Chapter 24

"Okay enough both of you." Geneva hated this and felt the turmoil burn within her as she shifted from one man's eyes to the other. "Mark said he doesn't want to fight with you anymore, Steve. He said it's not worth it. I don't know if you were told that or not. So please, both of you stop this feuding before someone really DOES end up beaten to death." She pleaded with both of them and blinked when Steve grabbed her hand, causing her to look up at him, biting her bottom lip.

"No, honey, he didn't tell me. I'd imagine he wasn't lookin' for me too hard."

"I'd imagine that too." Taker said calmly, trying not to bash Austin's pompous head in for touching her. "Though now you know, I'm done with this pointless feuding. We'll finish it on-screen and that'll be it."

"Sounds damn good to me. Need a ride, Doc?"

Oh this son of a bitch was pushing his luck.

"No Steve, I don't."

Geneva slowly slid her hand out of his and walked over to stand next to Taker, swallowing hard, feeling his arm wrap around her shoulders. She hated seeing the anguish in Steve's eyes, but there was nothing she could do about it. Could she help it if she was in love Steve's enemy and wanted only him? She'd met Taker way before Steve, her feelings for Taker never-ending, never changing.

"Are you ready to go, Mark?" She asked quietly, feeling the exhaustion catching up with her from everything that had happened that night.

"Yeah darlin'." Taker murmured, staring down at her, his eyes taking in how obviously bushed she was. "Let's get you in bed before you drop." He opened the passenger side door for her. "I'll drive."

"Well ain't that a son of a bitch." Steve muttered, shouldering his bag and walking towards his own truck, shaking his head. What a waste, seeing her with Taker. That could only wind up badly.

The entire ride to the hotel was made in silence as Geneva leaned her forehead against the cool glass window, hating to see the anger and despair in Steve's eyes. Not to mention she knew Taker was angry at her for talking to him. Hell, why would he be? It wasn't like they were a couple or anything, right? They still hadn't established that and it killed Geneva because, until he took the first initiative step, she refused to reveal her true feelings.

Relief flooded her as they pulled into the parking lot and Geneva immediately jumped out, replaying the conversation with Steve in her mind regarding the attack. So if Steve didn't hurt Taker, who did? Who was the perpetrator? She couldn't get the questions out of her head because, deep down, Geneva knew Steve was innocent. The man couldn't lie, not with those baby blues.

"You alright?" Taker asked finally, reaching over to take her hand in his, squeezing it. They hadn't made anything official yet between them, but it was just a matter of time if things kept progressing the way they were. "What's on your mind, Neva?" He stared down into her eyes, seeing the questions swirling through them.

What was she supposed to say? Anything Geneva said right now would anger him and that's the last thing she wanted to happen. "Don't worry about it, Mark." She quietly replied, lacing their fingers together and heading toward the elevator.

"But I do worry about it." He countered calmly, turning Geneva to face him, stopping the elevator since they were the only ones on it. "You've been quiet since we left the arena and I'm guessing it has to do with...Steve." He barely got the name out without choking on it. "Please talk to me."

"I believe Steve." Geneva finally said, staring up into his unreadable green eyes. "I honestly don't believe it was him that hit you with that crowbar and sent you to the hospital, Mark." Averting her gaze to the floor, Geneva knew she was going off on a wide limb here, but she couldn't ignore what her gut told her. "I know there's no proof that he didn't do it, but the look in his eyes tonight...Mark, he didn't do it." She hoped he wasn't angry with her words. "And whoever did it is still out there gunning for you."

Taker didn't seem surprised in the least by her confession and just nodded, resuming the elevator. "I have many enemies." He admitted gruffly. "It wouldn't surprise me in the least. Is that what's bothering you? What Steve said or how you figured I'd react to it?" He eyed her shrewdly, studying her.

"Both." Geneva admitted quietly, not looking up at him, refusing to lie to him after how much progress they'd made lately. "I know how much you and Steve don't like each other, so forgive me for trying to avoid a potential fight or whatever between us." Suddenly, her shoes became the most interesting thing in the stopped elevator.

Nodding, Taker pressed the restart button so they were moving again. "You can always tell me anything, Neva." He promised her in a low voice. "No matter what it is or how much you think it might piss me off, I'd never harm you." He almost smiled because the way she stared at her shoes was rather cute, almost girlish.

"I don't know why you'd be mad at me because, honestly, I'm just telling you what I think and feel." She stated, slowly looking up at him, seeing the cleft smile on his face and cracked one of her own. "You really are evil." She commented as the doors opened, both heading to their room.

"You have no idea." Taker murmured, standing in the hallway for a moment with his head tilted to the side, green eyes watching her swaying backside. "Mmm..." He rumbled, following her into the hotel room, the slight smile turning predatory. "Tired?"

His arms encircled her waist, burying his nose in her hair to inhale her intoxicating scent. Geneva leaned back against him, running her curly hair across his nose while shaking her head, knowing what he wanted. She wanted him too. Extracting herself from his arms, Geneva peeled her tank top off and tossed it in the corner.

"I need a shower."

Her voice held nonchalance as Geneva bent to remove her shoes and socks off and then unsnapped her jeans, pushing them down her smooth tanned legs. She'd gotten a nice tan while being out in Texas and it made her eyes and hair glow. Now standing before him clad in a pair of light purple panties and matching bra, Geneva couldn't stop her own predatory smirk from curving her lips.

"How about you?"

He watched her undress, his eyes darkening to a stormy green in place of the usual emerald. His tongue flicked out to wet his lips, eyes straying to those tanned legs. Dear lord how he loved her legs! Especially when they were wrapped around his waist.

"Mmm, I could use one too." He murmured huskily, devouring her visually.

Geneva sauntered past him and winked over her shoulder, reaching back to unsnap her bra teasingly. "Then perhaps you'd care to join me, Deadman." She purred, dropping the bra in his hand on her way to the bathroom, a wicked smirk on her lips as she shut the door, stifling a giggle.

He was not the only one who could be evil, Geneva did have an evil streak to her. Shaking his head, a growl escaping his lips as Taker stared down at the bra, contemplating Geneva. The woman had spent too much time around him, now she was starting to be an evil little wench. He tossed the bra aside and shed his clothes, following her, more than ready to accept her invitation.

"You're in trouble, darlin'." Taker rumbled from low in his chest, his voice resonating around the bathroom.

Geneva giggled in the shower, already under the sprays as they relaxed her tense body. Her eyes opened when the shower door opened and in stepped Taker, instantly pulling him against her, their lips meeting each other's hungrily. Geneva didn't understand what it was about this man, but her sexual drive had risen drastically since their reunion.

"So exactly how much trouble am I in?" She asked coyly once the kiss broke, ocean blues darkening to midnight pools of lust and love.

"More than you can humanly handle." Taker purred against his lips, lifting her up and pinned her against the shower wall, wrapping her legs snugly around his waist. "Teasing gets you in trouble, darlin'." He informed her hoarsely, nipping her throat and slid his large hand between them, gliding the head of his throbbing cock to her folds maddeningly.

"Mmm well if this is trouble, then I'll be sure to get into it more often."

Geneva was breathless, pulling him closer to her and locked her ankles around his waist. She stared into his darkened forest green orbs and cupped his face in her hands before kissing him passionately, the hot water pouring over both of them, steam rising. No matter how many times their bodies joined together, it felt like the first time to Geneva, which never ceased to amaze her. Before Taker could say or do anything, there was a pounding on the bathroom door.

"WHAT THE FUCK?" He roared, wondering who in hell had the balls to burst into their room.

Not even bothering to cover himself, Taker carefully lowered a stunned Geneva to the shower floor and stormed out of the bathroom in all his naked glory. His head snapped to the side, finding a maid holding the front door open, her mouth dropped with one of his Acolytes, Bradshaw –His real name was John Layfield- before him. If this wasn't life or death, he was personally going to end John's career right then and there, eyes spitting pure venom.

"Sorry but the rental you guys were drivin' is on fire!"

"WHAT?"

Standing behind Taker, Geneva was shell shocked, a towel wrapped around her body, covering her mouth with her hand. "Oh my god..."

She immediately rushed back in the bathroom to dress, swallowing hard, knowing now something wasn't right. Geneva snatched her jeans from the floor, getting a fresh pair of garments from her bag, and pulled them on out of sight. She did not care that her thick curly hair was soaking wet and not towel dried, trembling slightly. Taker dressed too, dismissing the maid. Once he had on a pair of jeans and boots, he followed John out of the room, knowing Geneva would follow.

"Any ideas who did it?" He demanded calmly, looking very dangerous and deadly.

Bradshaw knew that tone of voice all too well and swallowed hard. "No. Someone was seen runnin' from it, but nobody could make an identification." He informed Taker, not paying attention to the woman behind them.

Damn right Geneva was following! She was going to get to the bottom of this and prove Steve's innocence if it was the last thing she did. They arrived at the parking lot and, sure enough, the huge truck had been blown up. Geneva froze with wide eyes, wondering who could do something this heinous. What if they'd been in the truck when it exploded?

"Jesus..." She whispered, trembling harder, and slowly walked over to survey the damage, to see if anything was left behind that linked to who could've done this.

Taker walked as close to the burning wreckage as he could, finally halting because the heat stopped him. "Bradshaw, get the men together, I want them all down here in twenty minutes, we're going hunting."

"Yeah, boss." Bradshaw jogged back into the building.

Taker looked down at Geneva, green eyes filled with rage. "You alright?" He asked, trying to keep his voice calm so he didn't scare her.

"No, no I'm not alright. This is...this is madness, Mark..." Her gaze could not be pulled away from the carnage, the flames rising up to the night sky. Thank god they weren't parked in an underground parking lot or this whole hotel could've gone up in flames. Geneva's eyes narrowed when he said he was going hunting, grabbing his hand, staring at him worriedly. "Mark, don't do this, please. I don't want to see you get hurt. Please don't go after this lunatic."

Taker sighed quietly, cupping her chin in his hand gently and could tell how vexed she was. "I have to." He whispered soothingly. "I'll leave one of the boys with you just in case, but whoever is doing this has to be stopped, darlin', before you wind up getting hurt in the crossfire." He kissed the top of her head. "I'll be fine. My men have my back."

"What does that even mean?" Geneva whimpered, not understanding and sighed at the finality in his eyes. "Don't bother leaving one of your 'boys'. I can take care of myself. Just be careful because, so help me god, if you end up back in the hospital, I will do my very best to kick your ass." She hugged him tightly around the neck and kissed his lips before walking back inside the hotel, bypassing all of his boys - the Ministry of Darkness they were called on WWF programming.

Taker had to smile at her threat, believing she'd do it wholeheartedly. "Hellion." He murmured, accepting the shirt Bradshaw handed him. "Farooq, stay close and don't let her know you're here." He ordered, not having to say the threat 'don't let anything happen to her', Farooq already knew. Smirking wickedly, they all fanned out without instruction, disappearing into the darkness.

"Damn he's still creepy." Farooq muttered, heading back inside, ignoring the fire truck that had arrived to put out the flames.

Arriving back in the hotel room, Geneva was officially terrified, wrapping her arms around herself to try to stem the chills threatening to overtake her body. She knew Steve didn't do this, especially with her safety on the line, so who was it? Who had blown up their rental car and who was trying to hurt Taker?

Tears flowed down her cheeks now that she was alone and Geneva sank on the bed, feeling fatigue crash over her. She buried her face in her hands and silently cried, not making a single sound. Geneva had to get her emotions out while Taker was gone, especially now the shock wore off.

Taker arrived back at the hotel close to dawn, looking tired and still extremely pissed off. The expression 'mad bull' could probably describe him best at this point. He grunted when he seen she was still awake, wishing she would've tried to get some rest while he hunted with the Ministry.

"Whoever it was left a trail up until 5th avenue, then hopped in a cab and took off." He said quietly. "People could only describe a large person running, nobody could make out a face or anything."

Geneva nodded in acknowledgement and slipped from the bed, unbuttoning his shirt as it fell from his muscular body, kissing his lips softly. "Come on, you need to rest."

Pulling him over to the bed, having changed into a pair of black cotton shorts with a matching tank top. She pulled the comforter back and climbed in, not releasing his hand. Geneva snuggled against his chest when he lay down, wrapping her arm around his waist. Thank god he was safe and back with her. Geneva inhaled his scent and let the sound of his heartbeat lull her into a deep slumber.

Sleep evaded Taker as he lay awake for a long while. He knew Geneva believed Austin was innocent, but when she woke up, they would be having a long talk. He knew whoever was behind this had nothing to lose, but apparently a hell of a lot to gain. Only one person Taker could think of fit the bill to perfection. Grunting, he finally let himself fall into sleep with Geneva in his tight embrace, refusing to let anything happen to her.