Confinement

Under the golden light of the estate, she smiled while counting the money. She had no idea the next black leather collar was meant for her own neck.

She called from the bathroom with the tap running so no one would hear her. She heard “domination,” “submission,” “a year with no way out.” And she signed anyway.

I walked into the living room and found him waiting with something hidden behind his back. His smile told me before he did that the night wouldn’t be normal.

When we got off the plane we had a check and a secret. The check paid the debts; the secret, though, can’t be erased, not even with the tattoo covered.

When I saw Iván raise his phone and smile, I knew the drill had been a trap—and that I wouldn’t leave that basement intact.

Roberto humiliated me for years in front of everyone. When the Association offered to train him, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with him.

I saw the videos: women strapped to machines, electric shocks, lashes while they ran. And still I dialed the number. My will was spent.

Selena had spent months molding them into perfect pets. What she didn’t expect was for the buyer to arrive with a third collar under his arm.

When I faked the fainting spell, they knew they had me. But it was exactly then that the balance of power changed hands and the hook began looking for another body.

The flyer promised guaranteed results. It didn’t say they would include restraints, electric shocks, and a year locked away with no way out. I signed anyway.

They didn’t give him water in a cup. They poured it over her foot, and he had to lick it from the leather straps if he wanted to survive.

The cell smelled of damp and cheap tobacco, and when his eyes locked on mine I knew the case file was going to end up on the floor.

Nadia and Sofía were on their way home from the biggest event of the year when darkness claimed them. On waking, only chains and another’s will remained.

Marco had spent a year kissing her feet in silence. The night he left to capture a rival, he returned as the sole master of the mansion.

There had been something in her eyes when she turned away that should have worried me. It wasn’t an annoyed neighbor’s anger. It was a promise.

They had planned it for weeks. The dark room, the ropes, and Vera waiting for them with that smile promising nothing easy or safe.

I looked in the mirror and knew something had changed. He was still sleeping on the other side of the hallway, and I had spent ten minutes unable to look away from his door.

I had worn the cage for three weeks when Valeria announced to her friends that I would do anything she asked. I had no idea what was coming.

She trained two slaves for months until they broke. When the buyer arrived, she had no idea the collar fit her neck perfectly.

When the smuggler told us the price, we all looked at one another. It wasn’t jewelry or money. It was us, our bodies, twelve hours a day in front of his cameras.