"You want me to do what, exactly?"

Raymond Reddington sat across from her as calm as could be as if asking her to feed his cat while he was away.

"Marry me. It's pretty self-explanatory. It would just make life easier if you were to take my name."

Elizabeth Keen, newly divorced herself, stared at him. How could he just expect her to marry him? And for what? Appearances? Like they couldn't just pretend to be husband and wife.

"What would that entail? I'm assuming this is a go all out, ceremony, house, everything."

Red looked at her with the same demeanor he does for casual talk.

"Of course. The ceremony itself will be small, only a couple of witnesses but I want it to be perfect. On the beach maybe, you in a stunning wedding dress."

"Hold on. I never said yes."

He looked at her and took a small box from his pocket.

"This is bigger than you and me, Elizabeth. With us together, we could be unstoppable. Apart, we could be captured, killed, or worse."

"What is worse than death?" She asked, a fear unexpectedly sweeping over her.

"Many things. So, I suppose I should ask," he opened the top of the box, exposing a gorgeous ring. "Elizabeth, will you marry me?"

She could only stare at the ring. It wasn't over the top as she had imagined. The center diamond was rather large but the setting was extraordinary, the yellow gold making it look classic. Then she looked to the man holding it. Raymond "Red" Reddington. A man she promised to lock away, a criminal who don't mind who he hurts, her protector of all other things evil. His eyes were dark but the slight tilt of his head, waiting on her answer that would of course be 'yes' if she had any sense. It was to protect her, being his wife would not limit her to anything. His associates would look at her as an ally as well , instead of a burden.

"Yes. I will."

He handed her the box and sat back in his chair as if relieved. "Excellent. I will start preparations for the ceremony, you and Dembe can go dress shopping."

She sat there as he stood, already in motion. She looked at the ring that now looked dim in the light. What did she expect? Him to slide the ring carefully on her finger? To kiss her after the fact? It was a business proposition, it made sense. The heaviness in her heart betrayed her. The last marriage she had was a sham. What was her marriage to Red going to be like? He didn't love her, not like that, and she didn't love him. Was she going to be expected to sleep with him? If she didn't no man would dare touch her, fearing the wrath of her husband.

Lost in her thoughts, she didn't hear Dembe enter the room.

"Miss Elizabeth?"

She jumped, dropping the ring on the floor, still in it's box.

"Oh, Dembe, you scared me."

"Sorry. Are you ready to go?" He asked, bending down to pick up her ring.

"Sure, why not?" She said, finally putting the ring on her finger. It was a perfect fit.

The two left in a town car and Elizabeth didn't see Red at all as they walked through the house. He was done until the wedding, she would be surprised if he came to talk to her at all till then.

"Do you know when Reddington is planning on having the wedding?"

"This weekend. We will find you a dress and have it altered. If you would like we can go to pick out a cake as well. There won't be many people there, only Mr. Kaplan, the officiant, and myself. Unless of course you want someone else to be there."

"Then we don't need a cake, it's not like we are going to have a reception. This isn't a real wedding. I don't even need a dress."

Dembe looked at her through the rear view mirror.

"This is a very real wedding. Raymond wants you to enjoy yourself. This isn't a prison sentence."

"Well I don't want a fuss. I just want to do it and get it over with."

Her friend didn't say anything else until they reached the small dress shop. Elizabeth reluctantly got out of the car and walked inside. Everything was gorgeous.

"Dembe, I am surprised to see you! Where is Mr. Reddington?"

"He had other matters to attend to. This is his fiance, Elizabeth. We will be needing a dress by tomorrow. The ceremony will be taking place on the coast this weekend. Raymond wants to leave tomorrow evening."

"Of course, I have many talented tailors, it will be done by the afternoon."

Elizabeth stood quietly, watching the interaction between the two men. Everyone drops everything for Raymond Reddington, it was rather annoying.

"You are a beautiful woman, Elizabeth. What style are you wanting?"

"I don't know. I guess something you would find on the beach."

"I will pull some dresses for you. You look around as well, see if anything stands out to you."

Elizabeth nodded and walked around the store, Dembe close behind. A beach wedding, how romantic and cliché. Why did he want to make such a production about it? There was more than likely going to be more than the five of them there. Probably business associates, Red needs to keep up appearances.

All the dresses started looking the same after a while. You can't wear a ball gown for a beach wedding.

"Here you are." The man said, holding an armful of dresses all different sizes and shapes. "Let's try these on shall we?"

Elizabeth was guided to a fitting room where she tried on dress after dress. Most of them were revealing and form fitting. This man obviously knows Red's taste. She hated everyone of them. They were beautiful in their own way, but not on her.

"These aren't me. I just want something simple, maybe a tea length."

The man smiled and nodded. "I have just the thing."

Elizabeth didn't have to wait long as a dress was brought to her that was exactly what she had pictured. It had spaghetti straps and wasn't tight at all. A sweetheart neckline with a small bow at the bodice. It was elegant and beautiful and, her.

"I love it." She said as she modeled the dress for the two men. Dembe smiled back at her. Elizabeth felt happy and kind of excited to have a small, intimate wedding.

They skipped the cake as Dembe took Elizabeth back to the house. There was practically nothing that needed to be done with the dress but Mr Rinker, as she found out, kept the dress to make it 'perfect'. The car ride let her analyze her thoughts. She was excited about going through the motions of a wedding but she wasn't so sure about the marriage. It would be a real marriage of course, documents were being prepared. They would live together, put on a face of love and admiration out in front of the world, but what would it be like behind closed doors? She didn't know if she could deal with another loveless marriage. At least with Tom it was real in the beginning, for her anyway.

The car pulled to a stop and she stepped out heading for the large oak doors. They opened and Red stood there, a small smile playing on his lips.

"Did you have a nice morning?"

"It was fine." She said, pushing past him.

"Lizzie, we have some matters to discuss in the study if you would like to meet me there."

"Fine." Her response was as cold as she meant it to be, she would not let him get to her, his niceness and kind words would do nothing for her, she would make sure of it.

Red and Mr. Kaplan were sitting in the study, their conversation stopped when she entered. He smiled and motioned at the chair next to him.

"Elizabeth, sit. We have some paperwork to go over."

She did as he said and sit next to him as a stack of papers were sat in front of her.

"What is all this?"

"The prenuptial agreement." He said, sitting back in his chair. "Take all the time you need with it."

"You have got to be kidding me. I don't want to marry you, why should I have to do all of this?"

Red straightened in his seat, flipped to the last page, and signed his name.

"Fine, then just sign."

Elizabeth took the pen and held it to the paper, she wrote her name on the designated area and sat the pen down.

"You don't have to act as if you just signed your life away, Elizabeth." He said, his eyes dark and cold.

"I don't know what I just signed."

He didn't say anything else as the marriage papers were sat in front of them. He quickly signed and sat back, lighting a cigar.

Elizabeth signed with no fuss.

"Is that all?"

Mr. Kaplan smiled at her. "Yes, you can go."

Red said nothing so she left the room, leaving the two criminal masterminds to themselves.