CHAPTER EIGHT

"Oh damn…" Lamika groaned, turning around and lighting up a cigarette, working her way towards an early death. "Um… so, where is it we're uh, heading?"

"Houston." David answered, pulling out some clothes. "That's where my show is broadcasting next. You'll see what I do for a living, maybe you've even heard of me and just don't recognize me." He snorted at that thought before pulling on a white beater, dropping the towel and slipping on a pair of blue jeans.

"You said you're a wrestler and I don't watch wrestling." She glanced over her shoulder and quickly turned back around. "You're not shy are you?" Lamika demanded edgily. "The only thing I know about you besides you have a penchant for violence, which the same for me so I'm not knocking you, is who you used… ah… the Leviathan bit."

"Hey, we agreed to let bygones be bygones. Therefore, I feel I should inform you on what I do for a living…" He trailed off, pulling out a gold belt from the bottom of his bag and passed it to her. "I'm a professional wrestler for the WWE and I'm the champion on the brand, show, that I wrestle for. Make sense so far?"

"Not really, no." Lamika admitted, staring at the belt. She cocked her head to the side again. "Wrestling is like fighting and you're the champion because you're the best?"

"Kinda. But it's mostly scripted so we don't get too hurt, even though that doesn't help much. It still hurts like a bitch." David sighed heavily as he raked a hand through his hair, knowing she didn't have a clue what he was talking about and smiled. "You'll see what I mean tomorrow when we go to the show."

"To the show? Wait, you mean I have to go with you? Erm, how is that going to work out?" She demanded, staring at him. She placed her hands on her hips, sighing when the material bunched up, feeling like a damn child in his shirt, it freaking floated on her.

"You'll be backstage with me and you'll stay in my dressing room while I go out to do my thing. Seriously, you need to relax Mika. Nobody is going to hurt you. You can even lock the door if you feel uncomfortable."

She watched as he sorted through his bag again, arching an eyebrow when he held up a tape.

"Watch this." After popping the tape in the VCR, David pulled her down onto the bed with him, planting her right on his lap.

Lamika was at first uncomfortable on his lap but quickly got immersed in the wrestling, grinning a lot because even though he said it was scripted, some of it looked like street brawling to her. "Awww kill him!" She shouted, tossing her lighter at the screen.

When the tape ended she turned on his lap to stare up at him. "That's it?" Lamika sounded disappointed before remembering something. "And by the way, I'm not worried about anybody hurting me, I can handle myself usually." She looked pointedly at his charred chair. "So that's wrestling huh? Wicked."

"You like?" He asked, ignoring her other comments and smiled when she nodded. "If you want, I can get you a ringside seat tomorrow night."

"Really?" Her blue eyes lit up, a wicked smile on her lips. "That'd be awesome. Man, I think you might've hooked me…" Groaning, Lamika buried her face against his chest, lightly smacking his shoulder with her hand. "Thanks." She giggled.

David groaned, but it wasn't because she smacked him. It was because of her hot breath against his skin but he managed to stifle it. "No problem. I'm glad to hook another one." He was referring to his fans, running his hands up and down her sides while she smoked another cigarette. "You have to behave out there though. You can't be jumping the barricade or any of that shit, understood?"

"Oh now that's no fun." Lamika teased, stubbing out the cigarette in an empty glass. "I already knew that David, chill out. I promise, I'll sit there and be as quiet as a mouse." She raised her right hand, crossing her heart with the left, blue eyes glinting mischievously. "Promise."

"You don't gotta be quiet, just behave." He chuckled softly, seeing the evil glint in her eyes and started to wonder if Vince would be interested in her.

***********

"Okay, we're done!" Lamika exclaimed as they walked out of the sixth store. David had dragged her all over the city, insisting she have a new wardrobe, which was a good thing since she had no clothes, a bad thing since the man was a shop-a-holic. She'd wound up with clothes she normally wouldn't have looked twice at, a lot of things she didn't think would be appropriate for her to wear in David's company. Mainly because they showed off her numerous scars and tattoos. He didn't seem to care though.

"Don't you have to be heading off to wherever it is ya gotta be anyway?" Distraction tactic but oh well, she wasn't sure if she could handle anymore shopping.

"Nope, we leave tomorrow. The show got pushed back." David informed her with a smile, knowing she wasn't about to let him drag her into one more store. "I'm starving, let's grab some food and head back to the hotel. I got some more tapes for you to watch and another bottle of Jack."

Once back at the hotel, Lamika kicked off her new shoes and snatched the food away from David, giggling when he growled. She quickly laid it out before getting to work on hers, starving beyond belief. "Shopping is harder then doing a job… At least on a job I got a weapon to fend off morons." She said thoughtfully, licking her fingers before lighting up the last cigarette in her pack.

"We need to talk about that smoking." David announced suddenly, setting his fork down and looking at her with a raised eyebrow. "I don't want you smoking anymore, at least until this is finished. No offense, but I hate the smell and they make me physically sick."

Lamika sighed painfully, studying her cigarette before taking another drag off of it. "You're in luck, this is my last one." She said finally, mentally adding 'from this pack'. She was quiet as she finished it, stubbing it out in what was left of her meal before gathering up her personal items and disappearing into the bathroom. When she came back out, she was freshly showered, teeth brushed and wearing a light body spray. "There, now I don't smell like an ashtray, happy?"

"Very." David said with a smile, extending his hand to her and pulled her down onto the bed by her wrist when she refused to take it. He moved her down between his legs, leaning back against the headboard. He wrapped his arms around her and pressed play on the VCR. "Here."

Lamika took the glass of JD he offered, at first tensing against him but once the wrestling got underway she relaxed, somewhat. "You got your ass handed to you!" She exclaimed, watching one of his matches, wincing when he was met with a chair to the head. "Okay… you said scripted right? Did that hurt or was the chair some kinda prop?" Lamika tilted her head back to look up at him, taking another sip of her drink.

"I told you, it's scripted but that doesn't mean what happens don't hurt." David leaned forward, showing her the fine scar on his forehead and sighed when she frowned. He didn't say anything, just leaned back and watched the tape, pausing it for a moment. "That man you see me wrestling is called Kane. When we get on the road, you need to stay away from him. He's not like the others. Understand?"

Tapping her chin thoughtfully, Lamika frowned again, watching Kane. Her eyes widened when she seen what he was doing. "Oh fuck, he's scary." She muttered, shivering and leaning back against David, pulling his arms tighter around her, finishing off her drink and resting the cup between her legs. "What do you mean he's not like the others? And what's with the fire shit?"

"That's just it. He likes setting people on fire, in and OUT of the fire. He's not right in the head, but my boss seems to think he has potential. That and he's been in the business for a long time." He sighed, closing his eyes for a second, holding her tighter when she shivered again. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you Mika, I promise. You just stay away from him, clear of his path and you'll be fine. I'll beat his ass if he comes near you."

"I'm pretty handy with fire myself. Don'tcha worry, I'll steer clear." She promised, turning her attention back to the television. Kane slipped her mind as she got immersed again, wiggling out of his arms to lay at the end of the bed on her stomach, laughing her ass off. "Oh my god… he walked right into it!"

She groaned when the tape ended, reluctantly pushing herself off of the bed. She sorted through the tapes he had, looking at the dates before popping in the next one, refilling both their glasses before settling back down again, this time on the floor.

"You're really hooked on this shit, aren't ya?" David asked, amusement clearly shining in his eyes. He watched her facial expression as the Hell In A Cell match played, knowing he wasn't in this match but also knew she'd love the brutality and violence it held. David shuddered, never having been in that match, but knew it was coming slowly but surely.