Blackmailing His Runaway Bride

"Are you joking right now?" As Isabella asked that question Charles felt impressed. He wasn't sure why- it might partly because she still maintained a cool look as the inquiry slipped off her lips- but he was.

"You heard me, Miss Shade. Marry me and your debts will disappear, I assure you."

Isabella let out a bitter chuckle as she got up. "You must be joking."

"I am most certainly not," Charles replied calmly.

"So, you just want me to marry you." She moved dangerously yet graciously towards Charles.

"Be my wife and that's all you need to do."

Then, after her hand briskly ran through her hair, she asked, "Did you hit your head? Or don't you know that it is stupid to tell a married woman such nonsense?"

Charles's eyes narrowed as he thought confusedly, 'She is married?'

He checked her ring finger on both hands but there was no sign of her being married. He wondered if she was lying. The man who had her situation checked didn't mention anything about a husband and truthfully, even if the man had told him about her married state, he wouldn't have believed him just as he wasn't trusting Isabella's words at that moment.

"You know I am not joking, so you can cut out the attitude," Charles finally said, his voice sterner than he intended it to be.

"Attitude? You think I am giving you attitude?" she asked unbelievably as she moved even closer. "I am married, Anthony. If your research didn't tell you that much, I am letting you know the reality of the situation. So, now you know, you can shove your proposition back into where it came from."

Charles was dazzled.

If she was really married, she just made the game way fun. Getting up, he maintained this smirk that showed how eager he was to put the woman in her place.

When he stood a few inches away from her, he stopped and his hand immediately went into his pocket.

"You know..." His eyes scanned the walls of the room which were plastered with a spiral design of black and white wallpapers before they looked down at hers which looked like they were eager to tear him apart.

"For someone who is in a lot of debt, you are being too rude." Her pupils dilated. "You are being so rude that you look stupid especially, if I recall correctly, that about six years ago you left me standing at the altar waiting for you hopelessly."

Isabella's legs gave away almost immediately but Charles caught her and sat her down on a nearby cushioned chair, her scent briefly tickling his nose.

"Listen to me carefully Isabella..." His ringtone interrupted him, but he ignored it. " I don't care if you are married or not. I am going to get back at you for what you did. But, no, I am not going to harm you. All you need to do is marry me and have your debts cleared and I will get what I want, simple."

"I can't be married to two men at the same time!" Isabella seemed to have found her voice.

"Well it doesn't look like your marriage is doing you that much good, so a divorce is an approachable option."

"What the hell do you think you are doing? You think I am going to leave my husband?" Charles found it silly of her to be putting up such an attitude. She was making a fool of herself.

His eyes roamed her again as he thought that even when a bit foolish, she looked beautiful.

Damn... there it was again.

The desire that coursed his veins...

That will to pin her between his legs and kiss the hell out of her... That desire to fuck her senselessly as he did in the past... 

Those feelings came back and Charles realized that he was doomed around the woman.

But he soon caught himself.

And, he continued speaking.

"If you want your company's debt to be cleared, you will have to do as I want." Isabella huffed for the umpteenth time. "And yes, you owe me a lot for not marrying me earlier."

"Are you blackmailing me?"

Charles shrugged as he took a few steps back. "If that is what you want to term it, fine. I am just going to remind you that my proposition is simple, just marry me."

Isabella got up angrily and looked him straight in the eye and said, "Never."

Charles sighed and picked up a half-empty bottle of whiskey lying on a low stool. "I guess I will have to ask you again at a more convenient location." His head swung in the direction of the furious woman. "Will your house be okay?"

"I am not going to marry you and that is final." Isabella did not even wait to capture the smug look on Charles's face before storming out.

~

Christina Kane was angry. And that was evident in the manner with which she pressured the almost empty wine glass with her fingers.

And, why was she angry?

She had just heard the most stupid reply come out of the mouth of the non-fashionable woman that just stormed out of her boss's room.

Christina just found it intensely insane, she found it absurd that the woman just boldly rejected Charles's proposal. She hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but she caught the part where Charles had asked the lady to marry him and the part where the woman said she wasn't going to before angrily storming out of his room.

Her manicured, white-painted fingers caused a crack as she thought more and more about it. As Christina spared the glass and set it down, she thought of how foolish the Isabella woman was. Charles Oxford was not a man you can say no easily to.

His glare was enough to drive reluctance out and leave you with nothing but want for him. His body, without being exposed looked so yummy. Even, his beautiful, beautiful face was not left out.

Christina had been crazy about him way before she got a job at the company he specifically headed. Before she became his secretary almost two years back, she worked in a position where she was very invisible.

So, all she did was admire the gorgeous man from afar and hope that he would one day jam into her and offer her a smile as he apologized. And then, he might just ask her to go out.

But that was just pure wishful thinking.

But heavens smiled on her when a spot for his secretary was thrown open. And for the six months used to carefully select a candidate, Christina did more than her best. She drove herself to a point she never would have thought she could have reached.

And, that certainly paid off.

And, that left her with just one problem- making him her man.

Christina's face lit up as reason approached her. If Charles was looking for a wife, maybe she finally had a chance to be with him.

That brought a smile to the sexy blonde's face. Grabbing her phone, she knew she just had to play her cards right. And she knew how exactly she was going to do that.