"I do." My body shuddered.
Sylus's intimidation was a hell of a lot, but something in me enjoyed pushing his button—a man like him who stood at the top of the world, someone who people, including my father, had to think twice before provoking too far.
The priest, though stunned, went ahead to mutter the rest of his lines and announced with a smile, "You are now married."
The signed folders my father and Sylus held were exchanged between them and a full smile emerged on Amadeo's wrinkly face. He reached out for a handshake, but Sylus gave nothing but a glance, ignoring the gesture.
"You'll be called shortly, Mr. Legan. The contract will be finalized in two months, and I hope nothing goes wrong by then," he said to my father behind a warning, a dry smile on his lips. "Your daughter isn't exactly what I'd prefer, but she'll do."
Funny. We'll see how long I'll do, Sylus.
My father smiled at him. "We'll be waiting for your call, Mr. Jones. Hopefully, my daughter won't be giving you too much trouble."
"Hopefully," Sylus pointed out and snapped his fingers. His entire bodyguards within the hall followed immediately, and they exited the church as if I didn't exist.
"You've got to be kidding me." I turned to my father, who was already gazing at me with threats in his eyes. "Mess up, Harley, and I assure you, you won't be able to deal with the consequences. This contract is very important to me, so if you know what's best for you, behave with Mr. Jones. He is not a man you should mess with."
A grin tugged at my lips, and I shrugged. "I'll decide that myself." I stormed past him with my hands balled into fists, stalking after Sylus, who was walking to the matte black Rolls Royce parked outside.
He didn't let me come with him, but instead had me board a different car. As offending as it was, I had no choice but to get into the SUV driven by two of his bodyguards. We sped off into the road, heading straight for his house.
We were ten minutes out of the busy road when the driver suddenly took a turn into another dark route. I frowned, tilting my head in a bit of confusion. Sylus's car didn't take this route, so what was going on?
"Hey, where are we going?" I asked.
Neither of them answered me and I immediately reached for my phone, but I stopped at the feel of a cold metal suddenly pressed against my forehead. "What are you doing?" I raised my eyes to look at the black-haired one, staring at me with warning in his gaze.
"Drop the phone. Now!"
"Are you kidnapping me? Sylus—"
My words were cut short as a sudden bright light flashed, blinding us for a second. Looking up, I only had time to hear the honking of both cars before the loud bang of a gunshot sounded and everything went absolutely blank.
Tires screeched, everything fell into chaos, and the car barrelled off the road, crashing right into a pole. My forehead slammed roughly against the window, cracking it, and I momentarily went deaf as if I'd been submerged underwater.
"Urgh," I grunted, lifting my head to look at the two bodyguards, but I went still, my gaze crossing over their slumped bodies. They were dead, both of them, I think.
Oh god.
I quickly opened the door, ignoring the blood streaming down my face, and got out of the car. Every instinct screamed to run, and I hissed, my head banging in pain. I staggered in the opposite direction to get away and grunted as I smacked into something. I stepped back and looked up into an unfamiliar face.
My breath immediately caught in my throat.
Was he one of them? But he was dressed just like Sylus's bodyguards. The stupid satin suit with a blue undershirt. He definitely wasn't one of them, he didn't seem like it. Did this mean I was safe, or…was he the bad guy?
Vigilance flashed in my eyes.
"Ha! You really are a sharp one, just like my boss said," the man said to me suddenly, grinning before he pulled out a pistol.
"Who's your boss?" I asked.
"Why—"
"James! You jerk!" Someone groaned from the car and we both turned our heads. One of the guards was still alive and he was glaring at the man aiming at me with betrayal in his eyes. "Why…d-did you hit us? Weren't we—" He coughed up spurts of blood, clearly on the brink of death. "We are working together on this. why?"
"You're not needed anymore. I am doing most of the job and I won't be sharing my payment with any of you. so kindly rest in peace now." He turned to me, removing the safety of the pistol. "As for you…"
A car raced towards us and pulled over. "You don't have to know who my boss is. It's none of your business." He gestured to the car with a slight tilt of his head. "Get in the car, Harley."
I swallowed thickly. "You know my name."
His smile fell away. "Get in the fucking car you brat, or I'll shoot you right here and be done with it."
I could run, I could take that gun from him, or better yet, I could beat him if I tried. But my vision was getting too fuzzy. I felt dizzy.
"Move!" he yelled. I didn't even get to obey before I felt something solid slam into the back of my head, and my ears rang so loudly that I screamed in pain.
Darkness closed in on me at a rapid pace. I staggered from one side to another, before I eventually lost it and collapsed into large arms.
Shit.
Was I going to die before even making it to my new husband's house?
A dull ache worked its way up my spine, and I groaned, slowly blinking my eyes open. I bent my neck from side to side, trying to relieve the ache, but that only made the pain worse, not to mention the rope binding me to the wooden chair.
I looked around, and my gaze halted on the same man, blue undershirt, standing a bit far with his back turned to me. His gaze was fixed on his phone, and I didn't think he knew I'd woken up. Where am I? The room I was in held nothing but two chairs, a table and a boarded-up window.
Why was no one coming to save me? Oh, my father didn't care about me, and as for that jerk of the Jones, I was sure he wouldn't care that his new wife just got kidnapped before she even made it to his home. He didn't like me one bit—not that I wanted him to.
Every second that tickled by felt like forever while I tried to loosen the knot of the ropes. A phone suddenly rang aloud, and I looked at the man who was turning to check on me.
I closed my eyes, pretending to still be knocked out, and I heard him let out a grunt of frustration before he answered.
"You don't have to know who I am. But I'm sure the message got to you. I mean, you are calling me."
A few seconds later.
"Oh, I do have your wife here with me, and no, I haven't killed her yet. Though I might if you don't start making payments soon."
His laughter suddenly roared in the room. "Mr. Jones, your threats aren't going to do much. If you want your wife back, you pay us. Or, I am simply going to put a bullet through her head. And before I do it, I might just have a little fun with her. She's a pretty thing after all."
Oh, I'll kill you.
My hands tightened into fists, and I breathed, waiting as he kept on with his call.
"Twenty million, that's what we want."
I choked on my saliva, blinking my eyes open immediately. Twenty million dollars? What made him think Sylus would pay that much for me? I wasn't his lover, for goodness sake!
"That is my price. You pay it, or the bullet goes through her head. You choose, Mr. Sylus Jones."
And he hung up, tossing the phone into the pocket of his suit. I was quick to fall back into a knocked-out state, listening in on his approaching footsteps.
His hand wrapped around a good chunk of my hair, and he began speaking as if he knew I could hear him. "You better hope your new husband pays up the cash because I will kill you if he doesn't show up. Twenty million isn't to give you back to Mr. Sylus, but to keep you alive. You'll do for a lot of fun once I take you back to my boss."
He let go roughly and stalked away, dropping into his seat.
His boss? Why did it sound like he or she knew me? It would explain why this man knew my name. I was getting confused, no longer sure of what this situation could possibly be.
I waited patiently, watching intently while untying myself as the man fell asleep. Once he was deeper into his nap, I tossed the rope away and stood up, taking careful steps toward him, my target, being the gun he had tossed on the table next to him.
"Don't try anything stupid."
I froze.
The man abruptly rose from his seat, turning to stare at me with darkened eyes and a grin. "I knew you would try to escape. My boss warned me about you." He stared at me, and I gazed back at him, refusing to look as if he intimidated me. He didn't.
Both our eyes crossed over to the gun, and before he could pick it up, I ran, jumping onto him and knocking him to the floor. The gun fell off the table, and I hurried on all fours to grab it, but he snatched me by the waist, slamming me into the floor on my back. I felt the air knocked out of my lungs and grunted deeply in pain.
"You brat!" His right hand held me down to the floor by the throat, and he reached for the gun with the other. But I kicked it out of his grip, and bit into the hand that choked me.
"Bitch!" he cursed at me, slapping me across the face with the back of his hand. I smiled at him with bloody lips and locked my legs around his neck, choking him. "I don't think your boss warned you enough of how tough I actually am. You see, I am not scared of death. But I also don't want to die, unless I have no choice."
I flipped his large body over as he fought for air and sat on top of him, reaching for the gun he'd dropped. "Who is your boss? Common, spill it!"
"I'm not gonna rat him out to you little bitch," he spat at me, struggling to hit me off him. "You'll find out on your own when he gets his hands on you and It'll be the kind of surprise you've never experienced in your life." His thirty two teeth came into display as he smiled so dangerously at me. "He'll find you! He has everything on you, he knows you like that back of his hand, including that gold digger of a father you have and he—"
"Actually, I don't care." I slammed the pistol into his head a few more times until he was knocked out, but not dead, then I stood up, breathing heavily, my cheek aching where he'd hit me.
"Dammit."
The door burst open all too suddenly, and I turned my head, grimacing at the sight of Sylus, who looked like he'd run a thousand miles. Tousled dark hair, dilated pupils, and an unbuttoned suit.
Someone would think he was scared to lose me.
"You…"
"Me what?" I asked, raising a brow at him.
"You're alive."
I chuckled in amusement. "Did you hope I died, husband? I bet you must be disappointed." Pain shot through my skull, and I shook my head, shaking off the dizziness.
"What happened?" Sylus asked. "Who are these people and how—"
I hurriedly stalked right to him with blurry eyes and collapsed, falling into a pair of warm arms that held on tightly.
"Doctor…" I breathed heavily. "Take me…to the hospital."
"Hey! Wake up!" I heard, but the voice grew fainter and fainter. "…Wake up."
"Harley!"
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