Who Do You Love - Dean Ambrose

The Wicked Stepmother

Unsurprisingly Hunter's office was a hell of a lot better than the janitor had got and although it was bland and a little impersonal, the desk and seats and the leather made it work. It didn't just feel like a make-shift workplace, it felt like somewhere that housed the boss. Or in this case both of them, since Stephanie was there already, arms-folded and glaring like she wished I was dead. She probably did and I didn't really blame her. She had no reason – no reason whatsoever– to trust me and even less of a reason to be nice.

Hunter however seemed to be approaching things differently and as I froze on the threshold in obvious terror, he placed a hand on the small of my back, smiled reassuringly and guided me in,

"It's fine," he murmured, "We're just going to talk."

His touch wasn't quite as comforting as Dean's was and nor did it send electricity through my veins, but at least he wasn't shouting or staring daggers at me and that was more than a little relief. Especially since the same could not be said of Stephanie, who was already busy punching buttons on her phone.

"Steph," Hunter intoned warningly as he steered me into one of the seats. The leather was plush and I sunk down into it, relieved to be off my shaking feet, "What are you doing?"

My relief was short-lived.

"I'm calling the police Hunter,"

She was what?

My stomach flipped over and evidently so did Hunter's because he quickly skirted in around the desk and approached her, his hands up, like he was stalking a tiger.

"Steph – ,"

"I don't care who she says she is Hunter, she still broke in here, so I'm calling the police."

He reached out and took the phone from her gently before setting it down on the edge of the desk. I held my breath as her sharp eyes snapped up at him but to his credit he didn't even flinch and his steady gaze seemed to soften hers slightly. Then he took her hands in his,

"Sweetie, listen to me. I need you to hold off on that. I know she snuck in here and that wasn't a great start, but we need to discuss what's going on here, okay?"

"I already know what's going on here. This person – ," she gestured at me with disgust and I shrank back into the leather with a squeak, "Is pretending that she's your long-lost daughter and for some reason you're actually playing along. What the hell is wrong with you Hunter? Haven't we been through this before? Haven't you seen my father go through this? Over and over and over again? It's the same old story and there's never any truth in it. All anybody ever wants is money."

I blinked a little, startled,

"I don't want – ,"

"No," she shouted, stalking towards me, a finger outstretched, "You don't get to talk to me."

Luckily Hunter was there to catch her, wrapping an arm around her waist and gently propelling her several steps backwards while simultaneously drawing the attention his way.

"Steph – ,"

"What?"

Her husband sighed heavily,