Bought By The Mafia... Saved By His Son

"How much is she worth?" The question echoed through the room, stealing every ounce of air from my lungs. I stared at the men seated around the polished oak table, waiting for someone to laugh. Someone to tell me this was some twisted joke. No one did. The Don who sat at the head of the table slowly lit a cigar, his face unreadable. "Five million." Five... Million? My heart stopped. "Dad..." My voice trembled. "What are they talking about?" He refused to look at me. Instead, he reached for a fountain pen and signed the document lying in front of him. The scratching sound of ink against paper shattered whatever hope I had left. "No..." I whispered. "No... Dad..." He finally looked up. There wasn't an ounce of guilt in his eyes. Only relief. "The debt is paid." The Don smiled. "Pleasure doing business with you." My knees nearly gave out. Debt? What debt? Before I could speak, two men dressed in black stepped toward me. One grabbed my arm. "Let go!" I struggled wildly, but it was useless. "Dad!" "Please!" "You can't do this!" He looked away. Just like that. The man who had promised to protect me... Had sold me. Tears blurred my vision. This couldn't be real. It had to be a nightmare. Then... The massive wooden doors creaked open. Every guard in the room immediately stepped aside. Even the old man looked up. A tall figure entered without saying a word. Black tailored suit. Black leather gloves. A silver watch rested against his wrist. His expression was unreadable. Cold. Calculated. Dangerous. The room fell silent. He walked straight to the table, dropped a thick folder onto its polished surface, and finally spoke. "I'll pay ten million." Every head snapped toward him. The old man narrowed his eyes. "She's already mine." The stranger didn't even blink. "I bought your debt." Silence. "So technically..." His icy gaze settled on me. "...she belongs to me now." A chill ran down my spine. Belongs? Was I nothing more than an object to these people? Something to be bought... Sold... Traded? The Don chuckled as he leaned back in his chair. "So that's how it's going to be?" The stranger said nothing. He simply slid another document across the table. "Read it." The Don's confident smile slowly disappeared as his eyes moved across the pages. His cigar nearly slipped from his fingers. "This..." He looked back up. "...is impossible." "I don't deal in impossibilities." The stranger's voice remained calm. "I deal in results." The room was suffocatingly quiet. Even the guards exchanged uneasy glances. The Don slammed the folder shut. "You'd pay double..." "...for a girl you've never met?" For the first time... The stranger smiled. It wasn't warm. It wasn't kind. It was the smile of a man who always got what he wanted. "I never said I wanted the girl." Confusion flashed across every face. He slowly removed one of his leather gloves before placing a black fountain pen beside the contract. "I want what comes after." The old man's brows furrowed. "And what's that?" The stranger's eyes never left mine. "A deal." My heartbeat pounded painfully against my ribs. I didn't understand any of this. Who was he? Why was he doing this? What kind of deal could possibly be worth ten million dollars? He took one slow step toward me. The guards instinctively moved aside. He stopped just an arm's length away. For the first time, I saw his face clearly. Sharp jaw. Piercing gray eyes. A scar just above his eyebrow. He looked young... Far younger than the ruthless men surrounding him. But somehow... He was the one everyone feared. His gaze swept over the bruises on my wrists where the guards had held me. Something flickered in his eyes. Gone before I could understand it. He reached into his coat pocket and handed me a neatly folded white handkerchief. I stared at it. Then at him. "I don't like seeing unnecessary blood." His voice was quiet. Controlled. "As for the rest..." He glanced toward the men who had dragged me into the room. "...they'll answer for it." The guards immediately stiffened. Fear crossed their faces. Not fear of me. Fear of him. Without another word, he turned back toward the old man. "So." He picked up the signed contract. "Do we have an agreement?" The Don hesitated. For the first time since I'd entered the room... Someone else held the power. And somehow... My fate had shifted from one monster's hands... ...into the hands of another.