Vengeful Matrimony | ✔️

Chapter 47

GISELLE

I woke up with a hand clamped down on my mouth while a heavy body pressed mine into the mattress.

I opened my eyes, and instead of the metallic silver eyes I'd gotten used to, my eyes met with a pair of brown ones, and the man had a ski mask on.

Oh, my God!

Someone had broken into the house, and Nicholas wasn't here. My fight instinct kicked in, and I didn't hesitate. I sunk my teeth into the hand covering my mouth while my hands reached for his eyes, digging in hard.

They made it look easy in movies, but it took a lot of effort before I did some damage to my attacker's eyes at the same time he tried strangling me. He wailed, bringing his hands up to his eyes.

With all the strength in my body, I pushed him off of me, rolling out of the bed. I couldn't risk being in the room long enough for my attacker to recover, so I bolted out of the room, locking the door behind me.

I wasn't in the clear just yet until I knew how many people evaded the house. How did they even bypass security? I took flight down the stairs just as I heard the bedroom door burst open.

Fuck. My attacker was free.

The only thing I could hear over the sound of my racing heart was his boots hitting the marble floors as he gave chase. At the bottom of the stairs, I almost lost my footing when I saw Adnan's dead body slumped against the wall.

Oh, my God. Was he dead?

"Where the fuck is the bitch?" I heard a guttural voice growl from upstairs.

"She just ran down the stairs."

"Let's get her. We're fucked if she escapes."

Just my luck. There were three of them.

Lucky for me, Adnan had his gun by his side, so I snatched it, running to Nicholas's office. The possibility of more men being aside was high, and it was a chance I'd rather not take.

I quietly closed the door and flipped the lock before running to take cover behind the desk. I was partially under the desk, and I could still hear them running around. When I was younger, I took shooting lessons from my bodyguard, so I knew how to use a gun. My aim was something that could use more work, though.

"You guys check the other rooms. I'll check this one." The knob jiggled as the person on the other side tried to force his way in. "It's locked."

"Well, shoot it open."

Shots rang in the air as the man did as his colleague said until the door gave way. I sucked in a sharp breath when he kicked the door open hard enough for it to hit the wall.

My heart threatened to burst out of my chest as the man moved around the room in search of me. He disappeared into the adjoined bathroom, and he was there for a while before he walked back out, his heavy boots thumping on the floor.

"All clear here!" He shouted to alert his teammates.

I finally released the breath I was holding when I heard the man's footsteps heading for the door. Thank fuck! I was safe for now, but I needed a new hiding place before another one thought to do a sweep of this place for the second time. I couldn't even call for help if I wanted to. My phone was upstairs in the-

"Got ya!" A smug voice spat before a beefy hand curled around my ponytail, yanking me up by my hair. Pain pricked my scalp from the assault, but the man was oblivious to that. Not that he would care if he knew, anyway.

He knocked the gun out of my hand, dragging me across the desk. The contents fell to the floor, alerting his other friends who ran into the office seconds later.

"Stupid bitch. Thought you could get away with trying to take out my eyes." The man I assaulted upstairs cocked his hand back to punch me, but the third man stepped in, holding him back.

"We can't rough her up before the wedding. Boss will be furious."

"After the wedding, then. I'll have some fun with the bitch."

I glowered at him even as my heart threatened to burst out of my ribcage. Wedding?! I was getting married to someone?

"Nicholas will kill you if you hurt a hair on my head. Leave the house now, and I won't tell him anything," I threatened. Surprisingly, my voice didn't come out shaky as I expected.

"Really?" The one holding my hair cackled, tightening his grip on my hair until I cried out in pain. "Well, fuck me, then. I guess my dad will have to book me a spot in hell next to him."

I hoped so, too.

"Should we still find the girl's diary?"

"Fuck Gre-" The man holding my hair abruptly stopped like he'd almost slipped up in front of me. "We don't work for the bastard. If he wants his daughter's diary, he has to speak to Nicholas himself. Give her the shot now. Gotta keep this bitch in check before we leave."

A shot... he was trying to make me lose consciousness. I fought against his grip, but his hold on me only tightened.

"Hold her legs down," he growled. "We don't have much time."

The man from the bedroom was all too happy to hold my legs down, stopping me from moving. My eyes bulged out of my head when the third man uncapped the shot, holding it in front of his face.

"Look away, and this won't be too painful," he instructed, bringing the shot closer to my neck. "This will only take a minute." He pushed my head to the side, pressing it against the desk to give himself an unobstructed view of my neck.

The moment the needle pricked my skin, all the fight left my body. Black dots peppered my vision as I sank deeper into my body. I was fast losing consciousness.

"You guys need to leave. I have to make this seem like a break-in, and I have little time."

That voice! I knew that voice, but I couldn't place where I heard it from. Not to mention my vision was blurry, and I couldn't make out the man's face.

"We're leaving now. Good luck."

I was swept into someone's arms, and everything went black.