Quote:
Originally Posted by
Pinky 
She listened to him...and stared... she knew it... they were going to rebuke her and she was going to lose him. She actually started to cry a little bit... "You didn't answer my question... did you just say you want to marry me? Or was that what you told them to keep from having your life controlled? They aren't going to let us be together are they?"
...
"I actually forgot... I inherited the summer house. In the South of France. I was thinking of living there. If you want to... you could move there with me. Salander... did you or didn't you ask me to marry you? I am confused... please just answer it so I can get this straight. And if that is not what you meant... it's okay... I am..." she cut off and began to cry a bit harder, silently though so as not to draw more attention to herself.
Rufus smacked Salander in the head and stuck his tongue out at him and immediately went to his mistress. She was sad... Rufus didn't like that one bit... He crawled into her lap and actually put his little arms around her neck in a little monkey hug. No more sads.
He stared at her, panic rising with each drop of her tears that fell. He didnt mean for her to cry. Why is it that it seems that he keeps doing this unwittingly lately? Automatically he took a kleenex out and handed it to her, then folded his hands together, enclosing her other hand completely. The M word. She said it. Twice. The lawyers said it. Several times. Of course it was a lot more apathetic than how he's hearing it now. And at all times he could feel this sense of internal panic, the cold sweat breaking out, the struggled breathing, his stomach doing flip flops, the dizzying buzz in his head.
He stared at their folded hands together.
"Lexi, I love you very, very much. And when I think of my future, I couldnt imagine it without you." he rasped in a loud whisper, his throat gone completely parched.
"My entire time in New York, I wasnt just fighting for my own future, I was fighting for ours. I told them I will lead this family in my terms, not theirs." Then he looked into her eyes imploringly as he squeezed her hand
"They know that my terms includes you-- will always include you."
And..... he couldnt say anymore. He seized the water goblet and started gulping it down his parched throat, the only thing thing keeping his stomach from lurching up completely.