Chapter 16

"I'm sorry, what?" Jon extricated himself from her grip, stepping away to stare down at her. The smile was still on his face but the warmth had left his eyes, now replaced with pure ice. "You want to say that again, doll?"

There was no way she had just come here to drop that on him. At Vallea's nervous smile, he whirled around, grabbed the nearest item, a chair, and hurled it right at the wall. A string of curses left his lips. Working with Ryan. WORKING. WITH. RYAN.

Jon was not overly pleased right now.

Vallea jumped at his outburst, not expecting him to do that and it honestly scared her a little. "Vince is the one who told Ryan to work with you. Ryan has a huge design company that makes all kinds of memorabilia and shit for athletes like you. Football players, baseball…he's into pretty much every sport you can think of and has his hand in a lot of the product that goes out. Vince has been shopping around and found Ryan's company in Vegas. You just returned, so that's why Vince wants to…try Ryan's work out on you, to see if you like it." She explained quietly, unable to meet his eyes, and didn't blame him for being upset.

Jon let out a strangled half-scream of annoyance, the sound tapering into a growl before eventually he just started laughing. Of course, of course…he would have to work with this asshole because Vince wanted it! And he couldn't do jack about it without jeopardizing either of their jobs! How was he supposed to do this, not kill this pretentious, dirtbag asshole? His eyes landed on Vallea, who looked afraid and he gritted his teeth, hands moving to grip curls he no longer had.

"Come here, doll." He ordered finally, holding out his arms to her. Most likely, near him was the last place she wanted to be, but he needed her anyway.

That sound would haunt her for weeks to come.

Vallea couldn't deny him anything, no matter how scared she was because she knew Jon would never hurt her. She went into his arms with slight hesitation, hoping he calmed down, and closed her eyes, hearing how fast his heart raced against her ear. "I'm sorry." She whispered, not sure what else to say, and felt his arms tighten around her slightly, but not to the point of hurting her. "Please tell me you're okay…"

"I'm royally pissed that there's nothing either of us can do," Jon grunted, his voice still laced with rage, but now softer, a bit bitter. "I don't like the position you're in with this creep, and I sure don't like the fact that I gotta play nice with him. And don't you be sorry, this isn't your fault." It was men in charge with more power than they needed and more ego than what should be legally allowed.

Vallea could only nod, not wanting to upset him further, and let him use her body to calm himself down. She was his calming agent at the moment and honestly didn't mind being held by her man. "I know you don't. I don't like it either."

The sad part was they could do nothing about this. With Jon and Ryan, it was business pure and simple, but with her and Ryan, it was more about Ryan having complete control and power over her than actually being his PA. And they both knew it, even though Ryan had been playing nice for the past week. Maybe her boss had words with him too, she didn't know and immediately pushed that possibility aside.

"Everything will work out as it should. We just have to…push forward."

"Yeah." Jon sighed heavily, shaking his head. "Yeah you're right, babe, you're right."

He kissed the top of her head, his arms wrapped tightly around her, and finally placed his chin on her hair, inhaling deeply. He could act professionally and give the man the benefit of the doubt. Ryan was going to want to be all nice with him since he technically worked for Vince and not the other way around, and he began to smirk. Maybe he could make Ryan's life just a little bit miserable, well maybe. Not if there was a chance the man would take it out on Vallea.

"Anything I should know about this guy before I meet with him?" Other than what he already did anyway.

"Other than he's full of himself, thinks his shit don't stink and he's the king of the planet and can do no wrong? Nope. He's also a very shrewd businessman, from what I've heard through the agency. I don't know what all that entails and I really don't want to know. I just do the work he gives me and mind my own business. Wouldn't surprise me if he had some shady business going on though." Vallea snuggled against him, not wanting to leave, but knew Ryan would be expecting her back. "I need you to look over the designs he's made for you and choose the one you like best. Then I need to report back to him."

Jon did not need to know all that; he just needed to know what was pertinent to him dealing with Ryan. Not that what she told him wasn't interesting because it was. Eventually, he may need to know, but not right now, he stored it away.

"And what if I don't like any of them?" He snorted, letting go of her to resume his place on the bench and pat his knee. "Come sit down and show me what you got, doll."

The designs honestly weren't that bad. Ryan wouldn't have a successful company if he didn't deliver top-notch quality. She sat on her boyfriend's lap and went through them with him, massaging the back of his neck to soothe him. Jon didn't seem to mind, going through the designs slowly to look them over. He finally chose two out of the 10 he liked the most, putting them on top and handed them back to her. Vallea agreed with him on the designs and she knew who had done them; the woman could draw anything and make it look spectacular. Ryan's business rested on her shoulders a lot of the time because she had to keep delivering insane results and knocked it out of the ballpark every time.

Grudgingly, Jon would admit the designs weren't bad at all, whoever had done them had also done their homework. He also knew, even if he didn't want to admit it, Ryan had to be good at his job with a stellar company if Vince McMahon had decided to get into bed with him. Especially considering the old man had been pretty loyal to his vendors for years and then changed it up. Now that he was calming down, his mind was thinking this out. If Vallea went back to the man with good news, he was likely to be less of a jerk to her.

"Pick out another you like and add it to the pile, doll."

"But this isn't…" Vallea trailed off at the look Jon shot her, it was stern and sexy all at the same time. He truly wanted her input about this and it made her feel tingly. "All right…" Scanning the pictures, she pulled the one out that had caught her eye earlier while sifting through them with him and pointed. "This one. The ones you picked out are great and everything, but there's something about this particular one that stands out to me. I'm not very good with this type of thing…"

"You're not a fan, who appreciates the design, that's good enough for me."

Jon planted a kiss on her forehead as he studied the design. It was a good one too, it hadn't called to him the way the others had, but he was also aware that what he liked and what his fans liked were usually two different things. So she was probably seeing something he wasn't and it would probably sell like hotcakes.

"If you say so." Vallea shrugged, wondering what Ryan would think about the three designs Jon and her picked out together. Granted, she wouldn't tell him about her involvement in the decision-making. It would be just like Ryan to immediately dismiss the idea simply because she liked it. "I hate doing this, but…I really do have to get back to work." She softly kissed him, caressing his beard-covered jaw, and became lost in it for a minute or two, almost purring. "See you tonight and be careful in the ring." One more peck, she was off his lap and out the door, stopping at the bathroom to reapply her gloss before heading back to Ryan.

Every time, she always said to be careful in the ring, and it was cute, endearing even. Matches were worked through and discussed, and usually, they were fairly safe. Bumps, bruises, aches, and pains came with the territory, this was a physical job, but serious injuries weren't technically the normal. But…the body did have a way of slowing people down like it had him. Not that he wasn't grateful, he probably never would have met Vallea otherwise. Sighing, Jon pushed himself up onto his feet, beginning to hop in place with his eyes closed as he started warming up.

"Does this…wrestler," Ryan wanted to call him buffoon, yet refrained and shook his head at the choices. "Have any idea what it means to make money? The designs he picked out are HORRIBLE compared to the other ones!" In his opinion, flashy was better whereas Dean Ambrose went with a more subtle, darker route. "This won't do. The only one that we both agree on is the third choice." Her secret choice. "I'm gonna have to talk to him in person about this."

Vallea didn't think that was a very good idea considering how Jon had reacted to being forced to work with him. "Why not invite him out for lunch tomorrow or something?" She suggested softly, immediately regretting the words as soon as they came out of her mouth.

Ryan studied her, contemplating that suggestion, and snapped his fingers. "I'll do one better. I'll take the man out for a steak dinner to discuss these options and see if we can't come to a mutual understanding." Money talked, after all.

Jon was a bit surprised when none other than Ryan showed up in his dressing room. Considering he was about twenty minutes from kicking ass and taking names, pumped up with adrenaline rushing, he felt Ryan was a damn idiot. He flashed a feral smile, tempted to take the guy's head off just because he could.

"Who're you?" He demanded, spitting into an empty water bottle. His dirty little habit, chew. He knew exactly who this jackass was, didn't mean he wasn't going to be belligerent. "Man, I don't do autographs when I'm working, okay?" The look on Ryan's face had him giggling on the inside.

Ryan cleared his throat, straightening his tie on the crisp three-piece suit he had on. "Mr. Ambrose, I take it? Do I look like the type of man who wants an autograph from you?" He chuckled ruefully, rolling his eyes. "My assistant came to you earlier with some choices for your next t-shirt idea. I'm working with Vince McMahon, you see, and I wanted to discuss the options with you personally. Perhaps over a meal? Steak sound good to you? I'll have my assistant make the reservations."

"I'm a vegan," Jon shot back deadpan, cocking an eyebrow. "And I already made my choices, what's wrong with them?" Better yet, why was he being asked for input if the guy was obviously not fine with them? Then he snapped his fingers. "Ohhhh…you're Vince's new vendor, new lackey…man, you dress sharper than the last one. Makes you almost look important, good deal." He rolled his head from side to side, muscles flexing as his glacial eyes raked over Ryan, obviously not impressed.

"I'm sure they can find you something. And it's not that I don't like your choices, Mr. Ambrose. I wouldn't have them in the choices otherwise." He had to give all of his artists the chance to make money, however, even if he favored a few of them. "I just think we need to go with something a little more…eye-catching, flashy. We can discuss it over a meal like gentlemen since I know you have a match coming up. And I assure you I'm nobody's lackey."

"No, you are." Jon's smile lost all humor, his teeth completely bared. "Else you wouldn't be here bothering me about designs I already picked, out of designs you apparently already approved." He knew, in the rational part of his mind, that he should be nice to this guy so he didn't take it out on Vallea, but Jon really hated this stooge. "And there will be no meal…" He fluttered his eyelashes, attempting to reign his temper in. "You didn't ask me nicely."

Ryan didn't appreciate the audacity of this punk and squared his shoulders, knowing better than to get into a fight with one of Vince's employees. That would not look good for his company and he was a lot smarter than people gave him credit for. "Very well, Mr. Ambrose. If you won't see reason, it's your career and your choice after all. I will send the designs to my team and get started on your new…merchandise." He hoped they flopped hard, it would teach this punk a lesson in respect. "Good evening." Walking out, Ryan gritted his teeth to the point of gnashing and went back to report to his assistant.

As soon as Ryan was gone, Jon let out a growl that would have made the Undertaker proud. He knew better, he KNEW he shouldn't be provoking the guy, but CHRIST ON THE CROSS! Not only was he an asshole to Vallea, but he had decided he didn't like Jon's personal choices out of designs that Ryan had likely approved! The man had issues with control and Jon wanted nothing more than to make the guy know what it was like to feel truly helpless, to be completely powerless and out of control of your own fate.

That actually sent a flood of warmth through him.

"That punk thinks he's better than me? I'll show him! I'll show him what happens when you don't respect me!" Ryan ranted and raved for an hour straight to Vallea, who simply sat there with her mouth closed, pretending to listen.

Jon wasn't someone to order around the way Ryan was used to doing to people, even clients. He thought he owned the world, that it was his way or the highway and it wasn't. The man had tricked himself into having that mindset and Vallea was glad and proud Jon had told Ryan off.

"ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?!"

"Of course."

"AND WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THIS?"

Vallea kept a straight face, knowing better than to cop an attitude or speak her mind right now. "Your reservation has been booked for 11 PM tonight, or do you want me to cancel it?"

Ryan wanted to scream at her for her cheekiness, but she looked so serious that he wasn't entirely sure if she was screwing with him. "Keep it, that bastard is going one way or another. Vegan my ass! YOU go deal with him!" He growled when he heard Dean's theme blaring through the arena. "After his stupid match, I hope he breaks his goddamn ankle out there!" The man was hired help, just some stupid jock, who obviously thought that he was something special since he was on some shitty soap opera with a bit of groping thrown in. Tossing his hands up into the air, Ryan resumed his pacing, pretty sure his entire body was red from anger.

"What do you mean you want me to go deal with him? Ryan, if he doesn't want to go to dinner with you, there's really nothing you can do to change his mind. He made the choices." Vallea decided a little sweet talk might diffuse his temper a little. "Besides, if he wants to ruin his career, like you said, that's on him. You're doing your job to the best of your ability, so if he doesn't want to listen to you, that's on him." Those words tasted bitter coming out of her mouth, but it seemed to do the trick because Ryan's face slowly returned to normal. This asshole had no idea what Jon had been through and, hell, she didn't either. However, the more she spent time with Jon, the more she wanted to know about his past and what he went through prior to WWE.

"You're right, Vallea." Ryan's voice had returned to normal and he missed the look of surprise on her face as he had turned his back to her, busy readjusting his tie. That was probably the first time he had ever said that to her. "Considering he's recently back from an injury and the wear and tear he's already put on himself, he won't last much longer. Why waste time trying to invest in a worthless commodity? You are absolutely right." He was all smiles again, winking down at her before eyeballing the stack of designs. "Put the three in for orders, if that's what he's decided…" Vince would see that Ambrose was a moron when none of them sold much.

"Will do."

Vallea let out a silent breath of relief and knew, that as much as it pained her to say those untruthful words, it also swayed Ryan away from Jon. That was her ultimate goal, to find a way to keep Ryan and Jon separated. It worked; Ryan was sometimes too gullible for his own good and stupid. If he couldn't see the farce right in front of him, that was his problem. She proceeded to take the designs over to the fax machine, which WWE graciously offered, and sent them over to the office immediately. She already knew these designs would sell like hotcakes for Jon – the man was extremely popular and had a huge fanbase, according to Monique.