MIDNIGHT Bride The CEO's TEMPTATION

"This is taking too long," Nathan muttered, and he drew a pistol from a hidden holster. When Vic saw it, he was shocked. "Sir!" he cried. "Don't do this!"

Nathan ignores Vic. He aimed at the speedboat and fired three times. When he was done shooting, the boat spun in a half-circle and capsized.

Crystal was thrown from the boat. She hadn't been hit, but she almost wished she had been. She would rather die than return, but he'd taken that option away from her. She shook her fist in the air angrily as it settled overhead.

A minute passed, and a rope ladder dropped into the water. Then, from the loudspeaker, Nathan shouted, "Come with me, or stay here and die. It's your call. But, if you choose death, I won't make it easy for you. I will shoot you in the arms and the legs, and you will drown out here in unimaginable pain."

Crystal sighed as she grabbed the ladder, and she began to climb up to the helicopter. Nathan from the loudspeaker: "That's a Good Girl!

Crystal cringed as she climbed, and the minute she was safely inside, he pistol-whipped her across the face. "You thought you could escape," he laughed. "That's funny!"

Crystal stared at him without fear. She had been trying to figure out what was going on and why Nathan was behaving this way. None of it made sense to her, but as he laughed, she was forced to believe that this man wasn't Nathan. It couldn't be. This man had the same face as Nathan, but his personality was very different from that of the man she loved. "Do you think I'm afraid of death?" she asked. "I'm not. Go ahead and kill me. I no longer care!"

Nathan raised an eyebrow and lowered his gun. He said, "If you were dead, I would be out of a  plaything, and I wouldn't want that."

Crystal grabbed the gun and pressed it to his forehead. "Who the hell are you?" she shouted. "And where's Nathan? Tell me, or I'll kill you!"

When Vic heard that, his face turned white.

"Crystal!" he cried. "Don't do it. If you shoot Gerald, Nathan will be gone forever!"

"What the Hell is that supposed to mean?"

Crystal growled. She turned her head slightly, and while she was distracted, Nathan tried to swat the gun out of her hand. She was on edge, though, and she pulled the trigger.

She closed her eyes and flinched in anticipation of a gunshot that never came. Nathan began to laugh, and she slowly opened her eyes. "Had this been loaded," he said, "do you think I would have actually let you get your hands on it. What kind of a fool do you take me for?"

Crystal was speechless.

Nathan swiped the gun from her, and then he struck her with it again. Crystal cried out in pain, and she brought her hand up to her jaw. Already it was beginning to swell, and it was wet where her skin had split. "Why?" she gasped.

Nathan smirked and said, "There is no 'Why?' Only weak people ask 'Why?' Strong people do what they want." - and he hit her again.

Nathan was like a machine. He took a bullet out of his pocket, loaded the gun, aimed it at the collar that Eric had put around her neck, and fired at it. The gunshot's sound was loud in the enclosed space, but the sound of the collar breaking was even louder. Nathan took the collar and dropped it on the ground. Then he made a necklace out of rope, hung a bullet from it, and said, "Keep this. If you're ever serious about killing me, you can use this bullet."

"Kill you?" Crystal scoffed. "I'm afraid of getting my hands dirty! Now, give me back my collar!"

Nathan picked up the collar and studied the soaring eagle and the red jewel. Crystal reached for the necklace, but he was too quick for her. He slipped it into his pants pocket.

Crystal held her palm open. "Give it back to me!" she whined.

Nathan: "Let's make a deal." 

Crystal: "Fine. You can have your stupid bullet back in exchange for the collar you stole from me." 

Nathan smirked. "Tell me something," he said. "Whose plaything is you. Nathan's or mine?"

"I am nobody's plaything!" Crystal exclaimed. "Only perverts treat women like playthings. If I were, though, I certainly would not be yours! You're imprisoning me. I should have called the police when I had the chance. Furthermore, at this point, it doesn't matter who you are. I don't give a shit even though you are Nathan. He is almost as bad as you are. I was under his care when I fell into that death trap and when the horse trampled me!"

Crystal ripped her new necklace out of Nathan's hands and tried to throw it out the side of the helicopter, but he caught it. "How dare you throw my necklace away?" he growled.

Crystal grinned and spat a wad of bloody phlegm at Nathan's hand. Some of it splattered in his face, but most of it dripped down his fist and coagulated on the necklace. She laughed and said, "That is what I think of your necklace. Now kill me. If you have the guts!"

"You will wear the necklace!" Nathan roared. "And you will never take it off! You will not die, and you cannot run."

Crystal rolled her eyes, but instead of getting angrier, Nathan's expression softened. He playfully" Boop's" her nose and said, "If you want to see that man again, behave yourself. If you make me happy, I'll consider letting you see him."

His words gave her cause to pause. Finally, she said, "Where has he gone? Who the hell are you? And what is your relation to him?"

"Are these your only questions?" Nathan asked. He puts the necklace around Crystal's neck, and her mucus saliva oozes slowly down her chest. He dipped his finger in it and smeared it in a circle. He tasted it, and then he said, "You have more personality than Helen. Did you know that?"

Crystal: "What the Hell are you even talking about?"