17: Freedom Revoked

It was the night, the big night. Sine almost died when she seen the turn out, the media, and the whole nine yards. As much as she had hated the shows, she found out now that she had missed this. It was freedom, something she desperately needed.

She was backstage, Paul with her, both of them being careful to avoid the cameras. "Watch." She whispered, pointing to a model. "As soon as she goes out, you'll hear silence." She smirked in satisfaction when that was exactly what happened. The model was stunning, which was why she was wearing Sine's masterwork, her most beautiful dress to date. She was sharing her world with Paul and so far, he seemed genuinely interesting. It was both flattering and reminded her what was lacking at home.

Paul was interested, he had never really given much thought to modeling, or what went on behind the scenes. He knew Sine was a fashion designer, but she had always been a reclusive one for the most part. Seeing her like this, obviously pleased with how things were going, made him smile. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into him and flashed a surprised but pleased smile when she leaned up to kiss him, returning it.

Neither noticed the flash of a camera.

"None of them compare to you." He murmured in her ear.

"Flatterer."

"Come to my room tonight?"

She just nodded, reluctantly pulling away from him. "I have to go out there now." She said, giving him a smile before walking away to link her arm through her favorite model, Lisle, walking out onto the catwalk with her. She wasn't as stunning as the model; plain in her simple pantsuit, but this wasn't about her. It was about her work.

Which was how she preferred it.

Mark was livid when he picked up the morning paper, spotting his wife's image in the society section, and then the fashion section. Livid went to something he couldn't even classify when he seen the picture of her kissing Paul, she was kissing another man, and it was on display for the entire world to see! She was humiliating him. Wasn't it enough that she was secretly having an affair with the asshole?

That was it. He threw the paper aside and began to make arrangements for everything to be shut down in New York, for her and the twin's belongings to be shipped to Florida. Her life, her freedom, they were now gone.

One last night in Tokyo, it was depressing. Sine didn't want to leave, but at the same time, she also wanted to go back to New York. Already orders were pouring in, offers to expand into cosmetics and perfumes, which she had no interest in. her passion was clothing.

Turning from the window, she smiled at the sight of Paul blowing raspberries on Kalea's stomach, then Gavin's. "I think it's bedtime for ma petites." She murmured, seeing Gavin yawn, his small fists stretching over his head.

"Yeah, they're tuckered out again." Paul agreed with a smile, gently scooping them up, one in each arm and turned towards her. His smile broadened when her eyes ran down his bare chest and then down his jeans. "I'm not a model, don't eyeball me that way."

"Mmm… you could be…" She wiggled her eyebrows teasingly.

"Come help me and stop ogling me."

Obediently, Sine went to help him, but she did not stop the 'ogling' as he put it. This was their last night together, she was going to ogle him as much as she could.

Sine was quiet the entire flight back to New York, her mind reliving her last night in Paul's arms. Nothing could come of it, she had told him so that very morning, knowing Mark would eventually find out if they carried their affair on back in the States.

When the plane landed, she stared out the window, frowning when she spotted her husband waiting, along with some of his old Ministry buddies flanking him. That wasn't good… "Merde… Tina, keep the babies on board until I say so…" She ordered, unfastening her seatbelt, waiting until the hatch had been opened before walking over to stand there, staring down as Mark approached.

He reached up to take her hand, helping her down the stairs and pulled her into his arms, crushing her against him. While he was doing that, Edge and Christian were boarding, retrieving the nanny and his children. His children, not Levesque's.

"Sine?" Tina called hesitantly as she forced down the steps, frowning when Sine pulled away from her husband in order to shoot her a confused look.

"Your services are no longer required." Mark said flatly, not letting Sine actually step away from him. "Unless you wish to relocate? Which, in that event, you will be compensated for the trouble."

"Relocate?" Sine echoed weakly.

He nodded, reaching back to accept the rolled magazine Bradshaw was carrying, thrusting it into her hands. "We need to talk about this, darlin'."

Confused, she looked down. It was a fashion magazine, and on the cover, were her and Paul, looking a bit too cozy. Sine felt all the color draining from her face.

"Walk." He ordered.

She couldn't say a word, not one damn word. All she could do was look ahead, the magazine clutched in her hand. They had caught another flight, this time to Florida, and then a car had been waiting to take them to his home. She cringed when he finally ushered her into what she could only assume was his penthouse, remembering him mentioning it before.

She took the twins from the confused Tina while Mark gave her instructions, listening as he told one of his men to take Tina to her new home, and put the babies down in their new room, screaming in her mind.

When she walked back out to the open expanse of living room, she had somewhat collected herself, seeing Tina was gone. Everyone was gone but him. They were alone and her stomach gave a violent twist.

"Go bathe." Mark ordered, not even looking at her. He needed her out of his immediate vicinity, before he hurt her. It had been easy keeping his temper in check while they were surrounded by people. But now, they were alone, and all he could see was her kissing Paul… cheating on him… When he heard her disappear, his eyes strayed back to the magazine, cursing.

She dawdled, taking her time, knowing when she finally came out, there were going to be problems. He knew, he knew, that damn picture. Had he had her followed? Did it even matter? He knew, that was enough, and she swallowed down bile.

Finally, she got out of the tub, drying off and pulled on a nightie she had found laid out on the bed, his bed. How many places did he own? Quietly, Sine made her way back out, seeing a very unseasonal fire going and wrapped her arms around herself.

He was sitting by the fire, not caring that it was already sweltering, staring into the flames with a tumbler of whiskey in his hand, the magazine in the other hand. He squeezed the glass, rereading the article, all about her Tokyo fling with his coworker. How cozy they looked, how in love, it made him sick.

"Levesque will be dealt with." He announced, aware she was behind him, his voice calm and even.

When he spoke calmly, Sine got worried.

"Would you like a drink?"

"No." She managed to get out on the third try, looking over his shoulder to find "Reneire's Fling with Wrestling Superstar" screaming at her. She frowned at the picture, it was from the show, he had his arm around her and she was leaning into him, both of them staring at each other. On the opposite page was an image of her quick kiss before she had gone out on stage. "Mark…" She did not like that 'dealt with'. "This is just a gossip rag…"

"No, it's not." He reached down to pull a stack of pictures out from where he had placed them, between his thigh and the chair, throwing them to the floor. He watched as she knelt down to study them, watched her face steadily grow paler and paler at the images of her and Paul fucking each other. "Are you going to tell me those are fakes?" He demanded, rising from his chair, towering over her kneeling form.

Sine didn't look up at him, her hands shaking.

"I had you followed Sine, you should've known that. I know what happened; I know you fucked him every night you were there." His voice was getting quieter and quieter. "I know everything, Sine."

"Well then, if you have these and already know, I obviously don't need to tell you anything." She said finally, deciding she could use that drink right about now and pushed herself to her feet. She crossed the room to the bar and poured herself a shot of liquid courage, downing it. So he had had her followed, no surprise, it wasn't the first time. "What angers you the most, Mark?" She asked softly, staring into the fire. "The fact that I cheated on you… or that I enjoyed it so?"

"Both."

She poured another shot.

"You slipped up, that's fine. We'll move on from this. But your freedom is revoked. What trust I had in you, you destroyed. I asked you to do one simple ting, Sine, and you couldn't do it." When she didn't even look apologetic, he hurled his glass at the wall angrily.

Sine kept perfectly still, listening as he took a few deep breaths, obviously calming himself.

"You and my children will be watched at all times, and agents will take over your business. You will stay here, you can design your damn dresses, but you will never set foot out of this house again unless it is with me. Nor will you have access to the phones or Internet, anything you need, you will request through one of my men."

She was now staring at him, her mouth open in shock.

"Just remember, wife, you did this."

"Yes, I did this." She said softly, draining her second shot with a slight scowl. "I never asked for any of this, Mark. You imposed it on me. If I had been smart, I would have ran away with him when I had the chance."

Him being Paul.

Mark raised his arm to block his head when her own glass came flying at him. Eyes narrowed, he watched as she stalked down the hallway, hearing her cursing in French. "English!" He roared.

"Here's English: fuck you!"