Lahat ng Kabanata ng Bound by blood and lies: Kabanata 11 - Kabanata 20

Eli was a terrible liar.I watched him over the rim of my coffee cup, studying every subtle shift in his posture—the way his shoulders tensed just a little too much, the way his fingers twitched around his fork, the way his breathing was slightly uneven.My amusement was growing with every nervous movement. He was trying too hard to be normal.Poor thing.Matteo’s teasing had already done a fine job of flustering him this morning, letting him think he got away with it. Letting him believe that he was safe.Then, the moment he let his guard down, I reminded him exactly whose world he was playing in. I asked if he had left his room last night, something changed.Eli went rigid.No. I was in my room all night.A blatant lie. And yet, he had the nerve to look me in the eye after saying it.Plus, he knew I knew.I let the silence stretch, let him fidget under my gaze. Then I simply hummed and took another sip of my coffee.He swallowed hard.That was all the confirmation I needed.See, El

There was something off about Eli Parker.I wasn’t sure what it was at first. Maybe it was how he carried himself—too restrained, too controlled, like a man constantly measuring his every move. Or maybe it was the way he reacted at breakfast, that heavy tension in his shoulders when Luca questioned him.I lived for the little things—the flinches, the ticks, the way a person’s body betrayed them when their mouth told a different story. I always notice them.And Eli?He was making the alarm in my head to go off.Luca suspected something, too. I could tell by the way he watched Eli during breakfast, like a predator toying with its prey. But unlike Luca, I didn’t just suspect—I wanted to know.No, I needed to know.So, I set out to unravel him.And what better way to test a man than through violence?*****The indoor, underground gym was quite safe from the distant hum of machines and the thumping of fists as they collided with punching bags.Eli was already inside when I arrived, he was

TRIGGER WARNING: BLOOD, KNIFE AND TORTURE. My heart raced as Luca opened the file. I braced myself, every muscle in my body stiffened. This is it. They knew. They had to know. My cover has been exposed. But as my eyes scanned the pages, the tension in my body changed to confusion. There was nothing like Elias Carter in the file. No classified FBI report, no record of my past, my mission. Nothing about me. Instead, I saw a different name and face. Marcus Delano. He was a well known arms dealer, trafficker and a lot of other shady things. His name was well known across security agencies, he was on the list of people that the FBI needed to take care of. I exhaled slowly, relief coursing through me. They didn't know who I was. But that relief was short lived because as it was more of the document, I realized something else. This wasn't just a random file, it was a test. I had two choices. Play dumb or prove myself. I gritted my teeth. Alright, Luca. You want to

TW: BLOOD, KNIFE, STABBING.The moment my eyes landed on him, my blood ran cold.No.It wasn’t possible.Yet, here he was.Tied to a chair. Bloodied, bruised. His face was barely recognizable beneath all the swelling and dried blood, but I knew those eyes.Agent Ryan Calloway.We weren’t exactly friends in reality. But we had trained together. I had seen him in the field, knew his strengths and weaknesses. He was younger than me by a few years, still proving himself in the Bureau.And now he was here.Sold into this life, just like me.My body tensed. What the fuck was he doing here?I felt Luca’s gaze burning into the side of my face, assessing me. Waiting to see how I would react.I forced my expression to remain cold and unreadable.The moment Ryan's eyes landed on me, there was a flash of recognition and something that was gone just as quickly as it had come. His face became cold, there was no reaction, no sign of betrayal.Slowly, he gave me a subtle nod that told me all that I n

I was left in only my boxers on the leather couch, waiting and ready for them.“Wait.” Matteo suddenly said. “Let's go somewhere else.”Right. There was a dead body in the room. I had almost forgotten.“Get up, come with us.” Luca said, turning to the door and walking out.I was a bit shy about walking out in just my boxers but I knew that putting on my clothes could bring on dire consequences. A voice in the deepest part of my mind was yelling at me, telling me that this wasn't me but I shoved it aside. I was testing the waters. You only live once, I'll do this now and focus on the regrets later.I followed them, my bare feet silent against the cold floor. The air in the basement was different—thicker, heavier. Maybe it was the lingering scent of blood and sweat, or maybe it was just the way Luca and Matteo moved, their steps unhurried, deliberate while my body was burning with need and undeniable arousal Matteo hit a button on the wall and to my greatest surprise, the wall slid op