Chapter 1

Prologue

By day, the shop was a sanctuary.

By night, it became his throne.

The city never truly slept — not this part of it, anyway.

It was a street that smelled like sweat, old tires, oil, and cheap cologne. It buzzed with the weight of too many footsteps and the sound of engines that never stopped running.

Neon signs blinked like tired eyes trying to stay awake, their light shining pink and blue halos over the sidewalks and rusted poles. It was a center of the town that people passed through, but never stayed — unless they had no choice.

And in the center of it stood Boss’s Spot.

It looked unremarkable from the outside. Just another shop stuck between a failing barbershop and a liquor store that didn’t card.

A car wash in the back, a makeshift grill to the side and a dusty window that filled with accessories — phone chargers, sunglasses, vape pens, cheap watches, and lighters that didn’t always work.

But it wasn’t the merchandise that kept the place alive. It was the man who ran it.

The Boss.

Nobody knew his real name within. If anyone had known it once, they never spoke it again. He wasn’t loud, he didn’t flash wealth. He didn’t even smile unless he meant to bite afterward. But people listened when he spoke.

They moved when he nodded and when he pointed — especially at one of his boys — that boy obeyed.

Every single one of them had a story and every single one of them had nowhere else to go.

The shop was a sanctuary, but The Boss didn’t offer safety for free.

He offered food, Shelter and Money in cash. A bed to sleep in if you didn’t mind whose bed it was. For some, it was better than the street. For others, it was an addiction worse than the drugs they’d tried to leave behind.

And each night, a new name was spoken.

Sometimes it was a whisper in the dark hallway. Sometimes a bark from the top of the stairs and

sometimes it came through the intercom speaker like a god’s voice calling from the ceiling:

> “Upstairs. Now.”

And the chosen would go.

To the room above the shop. The one with no cameras, no rules but just him. The Boss and whatever the night demanded.

Some came back crying. Some came back quiet. Some came back... changed.

No one ever spoke of what happened in the upstairs room. But they all felt it in their bones — the difference between being picked and being forgotten. To be called was terrifying and to be ignored was worse.

Then came the new one.

Rico.

He was slim, tan-skinned and eyes like unlit matches. A mouth that knew how to bite back, and a silence that wasn’t submission, but calculated defiance.

He came in the middle of a storm, soaked to the bone, shoes torn, looking like a kid who’d fought the devil and came to rest at Boss’s Spot just to breathe.

The Boss had stared at him for a full minute before speaking.

> “You know how to wash a car?”

> “Yeah.”

> “You got any priors?”

> “No.”

> “You got somewhere else to be?”

> “No.”

The Boss lit a cigarette, his eyes trailing over the boy’s wet clothes. There were a thousand unspoken questions in that stare. But Rico didn’t flinch.

> “Fine. You start tomorrow. You eat after.”

And that was that.

Nobody ever got in that easy.

Nobody ever looked The Boss in the eye and walked away untouched.

Not until Rico.

It didn’t take long for whispers to start.

“Boss is watching him.”

“New boy thinks he’s special.”

“He won’t last a week.”

But Rico lasted. And worse — he didn’t play the game. He kept his head down during the day. Worked fast. Talked little. Ate alone. Slept downstairs. Never begged, never flirted and never asked to be chosen.

Which only made The Boss watch him more.

And then one night — after closing time, with sweat still clinging to Rico’s back from the day’s work — The Boss pressed the intercom button and said the words.

> “Rico. Upstairs. Now.”

Every boy turned to look. One dropped his mop. Another bit down on his knuckle.

The security feed flickered in The Boss’s office.

And on the screen, Rico looked directly into the camera.

And smirked.

Upstairs, a storm was waiting.

And Rico — the boy who never asked to be chosen — was ready to start a fire.

Chapter 1

Rico’s Interview

This city never slept, but this center of it had a rhythm all its own — rhythmic with heat. The neon sign above the hybrid shop flickered like a heartbeat: Boss’s Spot. A strange place. A place with too many purposes — car wash, accessory kiosk, greasy canteen, even a backroom that supposedly sold auto parts no one ever saw.

It was a place for men who had nowhere to go and nothing left to lose.

Rico stood outside the rusted door, his fists were clenching at his sides. His shirt was stuck to his back. He hadn’t eaten since yesterday. His last job — washing dishes at a rundown burger shack — ended when he punched the manager for getting handsy.

Now, all he had was the street, a cracking phone with no service, and the name of a place whispers like a curse or rather a secret.

“Boss’s Spot.”

“They hiring always.”

“You gotta be pretty. You gotta be silent.”

Rico was one of those. The other? Not so much.

He stepped inside.

The smell hit him first — oil, cologne, cigarettes, sweat, fried meat — all smells in the air like threads of a dirty story.

The front of the shop was cluttered but organized. It clean floors, a bright lighting. Everything arranged in precision.

Behind the register was a man sitting with tired eyes. He looked up into Rico's eyes and down with the a glance that said I know exactly what you are.

“You looking for someone?” he asked.

“I’m looking for a job.”

The man didn’t smile. He reached under his counter, hit a button, and pointed to the hallway. “Go down to the last door. Knock twice. Don’t speak unless you’re told to.”

"Wow!" I just obeyed.

The hallway was smelled of leather. Music thumping from somewhere above, erotic and predatory. Rico paused at the last door, then knocked.

Boom! Boom!! Two beats.

A lock clicked and the door wild opened.

The office was very stark with Gray walls and Metal shelves lined with files and liquor bottles. A glass desk sat in the middle like a throne and behind it, the man himself.

The Boss.

He didn’t rise his head, he didn’t offer a greeting. He just stared — calmed. A cigarette burned slowly between his fingers, the ash was curling toward the floor.

“You’re Rico,” he said, like it wasn’t a question.

Rico nodded.

The Boss gestured to the chair across from him. “Sit.” He ordered.

Rico didn’t move.

“You afraid?” the man asked, dragging his smoke through his nose.

“No,” Rico answered with a low voice. “Just not used to being sized up like meat.”

The Boss chuckled — a sound like velvet over knives. “Everyone’s meat here. Some just don’t know it yet.”

Rico stepped forward and sat. His heartbeat was thundering in his ears, but his face stayed blank. He’d learned that in the group homes — never flinching first.

The Boss studied him like his diary, then reached into his drawer and pulled out a folder.

“You got experience?” He asked.

“Like washing cars, cleaning kitchens. Ran with a mechanic for a few months and did some deliveries too.”

“No record?”

“No proof.” Rico answered.

“I don’t care about paperwork, I care about obedience.”

“I’m not a dog.” Rico yelled.

“I wasn’t offering a leash.“ "Just a cage.” The boss said with a smirk.

“What's the job?” Rico asked swallowing his lump in his throat.

The Boss leaned back, tapping his ash into his glass tray. “We rotate shifts. A Day work, a Car wash, a Food prep and a Stock room. Night shift’s different.” He concluded.

“How?” Rico asked.

“You get called, you show up. Simple.”

Rico felt the weight of those words heavy with implications. “And if I don’t?” He asked.

The Boss's eyes hardened. “Then you leave. One way or another.”

“I need the work,” Rico said.

The Boss opened a drawer and tossed a folded black shirt onto the desk. Boss’s Spot embroidered on the chest.

“Start tomorrow, seven sharp. Wash bay.”

Rico grabbed the shirt and stood. His pride wanted to throw it in the Boss’s face. His stomach reminded him he hadn’t eaten.

He turned to leave.

“Rico,” The Boss called with a smooth voice. “One more thing.”

Rico stopped.

“Don’t ever lie to me. I don’t care what you’ve done or who you did it to. But if you lie…”

He trailed off, then smiled — cruel and beautiful.

“I’ll find out.” He concluded.

Rico didn’t respond, he just walked out.

A Week Later

Rico worked hard. Harder than he needed to, but he knew the look of a trap disguised as mercy. The Boss watched from above — always watching in silent.

The other boys? Quiet, beautiful and obedient. They moved like dancers — graceful but haunted. Rico didn’t know their names yet. He didn’t bothered to ask. He had enough ghosts of his own.

It happens on the fifth night.

The neon sign was buzzing outside the shop as the last customer left. The car wash shut down. Jaylen locked the front doors, Marco mopped the tile and Rico was still shirtless in the wash bay, scrubbing oil stains from the cement floor.

The security camera above him were blinking red.

Upstairs, The Boss lit a cigarette and watched him on the screen. Smoke curled from his lips as he took in the image: Rico bent over, his muscles taut and his sweats were dripping down his spine.

Something primal stirring in him.

He pressed the intercom.

“Rico. Upstairs. Now.”

Rico paused, the sound hollowing from the speaker above the wash bay. His hands was clenching the mop and his back stiffened.

Then, slowly, he straightened. He lifted his head, he looked directly into the camera.

And smirked.

The Boss’s hands were frozen mid-air. The screen flickering. That smirk wasn’t flirtation rather it was a challenge.

A rare thing.

The Boss stood from his desk and walked to the upstairs room — the private one. The one with the black walls, the satin sheets, and the secrets stitching into the fabric.

Rico way climbing the stairs deliberately. His body ached. His stomach was empty. But something inside him burned — not with fear, but curiosity. He knocked once on the door.

It swung open.

The Boss stood there in a tight shirt, it sleeves rolled up, his eyes were so real. He stepped aside.

“Come in.”

Rico did.

The room smelled of cologne and shadows. It's no windows. Just a bed, a mirror and a lamp.

The Boss shut the door and locked it.

“You know why you’re here?”

Rico nodded.

“Say it.”

“You want to fuck me right?!"

The Boss raised a brow. “That’s not how we say things here.”

Rico stepped closer. “I don’t care how you say it.”

The Boss reached out, his fingers brushing Rico’s jaw.

“Then let me teach you.”

But Rico slapped his hand away.

“You want me? Earn me.”

The Boss looked at him — really looked — and for a moment, he wasn’t just a predator in black. He was a man. Tired and intrigued. A little bit turned on and a little bit… afraid?

“Take off your shirt,” The Boss ordered.

“It’s already off.”

“Then kneel.”

Rico took a step back. “You want obedience. I want respect.”

“You don’t get both.”

“Maybe I don’t want either.”

They stared at each other — two wolves in a same room with no way out.

Then the Boss laughed deep and rough.

“You think you’re different.”

“I am.” Rico answered without fair.

“I’ve broken tougher.”

“I’m not broken.”

“Yet.”

Rico turned and faced him. “What if I break you?”

The Boss paused. Something in his chest was stirring — something he hadn’t felt in years. Hunger, yes, but not just the physical kind.

Dangerous men always underestimated the wounded.

Rico’s smirk returned, but it wasn’t cocky now. It was sad.

“You can call me upstairs. You can lock the door. But you can’t make me yours. Not really.”

The Boss stepped closer, close enough to feel his breath.

“Then let’s find out.”

His hand slid to Rico’s waist, but this time Rico didn’t pull away.

They didn’t kiss. They didn’t speak either.

They stood in that room, their tensions were like a noose around them, and the night swallowed everything.

The Next Morning

Rico walked out of the room fully clothed. No bruises and no marks.

The other boys stared at him like he was a ghost.

Jaylen whispered, “You walked out?”

Marco frowned. “You didn’t…?”

Rico shook his head. “Not yet.”

He went to the wash bay. Picked up the mop.

Same as yesterday.

But upstairs, The Boss stared at the camera screen. Watching Rico move, breathe and smile to himself.

For the first time, he felt something strange.

Not power.

Not lust.

But possibility.