Chapter 2

"That ridiculous Shane, we are not doing two Diva Bikini matches on one show." Stephanie told her brother as they did a final run thru of tonight's show.

"Why not Steph? The fans want to see it. We all know gimmick matches sell tickets." Shane replied growing frustrated with his sister by the minute.

"No, fans want to see wrestlers doing what they do best...wrestle. Gimmick matches are for men and women who don't have skill in the ring and need gimmicks to entertain the audience. You should know, you're whole career is based on gimmick matches Shane." Stephanie said with a smirk.

Paul sat just watching Stephanie and Shane squabble...again. Now that Vince was gone he knew it would only get worse. It was actually quite amusing to watch the two at first, but now he was growing tired of it. There was a business to run and he along with the wrestlers under WWE contract didn't have time for their backstage dramatics.

"Why you little bitch." Shane sneered as he moved over to Stephanie, aggressively eyeing her.

Paul got up immediately and intervened.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa tough guy. I think you owe Steph an apology." Paul demanded as he placed a hand on Shane's chest to make sure he got no closer to Stephanie.

"Whatever Paul. I see how it's going to be now right, two against one?" Shane said. "Well Paul, sorry buddy but you're still just a wrestler. As far as I'm concerned I can fire you anytime I want." Shane threatened.

Paul rolled his eyes.

"Okay Junior, fire me. And while you're trying to grow a pair of balls to do it, i'll be out here getting ready for the show." Paul said as he looked at both Shane and Stephanie and simply shook his head and left.

"Fuck him, who does he think he is?" Shane spat.

"My husband." Stephanie replied defensively.

Looking up at the clock Stephanie noticed it was getting close to show time. They had to finalize the Raw card now or risk chasing their tails the entire show.

"Listen, I'll give you one bikini match Shane, but that's it." Stephanie conceded.

Shane smiled to himself. Although he wanted two bikini matches, he had at least manipulated and whined his way into getting one. In his mind that was better than nothing.

"See Steph, that wasn't so hard now was it?" Shane asked as his features softened while mocking his sister.

While Stephanie watched Shane leave, she could feel the nerves now growing deep in the pit of her stomach. A lot of eyes were on here now and she was more than aware that there were thousands of her critics just hoping she would fail. It was a shame that her very own brother was one of them.

"Yo, Steph, you okay." John Cena asked as he entered the room.

He had come to ask Stephanie about changing his promo a bit, but upon seeing her noticed she held a hand to her stomach as if she was coming down with something.

"It's nothing John." She replied. The last thing she wanted to do was let any of her Superstars see how the pressure was getting to her. She was a McMahon and had to keep her cool at all times. Especially when Shane was out there doing what ever he was doing without a care in the world. Of course he had conveniently kept himself out of any of the tough decision making for the past several years, so why should he be nervous? As far as the public was concerned, Shane was full of great ideas. It's just no one had ever actually seen them.

"Okay then." John replied. Although he had come to discuss the show, he could tell that Steph needed some time to herself and was more nervous than he had ever seen her before, regardless of how much she tried to hide it. His ideas could wait. "Listen, I saw the lineup. I think it's going to be a great show." He told her with a wink and then turned to leave.

As Stephanie watched him go a smile came across her face. John had just given her the small boost of confidence that she needed. God forbid it actually come from Shane or Paul, but she would take it. As she walked out the door to face some of her biggest doubters, the wrestlers themselves, she held her head high with confidence and determination.

OOoooooooooooOOOOO

Paul paced back and forth running a hand through his hair. He worried about the state of WWE programming with Vince now out of the picture and Shane and Stephanie bitching at each other all the time. Their sibling rivalry would be the death of this business he thought to himself.

"Hey man, what's up?" Shawn Michaels asked of his old friend. "You looked stressed."

"You noticed huh?" Paul replied sarcastically.

Shawn shrugged his shoulders. Both he and Paul had been through "battle" together in this business for years. They've seen the ups and downs, the politics, lost a lot of friends, been praised and hated all in the same breath. If there were two guys that knew wrestling and the business, it was them.

"I don't think I can handle much more of McMahon sibling bickering. I just want to take care of the show. Vince must be rolling in his grave right now." Paul remarked causing Shawn to laugh under his breath. The whole thought of Vince rolling in his grave somehow brought a smile to his face.

"Listen man, don't sweat it. You're Triple H, The Cerebral Assassin, The Game. You don't take shit from no one, especially not two little spoiled rich kids in way over their heads. Who do you think the guys backstage are going to listen to, you or Mickey and Minnie?" Shawn asked.

Paul thought about what Shawn said and he was right. The WWE didn't have to be at the complete mercy of Shane and Stephanie. Paul had a lot of pull backstage of his own. Sure he didn't have the stock options or the fancy titles, but the guys respected him, AND he knew the business just about better than anyone. He'd be damned if he'd just stand by and watch it all go to hell.

"You know Shawn, you're right. How about me and you change some things around here?" Paul asked with a crooked grin on his face.

oooOOOOOoooooOOOOOooooooooo

While Stephanie was busy keeping a close eye of the show and how well the audience was reacting, Shane had managed to take control of the one part of the show he booked himself...the bikini match. First on his agenda was to make sure Melina and her opponent Candice were ready and looking hot.

"Hi ladies." He said as he walked up to where they were both warming up. Candice smiled at the elder McMahon but then went back to stretching. She wanted to be taken seriously as a wrestler and wasn't pleased at all with the booking. Regardless, she had a job to do. She only hoped it would continue to pay off.

"Hi Shane." Melina replied, stopping what she was doing and practically cooing at the Heir Apparent.

"Well." Shane said as his eyes trailed all over her body. "How about you turn for me so I can make sure there's no wardrobe malfunctions." He suggested and Melina was all too willing to service him.

As she slowly spun around so that Shane could check out her ass, Candice looked over at the two on the verge of throwing up. It was disgusting how obvious Melina was being. If she wasn't there, Candice was sure Melina and Shane would have been ripping each other's clothes of and doing it on the hard cement floor.

"Nice" Shane grinned and then turned to Candice. "Okay Candice, how about you?" He asked, assuming she would be just as accommodating as Melina was. He was really staring to enjoy this whole "power" thing.

"Um, I'm fine Shane really. Isn't our match about to start?" Candice asked nervously and then dashed away as quick as she could.

Shane and Melina laughed at her uneasiness.

"By the way Melina, I'll be backstage every week now that, well, you know." Shane said trying to gain her sympathy over Vince's presumed death.

"I know Shane. I'm so sorry. You must be hurting inside so bad." Melina replied as she walked up to Shane and flirtatiously ran her forefinger over his broad chest, stopping to straighten his tie.

"Yeah, well, you can't grieve forever. Maybe after the show you can help me take my mind off things." Shane suggested as his arm now snaked around Melina's body until his hand was running up and down the outside of her thigh.

Before they knew it, both were now leaning into one another to taste each other's tongues. That was until...

"Cough, cough."

"What the?" Shane blurted, startled by the fact that they had been caught. "Paul? What's up?" He asked, stepping away from Melina and clearing his throat.

"Uh, we have a show to run lover boy." Paul responded, not amused at all by the way Shane was taking liberties with the divas.

"We? Who's we? You mean Steph and I. Remember who you are Paul." Shane replied, now trying to wield his power around in an effort to impress the young woman he would surely have in the sack by the end of the night.

Paul rolled his eyes. What he wouldn't give to just knock the teeth out of the obviously delirious Shane McMahon.

"Okay, Shane O. When you're done swapping spit with the young Melina here, then Stephanie needs you in control room A." Paul grumbled and then left.

As soon as Paul was gone, Shane looked down at the dark haired diva, shaking his head.

"What an asshole, huh." He snorted and then left.

A/N: Thank you to all who read and reviewed the last chapter. I really appreciate it! I've got some interesting plans for Stephanie, John and Paul that some of you may not expect. Stay tuned!