Chapter 5
This went on for what seemed like hours and Grace loved every minute of it. She found out that Steve's favorite music was classic rock and country. Either one she was fine with, but she did love the occasional Bryan Adams and 80's music. She found out his favorite color was blue, his favorite books, just little things. And of course Grace answered all of his questions. Her favorite color being purple -which made Steve cringe for some reason, but she let it slide- her favorite book being Blood & Chocolate, favorite food spaghetti. It was an all around great conversation.
After they ate at Friday's, which was delicious as always, Steve finally pulled into the arena a little after five and Grace felt a sadness creep up inside of her. She didn't want it to end, but knew she would see Steve again. She was NOT planning on spending her days in the same locker room as the Undertaker. If she had too, she would spend them in the cafeteria, where people were around and witnesses.
Steve wasn't happy with being there so soon, wondering where the damn day had gone. He slung his bag over his shoulder and stepped down from the truck, walking around to help Grace; just now realizing it might not be such a good truck for people shorter then him and chuckled. His hands lingering on her waist for a moment before reluctantly pulling away.
"You need a ride tonight or are ya gonna ride with your dad?" He asked gently.
Nervousness crept into her amber eyes as Grace bit her bottom lip, sighing gently. "Would you mind if I rode back with you?" She quietly asked, feeling him cup her face with his hand and placed hers over his, his blue eyes piercing her. "I'm sorry, I just...I know my father is going to be with-" She felt his finger press against her lips and smiled, her heart warming even more. His touch was so gentle and she was savoring it for as long as possible. She felt bad that she was burdening this man with her problems and needing rides, but at the same time, she would get to see him and that's all that mattered right now.
"I don't mind at all, if I did, I wouldn't have asked ya if you needed one." Steve said softly, more than tempted to kiss her, but that just wasn't a good idea when you hardly knew a woman. Even though he felt like he had known her for years. "Remember," He said, taking her hand and leading her towards the building. "If you have ANY problems tonight, come find me, okay?"
"Alright, thank you again for everything, Steve." She smiled sweetly up at him, holding his hand as they walked inside the arena. She was shocked that he actually walked her to the locker room that said 'Ministry of Darkness' on it, briefly shivering and took a deep breath. "I'll come find you." She promised quietly, feeling his soft lips press against her forehead, and reluctantly released his hand as she watched him walk off. She couldn't wipe the smile from her face and shook her head, though that smile vanished quickly as the door opened and there stood Undertaker. "Where's my father?" She asked evenly, knowing he had probably seen that moment between her and Steve, honestly not caring. He didn't own her and he damn sure was going to keep his hands off of her or else she was going to apply another pressure point.
"Busy, securing your new job." He said coldly, eyes following Steve as the other man made his way down the hallway, a slow smirk coming across his face. "Nice to see you've moved on from 'us'." It was a cruel joke, followed by him raking her over with his piercing eyes. "Come in Grace, I'm sure Paul will be back shortly." He didn't give her time, just pulled her into the room.
"What do you mean my new job?" She was floored; her amber eyes widened in disbelief, not believing her father hadn't even asked her about it beforehand. She seen the green twinkle evilly in his eyes and immediately went for the door, watching as two men -Bradshaw and Farooq, she'd remembered their names- blocked it. What the hell was going on? She had no part to play here and she damn sure was not going to be a prisoner! "Undertaker, you forced yourself on me and remember what happened. Don't make me do it to them." She threatened, though her voice was shaky, her body trembling slightly.
"Grace, don't even think about it. We're familiar with pressure points too." 'Taker said coldly, nodding to Bradshaw who applied one to her neck, sending a jolt of pain through her before backing up. "And by the time you got to one of them, you'd have the Ministry on you. Now unless that's what you WANT, play nice."
Mideon grinned evilly from his place on his knees at 'Taker's side.
"Paul is preparing you for a medical career, that is what you majored in, is it not? Be grateful your father cares so much for you to get you a good paying job like this." Okay, so he had forced Paul to do it, but she didn't need to know that.
"You son of a bitch!!" She shouted, the anger flaring in her eyes, holding her neck and shook her arm, trying to get feeling back into it. "You have no right forcing my father to do something like that!" Not that she minded working for the WWF, but it was the fact that this bastard had the audacity to force her father into getting her a job WITHOUT her consent. "Unlike my father, I'm not obedient. Now move them right now..." The door suddenly opened and Grace ran to her father, hugging him tightly, startling him slightly. "How could you do this?" She whispered, slowly pulling back to stare into his eyes. "You used to teach your daughters right from wrong, is THIS what you've resorted yourself too, father?!"
Paul stared at her with confusion on his face, his gaze moving past Grace to the Undertaker, seeing the feral grin on the other man's face and frowned. "If you don't want the position, Grace, you don't have to take it." He said quietly, his voice firm, ignoring the sudden cold look that had just taken over that feral grin. "I told them you might not want it to begin with and if you did it would most likely be temporary."
Paul still had a set when it came to his little princess, how interesting.
She smiled softly down at her father and hugged tightly before kissing his cheek. "I want the job, dad. I'd love to spend more time with you and Steve." She ignored Undertaker's snarl when she mentioned his name, her eyes sparkling. "Though I'm not hanging around here anymore." She could see the fire in her father's eyes, knowing he was still fuming over what the Undertaker had done to her the previous night in her hotel room. She was his little girl, his youngest, and hugged him again when he smiled. "Next time, talk with me about this first before you do anything. I was going to ask you about it when I arrived, but..." She took a deep breath to calm herself down. "It doesn't matter. Thank you." She was truly grateful and it showed, though now she wanted to go tell Steve the news. "I'm going to tell Steve." She glared at the men who were still blocking the door and sighed. "Father, would you please tell the Undertaker to remove his men so I can leave?"
"Bradshaw, Farooq move."
Mideon hissed, poking his head between Grace's legs and twisted it around to look up at her, smiling like a maniac.
Viscera snickered from his place.
Paul blew up and kicked Mideon in the face. "GET YOUR HEAD OUT FROM THERE!"
"Now Paul, be nice with my pet."
Grace was trembling slightly, though she tried hard not too, knowing that's what the Undertaker wanted. "Dad, I want to go see Steve." She murmured, watching him nod, and patted her hand gently before turning to face the Undertaker. "I may work for the WWF, but you can rest assured that I will not be hanging around here...EVER." She felt her father put her behind him, placing her hands on his shoulders, remembering all too vividly of what Undertaker did to her the previous night. She placed a hand to her throat and closed her eyes tightly shut, a tear slipping down her cheek at the memory of being choked. "Daddy..." She was truly terrified and it showed, deciding she was going to tell Steve everything as soon as she was out of here.
"Daddy..." 'Taker mocked, ignoring Paul's look of hatred, knowing Paul couldn't leave him even if he tried. Too many things tied them together, their shared interest in power for one. Though it seemed like Grace was going to be a pain in his ass and drive a wedge between him and his sometimes mentor. Too bad he had gone from the mildly wicked Paul had encouraged to downright demonic. How that had backfired. "Daddy, please, I'm scared."
It was disturbing to hear the Undertaker's mocking tone.
"Go on Gracie."
She nodded and kissed his cheek, grabbing her bag, refusing to come back here unless absolutely necessary. "Father, if you want to see me, I'll be in Steve's locker room." She whispered quietly in his ear so only he could hear, nodding and smiled at him before nearly bolting out the door as fast as she could go.
She had to find Steve as the tears poured down her face, trying to fight them back. Undertaker scared her to death and now he was MOCKING her, no remorse showing in his eyes for what he did to her the previous night. It was almost as if the man had no feeling, no heart, no soul and he probably didn't. That's probably why they called him the Undertaker and that just made her cry harder as she searched desperately for Steve's locker room.
"You!" Paul whirled on 'Taker, knowing he was likely to regret this, but he had to put his foot down somehow. "Stay away from her! She's not something for you to play with!"
"Then WHY, on earth, did you not send her home the minute you realized I was interested?"
"Because I made the mistake of thinking you could be decent."
Now he was outright laughing.
Grace finally found the locker room that said 'Stone Cold' on it and knocked, wrapping her arms around herself, and looked up when those blue eyes came into view. She didn't even wait and launched herself into his arms, burying her face in his bare chest, feeling his arms wrap around her in a tight embrace. She couldn't even talk her voice too shaky as she tried getting the chill to go away, the chill only Undertaker erupted within her. She felt him guide her into his locker room, not releasing her, the door closing behind them. Steve had said she could come to him for anything and she hoped he meant it because right now she needed comfort and to feel warm again. She needed him.
It didn't take a rocket scientist to know what the hell was wrong with her. The Undertaker. The thorn in everyone's ass. Sighing, Steve sat down on the couch, pulling her down into his lap and just rocked Grace back and forth, knowing she would tell him what had happened when she was ready too. He stroked her back soothingly, feeling her trembling against him and frowned.
Calming down about a half an hour later, Grace slowly looked up at Steve with red rimmed amber eyes, sniffling, and felt him wipe away her tears with the pad of his thumb. "Sorry." She whispered, looking down, and felt his hand lift her chin up as their eyes locked. Grace smiled in spite of what happened, and wrapped her arms around his neck, inhaling his scent, wrapping herself fully in it. He was comforting, warm, and he didn't taunt her for what she called her father. That made a fresh batch of tears erupt as she felt him rub her back up and down with his strong hand, sighing gently. "I'm alright." She whispered, slowly pulling back, and cleared her throat, taking the tissue he offered and wiped her tears away before blowing her nose, taking a few deep breaths.
Steve was inwardly relieved when she didn't try passing back that tissue, watching as she threw it into a trash can and frowned, staring down at her. "Grace, what happened?" Considering that the night had just only started, it was a bit soon for her to be here. He'd figured halfway through the show, 'Taker would begin toying with her. He'd been off by an hour.
Grace cleared her throat and quietly told him what happened, everything, including the previous night with Undertaker choking her, him taunting her with her father, not leaving anything out. She didn't like the fire that suddenly erupted in his blue eyes and swallowed hard, knowing he was angry. This was all of her fault and Grace felt terrible, though by the tension from the previous day when she told Undertaker he was taking her back to the hotel, they hated each other before she arrived.
"Though I do have some good news." She watched as the anger diminished in his eyes and smiled softly. "I got a job. My dad got it for me, though Undertaker forced him..." She frowned, not liking that part. "Though my dad assured me that it was my choice if I wanted it or not. I'm taking it."
Steve had to wait a few minutes to let his temper simmer down before he said anything, knowing he was very likely to start ranting and raving if he did. Finally, he took a deep, calming breath, forcing a smile to his lips though he felt anything, but cheerful. Actually, he felt like knocking the Undertaker's head in.
"Well Grace, I'm glad you're stayin' but I'm not too happy how you got the job." He said truthfully. "And it sounds like you might need to talk to Vince about what the Undertaker pulled." Oh....he was definitely going to go to town on the Deadman for that one.