Chapter 2

Eli couldn’t look away.

Cove Voss stood barely three feet in front of him, larger than life and twice as terrifying in person. The penthouse lights cast sharp shadows across his face, highlighting the ruthless cut of his jaw and the storm-gray eyes that seemed to strip Eli bare without mercy. Up close, the man was even more imposing broad chest straining against the black dress shirt, sleeves rolled up to reveal powerful forearms corded with muscle and faint scars. His presence filled the enormous room like smoke, heavy and inescapable.

Eli’s wrists ached behind his back, the zip ties digging deeper every time he instinctively pulled against them. His bare feet pressed into the cool marble floor, grounding him even as his mind spun. He forced his breathing to stay even, refusing to let the fear show on his face. But inside, his thoughts were a whirlwind.

*This is Cove Voss. The Cove Voss.*

He had researched the man for months late nights spent digging through encrypted files, following money trails that always seemed to vanish into offshore accounts and bloody rumors. Cove wasn’t just another crime lord. He was the shadow that controlled half the city’s weapons trade, information networks, and underground clubs. People who crossed him didn’t disappear. They were *erased*.

And now Eli was standing in his territory. Bound. Bruised. Completely at his mercy.

Cove didn’t speak at first. He simply studied Eli with the quiet intensity of a predator deciding whether its prey was worth the effort. His gaze traveled slowly down the column of Eli’s throat, across his heaving chest beneath the torn hoodie, over the scrapes on his arms and the way his legs trembled slightly from the long, painful ride. Then back up again, lingering on Eli’s face. On his mouth. On his eyes.

Eli swallowed hard. The silence stretched, thick and suffocating. He could hear the faint hum of the city far below the floor-to-ceiling windows, the distant pulse of a world that felt a million miles away. Inside the penthouse, there was only the sound of his own heartbeat and the soft click of Cove’s expensive leather shoes as he began to circle.

Slow. Deliberate.

Like a shark gliding through dark water.

Eli turned his head, trying to keep the man in sight, but with his hands bound he couldn’t pivot properly. Cove moved behind him, out of view. Eli’s skin prickled with awareness. Every nerve ending screamed as he felt the heat of Cove’s body pass close too close without touching.

“You’re trembling,” Cove observed, voice low and smooth, like aged whiskey poured over ice. It came from directly behind Eli now. “Is it fear, Elliot? Or something else?”

“Fuck you,” Eli shot back, voice steadier than he felt. “And it’s Eli. Only my brother calls me Elliot, and I’d rather not associate the two of you.”

A soft, dangerous chuckle ghosted across the back of Eli’s neck, raising goosebumps. Cove completed his circle and stopped in front of him again, closer this time. Eli had to tilt his head up slightly to meet those piercing gray eyes. The height difference made him feel smaller. More vulnerable.

“Defiant,” Cove murmured, almost to himself. “Good. I’d hate for this to be boring.”

He reached out with one hand and brushed a stray curl from Eli’s forehead. The touch was surprisingly gentle, but the intent behind it wasn’t. It was ownership. Testing. Claiming territory.

Eli jerked his head away. “Don’t touch me.”

Cove’s hand dropped, but the ghost of the contact lingered on Eli’s skin like a brand. He resumed his slow circling, hands clasped behind his back, the picture of composed power. “Your brother owed me a great deal of money, Eli. Millions. Along with loyalty he failed to deliver. When he offered you as collateral… I accepted.”

Eli’s stomach dropped. “Collateral? I’m not a fucking pawn.”

“You are now.” Cove’s voice hardened. “Marco made it very clear. You belong to me until the debt is paid in full. Every cent. Every slight. Every betrayal.”

“I had nothing to do with his business,” Eli snarled, twisting to follow Cove’s movement. “I stayed out of it. I built my own life ”

“And yet here you are.” Cove stopped in front of him once more. His expression was unreadable, but those eyes burned with something dark and possessive. “Pretty little hacker. Talented enough to dig into my files. Reckless enough to get caught. Your brother knew exactly what he was handing over.”

Eli froze. *He knows.* Of course he knew. Cove Voss didn’t survive at the top by being careless.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Eli lied.

Cove’s lips curved into a cold smile. “Lying already? We’ll fix that soon enough.” He stepped even closer, until the toes of his polished shoes nearly touched Eli’s bare feet. The scent of his cologne sandalwood, leather, and something sharper wrapped around Eli like chains. “For now, the rules are simple. You stay here. In my penthouse. Under my roof. Under my control. You speak when spoken to. You obey. And if you behave…”

Cove leaned in, lips brushing the shell of Eli’s ear as he whispered, “I might even let you see daylight again.”

Eli’s breath stuttered. Heat flooded his face anger, humiliation, and something far more dangerous he refused to name. He could feel the solid wall of Cove’s chest inches from his own. The man radiated heat like a furnace.

“I’m not your prisoner,” Eli whispered fiercely.

Cove pulled back just enough to lock eyes with him. “You’re whatever I say you are.” His voice dropped to a velvet command. “You belong to me now, Eli Reyes. Body. Mind. Soul. Until I decide the debt is settled. And I collect what’s mine.”

The declaration hung in the air between them, heavy and final. Eli’s heart hammered so loudly he was sure Cove could hear it. He wanted to scream, to fight, to run but the zip ties held firm, and the sheer magnetic force of Cove’s presence pinned him in place.

For a long moment, neither of them moved. The tension crackled like electricity before a storm. Cove’s gaze dropped to Eli’s mouth again, lingering. Eli’s lips parted slightly, breath shallow.

Then Cove stepped back.

He raised one hand and snapped his fingers once.

The lights began to dim.

Eli’s eyes widened. “What are you ”

The recessed lighting in the ceiling softened, then faded further. The massive floor lamps along the walls followed. One by one, the sources of illumination surrendered to shadow.

“No,” Eli breathed, panic rising sharp and fast in his throat. “Don’t ”

The penthouse plunged into total darkness.

Complete. Absolute. suffocating blackness.

Eli’s worst nightmare swallowed him whole.

A broken sound tore from his chest half gasp, half whimper. His breathing turned ragged instantly. The darkness pressed against his eyes, thick and heavy, like being buried alive. Old memories surged forward: the closet at age nine, locked door, Marco’s laughter on the other side, hours of nothing but black and silence and terror.

He couldn’t see. Couldn’t see anything.

“Cove,” he choked out, hating how small and broken his voice sounded. He stumbled backward, bare feet slipping on the marble. His bound arms threw off his balance. “Turn the lights back on. Please fuck turn them on!”

No answer.

Only the sound of slow footsteps in the dark. Circling again.

Eli spun, disoriented, heart exploding in his chest. Sweat broke out across his skin. The air felt thinner. Every breath burned.

“Where are you?” he demanded, voice cracking. “Cove!”

A low, calm voice came from somewhere to his left. “This is your new reality, Eli. Darkness. Dependence. Me.”

Eli backed up until his shoulders hit a wall. Cold. Unyielding. He slid down slightly, legs shaking. The panic clawed up his throat, threatening to choke him.

A hand brushed his arm in the blackness deliberate, possessive.

Eli jerked violently, a raw sound escaping him.

“Shh,” Cove whispered, closer now. So close Eli could feel the man’s breath against his temple. “You’re mine in the light. And you’re mine in the dark.”

The fingers trailed slowly down Eli’s bound arm, mapping him in the void.

Eli’s entire body trembled. Fear and something electric twisted together in his gut as the darkness consumed everything sight, saf

ety, resistance.

He was completely, utterly at Cove Voss’s mercy.

And the nightmare had only just begun.