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Christian's facial expression seemed to Edge to have transformed about the second Lita had left the locker room. His brother's countenance now oddly seemed to reflect a guilelessness - one he wasn't quite sure he bought.
"What exactly is going on between you two?" the taller man reiterated.
"What do you mean?" Christian asked, shrugging.
Edge frowned, not liking the tack his brother had taken. It wasn't very convincing, as he didn't consider him a very good actor. He recalled various times when they'd been kids, when their mother had caught Christian in a lie - he'd never really been good at it, at least not in his eyes. Then again, he could read his younger brother like a book.
"What I mean," the Canadian began, his gaze firm as he fixed it on Christian, "is that Lita came here looking for you. She seemed absolutely terrified." Edge studied the other man's expression intently, searching for signs of a reaction to his words. "On top of that, she has a nasty-looking bruise along her jaw..."
"Does she?" Christian asked, a curious inflection in his voice.
"Yeah... Why is that, Christian?"
The smaller man met his sibling's gaze unwaveringly, his blue eyes unblinking as he spoke.
"I really don't know..."
Edge cocked his head to one side as he continued to search Christian's expression.
"Yeah? Well, you don't seem too concerned about it. She is your girlfriend, so I'd think you would."
"Hey - of course I'm concerned," the shorter blond snapped. He wondered what in hell was going on here, how much Lita might have blabbed to his brother. Damn the bitch for coming here...! She should have waited for him to go to her. And now, because of her stupidity, Edge was giving him looks of skepticism and putting him through the third degree because of her damn bruise. Shit, he should have made her cover it up with makeup before they'd come to the arena. Well, he'd never make that mistake again.
The tall blond man eyed him silently for another moment, then nodded.
"Good."
Christian stared at him with suspicion as he turned to go through some of his things. What was this all really about? He knew Edge had never cared for Lita, so what gave? He moved a bit closer to his brother, gesturing with both hands as he spoke.
"Since when do you care so much about my girlfriend, anyway?"
The other man glanced over his shoulder at him.
"I don't..." came the reply, though a nagging feeling tugged at Edge as he spoke. Something abut the stark fear on the diva's face, combined with the look of hopelessness in her hazel eyes made his answer to his brother's question a lie. He'd seen just how vulnerable the redhead was, and, as much as he'd always disliked her, oddly, he felt the urge and even need to protect her.
"You know how it is," the tall blond continuted. "Lita and I? We're natural enemies." He turned back to face forward as he sorted through his suitcase some more.
The moment Edge's eyes were averted from him, Christian grinned. Good... That was very
good. The last thing he needed was a meddlesome brother to have to deal with. Lita was
more than enough, and he intended to keep her in line - and keep her mouth shut.