Chapter 17

Now naturally, Marlize thought he was joking, so she started laughing and tried to keep it down the best she could. "Yeah, sure, okay."

Then she realized Mark wasn't laughing. He wasn't joking. He was serious! Now Marlize looked like a deer caught in the headlights and had to learn how to breathe, knowing getting upset and exploding would not do her any favors. At all. Mark held all the cards here, he had all the power and he would not hesitate to use that power against her.

"I think you got cracked upside the head a little too hard last night and you're not thinking clearly, Mark." HAD HE LOST HIS MIND?!

What about all the horrible things they had said to each other the previous night? It also hurt her to think that the only reason Mark wanted to marry her was because of the kids, to keep her locked down where he could always find her. Was he really that scared she'd run off with the kids that he would be willing to marry her?

"Your name can go on the birth certificates, but there's no reason for us to get married, not even for protection. I'm fine with the way things are, but uh, thanks for the offer." This just got really awkward between us – FUCK!

Why would he want to marry her except for those kids? Marlize had made it very clear what she thought about him last night.

I fucking came back, Marlize…and you were gone.

You didn't come back for me like you promised! Who the hell do you think you're talking to, asshole? You broke your promise to me! You never came back for me! You never cared one LICK about me! I waited for you for MONTHS. I believed every word you said to me…every damn word…and I'll never believe a thing you say to me again!

A lying, promise breaking asshole. He wasn't the same man he had been in 1999; he was older, a little more tired, a little more sad, and a little too old to get into verbal fighting matches with a woman who automatically turned to them when she was cornered. "You sure? Because if he came back, a third time, you would legally be allowed to shoot him under Texas law. You'd meet both criteria." Which was, a gun already being in the home and he had guns, and two, over so many years since the original felony was convicted. "You'd never have to worry about him or the law taking them from you again. Those kids deserve stability and I can give them that."

Her eyes narrowed slightly at that last jab and Marlize was trying very hard not to take what he said to heart or as an insult. "They are stable already. Just because they travel with me and are homeschooled does NOT mean I don't give them stability." That was a straight shot to her pride as a mother, who had GIVEN them plenty of stability since the day they were born. She did alone, by herself, for all these years and yet, in his eyes, it wasn't good enough. "You can be there for them all you want, I already gave you my word, but that does NOT mean we have to commit to each other. We're coparents and that's it."

If she could shoot Bradley under Texas law and get away with it, then she was definitely moving to Dallas, screw Connecticut and every other state. Texas would be able to afford her the protection she'd need and that was a gun in the house to blow Bradley away if he ever came near her or her children again. Thankfully, he'd never laid eyes on the twins, only pictures that had been left behind in Hawaii when she ran. Everything, their baby pictures, all the memories she had of her babies…they were all gone, thanks to her psychotic ex-husband.

Is that what he was planning on doing? Coming back for me and bringing me to Texas to marry me, all to protect me from Bradley? No, there's no way. Mark didn't even say he loved me back then and it was just a whirlwind romance that lasted barely a month. I need to get my head out of the clouds already. What we had is dead and buried and we'll never get it back again.

What they had was an island fling, nothing more and nothing less. It had resulted in twins that she loved pointing out she had raised by herself, by HER choice. She never gave him a chance! Marlize could have easily had her Aunt get a hold of him and she chose not to, out of sheer spite, thinking he had broken those promises.

"Stable…sure, that's why you had to go on the run again." Mark snorted, his voice dropping in pitch as his mood went totally south into dark territory. "I don't trust your word. I know you enough to know you can't be trusted, period." She did not give a flying fig about his rights as a father; she was only agreeing to stuff because he held her on a leash. A leash. "And you will marry me." He began snickering, shifting lanes to make room for the semis coming up behind them. "You don't really have a choice anymore, Marlize. They can be stable with me or stable with US, your choice, darlin'." If she didn't want to make the smart decision and accept the security and safety he could give her, then she'd just have to be treated like a child and be made to deal with it.

"Excuse me?" Was this man really ordering her to marry him?

He was. Marlize's jaw dropped, realizing the predicament she was in and wished at that moment Mark had never found out about the twins. She never would've came to WWE, found another way, somehow, if this was how things were going to play out. This man was blackmailing her into marrying him! He was using the kids as leverage to do it! Marlize couldn't run to her Aunt for help anymore and felt like she was trapped, looking down at her slightly shaking hands as the harsh reality set in. Her own words were starting to come back and haunt her because she had told Mark she would do anything he wanted as long as he didn't get a lawyer.

We'll do things your way, you have my word. Her word apparently wasn't enough and all she could do was sit there, trying to come to terms with the fact she was being blackmailed into marriage by the father of her children. I am so screwed and there's no way out of this because if he gets a lawyer, I'm done for. They will put me in prison for shooting Bradley, for DEFENDING MYSELF! "We're not having a ceremony of any kind. We'll go to the courthouse and get the paperwork drawn up and that's all this is." The document was all they needed as proof that they were married, after all. The ring and everything – she didn't need one and he didn't either. I can't believe this is happening to me. Another loveless marriage, oh the joys!

"I'll think on it." Mark was actually enjoying this, as messed up as that was.

There was nothing she could say about it, unless she did want a legal battle and Marlize knew she couldn't win it. He bet Linda herself would tell Marlize that this was a GOOD idea; it was giving her protection and the legal right to defend herself and NOT lose her kids. Of course, there was also the chance that Marlize would shoot him, but…she was allowed to be salty since Mark was being a petty dick. That's kind of what happened when someone pushed and prodded another a little too viciously, as she tended to do.

"The kids might want to see something besides a courthouse, and you're definitely getting a big, gaudy as fuck ring." If he was going to do this, he was going to go all out. "If you come out as Linda's niece, on top of being married to me, that's another layer of protection." Bradley would be a complete fool to go after someone who was related to a well-known politician, on TOP of someone affiliated with the WWE. Granted, Linda might take a small blow due to the felony, but that was not the worst thing to have in the family's skeleton closet.

"Do we really have to tell them that we're married? I mean obviously we're going to tell them that you're Dad, but they don't need to know we're married. We can just…keep that under wraps." Christ, Marlize was going to have a panic attack and had to stuff it down when Mark just shook his head in response.

He was getting his rocks off controlling her like this and it was almost like she was in another abusive marriage. Only she didn't think Mark would beat the hell out of her and rape her – hopefully not. Marlize honestly didn't know because she didn't know him very well. They had only been together for a little over a month and it wasn't a relationship, it was just sex! Sex that netted her two twin babies that Marlize had to put above everything else, including herself, and now were being used against her because of their biological father.

"And no, we're not doing that to my Aunt! She's in the political world, you said so yourself, and that's the last thing she needs to deal with. Nobody needs to know I'm connected or related to the McMahon family." ASSHOLE!

"I think she'd agree with me. I think I've spent enough time around Linda to know how shrewd she is."

Mark had worked with the broad for years, not communicated through the phone sporadically unlike some people. He wasn't overly bothered by Marlize over there having an inward panic attack. She hadn't wanted to give him a chance and didn't want to hear what he had to say, so he'd just do things his way. Nobody would ever accuse him of not being a petty prick, Mark was. He wouldn't abuse her, wouldn't rape or beat her; nothing really in her life would change outside of living with him and being married. He wasn't a woman abuser, though this woman sometimes tempted him to change that. No woman had gotten under his skin in both good and bad ways like Marlize did.

"If you'd stop freaking out and really think this through, you'd see it's a good idea, darlin'."

"Oh yeah, sure, marry someone who is blackmailing me into marriage. Yeah, GREAT idea, peach." Marlize didn't bother hiding the disdain and sarcasm in her voice, still keeping it down, and didn't want to talk about this anymore.

There were so many different emotions rolling through her at once and all she could do was sit there, next to him, in this car and deal with it. Silently. Did Mark realize what this meant? If they were getting married, she was tied to him and he to her. They would be tied together for the rest of their lives and they already were because of their twin babies.

Could have an open marriage, not that I'm looking for anyone, but I'm sure he'll want to find happiness with someone else someday. It's definitely not me. I'm a basket case and I ruined my chance with him when I didn't leave the island with him. Would we be married right now if I did? Would he be a doting, loving father if I just went with him and threw caution to the wind? Fear is what stopped her from leaving with him that day and Marlize had thought about it long and hard, weighing the pros and cons, and ultimately, fear had won out over love and anything else she felt on that island.

"Whatever you say." Mark wasn't arguing with her because she was exhausting.

It wasn't blackmail. She had the choice, she just needed to make the smart one. It was amazing how quickly he was getting used to her attitude again. Mark had almost forgotten why he had avoided her a lot at the cabin. Marlize went for things that hurt, the jugular. Eventually, the twins woke up, needing to pee and were hungry, and he knew the area, so he pulled off for a bathroom/snack break.

"I'll take them in to use the bathroom, give you a minute, darlin'." He was aware none of this was easy, but it could be, if she'd just stop. All she had to do was stop and breathe, let her guard down, and maybe listen for a change. Mark wasn't surprised when she shot him a look, shrugging one shoulder. "Or not, I don't care." He did, but she didn't need to know that. Marlize hated him and there was no changing that.

It wasn't that she hated him. Marlize was hurt and confused by the entire situation and didn't understand why he couldn't grasp the concept on why she was upset with him. Lowering her guard would mean trusting again and Marlize couldn't do that. All men wanted from her was one thing and that was to control her. Sex too, obviously. Then she thought about the fact that when they were married, they would have to consummate the marriage.

Christ on the cross…I've really stepped in it this time. If she would've known that Paul was responsible for Mark finding out…that he had brought her soon-to-be husband in that room to see the twins, she would've castrated him or found a way to do it. Luckily, Marlize was oblivious to what Paul had done and Stephanie promised she would never say a word about it. Whipping her phone out, Marlize decided she might as well get this over with and didn't know how Aunt Linda was going to react to this news. "I can't talk long, Auntie, but…I need you know that we're not coming back to Connecticut for a while."

"Why is that, sweetheart?"

"Well, um…I'm engaged…to Mark Calaway…" AGAINST MY WILL!

How the hell was she going to explain this to the kids when they got to Mark's ranch?!

Linda was very quiet for a while, finally reassuring her niece that she was still on the line. Finally, she inhaled deeply. "And when is the wedding? I'll pay for it." Marlize didn't have a mother or father to do it for her. "I'm assuming this isn't out of love?"

She had gotten the texts from Stephanie, knew there were going to be issues and, if she had to guess, this was Mark's idea. It screamed him. It very much did not scream Marlize, not after all the trauma she had been through with men and Linda didn't blame her. Marlize was being silent again and Linda imagined her niece was surprised with her reaction.

"Darling, obviously there was something between you two once, it may come again. This isn't the worst thing in the world."

"I don't want a wedding, Aunt Linda. I just want to go to the courthouse and…"

"Oh, absolutely not! Now Marlize, I know you think this is a bad thing, but like I said, it may come again between you two. That spark might ignite again. You deserve a wedding, an ACTUAL wedding." Linda took a deep breath, knowing she was about to hit her niece where it hurt the most. "And you love him still. I know you do."