LOGINCove leaned in, kissing Eli deeply, full of everything they had survived and everything still waiting for them. When he pulled back, his storm-gray eyes were fierce with love and determination.
“Then let’s go hunt a ghost.”
The convoy moved fast through the rainy night streets. Rain pounded against the armored SUV windows, turning the city lights into blurred streaks of gold and red. Fog rolled in thick from the river,
The Argument and the SurpriseI shut the laptop lid after reading the message from the old contacts, and the words still sat heavy in my stomach. Nikolai Volkov. The Bratva leader. Matteo had joined up with him. That changed the game completely. The whole city felt like it was closing in at the same time.Cove stood right there in the server room, arms crossed tight, staring at the closed laptop like it had personally hurt him. “Bratva. They’re all in now. Nikolai’s with Matteo. We can’t go in blind.”Lena leaned against the wall, still holding her half-empty coffee cup, eyes sharp. “I know. But we got the warning. That’s something. Ruiz and the team are already moving the vehicles out front. Ten minutes. We can’t sit here debating while Matteo’s making his move.”I tried to stand up, my legs still a little wobbly from the night before, but I did it anyway. “We have to. He’s setting a trap at the auction hall. We need to know exactly where he is before we roll out. My laptop can find
The beep from the recorder faded into nothing, but the voice kept playing in my head. Matteo’s calm tone, like he was ordering coffee. “Matteo here. The auction hall tonight. Secondary squad hits the servers. I go in with Nikolai. Kill the hacker Eli. Finish the war. Voss dies. City burns with us. Tell them hello from the grave.”Cove stood there, arm still around my shoulders, and stared at the dead assassin like he was trying to read the last breath off his face. I stayed right next to him, my legs still wobbly from the couch, but I didn’t sit down again. “He’s right. It’s a trap. Underground auction hall tonight. He’s using the Bratva to finish it all.”Cove’s jaw tightened. “We play it out loud. Whole team needs to hear.”He hit the button on the small black box Lena had pulled out. The recorder started again. Same voice. “Matteo here. The auction hall tonight. Secondary squad hits the servers. I go in with Nikolai. Kill the hacker Eli. Finish the war. Voss dies. City burns with u
The door to the interrogation room clicked shut behind the guard, leaving just the soft hum of the city far below and the low glow from a single lamp on the table. Eli sat slumped on the couch nearby, still too shaky to stand on his own, his legs curled under him like they didn’t want to listen. His hands gripped the edge of the cushion, knuckles white. Cove paced slow circles in front of the table, arms crossed tight over his chest, eyes locked on the man tied to the chair across from him.The assassin—face still bruised, one leg bandaged from the graze—lifted his chin and gave a weak laugh. “Well, well. The big bad Voss king himself. And the little hacker playing guard dog.”Cove stopped pacing. “You’re the last one who touched Eli in the server room. Name.”The man spat on the floor, the red hitting the tiles. “Doesn’t matter who I am. You’re dead. All of you. Matteo’s men don’t miss.”Eli’s voice came out rough from the couch, low but steady. “You grabbed me. You pinned me down. T
Eli woke up slowly, his body heavy and confused. He was on the big couch in the living room of the penthouse, the soft cushions pressing into his back. Cove’s arm was wrapped tightly around his shoulders, pulling him close. The emergency lights were on low, casting a warm orange glow across the marble floor and the tall windows. The city lights of the night outside the glass walls looked far away, like they belonged to someone else’s world. Eli’s breathing was still fast and shallow, the panic attack still clinging to him like cold sweat on his skin.His legs felt weak when he tried to sit up. He pushed himself a little too hard and they buckled under him. Eli let out a small groan and dropped back onto the couch. “I… I can’t,” he whispered, his voice hoarse and rough. “My legs won’t work.”Cove didn’t let go. He simply shifted, sliding an arm under Eli’s knees and lifting him easily. Eli’s head rested against Cove’s shoulder as he was carried the short distance to the couch. Cove sat
Eli forced himself through the panic, his body shaking in the pitch black of the server room. The darkness pressed against him like a living thing, the kind that had haunted him since he was nine. The closet. The fire. The endless night that had made him scream until his voice gave out. His heart slammed against his ribs so hard he could feel it in his throat. His hands trembled as he gripped the pistol he had taken from the limo earlier. The platinum collar around his neck felt like a chain, heavy and cold. The silver ring on his finger pressed against his knuckle, a reminder of the life he had chosen with Cove.He forced his eyes to open. The emergency lights outside the server room door cast a faint red glow through the small window, but that was not enough. He needed more. He needed to see. His fingers moved on the laptop, the glow from the server monitors spilling into the room. He aimed the pistol carefully, the red dot from the laser sight dancing on the wall where the first sh
Cove’s boots pounded the pavement as he sprinted back toward the armored vehicle. The night air cut through his tactical jacket, but he barely felt it. His mind was a storm of orders and calculations. Eli was inside the penthouse, alone in the server room. Lena was vulnerable. Matteo had already proved he did not play fair. One second too late and everything could collapse.“Move!” Cove shouted into his radio, his voice sharp and commanding. “Lena stays with the men. Secure the lobby. I am sprinting back to the vehicle. Do not wait for me.”One of the men, a tall veteran named Ruiz, answered immediately. “Copy, boss. We got her. Lena is safe in the lobby with two guards. We are escorting her to the penthouse now.”Cove did not slow down. He reached the armored vehicle in under thirty seconds, the engine already running. The driver, a quiet man named Morales, looked
Eli buried his face in the pillow but it came out anyway. “Cove… fuck…”Cove groaned and moved faster. “Again.”“Cove,” Eli moaned, voice shaking. He couldn’t hold it back anymore.
Eli stared straight into his eyes. “Why did you really take me, Cove? Not the debt story. Not the ‘your brother offered’ story. The real reason?”Cove looked at him for a long moment, then stood up and walked to the window. He kept his ba
Eli whispered, “He really wanted me dead…”Cove stayed sitting beside him on the bed, hand still on his shoulder. He didn’t say anything at first.Eli laughed, but it sounded broken. “All this time I thought maybe deep down
Cove’s jaw tightened. “How bad is it?”Lena stepped further into the room, glancing at Eli again. “Bad. Marco’s been meeting with the old families. He’s promising them territory if they help him take you down. He’s saying you kidnappe







