Chapter 27

"Are you fucking shitting me?"

"No."

"This is unbelievable."

"Yeah no shit." Jon growled, taking a steel folding chair and tossed it across the Shield dressing room, pacing like a caged animal. "And every single one of those mother fuckers were arrested and taken away? Which means we have NO fucking shot at retribution?" He wanted to MAIM all of them for trying to screw with their lives.

"This is bullshit." Colby grunted, shaking his head while slipping his black gloves on, getting ready for their segment. "I can't believe they didn't even let us get one crack at them first."

Joe agreed with his brothers, but at the same time he understood why Vince kept it under wraps and had everyone involved in his drugging arrested. He still couldn't believe he was drugged by Paul Levesque, who was supposed to be one of the owners of the company. Vince had planned on passing his company down into the hands of his daughter, Stephanie, and her husband, but not anymore. Paul was facing prison charges along with Randy Orton, Phillip Brooks and Eva Marie, so the WWE would more than likely never see them again. Still, Joe didn't feel an ounce of justice because he hadn't had the opportunity to cut his body through Paul, Randy and Phillip's bodies with a spear. Joe was not a woman beater by any means, but if the opportunity presented itself, he would spear Eva Marie no questions asked.

"Look, I know you both are pissed off, but there is a silver lining with all of this." Colby spoke up after several minutes of silence, watching as both Joe and Jon stared at him heatedly. "Your innocence was proven and you can finally make things right with Valisa. And you need to make things right with Zelia…again."

Jon tore a hand through his hair, scowling at a man he considered his little brother and began pacing again. "Zel and I will be fine just like the big man and Valisa will be fine."

He knew he made a mistake when he hung up on Zelia a couple night's ago, but his anger and jealous got the better of him. She'd kept in contact with Aric Connely of all people, but not him? It made no sense to Jon and he planned on confronting Zelia about it. If they were going to make this relationship work, they had to be completely honest with each other and that had been another thing Zelia had hidden from him.

"Not if you don't talk to her about how you're feeling." Colby argued, not about to drop the subject that easily and shoved Jon a little. "So what if she kept in contact with someone from HWA? Did it ever occur to you that maybe since she was in love with you back then she couldn't because she didn't want to hold you back? No of course it didn't. Why? Because you're a stubborn asshole and you jump to too many conclusions. That temper is going to get you in serious trouble, Jon. You better watch it."

"Since when the fuck are YOU the voice of reason?" Jon demanded, tempted to slam Colby's head into the nearest cinder block wall. "I expect to hear that type of shit from Joe, but not you."

Joe chuckled in spite of everything and walked over, clapping a hand on Jon's shoulder. "Enough, let's go get this shit done so we can leave and go see our women. I don't know about you, but going weeks without having Valisa in my arms has just about driven me insane." He had to have her in his arms tonight, no matter what.

After the segment ended, Jon and Joe took off straight to the hotel, deciding they would shower there. Colby had taken over the bathroom as soon as they got back to the dressing room because he had a date with Celeste. They were leaving straight from the arena, so there was no point in him showering at the hotel. Joe and Jon didn't mind, though they would possibly stink to high heavens upon arriving to see the women. It didn't matter though, Joe was more than ready to see Valisa while Jon missed Zelia fiercely.

Arriving at room 3412, both Jon and Joe looked at each other before Jon brought his hand up, tapping on it with his knuckles. He heard the rustle of a chain scratching against the door and felt Zelia look at them through the peephole before opening the door, bluish grey meeting jade. Zelia didn't say a word and stepped aside, letting both of them in, shutting the door relocking it. Even though the culprits had been arrested and taken into custody, that didn't make the women feel any safer. Though having Jon and Joe in the same suite helped.

"Valisa is laying down in her room. She ate a sandwich and passed out from crying." Zelia informed Joe and pursed her lips tightly together, looking into the big man's grey eyes. "I know you miss her. Go see her."

Joe nodded and suddenly pulled Zelia into his arms, hugging her tightly around the waist. "Thank you for everything you did." He murmured in her ear, kissing the top of her head. "I owe you."

"Just go and tell her that you still want her because she thinks you hate her."

Joe sighed heavily and eyeballed Jon, silently telling him to make things right with Zelia before taking off to the bedroom. He stood in the doorway and could see the outline of Valisa's body thanks to the light from the front room streaming in. She was on her stomach with her caramel hair splayed all over the pillow, her arms folded beneath her folded arms. The blanket covered her lower half, but her upper body was encased in a red tank top. He loved the color red on her, it definitely suited her. Valisa was more beautiful than he remembered and Joe couldn't hold back any longer. He walked around the bed, unlaced his boots and kicked them off, sliding into the bed beside her. Joe placed his hand on her back and slowly slid it up, gently awakening her with his touch alone. The last thing he wanted to do was scare her.

"I love you, Valisa." He rumbled in her ear and felt her stir, his hand resting on the small of her back while her head slowly turned until their eyes met.

"Joe?" Tears instantly stung her eyes as Valisa reached a shaking hand up to caress his face, not believing he was lying beside her. "I'm so sorry for doubting you."

Joe smiled, moving his lips to the side to brush against her hand and covered it with his own, their fingers lacing together. "Nothing for you to be sorry for, Vali. You didn't know what was going on. I can't imagine the hell you've been through with this and all I can tell you is I would never cheat on you. I love you, girl."

"Even after everything that's happened?" Valisa's voice broke and Joe instantly leaned forward to brush the tears away from her cheeks with his lips. "You're too nice to me. I was horrible to you."

"Do you love me?" Joe demanded, suddenly pulling back to stare deep in her ocean blues.

"Yes."

"That's all that matters. I love you and you love me. We're going to have rough patches and this was definitely a rough patch. But it's also going to make us stronger because it'll make our trust in each other grow." Joe couldn't hold back any longer and softly kissed her, cupping her face lovingly in his strong hands.

"I'm sorry I didn't believe you, Joe." Valisa whispered, pressing her forehead against his and pressed their clasped hands over his beating heart. "I swear from now on you have my full faith and trust. I'll never doubt you again."

Joe grinned, rubbing his nose gently against hers and suddenly rolled over on his back, pulling Valisa on top of him. His mouth instantly sought hers out, his fingers entangling in her beautiful hair. Joe missed her body on top of his along with her mouth, wanting her to feel completely comfortable. He couldn't rush her because of Brooks' attack, so Joe decided some heavy making out would have to suffice until Valisa felt the desire to make love again. Joe would wait however long it took, forever if need-be.

Meanwhile, Zelia stood in the middle of the room and didn't know what to say to Jon. Why was he here? He was angry with her for keeping contact with Aric and not him, that much was clear. Honestly, Aric and Zelia had been friends prior to her meeting Jon and he hadn't lasted much longer after HWA went out of business. She didn't talk to him often either, maybe once every 3 months if that. The only reason he called her that night a few weeks ago was to tell her about Sami making it to the WWE. She understood why Jon was upset, but at the same time he had to get his temper in check or else their relationship would crumble into dust.

Jon opened and closed his mouth several times, trying to find the right words to say, but he couldn't think. The sight of Zelia took his breath away. She wore purple cotton shorts that hugged her perfect backside with a matching camisole that looked like a second skin. Her beautiful ebony locks pooled over her shoulders and down her back in soft waves and her skin looked soft to the touch. Without warning, Jon closed the distance between them and yanked Zelia flush against his body by her upper arms, his mouth descending on hers. Zelia gasped as soon as Jon kissed her passionately and her body instantly melted against his, missing him like crazy. The past week without him had been hell on earth, even though he hurt her feelings when he hung up on her. Breaking the kiss, Zelia gripped the front of Jon's tactical vest since he was still in his ring gear and stared deep into his intense bluish grey eyes.

"Why didn't you keep contact with me?" Jon demanded in a low raspy voice, his arms having wrapped around her during the kiss. "Why Aric and not me?"

"I already told you." Zelia murmured, lowering her eyes from his and sighed when Jon immediately lifted her chin, forcing her to maintain eye contact with him. "What do you want me to say, Jon? What is it you want to hear? I was in love with you back then, I love you now and that's all you really need to hear. But apparently it's not and I can't keep having my heart broken by you. You really hurt me when you hung up on me. You didn't even give me a chance to explain."

Jon sighed heavily and nodded, resting his forehead against hers since she hadn't tried pulling away from him. "I know. It shocked me when you told me Aric told you about Sami coming to the company. I didn't know he kept contact with you all these years and I want to kick his fucking ass for not telling me. He knew how I felt about you and how close we were. The mother fucker knew this whole time and didn't have the balls to tell me."

"Because I told him not to." Zelia admitted, chewing her bottom lip when Jon's brow slowly rose. "Jon, you were making it big in the HWA and I didn't want to interfere with that. Aric knew why I left, but I made him swear to me he would never tell you. I didn't want you to know and I didn't want you to find me because I wanted you to focus on your career. Believe me, if I didn't swear Aric to secrecy, he would've told you in a heartbeat. And before you ask, yes, he was the only one I maintained contact with."

Growling, Jon pulled her closer to him and swallowed down his annoyance, shaking his head. "You were one of the most important people to me in that fucking company, Zelia. You were the only one who kept me on my toes and calmed me down whenever I got pissed off at someone so I didn't rip their damn head off. And you forced Aric into a secret so I wouldn't find out you made it to the WWE? Woman, I ought to take you over my knee and beat your ass for doing that. I even asked him flat out if he knew where you went and he lied to my face."

"I know, I'm sorry." Zelia sniffled, tears stinging her eyes as the guilt once again overtook her. "I can't keep apologizing for what I did to you back then, Jon. I can't keep feeling bad about it either. We either agree to move on from it or we just end things right now. I'm sorry for everything I did to you and keeping you in the dark about what happened to me. For forcing Aric to keep my secret. I'm sorry about it all, okay? But that's the LAST time I'm apologizing for it because I feel like a broken fucking record."

"You're not getting away from me that easily." Jon stated, making it clear to her that he wasn't going anywhere and she was stuck with him. "I know I fucked up and I know this won't be the last time, but let me make it up to you. I promise I won't bring up the past anymore. What happened needs to stay there and we need to move on with our lives, if you still want me."

Zelia chewed her bottom lip and stepped back, grabbing his hand as their fingers laced together. Without a word, she led him to her room and shut the door behind them, releasing his hand. Standing in front of him, Zelia pulled her camisole over her head, leaving her clad in a white lace bra and then removed her shorts. She had matching panties, the white clashing beautifully against her skin. The color of Jon's eyes changed, darkened and smoldered as her hands went the belt on his cargo pants, undoing it while maintaining eye contact.

She ripped it from the loops and dropped it to the floor, next unsnapping his cargo pants. Jon watched her the whole time and snaked his tongue out to wet his dry lips, letting her push his cargo pants down his legs as he stepped out of them, his boots already off. Zelia removed his tactical vest next and slid her hands up the skintight top he wore under the vest, pushing it up over his head. Once he was just in his boxers, Zelia stepped back to give him an appreciative onceover and slowly moved until she sat on the bed.

"If you mean what you say, then prove how much you still want me and love me." She challenged, not waiting long because Jon immediately pounced on her, their mouths crashing together in a soul-searing kiss that left Zelia completely breathless.

Jon proceeded to show her exactly how much he wanted and loved her by claiming her repeatedly that night, both of them passing out in the early morning hours the next day tangled in each other's arms.