FLASH MARRIAGE; CHARMED BY THE RUTHLESS BILLIONAIRE CEO

It was a dark and peaceful night. The moon was hidden behind the clouds, casting an eerie glow on the deserted street and distant trees.

By the end of the street stood an abandoned warehouse. A flickering light from a bulb at the entrance cast a shadowy glow on two cars parked outside.

Inside one of the well-illuminated offices of the abandoned warehouse stood some dangerous-looking men surrounding an unconscious beauty strapped to a chair.

One of them, a rugged-looking stout man with greasy hair and an ugly moustache, was speaking to someone on the phone. His hungry eyes were ravaging the beauty before him as he stared at the tempting cleavage of the blindfolded pretty lady.

"Boss, we have her. I just sent you the pictures you asked for. Do you want us to play with her a little before your arrival?"

"Hmm..." There was a short pause before the speaker on the other end said. "I see no harm in doing so. She's already yours. But keep her comfortable until I join you. I want to have a chat with her."

"What about my balance?"

"Already sent with a bonus for a job well done."

The man's phone beeped twice, indicating that he had just received a new message. He quickly opened the message, a satisfied grin forming on his lips.

"Seen. Thank you, boss."

"I'll see you soon."

The communication line disconnected.

The man slowly put away his phone, his hungry eyes reverting to the fair princess seated before him. Except for the bruise on her forehead, she was simply perfect in those tempting sequin mini dress. He mentally pictured her naked, his groin burning with desire and lust.

"Boys, take ten..." The man ordered, waving his hand dismissively at his minions.

"Sure thing, boss." The other hefty-looking men exchanged knowing glances as they left their boss alone, each wishing they could have a taste of the beautiful lady after he was done with her.

"You can stop pretending now, pretty doll. I know you're awake."

"Shit!" Amelia bit down on her inner lips, cursing her ill luck. She had been pretending to be unconscious just to gather enough information on who was responsible for the kidnapping and why. But so far she hasn't gotten anything.

"What do you want from me?" Amelia asked even though the question sounded stupid.

"What every man wants. honey." A wicked smirk slowly curled up the man's lips as he removed his gun from his waistband holster and put it away.

"You are a really pretty lady and it truly breaks my heart to see you suffer this way."

"Then why don't you be a gentleman and just set me loose? I'm sure you and I can work something out." Amelia played along hoping the man would fall for her charms.

"Tempting, but no honey. I like my girls tied up."

Amelia clenched her jaws, struggling with the thick rope binding her hands. All her senses were alert except for her vision.

"I reckon you would like some privacy." The man smacked his lips as he slowly approached her. His hungry eyes travelled down the length of her mini dress, resting on her exposed thigh.

"Sure." Amelia sneered, her antenna beeping red.

"So perfect and such a waste." He brought out a pocket knife, flipping it back and forth.

Amelia could feel her heart beating inside her mouth as she wondered what this man was up to. She could hear the shuffling of his feet and the swishing sound of a knife.

"You know, you and I are not so different after all. We are both prisoners locked up in the same room. But I'm sure after we get to know each other, you won't be scared of me, my little cute bunny."

'Scared!' Amelia clenched her fist that was tied behind her back, gritting her teeth in rage. If only she could free one of her hands, she would show this nincompoop what a scared bunny can do.

"Tell me, who paid you to do this?" Amelia's fierce tone began to slightly quaver as she felt the man's sandpaper-like palm rest on her exposed shoulder. The pungent smell of his tobacco and cheap alcohol breath made her feel sick to the stomach.

"What difference would it make, little doll?" The man slowly stroked her slender neck, tracing his pocket knife on her collarbone.

Amelia stiffened, rage slowly poisoning her veins. "I can make you rich. I can change your life. Do you want money, gold, diamond? Name your price. I will triple it. All you have to do is let me go."

"Hmmm..." The man stopped his wandering hand, pretending to give her offer a thought. "Such a tempting deal. But you know what..." He lowered his head close to her ear. "There is no amount of money you can give in exchange for your sweet succulent..."

Amelia didn't wait for him to complete his statement as she pretended to lower her head and suddenly launched it backwards in one fierce blow.

Amelia felt dizzy afterwards, the impact making her head ache terribly.

"Ahh..." The man staggered backwards, his pocket knife falling from his hand.

Raising his hand to his broken nose while glaring at Amelia, the sight of his blood awakened the monster in him. He menacingly moved forward to face her.

"You f*cking b*tch!" The angry man lifted his hand up in the air.

Amelia inhaled deeply, bracing herself for the impact as the man's rough palm landed on her cheek, leaving behind a bold handprint. She fell sideways with her seat, hurting one of her arms in the process. But then her fingers touched something sharp and she quickly grabbed it.

Laughing like someone who has lost her mind, Amelia spat out bloodied saliva. "Is that all you've got, tough guy?" She asked, leveraging on the few seconds of distraction to untie her hand. "Come on, a five-year-old can do better than that."

"You think so." The enraged man roughly picked Amelia from the floor, holding her in place.

"I will show you what a grown man can do to a fragile kitten." He raised his hand again and slapped her a second and a third time, the echo of the slap reverberating in the empty room. "Want some more, huh...b*tch."

Amelia's reddened face contoured. It felt as though her jaws had been dislocated. Although she didn't bargain for this level of pain, she finally succeeded in her mission of freeing her hands.

"I've got two words for you, loser."

"Yeah...let's hear it." The seemingly powerful man snarled at his victim, lowering himself to wipe off the blood coming out of her bleeding nose.

"Eat shit."

In one swift move, Amelia stabbed the man on his jugular using his pocket knife.

The man instantly freed her, staggering backwards while holding his punctured neck with both hands. His widened eyes were laced with surprise and horror as he fell to his knees.

Amelia wasted no time in removing her blindfold and untying her legs.

"K...k...k...kk..." The man tried to speak.

"K...k...what, asshole?" Amelia kicked him fiercely on his crotch, sending him falling sideways as he slowly bled to death.

Quietly removing her see.designer high heels, she ransacked the dying man's pocket, the site of so much blood making her extremely nauseous.

Sucking in her gut, she took the man's car keys, his mobile phone and wallet. She also picked up the gun lying on the table, unsure of how many men were waiting outside the door.

As she slowly approached the only exit door in the room, she took in a deep breath to calm her heavily pounding heart. She listened for any signs of movement or conversation. When she heard none, she slowly opened the door and slipped out of the room.

Scrutinizing her environment, she noticed that she was in a sort of abandoned drycleaning warehouse.

Snatching one of the men's clothes on the hangers, she quickly slipped on the oversized shirt to cover her exposed body, before taking the back exit door.

Just then, one of her abductors smoking with his pals outside decided to go check on the boss. When he found him lying on the floor, in the pool of his blood, he quickly raised an alarm and the other two outside swiftly took to their heels in search of the pretty lady. The sound of an ignited car engine coming from the back told them the lady was already outside the building.

All three men ran out of the building in time to see the damn lady escaping in their boss's newly acquired sports car.

"I will kill that f*cking b*tch." One of the men swore as he sprinted to his own car with his other two partners chasing behind him. They all got into the vehicle and sped off in the direction the young lady went.

As Amelia drove at a neck-breaking speed along the route of an unknown terrain, passing by trees and a few houses, she tried to reach out to her fiance, Jerry Morgan, but couldn't get in touch with him.

Next, she tried her stepsister's number. It rang continuously but the latter did not pick up.

"Oh Gwen, why won't you pick up?" Tears of pain and horror streamed down Amelia's reddened cheeks as she made a left turn and then a right turn hoping to run into another road user or better still, the cops. But it seemed every route she took was deserted.

She tried calling her father's number but it was switched off. She tried her stepmother's number but like her father's, it was also switched off.

"Fuck! Where is everyone when you need them?"

The sight of an approaching car headlight at high speed told Amelia that her abductors had found her.

"Shit!" Amelia cursed out loud.

Strapping her seat belt on, she stepped on the gas pedal, accelerating the car to 120 km/hr. She made another left turn, heading straight for a bridge.

"Stacy..." Amelia's trembling hand quickly imputed her best friend's number and dialled it, momentarily taking her eyes off the road.

Stacy picked up on the first ring.

"Hello, who is...."

"St..."

Honk!

The sudden appearance of another car from the opposite direction, blasting its car horn made the phone slip out of Amelia's hand.

"F**k!" She quickly swerved to the right, stepping on her brake pedal at the same time.

In an instant, screeching tyres and the shattering of glass pierced the serenity of the night as Amelia's car went over the bridge, plunging into the tranquil dark river.