Chapter 14

My hands were freed first before the scarf was taken from my eyes. The ropes fell away, leaving my skin raw and red where they had bitten in for so long. A rush of air hit me, and then I was yanked up from where I had been tied to the cold, rusty metal rod. My knees were weak, trembling so badly I almost sank back down, but then—

“I saw him.”

The words slipped from my lips before I could stop them. My eyes widened as they finally adjusted to the dim light, and I saw the man they all called the boss.

He was a giant of a man. His presence filled the room, as though even the walls leaned back to make space for him. Long, black hair fell past his shoulders in waves, and his face was carved in hard lines that looked as if they had been set there by years of power and command. His eyes—dark, fierce, and unyielding—locked on mine, piercing through me as if he were peeling away every secret I had ever hidden. My chest tightened. It felt like I had wronged him in another lifetime, like I owed him a debt I had never agreed to pay.

“Stop staring and move!” Caleb barked from behind me, his voice slicing through my thoughts like a blade. He shoved me roughly, his hot breath against my ear. “Or should I tie you back?”

I turned my head slightly to look at him. Caleb fit every image I had pictured of a street thug: not tall, with messy blond hair that looked like it had been dyed in a hurry, and a patchy beard that made him look more worn than fierce. His eyes, however, were cruel enough to send a shiver through me. He grabbed my arm like a lifeless object and dragged me across the concrete floor toward a chair.

My heart pounded harder with every step. Sitting at the center of the room, waiting as though he had all the time in the world, was the boss himself. He didn’t move, didn’t blink, just watched me with those sharp eyes until I was pushed down onto the chair.

“What’s your name?” His voice was deep, commanding. It rolled across the room like thunder, impossible to ignore.

I froze, my lips parting, but no sound came out. My fear strangled me, making every word stick in my throat.

Then his palm slammed against the table with a loud, echoing bang! The sound rattled through my bones, jolting me into speech.

“My name is—” My voice cracked. I swallowed and tried again. “Katrina Jones… but my friends and family call me Kiki.”

He leaned back slightly, repeating the name as if testing its weight. “Kiki.”

Hearing him say it made my head snap up. My eyes locked on his face, searching for a clue of what he meant by speaking it that way. His gaze lingered on me, sharp and unreadable, as if he were waiting to see how I would react.

“So I will call you Kiki, then,” he said flatly.

I couldn’t stop the small gasp that escaped my lips. The way he said my name—firm, possessive—made it feel as though he had just claimed a part of me.

“Continue.” His voice cut through the thick silence, demanding more.

My chest rose and fell quickly, but I obeyed. “I’m just twenty-one years old. In my second year at university. I study mathematics…” My eyes flickered to the pistol lying carelessly on the chair beside him, its dark metal gleaming under the light. Fear made my words tremble. “I’m an only child. I… I live with my parents.”

A laugh burst out from Godwin, harsh and cruel. “So your parents will have no child now.”

The words stabbed into me like knives. My whole body shook. Tears blurred my eyes as I clasped my hands together. “Please… please don’t kill me,” I begged, my voice breaking. “I swear I won’t say anything. I didn’t see anything. I’m innocent. Please, I beg of you.”

Caleb stepped closer, his shadow falling over me. “You’ve seen our faces,” he said coldly. “You’ve heard our names. There’s only one option left—”

My breath hitched painfully, and I gasped for air, the room spinning.

The boss raised his hand slightly, silencing Caleb with nothing more than a gesture. His eyes never left me. “There is another option,” he said calmly, his tone steady and unnerving.

I lifted my head, hope and fear tangling inside me. “Anything,” I whispered quickly. “As long as I don’t have to kill anyone. As long as I can live.”

For the first time, the corner of his lips curved—just slightly, the faintest trace of a smile. His men stared at him in shock, waiting.

“Unless…” His gaze darkened as it fell on me, steady, deliberate. “You become my girlfriend.”

The words rang in the air like a bell.

The room froze. His men gaped, exchanging startled looks. Caleb frowned deeply, Godwin scoffed, and Clinton let out a sharp hiss between his teeth.

As for me—I stood there, motionless. My mouth parted in disbelief, my mind refusing to catch up with what I’d just heard.

“Girlfriend?” I echoed.

“Yes. Girlfriend. Or you want to die?”

His voice was low and sharp, slicing through the air like a blade. My heart stopped at the words. Was he really offering me a choice, or was this another twisted game? Maybe he was doing it to monitor me, to see if I would actually report the case after he freed me. Or maybe he just wanted me to kill myself so that my innocent blood wouldn’t be on his head.

He leaned closer, his shadow swallowing me whole. “You will just be my contract girlfriend for six months,” he continued, his tone now calm but heavy with command. “You will act like my girlfriend to my mother, my father, and especially my grandmother, who keeps forcing me to go on blind dates and pushing me to marry soon.”

My lips trembled. “I… I’ll think about the offer,” I whispered, hoping to buy time, hoping for anything.

But before I could even take a full breath, his voice hardened. “Tie her back, Caleb.”

Something inside me broke at the sound of those words. The ropes. The scarf. The darkness. I couldn’t go back to that place again.

“I accept!” I blurted out, my voice cracking. “I’ll do it. I’ll be your girlfriend!”

The room fell silent. Even Caleb stopped moving. Godwin raised an eyebrow. Clinton let out a low whistle. And Kelvin looked at me with a mixture of pity and relief.

“Good,” the boss said finally, his lips curling into a small, unreadable smile. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

Caleb loosened the ropes, his grip still rough as he pulled me to my feet. My legs felt weak as they dragged me out of the dim, cold room and into the waiting car.

It wasn’t just a car—it was a machine meant to impress and intimidate. A long, black Rolls-Royce Phantom with tinted windows that swallowed the outside light. The interior was pure luxury: butter-soft leather seats in cream, polished walnut trim glowing under muted lights, and a faint scent of expensive cologne and leather hanging in the air. The doors closed with a deep, heavy thud that echoed like a vault sealing shut.

I sank into the seat, my wrists still burning from the ropes. Across from me sat the man who now held my fate. He watched me in silence, his fierce eyes glinting under the dim lights of the car, one arm draped casually over the seat, as if he hadn’t just kidnapped me and rewritten my life.

Within that hour-long drive, I learned his name. Eric Reigns.

The name rolled through my mind like a storm. Eric Reigns—the first son of the wealthy and powerful Reigns family, a dynasty known across the country. Their public image was squeaky clean: elite businesses, charity galas, glittering parties. But I had heard the whispers too—the rumors of an underground empire run by the Reigns family, a hidden world of power and danger. And this man, this 26-year-old, was the one running it with a cold, brave hand.

The cityscape blurred past the window as the car glided through streets I didn’t recognize. I clutched my hands tightly in my lap, the reality of my situation pressing down like a weight I couldn’t breathe under.

Then his voice snapped me out of my thoughts. “We’ve arrived.”

I blinked and looked up. My breath caught in my throat.

Before me stood a mansion—a colossal structure painted pure white, glowing under the soft night lights. The pillars were tall and carved, the balconies lined with intricate wrought iron, and the garden stretched out like something from a royal estate, with fountains and trimmed hedges shimmering in the darkness. The building itself seemed to hum with wealth and history, a place where secrets could live forever.

I stepped out slowly, my legs unsteady on the marble driveway.

“You will live here from now on,” Eric said, his tone almost casual. For a heartbeat, I felt a flicker of happiness. Anything was better than that dark room.

But then he added, his eyes locking on mine with that same unreadable fire, “I will also be living here with you.”

The words landed like a stone in my stomach.

I had just traded one prison for another.