MINE (Claimed series 1)

"Please... don't hurt me, Mr Santoro. I beg you, please. I promise I will pay you every cent I owe at the end of this month !" the man begged, kneeling on the floor at the feet of the five men surrounding him. "Hey, boss. Isn't this the fool that used to work for you as an accountant ?" Timothy, one of the guards and Mr Santoro's sideman, asked with a wicked smile. "Yeah, he’s the i***t who stole one million from us and didn't even bother running away or hiding," another guard added, his voice cold and heavy. "Boss, you should have let us kill this motherfucker back then." Their boss, who was sitting comfortably on the couch, looked terrifying. He was a ruthless ruler, his cold eyes capable of making grown men cry just by looking at them. A dark, dangerous smirk appeared on his face as he played with a lighter in his hand, looking completely heartless. "Come on now, guys, give the old man some peace," Mr Santoro finally spoke up, his deep voice sending chills down the old man's spine. "We are not here to talk about the past. We are here to form a new deal. You are Mr Black, right ?" He turned to the kneeling old man. "Yes... but you can call me Ben," the old man shook with fear. "Alright, Ben. Where is your daughter ?" "I'm here. Who is looking for me and who are you ?" Phoebe asked, walking inside the house after a long day at campus. The moment she stepped into the room, Mr Santoro froze. His cold, deadly eyes locked onto her and instantly, all the terrifying anger in his face melted away. His expression softened completely, his eyes widening as his inner wolf recognized her. He couldn't take his gaze off her. Phoebe saw her father on the ground and quickly ran over, squatting down beside him. "Dad ! Dad, are you okay ?" she asked, her voice filled with worry. "Your father is fine, sweetheart. And thanks to you, he will stay fine," Mr Santoro said, his voice suddenly smooth, gentle and incredibly deep. He stood up from the couch, making himself look even bigger and gave a slight nod to his guard. Timothy nodded and placed two suitcases of cash right on the table. "This money is for you.... what's your name again ?...oh Ben. I am marrying your daughter," Mr Santoro dropped the bomb. Mr Black's eyes widened in pure shock and Phoebe froze, her mood changed immediately. "You think you can buy me ?" Phoebe snapped, standing up to face him. "I am not some piece of furniture you can just purchase ! Take your filthy money and get out of here. We don't need you ! And...." Before she could even finish her sentence, Mr Santoro stepped closer, his tall body completely covering her. He gently placed a single finger over her lips, silencing her with a surprisingly soft touch. "Shh, sweetheart. No one is buying you here," he murmured, looking down at her with a rare, soft smile. "And you are wrong, because you do need me. Your father stole one million from me and I don't care what his reasons were. But I am not the only bad man he stole from in this city. This money will actually save his life. Besides, you are far too precious to buy. Consider that cash my dowry to your father. We will be getting married this week." Both Phoebe and her father stared at him in utter disbelief. "What ?!" Phoebe fought back, her chest heaving. Mr Santoro just smiled down at her, a playful, hot glint in his dark eyes. "Sweetheart, this isn't the right place to scream. But don't worry, after our wedding... I will give you plenty of better reasons to scream. Okay ?" He chuckled softly, and his guards laughed behind him. Furious, Phoebe swung her hand out to slap him across the face. But he was too fast. He easily caught her wrist in his tight grip and pulled her forward, slamming her small body right against his hard chest. He leaned his head down, burying his face in her neck to deeply sniff her hair. "Fierce... I like that," he whispered against her skin, making a shiver run down her spine. "But save all this energy for our wedding night. You are going to need it." Before she could pull away, he leaned down and pressed a soft, unexpected kiss right against her lips. He pulled back, gave her a slow wink and smirked. "I'll see you around, wife." With that, he turned and walked out of the house, his men following close behind him. Phoebe felt her body reacting to his touch. What was that all about ? Mr Black quickly scrambled to his feet and rushed over to his daughter. "Phoebe, are you okay ? Come on, we need to pack our bags and leave this town right now ! We have to run !" he hissed, his entire body shaking with panic. "Dad, what is going on ? Who are those people ?" Phoebe asked, her heart racing. "They said something about money. Did you really steal from them ?" "Look, I can't explain right now. That man is far more dangerous than you think. Please, let's just leave !" he begged. But Phoebe stepped away from him, refusing to move. "Tell me what is going on right now, or you will never see me again. I promise you that ! I am so tired of this life, Dad. We move to a new place every few years and I can't live like this anymore. I'm about to graduate from university and I won't throw that away for you. So tell me the truth. Who is that man and why does he want to marry me ?" Mr Black saw the stubborn determination in his daughter's eyes and realized he couldn't lie to her anymore. Slowly, he sank down onto the couch and buried his face in his hands. "That is Mr Santoro," he whispered hoarsely. "When we moved here five years ago, I got a job as his accountant. At that time, your sickness was getting worse every day and you desperately needed a medical procedure. That man doesn't care about money. I literally saw him burn millions of cash at his place once. I was so desperate to save you, Phoebe. So I stole one million from him and used it to pay for your heart transplant." Phoebe gasped. "He found out about the money back then, but he never showed his face until today," her father continued, crying, tears leaking through his fingers. "It seems like he has been planning this for a while, which is why he had never came for his money before. Phoebe, I know what that man is capable of. He is a monster. People even rumor that he eats people inside his house ! Now that he has decided to marry you, he will do it by force. He has absolutely no shame." "We won't run away, Dad," Phoebe said, looking at him firmly. "I love this place and I won't run away because of him. Tomorrow, I will go see him, give him back his money, and we will go to the police if he bothers us again. As for the money he stole, we will find a way to pay it back. I'll get a job." Mr Black tried to speak, but she wasn't listening. "Phoebe..." "Enough, Dad. I’ve been listening to you, now you listen to me. Please go and rest. The doctor said you need to take care of yourself. Don't worry about me, I'm okay." Slowly, Mr Black nodded and walked away to his room. Once she was alone, Phoebe sighed. Her father had done all of this just to save her life, and now he was sick. How could she tell him that the doctor strictly said he couldn't travel or stress too much ? Right now, she had to act strong so he wouldn't worry, but inside, she was absolutely terrified. Why would a man like Mr Santoro want to marry her ? Who did he think he was ? She was only a few months away from graduating from university. There was no way she would let some man in a fancy suit ruin her life just because he was rich and handsome ! After sitting in the living room for a while, she picked up the two suitcases of cash and carried them to her bedroom.