Martini couldn't get those two images out of his head from last night. He knocks on Russo's door knowing that the other man is awake as well, he usually was at this hour.
"Come on in," Russo says. "What's on your mind?"
"I believe my Brandon is going to start to be targeted and I would much rather he be spared as much as possible," Martini says.
"What has that got to do with me?" Russo asks. He didn't understand the man in front of him, the obsessions and possessiveness that he had over people.
"I would like for you to stick by him as much as possible when he isn't doing his chores," Martini says.
"I can do that," Russo says nodding. He was usually bored out of his mind as it is not having any desire to hurt the men. Brandon wasn't too annoying either rather quiet and reserved. "Anything else?"
"Is there any way that we can lock up the knives and lighters?" Martini asks.
"We have a locked drawer in the kitchen. But why?" Russo asks.
"I fear we have a self-harmer on our hands and do not want any incidents," Martini says.
"How do you know they are self-inflicted?" Russo asks. He was going to assume he was talking about Janela, and given Janela's history with Luger, he wouldn't be surprised if the young man had scars from the abuse.
"Some may have been but some are too recent, rather pink as if still trying to heal," Martini says. "I was going to speak to Lex about it but I am not certain if that is a smart move on my part,"
"He's his kid, man. You gotta give him a head's up," Russo says. Martini nods.
"I'll send Brandon to you after his morning chores," Martini says. "Expect him after he is done with the dishes."
"Okay. I'll start moving the knives and everything to the drawer now," Russo says.
"Thank you, got to keep JJ somewhat safe at least from himself," Martini says. Russo watches as Martini leaves. So his nickname for Janela was 'JJ' and for Brandon, it was 'Darling'.
Martini contemplates whether or not to tell Luger or not. He didn't really like the man, to begin with, but now to know he put his hands on his son when he was just a child, his disdain grew to hatred. And it is quite obvious to him that he has not changed his ways by abusing others.
He pauses hearing sniffling and coughing inside the room he had just passed. He pulls out his keys unsure of who's room it was. He hadn't precisely memorized it yet. He opens the door switching the light on. The first thing he sees is the comforter on the ground. Whoever was here must have caught him off guard. The man was curled up in the middle of the bed holding his stomach. It looks as if he had been beaten.
Martini slowly approaches the man finally recognizing who it is. It had to have been one of the WWE or former WWE guys and given who it was he was assuming it was Bill. He did always hate Cash's tag partner.
Cash's eye was swollen, cheek bruised, Martini sighs, Bill sure did a number on him. He slowly approaches the bed sitting on the edge of the bed. Cash had to have somewhat fought back because he had bruised knuckles. Martini couldn't see the extent of the injuries to his stomach because he is holding his hands over it.
Martini caresses Cash's face with the back of his hand, the younger man immediately grabbing onto his wrist. Ah, a fighter, he isn't used to that.
"Relax, I'm just trying to help," Martini says.
"Keep your hands off me," Cash says.
"I'm going to go get some ice, why don't you rinse off?" Martini asks standing up. Cash sits up watching as the man leaves and shuts and locks the door behind him. He slowly gets out of the bed instantly grabbing his sides, he was sure he had some bruised or even broken ribs. But he had gotten a few good shots in too.
He makes his way into the bathroom turning on the shower. For some reason, his bathroom didn't have a door on it. He sighs, thinking back on their time at the WWE, it was truly filled with heartbreak and pain. He knew Dax had problems with DeMott in the past. When he was first signed he was automatically put with Dax and didn't have many interactions with Bill.
Once they got to the main roster was when it truly got bad. Hayes was a nightmare. Dax always tried his best to protect him but he also didn't make it easy on them especially at the end. He just wanted to get the both of them out of there but most of his antics would just make Hayes even angrier and make him punish Cash instead of Dax because he knew that always worked better than punishing Dax.
Cash steps out of the shower looking in the mirror to see that his eye is already starting to bruise. Well, shit. If Adam were to see this he's gonna ask what happened and Cash isn't sure he can lie to the younger man. He liked him, a lot. He freezes when he hears the door open and close.
"I got two ice packs one for your ribs and one for your eye. We can see if we can get Silas to tape your ribs later on. Someone will be up with breakfast soon," Martini says putting the ice packs on the bedside table along with a couple of towels.
"Thanks," Cash says.
"No problem, try and get some rest, we put an iPad in your dresser with movies and tv shows pre-downloaded onto it," Martini says walking out of the door. Martini makes his way down the stairs to see Hayes, Luger, Bill who had a bruise on his cheek and jaw, and Gage sitting on the couch.
"He's going to cause trouble. He's a smart mother fucker." Gage says.
"And he's big and trained in kickboxing so he'll be hard to handle," Hayes says.
"So we use someone else. Did you see how he reacted when Gage threatened the ginger? What's his name?" Bill asks.
"Buddy?" Hayes asks. "He's Hawkins brother as well. We could use that."
"Well, Silas found the email Ryder wrote to Hunter. He had to hunt for it but he found it." Luger says.
"So it was him!" Hayes shouts punching the couch.
"I'm going to send Janela over to the boathouse to clean, can I let Marko go with him?" Martini asks. "It would be good for the little guy to get out of that room."
"We need someone to go with them," Luger says.
"Silas can go," Martini says before anyone can even remotely suggest Gage or anyone else that might target both men. "It'll have to be sometime after breakfast, Silas has to tape Cash's ribs and I need to redo JJ's hair. I'm sure after sleeping it isn't as pretty as before."
"What the fuck did you do to my son, Martini?" Luger asks. Martini just rolls his eyes as if he actually cared.
"I washed his hair and braided it," Martini says. "Which brings me to my next point, mind if I speak to you alone?" Luger follows Martini into the office. "I know your past with JJ and am sure that that has left scars on his body, but what was the extent of the abuse?"
"Why are you asking that?" Luger asks scoffing. "I hit him, sometimes used a belt."
"Because while I was washing his hair last night, he had to be shirtless and I saw some scars. Some were old, very old but some were new." Martini says.
"You do realize that he's a deathmatch competitor right?" Luger says. "He is bound to have scars."
"There were burns," Martini says. "Cigarette burns, potentially burns from a lighter as well. They seemed self-inflicted,"
"He's been hurting himself?" Luger asks.
"There doesn't seem to be any new wounds," Martini says. "Is there a reason why you wanted JJ to be taken?"
"I haven't been able to see him in...I don't know how long it has been. Jerry cut my communication off with him," Luger says. "I guess I just wanted to see him and talk to him."
"I'm doing my best to keep him safe," Martini says putting his hand on Luger's shoulder.
Martini lets Brandon sleep for at least another 20 minutes before going upstairs knocking on the door unlocking it.
"Brandon, darling, can you get up and start breakfast? I'm going to be back in 15 minutes to redo JJ's braid." Martini says. He comes over to Marko's room knocking on his door unlocking it as well. "Marko, we are going to let you out today and have you go to the boathouse with Janela. Take your time getting up and around."
"Alright, thanks," Marko says softly.
Marko makes his way down the stairs seeing Bill icing his cheek. Marko smirks, Bill catches this.
"What are you smirking about?" Bill asks.
"Someone finally teach you a lesson, then?" Marko asks.
"You don't know when to quit do you?" Bill asks standing up.
"No, I don't. Especially when I don't understand a person's motives. He's your son!" Marko shouts. Bill growls roughly pushing Marko against the wall.
"He stopped being my son the minute he sent that email," Bill says.
"Why did you have to hurt him?" Marko asks.
"Because he deserved it! Just like you deserve it!" Bill shouts punching Marko in the stomach. Hayes rushes over getting in between the two.
"Enough! Marko go in the kitchen with Brandon, now!" Hayes shouts. Marko limps into the kitchen wincing as he sits down at the table.
"You alright?!" Brandon asks.
"Fucking Bill pushed me up against the wall. Just wasn't expecting it," Marko says.
"How is everything else?" Brandon asks.
"Still can't sit very comfortably," Marko says shifting in his chair. Brandon throws the fork in the sink angrily. "Brandon, hey, man, we talked about this."
"You think I give a shit? For fucks sake Marko, they raped you! They made you...suck them off! I fucking tried," Brandon says hanging his head. Marko stands up hugging him.
"I know you did, and you suffered too because of it. I'm not going to fucking blame you, Brandon." Marko says. Marko looks up over at Janela who walks into the kitchen in a maid's uniform his hair in braided pigtails. His black heels clicking on the floor.
"These are going to take some getting used to," Janela says putting his foot on the chair at the table.
"JJ, you forgot the headband," MVP says.
"Won't that mess up my hair?" Janela asks. MVP looks at him then nods.
"I suppose you are right," MVP says. "Brandon, after your chores go to Russo's office, he's going to be...well kind of your bodyguard."
"Sure, thank you, sir," Brandon says.
"Why do you need a bodyguard?" Marko asks.
"Gage," Brandon says.
"What happened?" Marko asks.
"Took me to the shed. I shouldn't have even reacted but...he fucking terrifies me, man," Brandon says.
"I know, Brandon, I know," Marko says rubbing his back soothingly. Janela watches this and notices that within the week they've been taken, Marko and Brandon have grown closer.
After breakfast, Marko, Silas, and Janela all head to the boathouse. Brandon finishes the dishes and as he does he hears someone struggling as they come down the stairs. He can't tell who it is by their voice so he is assuming it is a WWE guy.
"Fuck! Get off of me!"
"You know, Ryder, it didn't have to come to this. If you would have just kept your mouth shut all would be well," Hayes says. "But you just had to send that email. You just had to play the hero. I'm turning you over to Gage." Brandon almost goes over to stop it but is stopped by Martini.
"No, Brandon, darling, this is his punishment. Go on," Martini says gently pushing Brandon towards Russo's office.
"Sit, listen to some music," Russo says tossing Brandon an iPod and headphones. He sits there for a couple of hours noticing Russo on the phone. He pauses the music hearing the conversation, Russo had the phone on speaker, was that...Mick Foley?
"I'm just asking for a favor. I need you to get me, Adam Cole," Russo says.
"Cole? Russo, you aren't working with them, are you?" Foley asks.
"I wouldn't be asking for your help to kidnap someone if I wasn't working with them, Foley! Just can you do it?" Russo asks.
"Why do you want, Cole?" Foley asks.
"I just do!" Russo says.
"I can't," Foley says.
"What?!" Russo shouts.
"Look, I'm sorry, but I can't help you. I won't rat you out but I am not hurting my son again. Don't call me again." Foley says hanging up.
"Bastard!" Russo shouts. "He's going to fucking regret that! Who the fuck is his son? Brandon! Hey! Cutler!" Brandon looks up nervously. "Who's Mick Foley's son?"
"I...I don't know…" Brandon says.
"Come on, Cutler. You know something. Am I gonna have to hurt one of your friends for you to tell me?" Russo asks.
"Cabana and QT Marshall," Brandon says. "I don't know which one he was talking about but I'm going to assume it is Colt."
"That wasn't so hard now, was it?" Russo asks. "Who is close to Colt?" Russo sighs when Brandon stays silent. He stands up going over to him grabbing Brandon's jaw roughly. "Tell me."
"Ah! MJF is his son…" Brandon says.
"Thank you, Brandon," Russo says patting him on the head. Brandon gulps, had he just put a coworker in danger?