ANTON. I watched him work. It was a miracle that he was able to even function with how upset he was. I could see that he was just simply going through the motions, working with a doggedness that was kind of scary. I’d never see him that way, not even when he was on the verge of losing everything. What had happened, Amelia, had sort of created another version of him that I didn’t know quite well. This version terrified me; staring at what seemed to be the clone of your best friend isn’t exactly a welcoming sight. With a sigh, I continued my search on the computer in front of me. Damian had made me promise to help him out with the 'Colin situation' as he called it. Seeing how worked up he was, I had been forced to agree. Now I was waiting for him to finish up work so we could go somewhere else to discuss his next course of action. Damian had also insisted that I looked up everything I could find on Colin on the internet, which was what I was currently doing now. So far, I ha
AMELIA I cracked my knuckles, put on an apron but stopped moving. Someone was behind me. I turned to see Molly staring at me in surprise. She had a weird expression on her face but I smiled back. "Good morning, ma'am," she said. "You'll be wanting breakfast. I'll get it started." She started to move towards the cooker. "Oh no. I'm making breakfast for myself and Damian this morning so you don't have to bother." Molly stared at me in surprise before nodding and moving on. She was no doubt thinking that things were now being done differently around here which was true. I had woken up this morning with a desire to cook for Damian as I used to. It was the least I could do to apologize for my behaviour yesterday. I finished making breakfast fifteen minutes before he was due to come downstairs. I set the table, dished out the food and settled down to wait while sipping a cup of coffee. Damian walked into the kitchen a few minutes later. He was already dressed and looked much
AMELIA "Leaving, ma'am?" I turned to Rose. "Yes," I answered, smiling briefly at her. "I have somewhere to be now." She nodded. “Have a great day, ma’am. I’ll leave the report on your table.” “Sure.” A minute after that, I left the bakery. It was half past 5. I wanted to pick up my dress before heading home for dinner with Damian. On my way to the dress shop, I registered the fact that I was driving in the general direction of the shopping mall I owned. Since I didn't have jewellery to match the dress I had ordered, and the dress shop hadn't had any jewelry I liked, I figured it would be an excellent idea to get some jewellery from the mall first before going to pick up my dress. Damian would certainly be speechless tonight. I was sure of that. I would look a vision in that dress. I was picturing how different necklaces and earrings would go with the dress when I looked in the side mirror and saw a car with rolled up tinted windows right behind me. I didn't know why,
AMELIA Just when I felt my lungs were closing up because of the lack of air, I found I could breathe again. Someone had yanked the bag off my head and shoved me into a hardbacked chair. I took in deep, rattling breaths. I blinked rapidly as my eyes tried to adjust to the very dim light in the room. Struggling against my restraints was useless because I was still bound tightly. My hands were already numb from the lack of circulation. Finally, I could make out the figures of six men most of which were standing in a loose circle around me. I whimpered and flinched when one of them stepped towards me, but he did that only to savagely peel the duct-tape off my mouth. I cried out in pain. The area around my mouth seemed to be on fire. The man who had peeled the duct tape off made a threatning gesture and I fell silent. These people had to be kidnappers. They could be a gang who kidnapped wealthy people in the city. Being the wife of Damian had made me a target. The thought made me
DAMIAN I brought the car to a stop inches away from the entrance steps to the building. The doorman jumped out of the way even though he had not been in danger of getting hit. "I'm afraid you can't park here, sir," he called out as I marched up the stairs. Ignoring him, I threw the glass doors open, stormed up to the reception area, pounded my fists on the startled receptionist's desk. "Where the hell is he?" I asked. She blinked. "Sir?" "Your boss. Where is he? Take me to see him right now." "Do you have an appointment?" "To hell with that!" I yelled. The massive lobby suddenly became very quiet. "Tell me where his office is. What floor?" Someone tapped my arm. I turned to see a man dressed in a dark suit right beside me. Two other men in security uniforms detached themselves from those watching and hurried forward. "I'm afraid I'll have to tell you to leave, sir," said the man in the suit. “You’re disrupting the peaceful environment of this company.” I slap
DAMIAN My head buzzed. My eyes ached and I could hear my stomach rumbling. I had been staring at the same set of files over and over again, trying to discover any leads the police might have missed. So far, I had not found anything helpful. I turned to Anton to ask if he had better luck than I did but he clearly didn't look like he did. With his head cradled in his palm, he was nodding off to sleep. I sighed. I didn't blame him though. We had been up all night, searching for leads to Amelia's kidnap. I hadn't slept a wink. I was conscious of the fact that with every passing second, Amelia sunk deeper into danger. I hadn't gotten a ransom call yet and I wondered why. If her abductors wanted money, why wouldn't they call me? All I needed was a number, any amount to get Amelia back and safe. I nudged Anton in the ribs. He stirred sleepily, and opened one bleary eye. "Anton, why do you think Amelia's kidnappers haven't asked for a ransom yet? Isn't that what they must be afte
DAMIAN I took in a deep, shaky breath. This was it. This was when I either got to rescue Amelia or died trying. Colin had chosen his hideout well. It was an abandoned, dilapidated building in an out-of-the-way spot. It was a place hardly anyone would think to look. I stuffed my phone under the passenger seat. I looked around as I slowly stepped out of the car. I could only hope that Anton would act swiftly. Minutes before driving into the compound, I had texted Anton my location though I knew he had been tracking my phone. If everything went according to plan, he would alert the police, who hopefully would find some way to infiltrate this place without calling attention to themselves. I shifted, and exhaled as I registered movement out of the corner of my eyes. Before I could blink, I was surrounded by four masked men. My survival instincts kicked in. I tensed up, clenched my fists, ready to take them out, ready to defend myself. "Don't be a hero, Romeo," the man closest to me
DAMIAN Where was the flash of pain, the darkness, the oblivion people said came with dying? Colin had pointed the gun right at my head so that meant I ought to be dead. Through the ringing in my ears, I could hear the sounds of people running, yelling, panting. I took in a deep breath, felt it expand my lungs and my heartbeat quickened. The feeling could only mean one thing- I was still in the land of the living. I opened first one eye, then the other. The first thing I saw was Colin, staring in horror at his midsection which was stained a deep crimson. Blood pattered from his wound onto the floor. Slowly, he sank to his knees, and then with a thud he fell to the floor, unconscious. Behind him stood Anton, panting, with his smoking gun still pointed at Colin. Anton kicked Colin's gun away. For a moment, I felt dizzy. That was a really close call. Anton had saved my life in the nick of time. "Damian," he gasped, his hands shaking uncontrollably. "Are you- Were you-" "I wasn't