The Billionaire’s Hidden Heiress

Flair POV

These men were not stupid. Although they had originally taken the limousine, they knew enough to abandon it as I woke up in a large SUV, my hands tied behind my back, my head feeling like it was filled with cotton balls and throbbing painfully. The SUV was dark and the windows were tinted. I coughed and the man in the back seat, glanced down at me, narrowing his eyes.

"She's awake," he said grimly to his colleague who was driving the car and glancing over his shoulder.

"It makes no difference. The boss said not to harm her, at least not yet. We're almost at the location anyway" he said tightly.

I was pulled up roughly to sit upright and I coughed again, my mouth dry as I glared at the two men who had kidnapped me and shot the poor driver. "Do you have any idea the amount of trouble the two of you are going to be in?" I said coldly.

They laughed out loud. "Lady, I think you should be worrying about yourself right now" the driver advised chuckling "Or have you not realized the amount of danger you are in? We could kill you right now if we wanted to and there is nothing you could do about it" he added as I stared at them.

I knew they weren't going to kill me. I had already heard them mention a boss, which meant they were working for someone. Either this had to do with my real identity or and I hated to consider it, this was linked to my being Grayson's wife. I wasn't sure which. "If you were going to kill me, you would have already done it by now," I said frostily, while the man in the back folded his arms and glanced at the window.

There was nothing you could see through there, which made his action worthless.

"Well then, maybe be smart and keep your mouth shut and you might make it out of her alive" he growled at me.

The car lurched to a stop and the driver grimaced. "Sorry, stepped on the brakes a little too hard," he said guiltily as the man in the back cursed out loud. "f*****g hell Gary" the man next to me swore "A little warning next time."

"Sorry Brady" he apologized.

Those couldn't be their real names. But it made it easier to identify who was who. Brady swung the door open and stepped out, walking around to the other side of the car, while Gary got out of the driver's side. He opened my door and then grabbed me by the arms, roughly yanking me out of the car as I gave a small cry of pain. His grip hurt. His fingers felt like they were bruising my flesh. I stumbled and Brady gripped me harder, causing tears to come to my eyes.

"Let up a little, you're hurting her" Gary warned as I blinked and looked around.

We were in what could only be described as a warehouse. There were empty pallets stacked in the far corner and boxes stacked along the wall. Forklifts and other equipment lay abandoned and covered in dust. There were cobwebs everywhere and the floor was hard concrete. I was barefoot, my shoes having come off in the struggle. There was all manner of debris on the floor and I eyed it, fearful of the nails and bits and pieces on the ground.

Brady grunted and picked me up, hoisting me over his shoulder as I stared at the back of him, kicking my legs.

"Keep kicking and I'll make you walk across the floor. You'll end up with tetanus or worse" he growled.

I stopped kicking. I debated screaming but a glance through a broken window showed that there were only more empty warehouses in view and no sign of anything occupied or lived in. It would be a waste of my energy and I was curious to know the reason I had been kidnapped in the first place.

Was it merely for money? The driver hadn't needed to die if that was the reason. I would have given any amount they asked in order to spare poor Myles's life. Brady carried me with ease across the warehouse and towards some stairs that appeared to lead up to an office. "Boss said he'd be waiting" he snarled as Gary went ahead and knocked on the door.

It opened and Gary ducked inside, Brady put me down on the stairs and shoved me forward as I struggled to keep my balance before I managed to secure my footing and head upstairs and into the room.

I blinked, disorientated by the darkness, even as a pair of arms grabbed me and shoved me onto a chair, my arms moved to be placed over the back of the chair while I winced.

"You are lovelier in person than in your photos Mrs Oakes," said a voice.

Mrs Oakes. Not Grant. They didn't know my secret identity. That was a relief although that might not help me here. I let out a slow whoosh and looked in the direction of the voice that had spoken. Another man was there, seated casually behind a large desk, his bulky frame clad in an expensive Armani business suit, a gold Rolex watch glinting on his wrist. He had dark glinting eyes and a head of black hair that was slicked back and neatly trimmed to shoulder length. He had a hard jaw and while his frame was bulky it was from being fit, not overweight. He was intimidating and he was powerful. He was also observing me with a smile on his face that made my blood run cold.

"Any problems fetching her?" he asked, without glancing away from me/

"It went exactly as planned."

"Good, her husband is already desperate to find her," the new man said, a vicious grin on his face "which means that he's going to give me exactly what it is I want if he wants his wife back in one piece. After all," he said, as I stared at him "it would be a pity to bruise that pretty face of yours."

"What is it you want?" I asked, squirming in the chair "Is it just money?"

Despite my efforts, my voice was shaking as I asked the question.

He threw back his head and laughed out loud "Do I look as though I am in need of money Mrs Oakes?" he demanded icily "Do you see the suit I wear and the Rolex? I have all the money I could possibly want or need."

"Then what do you want from me?" I blurted out in desperation, my chest heaving as Brady and Gary stood there silently "What can we give you besides money?"

He laughed and stood up. "I like your spirit" he drawled and c****d his head "but it's not what you can give me, it's what I want from your husband," he said mockingly.

"Allow me to introduce myself, how rude of me to forget," he said as I cringed back in the chair, his presence coming closer as he moved around the desk "My name is Mr Ronaldo, and two years ago, your husband ruined my life" he breathed.

Ruined his life? Grayson was a lawyer, what could he have possibly done to this man? Sent him to jail? Not likely given he was a defense lawyer unless he lost the case. I swallowed hard. This had never occurred to me when I married Grayson. "If Grayson lost your case, then..."

He chuckled "He didn't lose, that's the problem" he growled "I wasn't his client Mrs Oakes, my wife was. She filed for a divorce and your husband represented her," he said as I looked up at him towering over me, his face now inches from mine "she claimed I abused her. All I did was discipline the b***h so she knew how to be respectful, but in the eyes of the court that was called domestic violence and Grayson successfully split up our assets and then organized for my wife to move, hiding her identity."

"You want your wife back?" I said, my voice shaking.

He had called abusing his wife discipline. No wonder the woman had wanted out. I felt sorry for her. Grayson had achieved a great thing, but now I was about to pay the price for it. But why now? The man had said it happened two years ago. Why wait so long to enact his revenge against Grayson?

The man narrowed his eyes "Oh, I want my wife back if only to teach the b***h a lesson for leaving me" he said in a chilling tone "but it's only just become recent knowledge to me that she was pregnant with my child when she left and therefore she has my heir. I want my child Mrs Oakes, the one that was denied to me when she left and which your husband never divulged she was going to have to the courts."

I struggled to digest his words. A child. His wife had been pregnant when she had fled and now he knew about it. That's why he wanted his revenge now. But who had told him? Where had he gotten this information? The blood drained from my face. A man like this was not going to be satisfied until his demands were met. But I also knew Grayson, and he was not going to put another woman's life at risk for my own.

I was doomed. But I didn't think that Grayson would abandon me either. There had to be a way to free me without giving this man what he wanted.

"Nothing to say Mrs Oakes?" he asked raising a brow "Not even to curse your husband for putting you in this predicament?"

I shook my head "Grayson is an honorable man, if he hid her from you, it was for a good reason" I said breathing shallowly. Slap. The force of it brought my head flinging to the side. He glared down at me. "We'll see if you change your tune in an hours time when I make another phone call to your husband and he hears your screams," he said as I shuddered "Maybe then you might see your husband for the cowardly man he truly is."

...