The Reaper Saga [Book 1-3]

CHECKMATE

"Marry me?"

I couldn't believe what was happening. Lex, the man who always played games to get everything he wanted now was on his knees, begging for me to say yes.

"Emie, please say something." I wanted to laugh. Should I enjoy his misery that much? But he did hurt me, didn't he?

"I honestly don't know what to say." I answered with a polite smile on my face. "Will you-just stand up?"

He nodded, running his fingers through his dark curls. His once long hair now only came up to his ears, courtesy of my sister's anger. I would never admit it to him but he looked even better with it. I waited for a few seconds before taking a deep breath. "Lex, I appreciate what you are saying but too much has been said already that it's hard for me to believe anything you say now. Can I give you an answer in the morning? I need to process this first."

"Yeah, sure." Lex said eagerly, his expression wavering a little. "Take your time. I-I will wait for you. "

I didn't know what to say but I had to know one thing. "Did you ever loved me? I mean before."

His fingers clutched his cuff links for dear life as he struggled to open his mouth. "I wouldn't be this selfish if I didn't."

Hiding my shock, I kept walking until there was a voice shouting for me to stop. But it wasn't Lex. It was a very anxious-looking Zed. 

"Zed, What is it?" I demanded, thinking of all the worst-case scenarios I could conjure but he broke into a smile as soon as he heard me. 

"Oh, thanks to the devil, you're alright."

Puzzled, I could only stare. "Why wouldn't I be? Zedkiel?" 

"I saw Lex trailing after you. I was...worried." He flinched as if he should not have said it. "I mean I know you two were thinking of patching up or whatever but I just wanted to be sure that he hadn't lost it right in front of you."

The brief hint of worry in his voice had me smile. 

"Why are you smiling?" He frowned.

"You don't have to worry about us all the time, ok? I know you were upset about everything that happened recently. We needed that talk anyway." And thinking about it again was enough for me to lose the smile. 

"Oh." He nodded, still wary of my change of expressions. "So, what did you talk about?"

"He apologized for everything. Then he told me that he loves me."

His eyes widened, and lo behold, I wasn't ready when he started shaking my shoulder in a joking manner. "Oh, Emie...how much have you had to drink?" 

I wasn't expecting any better reaction but for him to think that I imagined it all was enough to let me know just how ridiculous the situation was. Lex didn't love anyone, not even himself. So I had to swallow hard before I started crying right there. "Then I don't know what you will think of his proposal. H-He wanted me to marry him again. This time I guess in front of everyone like 5132."

"Fuck, he really did it." Zed took a deep breath, looking up into the sky. "I just hope he isn't playing games anymore. Who knows what goes in his head. Sometimes even he doesn't know what he's doing. Are you ok?"

I gave him a tight-lipped smile. "I'm fine. I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"But-"

I hated using the bond between us to force him but sometimes he left me with no choice. "I said no, Zedkiel."

"Fine." He agreed without thinking before he came to the realization. "Don't do this, please. I was just looking for you cause Allegra wanted you for some reason."