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Lita swallowed hard as she stared at her good friend and co-worker from The Stop.
Dawn Marie was married to Christian... They were husband and wife - all this horrible stuff had happened to Christian, and the brunette had never let on a thing. She'd gone to work like normal and had basically acted as though her husband were a perfect stranger - or at least no more than an occasional acquaintence.
"I don't...I can't believe this!" the redhead exclaimed as she regarded the other woman. "You're his what?
Dawn Marie eyed Lita silently. Her facial expression remained morose, and perhaps even a little bit ashamed.
"Why didn't you tell anyone? Why didn't you at least tell me? She was feeling hurt, as she'd considered the other woman and herself to be pretty damn good friends in the last year or so they'd known one another.
"We had to keep it a secret..." Dawn finally spoke. "I'm sorry, Lita...It wasn't meant to be kept from you..."
"But why?" The redhead couldn't comprehend such a thing. All she knew was that if she was married and deeply in love, she would want the entire world to know it.
"I can answer that one for you," Christian said. He exchanged glances with his wife, who looked more than a little worried. In fact, she looked downright terrified. "We had to hide it from Dawn's ex-boyfriend..."
All of the fine hairs on the back of Lita's neck suddenly stood erect and alive. Her mouth also went dry as she realized the implications of what the man had just said.
"Her ex-boyfriend...?" Instinctively, Lita knew Christian could only be referring to one person, and one person only...
...Edge.
All of a sudden, the redhead understood - to an extent. Edge had been sitting at a table at the diner the previous night - that had been around the same time Dawn Marie had been acting so nervous and scared. And then it hit her like a ton of bricks - was it possible that the tall, mysterious blond man was stalking the brunette? Dear God... Lita couldn't help but wonder what on earth had gone on between the two of them.
"Lita..." Dawn was saying, her voice taking on a slightly pleading quality by now, and the redhead glanced over into her friend's brown eyes as she felt Dawn take her hand. There was a beseeching quality in the other woman's face, her expression appearing haunted. "Please, Lita...I'm sorry I kept this from you. We're friends - good friends. I was just thinking about our safety..." She glanced from the redhead to her husband, then back again.
"Okay..." the younger woman responded, a nagging feeling inside of her. She had about a million questions to ask, but she bit her tongue, as she felt this was not exactly the time or the place. After all, Christian was in the hospital after having been brutally attacked.
Lita just didn't get it... Even if Edge had been Dawn Marie's boyfriend, and even if he still loved her and was jealous and still wanted her, he just didn't strike her as being the type of guy who would wreak such havoc. On the other hand, the redhead really didn't know him.
"Lita, please...whatever you do, please - keep this between us, okay?" Dawn was asking, the pleading quality again present in her voice - and in her eyes this time as well.
The redhead eyed her good friend silently for a beat, a myriad of emotions doing battle inside of her. Suddenly, she couldn't get the image of Edge's exceptionally and sharply handsome face out of her mind. Damn it, but she had to find out what the deal was with him...
"Okay...I promise to keep it between us..." she finally replied. Inwardly, she
thought about the next step she would take in doing her own personal investigation
of Edge. And what Dawn Marie and Christian didn't know wouldn't hurt them - she would
make certain of it...