Chapter 20

Mortified and heartbroken.

Valisa fled from the arena, tears flying behind her because of how fast they poured down her face, feeling sick to her stomach. It was Monday night and Raw was underway, so she didn't bother Joe since he was getting ready for his segment with Jon and Colby. They spent time together when they could, but it wasn't nearly enough since Valisa had to stay after the shows to take the stage and settings down. Being part of the ring crew, sometimes Valisa didn't get back to the hotel until early morning hours and Joe would already be asleep. She tried not to wake him up, but there were a few times where Joe had been awake when she arrived in their room.

On their 2 days off, unless they were scheduled to work on Wednesday and Thursday, Joe had taken Valisa back to Pensacola so they had some time completely alone. As much as he loved his brothers, he had to have quality time with Valisa, wanting to know every little thing about her. Valisa had such a great time meeting his huge family that had generations upon generations of wrestlers. His mother, Patricia, was the sweetest woman she'd ever met and promised to fatten Valisa up since she was too skinny. His father, Sika, was very welcoming and told her she could come to see them anytime, Joe or no Joe. Valisa thought everything was going great with Joe, but apparently she couldn't have been more wrong.

Arriving at her rental car, Valisa ripped the back door open and shoved her things inside, slamming it shut. She doubled over, crying out because of how much pain she currently felt. Every part of her felt like dying. How could Joe do something so…degrading and hurtful to her? What had she done wrong to deserve this? Shaking her head sadly, Valisa managed to pull herself together long enough to slip behind the wheel before breaking down again. It took her a good 10 minutes to calm down before Valisa started the ignition and peeled out of there, not able to stay at the arena right now. Calling Stephanie on the way to the hotel to let her know she wasn't feeling well, Valisa desperately needed the night off.

Meanwhile, inside the arena, Joe frowned when another one of his calls went straight to Valisa's voicemail. What the hell was going on? Even if she was busy, she normally answered to tell him she'd call him back when she had a minute. Something wasn't right, Joe could feel it deep inside and tried calling her again, growling when once again he was sent to voicemail. "Come on woman, answer your damn phone." He grumbled, trying yet again and felt a sickness developing in his stomach. "Damn it!"

"Still no answer?" Colby asked, pulling his black gloves on over his hands to get ready for their segment tonight.

"No, something's not right." Joe looked up when Jon burst through the door at that moment, getting to his feet. "Where's the fire?"

"There's something you need to see, big man." Jon said, his voice low and calm, which was NEVER a good thing because it meant he was incredibly angry. "Come on."

"What is it?" Joe asked resignedly, folding his arms in front of his chest and could see the startling blue in Jon's eyes, telling both him and Colby he was pissed off. They only turned that shade of blue whenever Jon was agitated or downright enraged. "Jon…"

"Just come the fuck on." Jon growled, trying to keep his temper in check as his taped hands clenched at his sides, feeling his nails digging into the palms of his hands.

Sharing a concerned look with Colby, all 3 men walked out of the dressing room and headed in the direction Jon walked. Joe had no idea what his friend wanted to show him, but that sick feeling in his gut intensified. What if this had to do with Valisa not returning his call? They stopped just outside of the cafeteria, the doorway blocked as Jon turned to stare at both of them, already shaking from head to toe as anger poured out of his body.

"I-I can't go in…" Jon stammered, shaking his head and stepped aside as he leaned against the wall, folding his arms in front of his chest. "Go with him, Colby."

Colby nodded, swallowing hard and placed a hand on Joe's back since it seemed as though the big man's feet were suddenly cemented to the floor. "Come on, man. I'm right here." He nodded at Jon, feeling Joe start putting one foot in front of the other as they headed inside the cafeteria. What they both saw next made Colby fully understand why Jon was enraged. "Oh fuck…"

Before them was a huge 55' flat screen television that was mounted to the wall. It was big enough for everyone to see, even a blind person if they had one on the roster. On the screen was Joe and a woman that was NOT Valisa in bed together completely naked. The cameraman zoomed in on the sleeping faces of both Joe and Eva Marie –her real name was Natalie Nelson, but everyone called her Eva Marie since it was technically her actual middle name- curled up together on the bed. Her head rested on his chest, her fiery red hair pooled all down her back and over her shoulder so it hid her breasts. Joe slept peacefully, his chest rising and falling steadily with his black hair splayed all around him haphazardly on the pillow. His arm was around her and Eva's was draped over his torso, both looking completely sated and satisfied from what they'd apparently just done.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT?" Joe exploded, gaining the attention of every single person in the cafeteria as they all stared at him wide eyed.

Colby couldn't believe what he was seeing and watched as chairs went FLYING across the room, everyone moving out of Joe's way. He was irate and Colby didn't blame him, finally understanding now why Jon was so ticked off. This was unbelievable. Who the hell would show something THIS intimate and personal about coworkers? He cringed when the 55' flat screen went flying next across the room to crash against the floor, cracking the screen right down the middle as everyone made haste out of the cafeteria past him. Joe stood there looking like a pissed off bull, his entire body so tense that the veins were popping out in his neck and arms, his face reddening.

"Tell me you don't believe this bullshit." He demanded Colby through a vicious growl, suddenly flipping a table completely upside down, tears burning in his eyes. "I would NEVER hurt Valisa like that! Someone is going to die. Someone is going to have their head popped off their shoulders like a fucking TICK!"

Colby nodded, holding his hands up trying to calm the big man down, but it wasn't happening. "I know that, man, but you getting enraged and destroying everything in your path isn't going to solve this problem. We need to find Valisa. Clearly she must've seen this and that's why she's not answering her phone or text messages." The pieces were slowly coming together regarding Valisa sending Joe straight to her voicemail, this had to be the reasoning behind it. "First thing's first, we need to go report this to Stephanie and Paul. Then we need to find Valisa." Joe's reputation was on the line now and Colby wouldn't let it be tarnished because someone decided to attack his brother.

Jon immediately got in Joe's face as soon as they walked out of the cafeteria, his shoulders squared. "Did you do it?" He demanded, grabbing Joe by the scruff of his vest and yanked him to where their noses practically touched. "Did you cheat on her with that slut?"

Colby knew Jon was protective of Valisa because she was Zelia's best friend, not to mention they had all gotten to know Valisa better over the past few months. Both him and Jon thought of Valisa as their sister and they'd be damned if anyone hurt someone they considered family. Jon especially since he didn't trust a lot of people in his life, but he'd put his full faith and trust into Valisa. So if Joe had hurt her like this by sleeping with a rat like Eva Marie, Colby was going to help Jon kick the living hell out of him.

"No I didn't." Joe practically spat out, seething at Jon because he couldn't believe his best friend was actually questioning his fidelity to Valisa.

Jon searched Joe's eyes for a few seconds and finally released him, tearing a hand through his drenched dishwater blonde hair. "Then what the fuck was that?" He demanded, pointing in the cafeteria where the now destroyed flat screen lay. "How the fuck did someone film you and Eva Marie in bed together? Explain that."

Joe didn't have any explanation because he was trying to figure it out, his mind completely blank and devoid of answers. "I don't know, but you can bet your ass I'm going to find out. We're going to Stephanie and Paul's office to report this. That slut Eva Marie isn't getting away with this shit. I WILL be tracking her ass down and getting answers."

"Good, let's go." Jon led the way to Stephanie and Paul's office, not bothering knocking as he opened the door. "We need to talk."

Stephanie jumped when the door opened and felt her entire face flush a deep crimson red because she'd been making out with her husband. Her legs were wrapped around his waist and her blouse was partially unbuttoned where Paul had started removing it. She could see the angry expressions on all 3 men's faces and pushed Paul away, clearing her throat awkwardly. Paul didn't look happy for being interrupted, so if this wasn't good he was going to plow his fist in each of their faces.

"Make it quick." Stephanie demanded, folding her arms in front of her chest after buttoning her blouse back up. "What's so important?"

Jon gritted his teeth, knowing he wouldn't be able to talk without yelling and looked at Colby, nodding. "Tell her." Joe was in no condition to talk at the moment because he looked ready to explode again.

Colby nodded, rubbing his hands together nervously since Stephanie and Paul were glaring daggers at all 3 of them. "Have you been to the cafeteria yet?" He decided to start out with that question, swallowing hard when they both shook their heads.

"No why?" Stephanie urged, raising a brow. "What's going on, Colby?"

"Someone set up a flat screen television in catering and…it had a DVD, from what I'm guessing, replaying the big man here and Eva Marie in bed together." He cringed when Joe growled at the mention of the slut's name and ran a hand through his multi-colored hair, taking a deep breath. "We're reporting it because the big man didn't do it. He has no recollection of sleeping with Eva Marie and, even if he did, it shouldn't be broadcasted for the entire locker room to see. That's unprofessional, wrong and an invasion of privacy. The cafeteria is destroyed along with the television, but hopefully the DVD is still salvageable since that's the only evidence we have."

Stephanie blinked and looked over at her husband, both of them completely floored by what they just heard. "We'll definitely look into this and question Eva Marie regarding this matter." She walked around her desk and pulled out a paper, beginning to fill some things out on it. "We'll also try to figure out who had that television setup in catering because nothing like that is supposed to happen without our consent." Now Stephanie was pissed, her blue eyes icing over at the thought of one of the employees disrespecting someone to this magnitude. "We will get to the bottom of this, I promise."

Colby nodded, looking up at both Jon and Joe, who both hadn't said a word besides telling him to do the talking. "Thanks, come on let's go out and get some air." They walked out of Stephanie and Paul's office, heading down the hallway toward the exit.

Only to run into Zelia.

Zelia was running extremely late because her plane had a 2 hour delay. Stephanie and Paul understood, but it didn't annoy her any less since she had to rush to get ready to go out to the ring with Team Hell No. Luckily, Glen and Bryan both understood her dilemma as well since she called them from the airport before boarding the plane to let them know what had happened. She stopped short at the sight of the Shield heading toward her and immediately stepped aside to let them pass, keeping her eyes averted from Jon. It still hurt her to look at him, but Zelia was slowly getting better with working in the same company as him. They wouldn't be together and she accepted that, especially after what he did to rental car – something he STILL denied and probably would to his dying breath.

Jon started walking past Zelia and then stopped, making both Joe and Colby halt as well, his current electric blue eyes turning to look at her. He had to swallow his pride. He had to talk to her because she was Valisa's best friend and the best chance of them finding the woman. Joe was worried sick about her and sickened by everything that happened, so honestly they needed all the help they could get at this point. If that meant Jon talking to Zelia to make it happen, to make sure his brother got his happy ending, then he would do it with a damn smile on his face if that's what it took.

"We need to talk to you." Jon rumbled quietly, knowing he couldn't blow up with Zelia because she'd just walk away from him. "Just for a minute."

Zelia could see the desperation in his eyes and sighed resignedly, leaning against the wall with her arms folded in front of her chest. "What's wrong?"

She listened to everything Jon told her. He stuttered through some of it, which she thought was absolutely adorable. It was one of the ticks she loved about him. When Jon finished telling her what they discovered in the cafeteria, Zelia was completely mortified and covered her mouth with her hand, jade eyes wide in disbelief.

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Wish I was." Jon grunted, tearing a hand through his hair for the umpteenth time. "And you know Joe wouldn't cheat on her. He loves that woman more than the air he fucking breathes. You can see it. So will you help us? We have to find her and try to smooth this over and you're the only one who knows her better than anyone."

Zelia didn't hesitate and nodded, her heart breaking for Valisa and couldn't imagine what the woman was currently going through. "Knowing her, she more than likely left for the night. You guys need to focus on the show tonight. I know that's hard to do given the current circumstances, but the show still has to go on. I'll ask around and see what I can find out. If I hear something, I will tell you immediately. Glen has open ears around here too, so he might've heard something as well." Her friendship with Glen was still strained, but Zelia hadn't completely pushed him out of her life, especially since they had to work together.

"Thank you." Jon sighed with great relief, reaching out to run a single finger down her cheek. "We really appreciate it."

"Not a problem, I promise we'll get to the bottom of this." Her eyes turned to Joe when she said that, watching him nod, but he didn't say a word. "I really have to go get ready for the show. We'll figure this out though." She walked away from the guys and headed down the hallway toward Team Hell No's locker room, her mind racing with all the possibilities of who could've done this to Joe and Valisa.

One way or another the truth would come out eventually and, when it did, that person was living on borrowed time because they wouldn't live long.