Kidnapped By My Runaway Husband

The night of our wedding, my husband—all sinew and raw, hardworking muscle—left for the City to find work, and I didn’t hear a peep from him again.

I was left in that tiny, forgotten town, running on fumes, rising before the sun and crashing after the owls. In one short year, the drudgery had hollowed me out, turning me from a woman of substance, a curvy girl with a lucky star, into a gaunt, exhausted shadow.

Just when I felt I couldn’t lift another bucket, my birth parents tracked me down. They said I was the daughter who had been swapped at birth and they wanted to bring me to the City to live a life of comfort.

But I hadn’t even finished the drive in their sleek black sedan when a crew of men stopped us and dragged me out.

They threatened my parents: Pay the ransom, or they’d end me!

I was shaking, absolutely terrified. But when the blindfold was ripped off, I looked up at the gang leader and froze.

It was my runaway husband.

1

“Honey!”

The name burst out of me, and every eye in the room snapped to focus on me and Rhys Owen.

Rhys’s face instantly flushed crimson.

I couldn’t make out his expression through the shadows, but I was too excited to care. I pumped up the volume and yelled it again.

“Honey!”

The rugged men stared at me, trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey, for a long moment, then erupted in laughter.

“Boss, did we scare this one senseless?”

“She just yells ‘Honey’ at anyone? Hey, sweetheart, how about me?”

“You? Don’t you see the size of the Boss? Look at his build compared to yours!”

“The Boss has all the luck—getting a rich heiress to throw herself at him even while he’s on the job!”

Rhys glared fiercely at his crew.

When he looked at me, his brow furrowed. “Stop yelling. Who are you calling your husband?”

I was stunned.

He didn’t recognize me!

He’d abandoned me on our wedding night to seek fortune, promising to return and give me the good life, but he hadn’t even called once. If my birth parents hadn’t found me, I’d still be in that village, stuck playing Penelope.

The thought of it all brought my fury to a boil.

“You rotten, heartless man! You walked out and left me to fend for myself, and now the first thing you do is kidnap me? Do you have no soul?”

“Do you know how I’ve been living? Starving, freezing—I nearly died of cold in that village last winter!”

I wallowed in the drama of my past misery, screaming the accusations until tears streamed down my face.

The men exchanged bewildered, uncertain looks.

“No way. Is that really the Boss’s wife?”

“Damn, Boss just hit the jackpot—a wife and a ransom!”

“You can’t forget your crew when you hit it big, Boss!”

A skinny guy, Mac, sidled up to Rhys with a leering grin.

“Boss, we were supposed to kidnap her, but I think she’s here to kidnap you!”

Rhys finally snapped out of his daze and shoved Mac away in disgust.

“All of you—shut your mouths!”

He then strode over, intentionally roughing up his voice, and grabbed my chin.

“You open your eyes and look at me. Who is your husband? I’m known as ‘The Rattler’ on the street, and I stand by my name!”

“And besides, I have a wife! She’s a curvy girl, a woman of substance! You may sound like her, but those stick arms and legs? Do you think I’m blind?”

“Don’t try to play games with me, sweetheart, or I’ll cut out your tongue!”

After his menacing threat, he turned away and mumbled under his breath.

“Dressed so nice, trying to pretend to be my wife? What an actress! Good thing I don’t fall for that.”

I was already livid that he wouldn’t admit to knowing me.

Hearing that, I instinctively glanced down at myself.

My hourglass figure was now a slender, toned shape; my full curves had melted into a streamlined silhouette. I’d lost over seventy pounds. No wonder he didn’t recognize me.

For the first time in my life, I wanted to cry over being thin.

“I really am your h—”

Before I could finish, he sealed my mouth shut with duct tape.

“I’m warning you, we’ve been living on a knife’s edge for years—we’re stone-cold killers. Your little beauty tricks won’t work on me!”

“Cooperate and wait for the ransom, or I won’t go easy on you!”

With that, he tapped the blade of a knife against my cheek.

His action completely shocked me. I froze, unable to move a muscle.

Once he was out of earshot, I sniffled.

The more I thought about it, the more miserable I felt, so I just started yelling obscenities.

“Rhys Owen, you low-down, no-good jerk!”

But with the tape over my mouth, no one understood what I was saying.

After a long while, I calmed down and looked around the room.

The men were all bulky and rough, covered in fake tattoos and scars—they looked like the usual ne’er-do-wells you’d see hanging around town.

Watching Rhys lecture his crew in the distance, I sank into thought. He was supposed to be in the City doing construction, so why was he here with them? And why was he kidnapping me?

My heart ached as I watched the man I’d missed for years.

Honey, you’re just getting yourself into trouble…

2

A phone ring broke my reverie.

Rhys glanced at me and lowered his voice. “Ms. Harrington, the job is done.”

Ms. Harrington? Skye Harrington? Wasn’t that the sister I’d been swapped with?

Did she hire Rhys to kidnap me?

I immediately perked up my ears.

“Don’t worry, we didn’t hurt her, just gave her a good scare.”

“We’ll make sure she backs off and doesn’t interfere with your life.”

Those two simple sentences were all I needed to figure out their entire game.

So, they just didn’t want me to come home, huh?

I rolled my eyes. Since my life wasn’t actually in danger, I had nothing to fear or worry about. My priority now was to give my clueless, wife-blind husband a good lesson.

Once he hung up, I kicked the skinny guy next to me, Mac, signaling him to rip the tape off my mouth.

Mac, clearly eager for more entertainment, actually did it. He must have wanted to see what I’d do to Rhys next.

The moment my mouth was free, I deliberately cleared my throat.

“Honey~”

The syrupy-sweet sound instantly made the surrounding men turn red trying to stifle their laughter.

Rhys’s broad shoulders tensed. He turned back, his expression tight. “I told you not to call me that!”

I pouted with a wicked glee. “Why are you so mean? I’m thirsty.”

“Even a kidnapper can’t let the hostage die of thirst, can they?”

I put on my best hurt expression.

Rhys took a deep breath and tossed a bottle of water, which landed right beside me.

Thinking about how he’d abandoned me for so long, I fluttered my eyelashes.

“Oh dear, I’m all tied up, I can’t get it. Honey, come help me.”

He walked over like a man resigned to his fate and held the water bottle to my lips.

My eyes lit up. I gulped hard, staring at his wide shoulders and that impressive eight-pack.

He sensed my stare, and his face instantly went wary as he tried to shield his chest. “Are you drinking or not?”

I quickly pulled my gaze back. “Drinking, drinking, of course, I’m drinking.”

I guzzled half the bottle and let out a satisfied burp.

Seeing him about to stand up, I quickly adjusted my tone. “Sweetheart~”

My overly dramatic voice nearly made his knees buckle.

“For heaven’s sake, what do you want now!”

“A person needs food to live, Honey. You’ve had me tied up for ages, aren’t you going to feed me?”

He covered his ears with a look of pure disgust and retreated ten feet. “Just wait!”

The crew of ‘thugs’ couldn’t hold back anymore and doubled over with laughter.

“Boss, I don’t think the missus wants food, she wants you!”

“Why don’t you just take one for the team, Boss, and take her in!”

Rhys angrily slammed the remaining half-bottle of water onto the ground, scattering water everywhere.

“All of you, shut up!”

“I’m telling you one more time—I’m a married man! If anyone says something like that again, I’ll take it personally!”

Seeing his genuine anger, the crew immediately straightened up.

My lips curved up, and I nodded, pleased.

My husband might be a little dense, but he certainly had high standards for fidelity.

Rhys must have felt my gaze, because he spun around, his eyes narrowed menacingly. “Take her into the back room! I’m going out to get food!”

The men immediately ushered me into the inner room.

I wrinkled my nose. “You want me to sleep in this?”

Mac raised an eyebrow, a suggestive smile on his face. “This is the Boss’s room! A private room! And only one bed!”

“Oh.” I gave him a knowing look and smiled back.

“Don’t worry, buddy. When this is all over, the missus won’t forget your help!”

I sat down quietly.

After what felt like ages, just as I was about to fall asleep, Rhys finally returned.

“Here, eat this!”

Looking at the bag of bagels and hard-boiled eggs, I felt a momentary softening of my heart.

“Feed me.”

His face darkened, and he was about to blow up, but I held up my hands, which were still tied together.

“I’m tied up like this, and you expect me to peel an egg myself?”

He was stumped. He reluctantly sat down beside me.

After carefully peeling the shell off one egg, he held it to my mouth.

I leaned back slightly. “I don’t eat the yolks.”

He let out a defeated sigh, but his body moved automatically. The two halves of egg white were soon offered to my lips. “Happy now?”

His sun-kissed skin looked even darker against the pure white egg white. He was a muscle man, but his fingers were surprisingly long and defined.

I unconsciously swallowed.

When I opened my mouth, I accidentally brushed his finger, and my heart started beating like a trapped bird.

Rhys was busy chewing on the yolk and didn’t notice the change in me.

“I’m a kidnapper, and you’re giving me your food preferences? You must have a death wish.”

I gave him an innocent look and defended myself. “My husband taught me that. He gets whatever I don’t like.”

Rhys paused mid-swallow. His wife didn’t like egg yolks, either! Could this woman really be his big, curvy wife?

But the next second, he shook his head, pushing away the absurd thought. His wife was cute and plump; she couldn’t possibly be this bone-thin heiress.

Absolutely not!

3

After it got dark, Rhys made the bed and turned to lay a blanket out on the floor.

“You take the bed, I’ll sleep on the floor. I’ll keep watch.”

My heart warmed a little. I curled up on the bed and hummed softly. “You’re so good to me, Honey.”

He shot me a glare but said nothing.

I decided to push my luck.

“Then help me untie the ropes, too. My wrists hurt~”

His guard immediately went up, and his eyebrows tightened. “No way! What if I untie you and you run away in the middle of the night? Don’t even try to beg; my answer is final!”

His stubbornness annoyed me. I scooted toward the edge of the bed to make room and shot him a seductive look.

“Then you can just hold me in your arms all night, and I won’t be able to run, right?”

He closed his eyes in exasperation, pretending to neither hear nor see me.

I wasn’t going to let him off that easy!

Since he wouldn’t speak, I extended my foot and brushed my toes against his thigh.

Rhys shot up with a gasp, his head smacking the low ceiling beam with a dull thud. He let out a muffled groan of pain.

I sat up in feigned concern, only to realize his ears were bright red.

Grinning, I lay back down, striking a pose, and pouted my lips.

“Sweetheart, if you don’t untie me, I don’t know what I might do next, you know~”

He wrapped himself tightly in the blanket, his neck stiff with stubborn resistance. “I don’t believe you can cause that much trouble!”

I scoffed. “I won’t cause that much trouble, but I can definitely make sure you don’t get a wink of sleep.”

I was a little nervous, this being my first time acting so flirtatious, but he didn’t reply for the longest time.

That made me even angrier. Hello! I’m a beautiful woman now!

I spun my head away in frustration, only to see him gripping his fists tightly, muttering under his breath through gritted teeth.

“Do not harm the asset, do not harm the asset…”

I had to clench my stomach to keep from laughing.

Rhys suddenly deflated. “Fine, untie them. Just please, stop torturing me.”

He turned to me with a look of utter defeat.

“Promise me, if I untie you, you’ll behave and stop driving me crazy!”

I nodded obediently. “Whatever you say, Honey.”

He shuddered with disgust and grudgingly started working on the ropes.

He didn’t see the sly look in my eyes.

The moment I was free, I pounced on him, wrapping myself around him like an octopus.

“Ah, I’ve been tied up all day, time to stretch my body.”

He froze, his eyes wide with panic. “You… you broke your promise!”

I found it hilarious. My finger traced his V-line, gliding up to his abdominal muscles.

I let out a satisfied sigh. “Honey, your body is absolutely dynamite!”

He looked genuinely terrified, on the verge of tears. He carefully pushed my hand away and struggled.

“Get off me! Or I’ll really lose my temper!”

“I don’t care if you’re a hostage or not, I swear I’ll throw you out!”

“What if my wife finds out about this? I’m an honest man!”

I refused to let go, clinging to his broad back. I straightened up slightly.

I bit his ear, grinding my teeth a little. “Rhys Owen, do you really not recognize me?”

If he dared to say no, I was going to bite his ear right off!

Rhys froze as if struck by lightning. He turned his head slowly to look at me, his eyes wide.

“You’re…”