CHAPTER SIX

Dinner was splendid!

That was all Jamie could say, and his ego went through the roof when Phoebe told him that this was the best restaurant, she had ever eaten at all her life. They were waiting in front of the restaurant for the valet to bring his car around when Phoebe heard someone screaming her name.

Phoebe turned and couldn't believe her eyes. It was Michael. She jumped and ran into his arms. They were friends since they could both say their names but somewhere along the line of life, Michael and his family moved away, never to be seen again…until now.

"Uh, Phoebe. You're all grown up now. Just look at you!"

"Look who's talking, you look like one of those action figures we used to play with together as kids. They spoke for quite some time, catching up on old stuff, unknowingly pissing Jamie off who patiently stood in front of his car, waiting for her to be done.

Jamie held on to his cool the same way the Michael guy was holding on to Phoebe's waist, tightly. His Phoebe. He calmly stood up from the hood of the car and walked over to them, he stood behind them for three good minutes, containing himself and assessing his apparent competition. Then he noticed it, the tattoo that inched up the side of his neck, partially hidden because of the suit but visible enough to know that Michael was no longer Phoebe's sweet old-time friend. He was a mobster, one of his most annoying competitors, and the only one trying to assassinate him. Jamie looked up and saw that Michael was looking at him, and he had the guts to wink at him. That was when Jamie lost it. He pulled Phoebe from Michael and held on to her waist despite her protests.

"Now, you listen to me, you son of a bitch. You best stay away from Phoebe, do you understand?"

Michael moved back and raised his hands in surrender, he was trying to make him look bad in front of Phoebe. And that made him snap. Just who does this fucker think he is? Jamie let go of Phoebe's waist and advanced on Michael, one punch to his face and he was on the floor with a bleeding nose, Jamie raised his hand again to punch him but a shrill voice calling his name made him stop mid-air.

"Jamie, what are you doing?"

Jamie got off of Michael, he heard him distinctly chuckle, and soon he was off, leaving just him and Phoebe. Jamie looked around and saw that they had attracted quite the attention but one look from him was enough to send everyone back to their business.

"Phoebe…"

"Just what the fuck is wrong with you!?" Jamie approached her slowly, for some reason, he felt like if he moved any faster, she'd bolt.

"It's not what you think, it's much more, deeper than that."

Jamie got to her and took her in his arms but she began to fight him, he held on to her, and all of a sudden she just stopped.

"Jamie?"

"Take me home. Now."

Jamie took a deep breath and opened the door, she slid in, avoiding all body contact with him. On the way back, the silence in the car was stifling. He was worried about this Michael guy. Would he try to hurt Phoebe to get to him? In hindsight, he had to agree with himself that reacting that way to him holding Phoebe was stupid. By tomorrow, all the mafias that want him dead will know that Phoebe is his woman and that equates to his weak spot.

"Phoebe…"

She turned her head and looked out the opposite window, completely ignoring him.

"Phoebe, I'm…sorry, okay?"

Silence.

"Listen, Michael is a bad man, a very bad man…"

That got her attention…Phoebe's head snapped to his and she moved in her seat so she could look at his face.

"Michael was a bad man? Michael was a bad man!? Michael was my childhood friend; one I haven't seen since he moved away all those years ago and you almost killed him! All for what…just because you were jealous about what isn't even yours!?"

"You are mine, Phoebe. Everything about you is mine. Your body is mine, your soul is mine and I don't like to share."

Jamie wasn't shouting but she noted the undertone of suppressed anger in his voice. He didn't see anything wrong in what he did, that pissed her off but not as much as when he claimed ownership over her. He was possessive. Too possessive.

"Fuck you!"

And that was how it went, constant arguments and heated quarrels till he got to the front of her house, he put the car on child lock as soon as he pulled over.

"What the hell?"

"Listen, Phoebe, I'm sorry. I tend to get carried away by certain things. I…I like you a lot, Phoebe, and I want you to give me a chance…"

"Give you a chance, we're not even dating and you almost killed someone. Someone that couldn't have even been a threat to our relationship! And then you're claiming me?"

"Shit. That sounds terrible. Okay, what do you want me to do? Just say it."

"Just leave me alone."

That was enough to knock the wind out of him, he could do anything else but leave her alone. He didn't want to leave her alone, the very point of asking what she wanted was so he wouldn't have to leave her alone.

"Just…give me some time. I need to think. Please."

Jamie slowly nodded his head and unlocked the car, he turned the other way because he couldn't bear to see her walk away. He barely knew the girl but she held an insane amount of power over him, he found himself wanting to do anything for Phoebe.

Jamie also knew many women who would want to be in her shoes, be seen going on dates with the underground boss of the United States. And then here was Phoebe Whitman, stylishly telling him to get the fuck out of her life. All his life, Jamie had been trained to keep emotion far away from him but right now, he felt his throat was clogged up with those same emotions.

Jamie turned and looked at the house when he heard the door close shut, and with a heavy heart, he started up the engine and zoomed away.

The second Jamie got to his mansion, he found his underboss and his good friend sitting in his office, waiting for him.

"So…how did the date go?" Kieran said, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Great, until the Wilson family showed up." That got Kieran's attention.

"Why didn't you call? Was there a shootout?"

"No, the heir just so happens to be Phoebe's childhood friend."

"Oh."

"Yeah, and I got into a nasty fight with him."

"That's bad, they'll realize that you have a soft spot for Phoebe and…"

"Don't finish that sentence. Arrange for eyes to always be on Phoebe, her house, her friends too. Also, I want a background check done on her."

"But we already did that, boss."

"No, I want another one. A detailed one, everything about her. Everything."

"Sure thing, I'll get on it as soon as I leave but may I ask you something?"

"Of course, Kieran."

"Why do you want a background check, don't you trust her?"

"It's not her I don't trust, it's that Wilson fellow. She mentioned they grew up together. The Wilsons have been in this game for more than 30 years, that's older than Phoebe and Michael and the only people that close to them were the most trusted members of the mafia."

Jamie watched Kieran as the dots connected in his head and his mouth fell open.

"I'm on it." Kieran jumped from his chair and headed for the door, the new piece of acquired information twirling in his brain.

"Don't forget about the security."

"I wouldn't dare."

Finally, Kieran shut the door carefully behind him, leaving his boss to his thoughts and his bottle of single malt whiskey.

***

It's been three weeks since the date and Phoebe have been studiously avoiding Jamie. His calls, his messages. Everything. Every time he came to visit, she had the girls tell him she wasn't well or that she wasn't home, so he stopped coming altogether.

Although, she did enjoy the flowers and the chocolates he sent to her, combined with the cute tiny love notes that accompanied them. Her anger had been slowly but surely appeased. Her friends, too, had been rallied to his side. He always sent them exclusive VIP tickets to the hottest concerts of the year, and sometimes, he even spared his private jet to take them there. Now, they were born on her neck to 'forgive and forget. She enjoyed the attention, and she loved the good morning texts; she appreciated all the efforts he had put in. That was more than what any man had done for her before.

Phoebe knew that she couldn't live with a man as possessive as Jamie. She wouldn't be able to live with the distrust that comes with it and the constant quarrels that were sure to ensue. Though it was really hot to see him that way sometimes,…these things always had their disadvantages.

It was Saturday evening, a few minutes to the hour of 10. The girls had decided on a girl's night in, much to Hailey's horror. After a long week, Phoebe decided that they all needed to unwind. After binge-watching Netflix, games, and a few drinks, everyone was beginning to dose off on the couch or the floor with blankets secured around them. That was when it happened. Their door has been broken in.

Immediately all four girls scrambled off the floor, looking from one to the other, not knowing what to do.

"What's happening?"

"There's someone in the house…"

"C'mon"

They whispered amongst themselves and Phoebe began to lead the girls to her room, which was where her phone was and her room was closest. The only advantage they had was that all lights were out and the TV had long since auto powered off. Just as Phoebe got to the door of her room, she bumped into a wall and stumbled backward but a pair of hands held her. And that was when she realized, a wall doesn't have hands.

"Oh my God…"

That was when the lights came on and Phoebe saw that they were indeed surrounded. Her first assumption was that they were robbers but they weren't taking anything.

"Who are you? What do you want?"

The man holding her simply nodded to men somewhere behind her and they seized Cindy, Mindy, and Hailey. They screamed and kicked but they were powerless against the brutal strength of the men. Phoebe began to kick her legs and tried scratching his face when she saw the men pull out syringes and inject them with them, they immediately went lax.

"Be still, you bitch!"

The command in his voice made her freeze, she thought Jamie was a dominant man but she dares not to disobey this one. She was sure of two things, if this were Jamie, he would never hurt her and the second was that this man would break her bones like a toothpick and have her friends for lunch if she misbehaved. Phoebe took a deep breath and swallowed, trying to find her voice.

"Who are you? What do you want from us?"

Phoebe spared a glance at him when he didn't answer her and then she wished she hadn't. He had a sinister smile on his face and then nodded to someone behind her, she felt a tiny prick in her neck, and in a matter of seconds, everything went black.