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Adam hadn't said much as they'd made their way back home, and instead of talking, he concentrated on the road and on his driving. It had been a long, tedious ride, and she wished they could have taken a plane, but due to her pregnancy, her doctor had advised against that.
Amy glanced at her husband silently, her head swarming with questions. He obviously didn't want to talk, and so, she didn't press him. But what had happened earlier that night, when Adam had gone to Eric Bischoff's office? He hadn't told her a thing, and she was beginning to think that was unfair. Surely, he *had* to know she was practically dying of curiosity by now.
As they finally arrived back to Tampa, the redhead straightened up in her seat from her slumped position. She was tired and had to pee, but she was beginning to get upset. Thankfully, they were almost home.
The blond man remained eerily, uncharacteristically silent as he turned the car up their street, quickly reaching their house. He pulled the vehicle into the driveway, parked methodically and then undid his seatbelt and exited. As Amy left the passenger's side, Adam retrieved their belongings from the trunk. He couldn't stop thinking about it, about the conversation he'd had with the RAW General Manager earlier that night. His head was pretty much buzzing with the memory of it.
'I want this storyline to end - *soon*,' he said firmly, his voice unwavering as he glared down into the little twerp's beady eyes. He didn't give a damn about any threats Bischoff might hurl his way - not this time.
Eric merely laughed mockingly. After a full minute, he shook his head and responded.
'I'm afraid it's not going to work that way, Adam... Let's just say your wife made a deal with the devil, so to speak...'
The Canadian had to refrain from sarcastic laughter. Bischoff was likening himself to "the devil," when, in reality, the General Manager was nothing short of a pesky fly buzzing around their lives and careers.
'I don't give a shit about what you say,' he muttered. 'There is no way in *hell* I'm going to allow you to play with my wife like this and keep her in this storyline with Hardy through her entire pregnancy!'
'Shut up, Copeland!' Eric suddenly shouted. He even pointed a finger right in the blond man's angry face. 'You want to play hardball with me?' He laughed evilly before continuing. 'You don't want to do that... No... You don't know who you're messing with. Remember me? Hmm?' Bischoff waved a hand in front of Adam's face as though he wasn't looking at him. 'I'm Eric Bischoff... I was at one time the President of WCW? Are you familiar with my history at that company?'
'Yeah,' the tall blond man replied with disgust, 'you ran that place into the ground.'
The GM scowled at the younger man but went on, a grin slowly spreading on his face.
'I'm the man who fired guys like you when they were injured - via FedEx. I got rid of the deadweight and all the troublemakers, and I did it when they were out with unfortunate injuries.'
Adam's frown deepened as he caught the man's meaning crystal clear. Since he'd been back - or about to be back after his neck injury, he definitely seemed pretty injury-prone. Obviously, Eric Bischoff was issuing a not-so-veiled threat. Hell... One thing he definitely *didn't* want to happen was to lose his job. The fucking bastard... He knew Eric would make good on his promise, too. He wondered if he could go over the General Manager's head and just talk to Vince McMahon. The Chairman of the WWE couldn't possibly know about Bischoff's tyranny. If he did, the man probably wouldn't have a job.
Amy seemed to linger off to the side as he tugged both their luggage toward the door. He gave her a sideways glance as he released the handle of his wheeled suitcase to reach for his keys. Inside, Luger and Branny were going nuts, but he knew a friend of theirs from a few doors down had taken good care of them while they'd been gone.
The moment Adam had the door unlocked, the redhead shouldered past him, the dogs jumping up on her. She winced and didn't speak a word to her husband as she made a brisk beeline for the living room. Once there, she plopped herself down on the couch and slid her shoes off.
Adam lugged their bags inside, all the while trying to keep Branny in the house with one of his long legs. The tiny poodle was jumping up on him, excited he was home. He pulled the luggage into the hallway just outside the living room, his gaze traveling over to Amy. She was seated on the couch, her shoes off and near her feet, Luger sitting before her, his burly head in her lap. She was absently stroking the dog's head while her own head was down.
He frowned. She looked upset, lost in whatever thoughts were running through her mind. He supposed it was the usual stuff, but he decided to go to her and offer her some comfort. Abandoning the bags, he strolled directly to her, and Branny barked as he chased at his heels.
"Ames?" He stopped when he was standing directly over her, his gaze soft as he fixed it on her.
She didn't look up, just continued stroking Luger's head and ears.
Adam couldn't even get a good look at her expression. However, he sensed that she was saddened about something.
"Amy? Look at me."
"Leave me alone, Adam," she murmured, looking up into his face. He winced at the look in her eyes. He'd been wrong - she didn't appear to be sad after all, but angry. He wondered why.
"What?" He sighed and knelt down before her, his hand coming up to lay on her knee. "What's wrong? Talk to me, baby."
She eyed him again, only this time all the hurt was clearly evident in her hazel orbs.
"What's wrong?" she echoed. "What's wrong? Adam, you didn't say one word to me the entire ride home, and you ask me what's wrong?" Angrily, hurt, she shook her head and shook him off, rising from the couch to leave and go to the bedroom. All she wanted to do was go to the bathroom, get washed up and ready for bed, anyhow.
The tall blond man stood back up, turning around in time to catch her hurrying down the hall. He mentally cursed himself as he started to follow her.
"Amy... Come on. Just because I wasn't talkative - that *can't* be the reason you're so upset!" But then, as soon as the words left his lips, he regretted them. After all, the redhead was pregnant. Her hormones were doing a number on her on a daily basis to the point that she would cry over anything. It didn't *bother* him, but it threw him off at times because her emotions could be so unpredictable these days. He felt rotten as he made his way to her in the master bedroom.
He found her lying on her side on her side of their bed, her back toward him. He found it almost hard to believe he was actually in the doghouse just for his silence during their trip home, but damn it, he was going to make it up to her.
Slowly, he entered the room, his gaze never leaving her, and sat down on the edge of the bed. Silently, he removed his shoes, then slid over, moving closer to her body and putting his arms around her form. He cuddled and spooned against her comfortably, noting with dismay the way she stiffened for a beat. Thankfully, she relaxed again pretty quickly.
"Come on, Amy Copeland... Talk to me. What's bothering you?" He pressed his cheek against hers, nuzzling her affectionately.
Amy's breath caught in her throat at the gesture, the emotions doing battle inside of her. She was angry and upset, but the feel of his warm breath on her cheek was getting to her. She could almost feel the tears coming. She sighed and finally spoke.
"Why won't you talk to me?"
"Honey, I talk to you," the blond man protested. He ran his hand gently up and down her arm in a soothing manner.
She pulled out of his embrace and pushed herself to a slightly sitting position, turning somewhat to look up into his handsome but perplexed face.
"That's not what I mean," she said with a small pout. "Why didn't you talk to me tonight? About what happened when you went to talk to Eric... Damn it, Adam, I have a right to *know*. It affects me, and even if it doesn't, you're my husband, so it *still* affects me."
The Canadian sat up a little, his nerves now gripping him. He raked a hand through his long golden hair and tried to avoid her beautiful eyes.
"*That's* why you're upset?" Inwardly, he was feeling nervous. Damn it, he didn't want to have to tell her about this - especially now.
"Yeah," she said, a look of hurt so evident in her eyes that it hurt his heart. "Why won't you tell me what happened?"
He swallowed hard, feeling strangely guilty.
"Amy..." He sighed as he reached for her, but she pulled away. He knew he had no choice but to tell her the truth. "... Okay. I didn't want to upset you, but..." He ran his hand through his hair again and continued. "... Bischoff threatened my job."
Amy's eyes filled with alarm.
"Again?"
"Yeah,again... Only this time, he said that if you didn't do this, and should I get injured, he would FedEx me my walking papers." He grew angry just remembering this, but it was even worse verbalizing it to his already emotional, pregnant wife.
"That bastard!" She grew suddenly furious, her soft features hardening at his words. Just as quickly as that fierce anger came, the tears started.
"Aww, baby... See, this is why I didn't want to tell you," Adam said softly, his hands gentle as they reached for her. He pulled her to him and held her in his arms, laying them both back down. Her head was suddenly on his chest, and he could feel her tears moistening his shirt. "Shh... I love you."
Amy melted against him, and any resolve she'd previously felt began slipping away. She cuddled against him, shifting slightly to raise enough to gaze down into his eyes, the emotion still getting the better of her. God, she loved him. She lowered herself so that her face was just hovering above his, and she whispered her emotion-filled response.
"I love you, too." Then, she touched her lips to his, kissing him gently at first but then grew more passionate and even demanding. She felt almost relieved as he instantly responded, one of his arms banding around her, his other hand coming up to press gently against her cheek, wiping away her tears and then sliding into her hair as they kissed.
Adam suddenly strained as she raised her head from his, words softly bubbling from her lips. He was filled with the fiercest tenderness as he listened to her.
"Adam... Make love to me."
He pulled her back down to him, more than happy to oblige. Their lips met again.