A/N: Wow thank you guys so much for all the reviews, favorites, and alerts. I really appreciate it. I am so glad that people have taken an interest in this story. I hope I can keep yall's interest and continue to meet new people through the reviews.

Also WOW I just seen one of the previews for Eclipse and let me just say it looks freakin awesome… I can't wait till it comes out.

Update 12/30/12:

As some of you may know I've had a few people comment saying my story was hard to read due to the amount of errors, however thanks to TwilightMom505 the errors have been corrected. Now the story flows better and actually makes sense. So a special thanks to my new beta! Couldn't have done it without you!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and has a safe and Happy New Year!

DISCLAIMER:

I do not own Twilight or any of the characters. It all belongs to SM

Chapter 2

Negotiations

BPOV

What was it that Angela told me?

Oh yeah…not to do anything stupid!

Well that went in one ear and right out the other.

I was escorted by security down to an undersized white walled room that was no bigger than my bathroom back at my house. It had a small square card table in the middle of the room that appeared to be bolted to the floor. There were two metal chairs on opposite sides of the table.

There were long bulb lights that had a flickering glow to them lined up on the ceiling. It had a faint smell of fresh paint and cigarette smoke.

I half expected there to be a two way-mirror, but to my surprise, there was not. However, there was a camera up in the far right hand-corner of the room. There was no doubt in my mind that I was being watched from a secure room in another area of the building.

"Sit here," The guy with long sandy-blonde hair said as he pulled out the chair and roughly pushed me in it.

What an asshole.

The next guy who had long black braided hair and a dark complexion came over and grabbed my right wrist and handcuffed me to one of the legs of the table.

"Is this really necessary?" I asked, trying to pull on the handcuffs, but it was no use, they were not budging. They were only making a clanking sound and leaving angry red marks on my wrist.

Just then the door opened up and in walked none other than Mr. Masen.

"James, Laurent, leave!" Mr. Masen's voice had authority and strength to it. It sent a shiver down my spine.

James walked out of the room with a sneer on his face.

Before leaving, Laurent gave Edward the handcuff key and shut the door behind him.

Edward pulled out the chair, the legs sliding on the tiled floor making a horrible scraping sound, and sat down directly in front of me.

He put his hands on the table and clasped them together tightly. His lips were in a tight line. He closed his eyes for a mere second and inhaled deeply.

Once he exhaled, he opened his eyes to look into mine.

"Miss Swan, do you know why you're here?"

So now he was going to be sarcastic about this? Was he trying to patronize me? Well two can play that game.

"Yes, Mr. Masen, I do know why I am here. Clearly you don't remember though."

I leaned over the table to get closer to him and in a taunting voice, I asked, "Did I hit you too hard?"

I pulled back and smirked at him.

Edward brought his hand up to his cheek as if he remembered it perfectly.

Good. The jerk had it coming to him.

"Ok let's try something else, shall we?" His voice sounded irate.

I just stared at him with the smirk still on my face. I thought it was funny how James and Laurent were intimidated by Edward, only to find Edward being intimidated by me.

Well at least I hope I was a little bit intimidating to him.

"Miss Swan, do you comprehend the seriousness of this situation?"

"Yes, I do, Mr. Masen. I understand that I am handcuffed to a table all because your fake ass receptionist couldn't handle the situation herself and had to call security."

He stood up and slammed his fist on the table causing me to jump a little, and in a voice that was dripping with fury, he spoke. "Alright enough of this, Miss Swan. Since you burst into my office and attacked me, I have grounds to file charges against you. Which, given your circumstances, I don't think you would like very much since you will be dragged off to jail and will have to pay a fine before you can be released. We both know you can't afford it."

Well shit. How low could that bastard get? Knowing my financial state and using it against me.

As much as I hated to admit it, he had me. I was licked!

"Ok, you have my attention, Mr. Masen. What is it that you want?"

He sat back down in the chair with a sly smile on his face. He knew he had won.

"Well, Miss Swan, I have a proposition for you."

What?

I didn't see that coming.

"A proposition?" I asked, flabbergasted.

"Yes, Miss. Swan, it seems that you and I are both in a bind. You see, I am in the mist of trying to close an important business transaction; however, the company that I would like to purchase requires that I be married."

Wanting him to get straight to the point and stop beating around the bush, I interrupted him.

"Mr. Masen, this is all very fascinating, really it is, but what does that have to do with me?"

"If you let me finish, you will see. Would you kindly listen to me without any further interruptions?"

I squinted my eyes at him before answering. "Fine, continue."

I sighed and tried to cross my arms, but the one that was handcuffed hindered me from doing so.

"Like I was saying, they want me to be married."

"And I take it you're not?"

Suddenly it was starting to become clear what his proposition was going to be.

"No, but Jasper told them that I already was. This account is very important to us, and we have been trying to acquire it for quite some time. Jasper did what anybody would do in hopes of closing the deal once and for all."

"You mean he lied? And now it would appear that his less than honest answer has created a bit of a predicament for you."

"Look, Miss Swan, this is business, and we do what we have to in order to survive."

"So deceiving someone makes no never mind to you?"

Mr. Masen pinched the bridge of his nose. He was getting frustrated with me, but at this point, I really couldn't find it in myself to care.

"Look, Miss Swan, I am not saying what he did was right, but it's already been done. Now here is my proposition for you."

I straightened up and leaned closer to him to make sure I heard everything that he was going to say.

"I realize now that my actions of shutting down the warehouse put a lot of people out of jobs, you included, and I am very sorry about that, but it was something that needed to be done for quite some time."

"Mr. Masen, I hear what you're saying, but you're rattling on about stuff that I already know. Please, just get straight to the point."

"Very well, Miss Swan, I am in need of a fake wife. You are in need of money. I think it would make sense for us to pull together and help each other out."

"So you want to pay me to be your 'pretend wife'?" I moved my hands in the air making the quotation marks.

"Am I interpreting this correctly?

"Yes, that is exactly what I want you to do."

I stood up from my chair so fast that it flipped over behind me. I tried to rise to my full height, but I was hunched over due to the handcuffs keeping me bound to the table.

"YOU BASTARD! YOU'RE COERCING ME!"

I was furious. At this point, I saw that both options were shit, and one was no better than the other. I would have to be put in jail or pretend to be married to this odious man before me.

"Miss Swan, kindly lower your voice. I am close enough to you that I can hear you fine without you yelling bloody murder. No, I am not coercing you. I am merely giving you two choices. All you have to do is pick one."

"How can I choose one? Both are a prison of some kind."

"No, they're not. The second option unlike, the first, keeps you out of jail, and you will walk away with money in your pocket. I think that's a hell of a lot better than choice number one."

"Why me? I am sure you can find any number of girls who you wouldn't even have to pay. Someone who doesn't loath you as much as I do. "

"True, but I don't want them. I want you. I don't need nor want a girl who is going to think this will go somewhere afterwards. I need someone who is in it for the business deal. Someone who, once this is over, takes her money, and we both go our separate ways."

"I see."

"Great! So then do we have a deal, Miss Swan?"

"Whoa, slow down there big boy. We only discussed your terms; we haven't discussed any of mine."

"Very well. Please tell me what it is that you would like."

"First of all, I would like you to release me from these damn handcuffs." I picked my arm up so that he could be reminded of it.

"I think that can be arranged. What else?"

He walked around the table and kneeled down on one knee. He turned the silver key in the opening and unlocked the restraint on my wrist. He picked the chair up and set it upright on the ground once more.

"Also there is a matter of my father, money, and living arrangements; how long this charade will go on; and a few other of minor details."

"Very well, let's discuss your father first. I remember you told me he is bedridden. Right?"

"Yes, and because of that, he has to have constant care. I hate to leave him by himself."

"So then who is taking care of him now? A live in nurse?"

"No, I used to have a nurse come during the day while I was busy at work; however, since I lost my job, I have had to let her go. My friend Angela, who also worked in your warehouse, is with him as we speak."

"Okay, so then, what if I were to pay a live in nurse to care for him while you are helping me out? Will that make you feel more comfortable?"

"I would like my friend Angela to be the one to take care of him. He is comfortable with her, and it would give her a source of income."

"Consider it done. Now money wise, Carlisle will be getting with you on that issue. The length of time for this arrangement would be at least a month in case it takes some time for the contract with them to be written up… maybe longer; however, I will make you aware of any changes, but for now, I would plan on one month. Living arrangements, well since you will be my 'wife', you will, of course, live with me in my house. However, there will be no sharing of bedrooms. My house is quite large, and I can assure you that we will probably never see each other while both home."

"Okay, well then all that is left are the minor details."

"And those would be what, Miss Swan?"

"Being seen out in public together and then there is the issue of how much physical contact we would have to have while we were in front of these people."

"Right. Well I would prefer for us not to go out in public anywhere unless it is absolutely necessary. I want to keep a lid on this. I don't need to have this blown up in the papers and us be on the front page of every Seattle newspaper. The matter of physical contact is nothing to be feared. It will only require maybe holding hands and hugs, and if necessary to make our marriage look authentic, then a peck on the lips, but that's as far as it goes."

"Alright then, I guess I will do it, but I want you to know one thing, Masen, I am not deceiving these people for your benefit. I am doing it as a means of survival for my dad and me."

"Understood. Let me arrange for Carlisle to write up an agreement between us once the amount of money has been agreed upon."

EXOXOXB

"Okay, Miss Swan, if you just sign on this line here and on this one here, we will be in good shape. Both your terms and Edward's have been agreed on and written in the contract. As you can see, Edward has already signed."

A man with golden blonde hair who they called Carlisle told me as he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled a pen out. He clicked the pen and handed it to me.

I brought the pen up to the line and was just about to sign when I suddenly jerked my hand back.

"Do you mind if I read over this one more time?"

He smiled at me gently and said, "No please go ahead."

I flipped all the pages back to the beginning and began to read the contract. It was a simple contract, in the terms that there were no words that I didn't understand and no hidden clauses, but what it stated was anything but uncomplicated.

This contract written on this day 2009-11-16 states that under conformity from

Edward Anthony Masen and Isabella Marie Swan

The following stipulations will be abided by with confirmation of their signatures and will be a legitimate legal contract in the court of law.

Isabella Marie Swan here by agrees to comply with Edward Anthony Masen in becoming his pretend 'Wife' for one month or longer, if compulsory. Though this is not a legal matrimony, it will still consist of living together and physical interactions when necessary. Sex is not required or desired by either parties and will not be included in this written document.

Mr. Masen has agreed to the following:

Paying for the services of a Miss Angela Weber to take care of Charlie Swan

(Bella's father) for one month or longer depending upon how long this matrimony last between the two of them.

That he will not force himself on Bella and promises to have the highest respect for her.

Last but not least that, once this contract has been lived up to and both he and Bella follow through with all the terms, that Bella will walk away with eight hundred thousand dollars and a secured job at one of Mr. Masen's companies.

Bella has agreed to the following:

To keep this confidential and is only allowed to enlighten

her father and Angela about this agreement.

Has agreed that once this is finished, both she and Edward will go their separate ways and will leave all ties behind them.

If both parties fail to comply with all the written terms in this legal document then action will be taken.

See simple enough, Right?

I brought the pen to the line once more and signed my name.

I just kept saying to myself that I did this for my dad; however, I couldn't help but wonder what he was going to say about the whole situation.

A/N: Okay so tell me what you think. Like it? Hate it? Should I still continue or scrap it? Also I need help finding a story. I can't remember the title, but I do remember a little bit of what happened in the first chapter. You see my friend Winters wants to read it, and I still can't find it.

It's about Edward and Bella who are brother and sister, and all I remember is that he pulls her out of a guy's car in the beginning and takes her home. Later when he goes up to her room to talk to her about it some other stuff happens and they end up turning into something more.

That's all that I can remember about it. So if anyone thinks they know what story it is please contact me through my PM or though a review. It would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Okay, so that's all for now. Thank you so much for reading and please review. I would love to hear your thoughts and maybe some of your ideas. I do take the time to write everyone back to thank them for taking the time to post a review. Till next time every one have a safe and fun summer!