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Sean O'Haire sat in his hotel room, trying his darndest to relax, but found himself restless instead.
He was trying to watch a movie on the cable, but he realized that he hadn't been paying attention at all. Every few minutes or so, he would focus on the picture and realize he had no idea of what was going on...
He knew why he was so distracted, too - Stephanie...
The brunette had seemed so distraught over her situation, and who wouldn't be, in her shoes? For crissakes, her own father didn't give much concern for her plight, as the young woman had explained that Vince McMahon cared only about what was good for business. The man honestly believed that Stephanie marrying Paul Levesque would be good for the company.
He scoffed at the memory of the brunette telling him that. Oh, sure, she'd assured him that Vince was in no way forcing her to marry Levesque - on the contrary, the WWE Chairman had been dead-set against the relationship in the beginning - but he didn't care to help her. Instead, Mr. McMahon had told his 'little girl' that she was on her own in that department.
Sean felt his hands involuntarily clench into fists. He'd always suspected that Vince was a prick...
The muscular man pushed aside all thoughts of the McMahon patriarch. The person on his mind the most was Stephanie. She'd been so unhappy for the longest time, but he'd seen her the opposite over the course of the week, since he'd begun spending time with her. Their time together wasn't very long in any given day, but it was nice, comfortable - and O'Haire looked forward to it...
In fact, he wanted more of it. He definitely wanted to spend even more time with Stephanie McMahon. She was a kind, warm, beautiful and sensitive woman... And he was beginning to realize that over this week, ever since he'd found her crying in her office, he'd developed some tender feelings toward her...
Damn it... He'd never fallen for a woman so quickly, much less for one who was already in a relationship - albeit a bad one.
Sean raked a hand through his nearly shoulder-length hair and sighed. He was debating with himself whether or not to call her... He supposed she was probably okay, but his gut was telling him to call...
After another moment of pondering, Sean made up his mind. Reaching over to the nightstand for his cell phone, he pressed the couple of buttons that would ring Stephanie's own cellular device. He only hoped she would answer...
*
Stephanie's blue eyes widened in fright as she stared up at Paul, who held one hand tightly to her throat.
"Who the fuck is he? Huh?!"
The terrified brunette could do nothing but shake her head, as she couldn't speak with her throat being constricted as it was. She was beginning to suffocate, and she flailed her arms weakly against Levesque's arms in a feeble attempt to free herself.
All of a sudden, her cell phone, which was sitting on the nearby coffee table, began to ring. Paul released his hold on his fiancee, and, in hasty suspicion, turned his attention to it, snatchig it up. As Stephanie clutched at her throat and gasped breaths of blessed air, the burly man stared at the number displayed on the cell's caller I.D. She couldn't help but feel grateful toward whomever was trying to reach her, as that person might very well have saved her life!
Levesque, still furious, actually answered the call.
"Who the hell is this?! She can't come to the phone right now!" he barked, enraged. In his mind, the caller was the bastard who Stephanie was messing with.
After a second's worth of a pause, Paul yelled again.
"Hello?! Who the fuck are you?!"
There was no response on the other end.
"Whoever you are, I'm warning you - stay away from Stephanie!"
The brunette stared at him, terror consuming her very soul. She was actually shaking... And then, Paul hurled her cell phone to the floor - it would be a miracle if it wasn't broken - and turned to her again.
"Consider yourself warned as well, you ungrateful little bitch..." With that, he turned on his heel and headed for the door.
Stephanie stood in her tracks, shaking nearly uncontrollably for a moment after he was gone. Then, gathering herself, she rushed over to where Paul had tossed her phone. She had to check the number...
Her blue eyes filled with tears as she recognized the number of Sean O'Haire's cell phone...