BOUND TO THE DEVIL

GLASS RULES DON'T BEND

The first thing I noticed was the silence.

Not the peaceful kind—the expensive kind.

The kind that didn’t feel empty, but controlled, like even the air inside the Vossano penthouse had been designed to behave a certain way.

I stood barefoot on polished marble, staring at the black box resting on the dining table.

There was no label. No sender name. Just a red wax seal pressed firmly at the center.

My name was written across it.

Serenity Voss.

Not Sera. Not what I chose.

What he chose.

Behind me, the elevator chimed.

I didn’t turn.

“I told you not to accept unknown deliveries,” Damien’s voice cut through the room, calm and controlled in a way that didn’t need to be loud to be dangerous.

“I didn’t accept anything,” I replied. “It was already here when I woke up.”

There was a brief pause before his footsteps followed—measured, precise, closing the distance without urgency.

He stopped beside me, close enough to feel, far enough to maintain control. He was always like that, like proximity itself was something he calculated.

His gaze fell on the box.

And something shifted.

Not fear.

Recognition.

That alone made my stomach tighten.

“What is it?” I asked.

He didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he reached for the seal.

I grabbed his wrist before he could touch it.

“Don’t,” I said.

That made him look at me—really look this time, like I had just done something unexpected rather than reckless.

“You’re touching me,” he said quietly.

“So?”

His gaze dropped briefly to my hand wrapped around his wrist before returning to my face.

“Rule three,” he reminded.

“Don’t act like I memorized your rules,” I snapped.

Something flickered in his expression—not anger, but amusement.

That irritated me more than anger would have.

He gently removed my hand, not abruptly, not carelessly. Just slow enough to make it feel intentional.

Then he opened the box.

Inside was a single photograph.

Old. Slightly faded.

My breath caught before I could stop it.

It was my father.

But not the version I remembered.

He looked younger, lighter, standing beside a building I didn’t recognize at first—

Until I did.

My architectural design.

My final-year project.

Except in the photo, it already existed. Completed. Real.

My throat went dry.

“That’s impossible,” I whispered.

Damien’s jaw tightened slightly. “That building was completed eight years ago. Under Vossano Holdings.”

I turned to him slowly. “No. That was my concept. It wasn’t even approved—”

“I know,” he cut in.

Silence dropped heavily between us.

For the first time since I had met him, Damien didn’t look completely in control.

And that scared me more than anything else.

He closed the box.

“Get dressed,” he said.

I blinked. “Excuse me?”

“We’re going out.”

“I don’t take orders like—”

“You do today.”

Something in his tone snapped against my patience.

“I’m not your employee,” I said sharply.

His eyes darkened just slightly.

“No,” he said. “You’re something worse.”

My pulse jumped. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

He stepped closer this time. Not enough to touch, but enough to make stepping back feel like surrender.

“My problem,” he said.

That shouldn’t have affected me.

But it did.

And I hated that my body reacted before my mind could catch up.

---

Damien’s POV

She was getting too close to the truth.

That was the problem.

Truth had a way of refusing to stay buried around Sera Voss. She pushed, questioned, searched—sometimes without even realizing it.

And that photograph?

It wasn’t supposed to exist.

It wasn’t supposed to be anywhere near her.

Which meant someone had placed it deliberately.

Not for her.

For me.

And messages like that never came without consequences.

I watched her as she pulled on a coat, her movements controlled but sharp, like she was holding back questions she already knew would change everything.

That was her pattern.

Push until something breaks, then act like she didn’t expect it to.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

I didn’t answer immediately. I was still deciding how much truth she could handle today.

“Somewhere you shouldn’t be,” I said finally.

Her eyes narrowed. “That’s not an answer.”

“It’s the only one you’re getting.”

She scoffed. “You really enjoy being impossible, don’t you?”

“No,” I said. “I enjoy keeping you alive.”

That made her pause, just briefly.

Good.

We needed movement before curiosity turned into danger.

The elevator doors opened, and I gestured for her to step in.

She didn’t move.

Of course she didn’t.

“I’m not walking into one of your mystery billionaire kidnappings,” she said.

I met her gaze evenly. “If I wanted you gone, you wouldn’t have time to argue about it.”

That was enough.

Not agreement—belief.

She stepped inside.

---

Sera’s POV

The car ride was quiet in a way that didn’t feel accidental.

It felt deliberate.

Like even silence had a role to play.

I watched the city blur past the tinted window before speaking.

“Who owned that building?” I asked.

Damien didn’t look at me. “You did.”

A sharp laugh escaped me. “No, I didn’t.”

“You designed it,” he corrected. “You just didn’t know it was built.”

My chest tightened. “That’s not how construction works.”

“In your world,” he said calmly. “Maybe.”

That unsettled me more than mockery would have.

Because he wasn’t joking.

I turned toward him fully. “Start explaining.”

Instead of answering, he reached into his coat and pulled out a file, dropping it onto my lap.

Heavy.

Too heavy.

“Open it,” he said.

I hesitated for a second before doing it.

The first page made my stomach drop.

My father’s name.

Loans.

Debt restructuring.

Signatures.

Vossano.

“This… this is fake,” I said.

“No,” Damien replied. “It’s paid.”

I looked at him sharply. “Paid by who?”

Silence.

That was my answer.

My voice dropped. “Why?”

This time, when he looked at me, something in his expression shifted.

For the first time, he didn’t look like a billionaire.

Or a devil.

Just a man carrying something heavy.

“Because your father didn’t gamble,” he said.

My stomach sank.

“He was used.”

The car slowed to a stop at a red light.

Everything around us paused.

“What are you saying?” I whispered.

Damien leaned back slightly, exhaling.

“I’m saying,” he said, “you were never chosen by accident.”

The light turned green.

But nothing moved.

Not me.

Not him.

Not even the world outside.

Because something had just cracked open.

And I didn’t know if it was the truth—

or the beginning of something worse.

---

The impact came without warning.

A violent jolt.

Glass shattered somewhere ahead.

The world tilted as the car lurched sideways.

Damien reacted instantly, pulling me down—

Too late.

A black SUV slammed into us from the side, metal screaming as everything collided at once.

Sound. Motion. Chaos.

And just before everything went dark—

Damien’s voice cut through it.

Cold. Lethal.

“Stay down, Sera.”

A brief pause.

Then, quieter—

“They found you.”

-