Chapter 30

"You asshole!" Trish exploded, getting right in his face, her finger under his nose. "After everything that woman has been through over your STUPID ASS, you go and walk out on her when she needs you the MOST?! Not to mention when YOU, yes YOU, the big bad UNDERTAKER, need her the most? ARE YOU REALLY THAT DAMN BLIND?"

"Uh, Trish..."

"SHUT UP STEVE!" She snapped, rounding back on Mark, his eyes crossing to watch her finger as she tapped his nose with it. "You march your STUPID ass right into that room and DON'T come out until she KNOWS YOU LOVE HER!"

~!~

Grace hadn't heard any of that because she was currently in the shower, after throwing up what contents she had in her stomach, and her forehead was pressed against the shower wall. She was broken and felt so alone, the tears not stopping. Grace felt her knees buckle as she hit the shower floor and drew her knees up, letting the water rain down on her as she buried her face in her knees. She loved him, she loved Mark with every fiber of her being, and he walked away from her. She knew he hadn't meant to hurt her. He was so consumed with rage and she'd made the mistake of trying to touch him. Grace knew better and that just made her cry harder, her heart breaking slowly, painfully, the agonizing pain almost as bad as when her father told her Mark and Glen had died in that fire with their parents.

~!~

Steve could only stare at his tiny girlfriend, pretty sure right now she was standing ten feet tall and bullet proof, clearing his throat awkwardly. He wished he'd caught all that on camera... "DAMN IT!"

"What, honey?"

"I really wish, darlin, I had a camera."

Rolling her eyes, Trish turned her attention back to a dumbfounded Mark. "Well? Get your dead ass going before I show you exactly what the meaning of PURE EVIL is."

"A blonde with sharp nails and a bad temper."

~!~

Grace managed to pull herself up in a standing position a few minutes later, finishing her shower, and stepped out as she wrapped a towel around her body. Her reflection staring back at her scared her and Grace looked away before brushing her teeth and hair, ignoring what the mirror showed. She was going to call Vince and resign, she couldn't do this. There was no way she could work in the same company with Mark and not be with him. It would kill her and Grace wasn't putting herself through that. She walked out of the bathroom and sat down on the bed, hearing Trish yelling, but she was blocking it out. Instead, she flipped her phone open and stared at the screen, silent tears falling from her eyes.

~!~

Mark couldn't move. All he could do was literally GAWK at this petite blonde who had a mouth like a sailor and the face of an angel as she CUSSED him out, in the damn hallway now. He was actually against a wall, aware Steve was leaning in the doorway watching with a grin on his smug face.

"Don't you stand there and gape at me, I'm not telling you again, get your dumb ass in that room right now and APOLOGIZE...TO…GRACE…AND…TELL…HER…YOU…LOVE…HER!" With every word she shrieked, Trish kicked him and then for extra measures, on the last word, she kicked him three really good times in the shin.

He finally hobbled into the room, his shins definitely bruised.

This was too good for Steve. Here was this sweet Canadian woman who had somehow stolen his heart and she was acting like she was from Texas with her mouth. It not only turned him on, but amused him to no end. Seeing Mark finally being put in his place by HER of all people was all he could take. Steve was laughing so hard, tears were streaming down his face and he had to walk into the kitchen, shaking his bald head. He really wish he had a damn camera, this was simply too good and nobody would believe him when he told them the story.

Trish watched with folded arms as Mark limped to Grace's bedroom door. "Knock, moron."

Feeling like a scolded child, he knocked.

"Good boy, now you wait for her to answer it and if she's not happy in five minutes, I'll be back." Laughing sweetly, she went to go hug her boyfriend. "I'm so glad you know your place, I'd hate to have to hurt my handsome Rattlesnake."

Steve actually got on his hands and knees and bowed to her. "I'm not worthy, my beautiful blonde bombshell. I'm not worthy honey." He smirked when she giggled and lifted her up in his arms, placing her on the counter, and kissed her. "That was the best thing I've ever seen happen aside from meetin' ya."

Grace had just dialed Vince's number and sighed heavily, flipping her cell phone shut when she heard the knocking. She knew it was probably Trish or Steve. "Go away. I'm not talking to anyone." She called out, wiping her tears away and flipped her phone open again, sucking in a shuddering breath. She had to do this now before she lost her nerve, though the tears weren't stopping and she wasn't even fighting it.

Sighing, Mark opened the door and walked in. "You'll talk to me or else Trish will probably aim her next set of kicks at my balls." He winced at the very thought, not wanting to feel that, ever. He cleared his throat awkwardly, staring down at her, watching as her body stiffened and knew he had probably blown it. "Gracie, I'm sorry." He whispered.

"Don't." Her voice was monotone, no emotion in it. "You wanted to walk away and I'm not going to stop you." She raked a hand through her blood red hair, wondering what he was doing in here. "Seriously Mark, go on, you don't have to stay because you pity me." Now her voice was a low hiss. "I survived without you once and I'll do it again somehow." She still held the open cell phone in her hand. "Now if you don't mind, I have a call to make and a flight to catch in a few hours." She wouldn't look at him, Grace couldn't. She loved him so much and he had torn her heart to shreds. All she wanted was out and to heal her heart again, to put the walls back up, and felt more tears fall down her cheeks silently.

Mark rounded the bed until he was in front of her, taking the cell phone and closing it, tossing it over his shoulder. "I'm not here because I pity you, Grace. I'm here because I do love you, God help me I do. That and Trish isn't going to let me make a huge mistake by walking away." His shins were proof. He kneeled in front of her, on his knees, hands dangling helplessly between them, anguish in his green eyes. "I want what's best for you, darlin'."

"AND YOU THINK WALKING OUT ON ME AFTER EVERYTHING WE'VE BEEN THROUGH, SHATTERING ME ALL OVER AGAIN, IS WHAT'S BEST FOR ME?" She exploded, all the anger, rage, torment, pain, love, every emotion inside of her was spilling out and she wasn't stopping. She refused and actually slapped him before she could stop herself. "SCREW YOU! YOU LOVE ME ENOUGH TO TELL ME YOU'RE WALKING AWAY AND THEN YOU COME BACK IN HERE TO TELL ME YOU WANT WHAT'S BEST FOR ME?" She was crying angry tears. "YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT'S BEST FOR YOU SO HOW THE FUCK COULD YOU POSSIBLY KNOW WHAT'S BEST FOR ME, YOU MOTHER FUCKER?!" She kicked him, hard, right in the chest and scrambled over to the side of the bed, trembling and shaking with so much rage, her amber eyes lit completely on fire.

"You tell him girl!" Trish shouted from the next room over.

Mark just stared at Grace, his green eyes wide. A sick part of him was jumping up and down, demanding he go pin her pert ass to the wall and fuck her senseless. She was fucking hot when she was pissed. "Grace..." He whispered, her pain automatically breaking him, again. "Look what I did to you..."

"YOU DIDN'T DO ANYTHING TO ME! IT WAS MY FAULT MARK! IT WAS MY FAULT THAT I TOUCHED YOU WHILE YOU WERE ANGRY, I SHOULD'VE KNOWN BETTER! THIS WAS AN ACCIDENT, YOU'VE HAD PLENTY OF TIMES TO HURT ME, EVEN AFTER I PARALYZED YOU IN THAT DRESSING ROOM ALL THOSE MONTHS AGO! AND GUESS WHAT? YOU HAVEN'T DONE A SINGLE FUCKING THING TO ME EXCEPT LOVE ME THE BEST OF YOUR ABILITY! HOW DARE YOU COME IN HERE AND TELL ME YOU WANT WHAT'S BEST FOR ME! HOW DARE YOU MARCUS WILLIAM CALAWAY!" She couldn't stop screaming to save her life, Grace was filled with so much emotion that it was spilling over the edge, consuming her. "YOU WERE ANGRY BECAUSE YOU FOUND OUT YOU DIDN'T REALLY START THAT FIRE, YOU WEREN'T THE CAUSE FOR YOUR PARENTS' DEATH! I WAS NEVER MAD AT YOU FOR THIS! THIS WAS SOMETHING I THOUGHT WE COULD GET THROUGH AND THEN YOU HAD TO FUCKING BREAK MY HEART, AGAIN, BY TELLING ME YOU WERE WALKING AWAY! YOU KNOW WHAT? YOU CAN GO FUCK YOURSELF, MARK! YOU'VE HURT ME MORE BY TELLING ME YOU'RE WALKING AWAY THEN FUCKING STRIKING ME ON ACCIDENT!"

He let her rant and rave, waiting until Grace took a breath to recharge. Before she could get a word out, he had her pinned to the wall, kissing her back to being breathless. He could feel her fists banging against him, knowing she was very likely to paralyze his ass, but this was the only way he could shut her up and tell her how much he did love her all in one. He poured all his love, passion, his entire being into that kiss.

Her tears flowed down her cheeks as she felt his lips against hers, her hits becoming weaker and weaker until finally all Grace could do was wrap her arms around his neck. She moaned softly, her entire body trembling and moved her head from side to side, their tongues dueling in a dance of sheer seduction and passion. Grace completely melted against him, but her tears couldn't stop. He had shattered and was slowly piecing her back together in the span of a half an hour. She didn't break the kiss when he tried too, pouring every emotion into it, wanting both of them to beg for air.

"Okay Trish, you can stop filming now." Steve said softly, watching as she stopped the camcorder, wondering where the hell she had gotten it to begin with. It sure would have been useful ten minutes ago when she was berating the big man.

Smiling, Trish closed the door, letting the two make up and patted the camcorder. "I got it all. Sorry honey, it was at the bottom of my bag."

Grace slowly pulled back when she couldn't breath, her chest rising and falling rapidly, and pressed her forehead against his. She couldn't speak, her tears slowly subsiding, and felt him lift her up in his strong arms, placing her back on the bed, him laying next to her. "I told you, we're good for each other." She quietly said after what seemed like hours of silence between them, turning to stare back into his green eyes. "You ARE good for me, Mark. You're not a monster. What happened wasn't your fault." She sniffled quietly, placing a hand on his shoulder, and closed her eyes. "Please don't walk away from me." She whispered pleadingly. "Please don't, I love you with everything in me. I can't...I can't bare to lose you again, Mark..."

"I'm not going to walk away from you, Grace." Mark sighed, taking her hand and pulling it to his face, closing his eyes as her hand instantly melded to his cheek, a sound of contentment escaping him. "Even if I tried, I'd only wind up running right back. I need you as much as you need me, if not more. I can't live without you, darlin', now that I've just gotten you back." He kissed the palm of her hand. "I love you, Grace."

"I love you too, Mark." She said, her voice cracking because of how much emotion she was feeling. Her heart was mending once again as she caressed his face. "We belong together." She whispered and kissed him softly, wrapping her arm around his neck while her other hand pressed against his chest over his heart. She wanted to ask about Glen, but didn't want to interrupt this moment. She didn't want to fight with Mark, not knowing how he felt toward his baby brother, now that they knew the truth about what really happened.

"Glen is at the hospital." Mark told her after a long while, knowing she was going to eventually ask. "He should be getting released soon actually." At Grace's quizzical look he half smirked, half sighed. "They had to sedate him, he took out four of the police officers." He actually sounded proud of his baby brother. "Of course after I explained what had happened, that Paul had been stampeded and we were being wrongfully accused..." He trailed off, shrugging. It helped that he had had several men to back his story; the Ministry of course, but that had been enough.

"I hate him. I hate him so much." She stated quietly, sitting up on the bed, leaning back against the headboard and closed her eyes. Her father, the man she looked up to, had not only lied to her, but killed the only other family she'd ever known. "What he did..." She couldn't bring herself to say it and slid from the bed, walking over to her bag, and pulled out some clothes. Grace didn't want to stay in Steve and Trish's suite, knowing Mark had his own room, and wiped her tears away that fell. Just all the pain and heart break was enough to make her breathless, thinking of Glen and couldn't imagine what he must've went through remembering something so...disastrous.

Mark perched on the edge of the bed, watching her out of fathomless green eyes. He could see the pain etched in her face, her eyes and understood. She had adored her father only to find out he had lied and betrayed her time and time again. He was a murderer, killing a family who had accepted him and his daughter into their folds. He had murdered memories, burying hope and filling her with despair in his own, quiet way. Mark suddenly wished he had tried harder to kill Paul.

Grace turned around after she picked her outfit out and immediately dropped them, seeing how much pain and anger was in Mark's green eyes. Sniffling, she closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, giving him the comfort he needed. They both needed a distraction as Grace pulled back and cupped his face in her hands, kissing his lips passionately.