with his legs overextending past the arm. Paul's problem would be his bulk overextending past the side of the couch and probably right onto the floor.

"Stephanie and Shaw have a tent, Ron has a tent…and Paul…"

"If he can get upstairs…he can have that bed." Kane said finally, sharing a look with Taker, both men trying not to laugh.

"There's always the flatbed…"

"Think he'd fit?"

"Tents?"

Angeni frowned, not liking the sound of that because they were technically their guests. Before she could protest, Mark pressed his finger to her lip, letting her know silently they would be fine. That still left Paul though and she wasn't sure if he could make his way upstairs, knowing Glen could deal with sleeping on the couch for a night.

"We really need a bigger place." She sighed, wishing Mark would've at least told her about the company so she could've been more prepared. "I'm going to start dinner. Behave now, both of you." Angeni eyeballed both brothers, eyes clearly telling them there would be consequences if they didn't get along and walked back inside to start the menu.

"She's pissed at you, you know that right?"

Taker watched his wife's pert little backside swaying gently back and forth as she headed back inside, finally looking at his brother when the screen door shut behind her. They were actually talking and it wasn't annoying him. Granted, it wasn't a deep brotherly conversation -he sincerely doubted that would ever happen, not that he really cared in the scheme of things-, but it was probably a step towards whatever Angeni thought they were capable of reaching.

"She hates it when I keep her in the dark." Taker rumbled, smirking slightly.

"I think her main problem is the fact that they are guests and they're sleeping in tents."

"That was Princess's idea. Apparently, she's never slept in a tent before. She thinks they're…cute."

Luckily enough, Angeni had gone shopping a few days ago and stocked up on food. Having two behemoths that had very healthy appetites, it was a necessity. She tapped her chin in thought, trying to decide on what to make and decided barbeque ribs would suffice. She pulled the ribs out and started seasoning them up while humming to herself.

Then she set those aside to let them marinate for a little while and started peeling corncobs, rinsing and dropping them in a huge pot full of boiling water. Ribs, corn on the cob, garlic cream cheese mashed potatoes and buttered vegetables...It would have to do. Angeni almost felt ashamed since she would normally go all out for cooking for guests, but...given she didn't know company was coming, she had to pull a menu out of her ass.

Opening the backdoor, Angeni walked past the hard working brothers and started the grill, putting four huge slabs on. The grill was another addition of Mark's and Angeni loved it, having done a lot of grilling over the last few days since getting it. They hadn't had ribs yet though.