The Deal Breaker (Book II)

Chapter Twenty-Five - The Devil Made Me Do It

                                                    Chapter Twenty-Five

                                                The Devil Made Me Do It

“…Like as in a dress and a cake kind of marry?” I questioned slowly, drawling out each word to ensure we were on the same page.

Matthew was about as frustration as I was confused. “Yes, Anna. Marriage.”

I sort of swayed where I stood, my head still foggy from sobbing seconds ago. How did we come to this? I was just talking about throwing myself off the house, and then he proposes? What? Did I blackout or something? Was he pulling my leg? “…But the kind where we exchange vows and stuff? That kind of marriage?”

He looked over at Cindy’s sleeping body and grasped my hand, pulling me out of the room and began tugging me up the stairs.

“Oh God, not now, right?” I gasped, nearly tumbling down the stairs.

“We need to talk about this in private, and these halls are full of ears.”

I think I was in shock because I would have never let him pull me around the house by my arm otherwise. We ended up in the library, the place where we first met, actually. The circumstances were rather different then considering I was bruised and injured and he wouldn’t give me even a glance of acknowledgment. Well, half of that is different from now, at least. I was still a mess and injured, but he wasn’t ignoring my presence anymore.

Matthew placed me on the sofa as he took a seat on the coffee table inches from me, still holding my hand. “Alright, now let’s make this clear. I want you to marry me, as in take my last name and be mine. It means everything a marriage is about and has.”

He was speaking words, but I couldn’t make sense of them. “You want me to marry you? But you just to me to ‘Run like hell’ not even half an hour ago!”

Matthew hung his head, still frustrated with me. “Yes, I did. I was still angry with you from your last visit. So what is your answer?”

Facing a group of men with only a knife? I can handle. Riding a motorcycle after having been shot by a group of men? I can handle. Getting proposed to by a vampire I have quite the complex relationship with? Someone better bring me a brown paper bag soon. “I-I don’t know. I mean, marriage…”

He laughed. He actually had the audacity to laugh at me. “Five minutes ago you offered to sleep with me and I believe you also offered to be my blood bag for the rest of your life. But marrying me actually has you questioning the meaning of anything, which is what you offered me, and I have told you what I wanted. I will save you and your sister, giving her a brand new life, if you marry me.”

Marriage? It made my skin crawl. But if it meant saving Cindy from a life of misery, how could I just turn it down? “Is that the only way you’ll do it? If I marry you?”

“Why is marrying me making you question it all? Am I so horrible?”

Yes. “It’s just…That’s permanent. Being a blood bag only obligates me to give blood and then go about my daily life, just as sleeping with you or assassinating whoever. It doesn’t change my daily life and it gives me a lot of freedom still. How long would we be married for? A year?”

Matthew frowned deeply, clearly not appreciating my attitude. “When I ask you to marry me, I’m not asking for a time limit here. I want you forever.”

I squirmed in my seat, not dealing with his too mushy words. I’m not good with the whole feelings thing, especially when they are directed towards me. I’m just not the romantic type. “It seems like a heck of a lot to ask, Matthew. What I’m asking you will only cost about a week of your time and some money. You’re asking the rest of my life in return. Have you thought through this fully?”