What Lies Beneath

What Lies Beneath 21-24

~ADULT CONTENT, LANGUAGE, VIOLENCE~

Part 21

Joe raised his hand to brush a strand of hair that had escaped her braid. Victoria cringed stepping back from him.

Joe sighed looking down at the floor then back up to her lowered lashes. "Please don't be afraid of me luv. I never meant to hurt you. You just made me so angry. If you hadn't been late, I wouldn't have gotten so angry and shoved you."

Victoria bit her lower lip, the tears spilling fourth not resisting when Joe wrapped his arms around her body. Sobbing into his shoulder, she felt defenseless against his words and his soft touch.

"Sssh now. Everything is alright. Things will work out, you'll see." He patted her back gently as if soothing a small child and rocked her back and fourth in his arms.

He pulled her away from him and brushed the tears from her eyes. "You had better dry those tears luv and go to work. I need to work on some songs since the tour is coming up soon."

Lowering his lips to hers, he drew her into a deep kiss, gently nibbling her lower lip into his mouth and traced the outer edges of his tongue with hers before breaking the embrace and smiling softly at her. "See you tonight luv."

Joe left the room and Victoria stood there shaking torn between loving him and being terrified of him. Standing there what seemed like forever, Victoria finally got the strength to go to work but throughout the day she kept seeing the coldness in Joe's eyes when he had shoved her then a complete change the next morning as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

Joe was going over some sheet music when Sav appeared in the doorway. He looked up and smiled softly at his mate.

"Come on in, I was just going through what we've already done. Are the rest of the guys on their way?" Going back to the music, he made some notes in the margins and then set them aside.

"Yes, they should be here shortly. How does it look?" Sav picked up the sheet Joe had been holding and scanned it.

Part 22

"Looks great Sav If you notice, I made a couple of minor changes and noted that the tempo in the verse needs to be slowed a bit. It sounded as if we were rushing it." Joe said pointing to the second verse.

"Hey Joe, Sav, we finally made it no thanks to Viv getting pulled over for speeding." Phil laughed.

Joe chuckled softly shaking his head. "How many does that make you Viv? Jewels is going to flip when she hears about it you know?"

"Bloody right. She's going to kick my ass. This makes the fourth one in a month. I can't help it if I like to put my viper through the paces. That road we always use, is just perfect for opening her up and showing what she's got." Viv grinned.

"Jewels is going to show you what she's got. You will be sleeping in the guest room for a month." Phil snickered.

"That is why I am not going to tell her. So you clowns better not tell her either." Viv warned firmly.

"She won't get it out of me, UNLESS..." Sav teased.

"Savage, not if you want to drive my baby like I promised you." Viv laughed.

"My lips are sealed then." Sav had been begging Viv to let him drive it since he brought it home two months ago but Viv practically insisted on references before letting anyone even touch it, let alone drive it.

"Alright, let's get to work. You guys can talk about the car later." Joe shuffled the sheet music together and stood in front of the mic waiting for the guys to start.

Part 23

Victoria looked at the clock that said 5:00 p.m. and for the first time in the years she had known Joe she didn't want to go home. A knot formed in the pit of her stomach at the thought of facing him.

He had been so angry lately and she had no idea where this was coming from. Perhaps her work was putting a strain on their marriage but she never complained when Joe was on the road 18 months at a time when on tour. Of course touring only happened once every three years but she had always supported him.

Sighing she shut off her laptop and slid it into its case before gathering her keys and briefcase before locking the door behind her.

"Fucking wonderful." Victoria cursed stepping on the brakes as she drove through downtown at the beginning of rush hour.

This would make her late getting home and she still had to stop at the market to pick up some milk and bread. Traffic was bumper to bumper and she only progressed what seemed like an inch at a time.

Deciding she would be here for awhile she reached for the dial on the CD player and turned on the radio.

Humming softly to Aerosmith's Just Push Play, she nearly jumped out of her skin when her cell rang. Turning the music off, she pulled it to her ear.

"Hello." The light ahead of her turned green and she was finally able to move faster as the cars in front of her turned down the next street.

"Hey baby. I'm sorry about last night. Please let me make it up to you and take you out for dinner. We can go out to that little restaurant you like so much."

Victoria felt her heart stop and she swallowed feeling her mouth go dry. "Sure Joe. That sounds nice." Victoria felt unsure as to whether she was agreeing to keep from further angering him or that she really did want to try and work things out but what they had to work out was still a mystery.

Part 24

"That's great luv. Will you be here soon?" Joe asked sweetly.

"I should be home in about ten minutes. Traffic is a real bear today." Victoria laughed half heartedly.

"Great, I will shower and change and when you get here, we can go. I love you baby." He hung up before she could reply that she loved him too. Placing her cell back into purse, she took the next exit and pulled off onto the next street.

Before she could turn the knob of the door, Joe opened it greeting her with a beautiful bouquet of lily's that were purple and white. Victoria took them from him inhaling the fragrance and smiled.

"Thank you Joe. They're beautiful." Joe collected her in his arms and kissed her tenderly.

"I'm sorry I was such an ass. Forgive me?" Victoria smiled stiffly and could only nod her head in agreement.

"Good, go get dressed. I'll wait in the car. Don't be too long, I'm starved." Patting her behind he set off for the garage and she quickly went upstairs to choose a dress.

Victoria decided on the black chiffon that covered her mostly but still looked sexy and a pair of black strap sandals. Joe liked the dress and she often wore it to parties they attended.

Gingerly sitting down in the seat next to Joe she smiled softly and shut the door.

"All set luv?" Joe backed out of the driveway and flipped on the radio. An awkward silence fell between them and Victoria pretended to be interested in the scenery that passed them by as they took the curves through the back roads of Dublin.

Joe reached over with his hand and stroked her thigh as he looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "I've been doing some thinking. Perhaps you could get some time off when the tour begins and go with me.