- 10 hours ago
Listen to this emotional mafia romance audiobook-style love story: The Boss Saved Me When Everyone Else Walked Away.
Told in a raw, confessional narration, this story feels like a whispered secret in the dark—filled with heartbreak, survival, and the kind of love that refuses to die. When a woman on the edge of loneliness crosses paths with a powerful mafia boss, their worlds collide in passion, danger, and a bond that both saves and scars them.
Across seven acts, experience the journey of two broken souls fighting for love in a world built to tear them apart. From their first spark of temptation, to the secrets that nearly destroyed them, to the breaking point where love seemed lost forever—this is a mafia romance story about survival, redemption, and love that refuses to let go.
Perfect for listeners who love romantic audiobooks, mafia love stories, confessional storytelling, and survival-driven romance with a happy ending.
Subscribe for more emotional love stories, confessional narrations, and audiobook-style romances that will keep you hooked until the last word.
mafia romance, mafia love story, audiobook romance, emotional love story, confessional love story, romantic audiobook, mafia romance audiobook, survival romance, dangerous love story, emotional narration, mafia boss love, heartbreaking romance, mafia romance 2025, YouTube love story audiobook, mafia romance confessional, intense love story, survival love story, mafia romance happy ending, emotional mafia story, romance with mafia boss
Told in a raw, confessional narration, this story feels like a whispered secret in the dark—filled with heartbreak, survival, and the kind of love that refuses to die. When a woman on the edge of loneliness crosses paths with a powerful mafia boss, their worlds collide in passion, danger, and a bond that both saves and scars them.
Across seven acts, experience the journey of two broken souls fighting for love in a world built to tear them apart. From their first spark of temptation, to the secrets that nearly destroyed them, to the breaking point where love seemed lost forever—this is a mafia romance story about survival, redemption, and love that refuses to let go.
Perfect for listeners who love romantic audiobooks, mafia love stories, confessional storytelling, and survival-driven romance with a happy ending.
Subscribe for more emotional love stories, confessional narrations, and audiobook-style romances that will keep you hooked until the last word.
mafia romance, mafia love story, audiobook romance, emotional love story, confessional love story, romantic audiobook, mafia romance audiobook, survival romance, dangerous love story, emotional narration, mafia boss love, heartbreaking romance, mafia romance 2025, YouTube love story audiobook, mafia romance confessional, intense love story, survival love story, mafia romance happy ending, emotional mafia story, romance with mafia boss
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00I never thought my life would unravel in a back alley behind a bar that smelled like stale beer and cigarette smoke.
00:06But that's where I was when he saw me for the first time.
00:09Bruised, shaking, pressed against a brick wall with a man-esque hand gripping my arm so tight I thought my bones would snap.
00:16I didn't cry out. I didn't beg.
00:20I'd learned a long time ago that begging only made men like that laugh.
00:24But when I looked up, past the dirty collar of the man holding me,
00:28my eyes caught another pair.
00:31Dark, steady, impossible to ignore.
00:35He was just standing there.
00:37Watching.
00:39At first, I thought he was one more predator circling, waiting for his turn.
00:44But then the air shifted.
00:46Something in the silence cracked.
00:48The man holding me let go like he'd suddenly remembered somewhere else he needed to be.
00:53I stumbled, caught myself against the wall,
00:56and when I looked again, it was just him and me.
01:00You okay?
01:02His voice was low, rough, like gravel scraping over steel.
01:07I hated that my throat tightened.
01:09Hated that I wanted to cry at the sound of a stranger S voice,
01:13like maybe he actually gave a damn.
01:14I'm fine, I lied, brushing dust off my jeans even though my hands wouldn't stop shaking.
01:21He stepped closer, into the dim light spilling from the bar's back door.
01:26That's when I noticed the details.
01:28The sharp jaw.
01:30The suit that didn't belong in this part of town.
01:33The faint scar cutting across his cheek like it was etched there on purpose.
01:37He wasn't just anybody.
01:39He wasn't from my world.
01:40Doesn't look fine.
01:44His eyes stayed on me, unblinking.
01:47What's your name?
01:48I swallowed, my mouth dry.
01:52Why?
01:54Because I don't like forgetting faces, he said,
01:58especially not ones that look like they've been left behind too many times.
02:02Something in me cracked then.
02:05Not because of his words, but because of the way he said them,
02:08like he saw straight through me.
02:11Like he already knew the truth I tried to bury under sarcasm and smiles.
02:16I was alone.
02:18And I'd been alone for a long time.
02:22He didn't push further.
02:23Just slipped his hands into his pockets and tilted his head,
02:28studying me like I was some kind of puzzle he wanted to figure out.
02:31You should go home, he murmured.
02:35This place, it's not safe for someone like you.
02:40I almost laughed.
02:42Someone like me?
02:44His gaze sharpened.
02:46Someone who looks like they've got nothing left to lose.
02:50And just like that, my chest tightened in a way I couldn't explain.
02:54He wasn't wrong.
02:55I wanted to argue, to tell him to mind his own business.
03:00But the words never made it past my lips.
03:03Instead, I found myself whispering,
03:05Who are you?
03:07He paused, the corner of his mouth curving.
03:11Not quite a smile, more like a warning.
03:14Someone you don't want to know.
03:17But I did want to know.
03:19God help me.
03:20I wanted to.
03:22Because for the first time in years,
03:24someone wasn't walking away.
03:27He stayed.
03:28And in that alley,
03:30with the night pressing down on both of us,
03:33temptation slipped its claws into me.
03:35I should have left.
03:36Should have kept my distance.
03:38But when he turned and offered me his hand
03:40like a man who had no right to be gentle,
03:43I took it.
03:44That was the moment everything changed.
03:47You ever wonder how someone ends up in a back alley,
03:49clutching their own arms to stop the trembling,
03:52taking a stranger's hand like it's the only solid ground left in the world?
03:56I do.
03:58I think about it every night.
04:00And when I trace it back,
04:02the truth always starts long before him.
04:05My childhood wasn't a movie.
04:07No warm kitchen lights waiting for me after school.
04:10No mother's arms to fall into when the world felt too sharp.
04:13My mother left when I was ten.
04:15My father, well,
04:18calling him a father feels like I'm giving him a title he never earned.
04:22He was a drunk,
04:24a gambler,
04:25a man who cared more about chasing his next fix than raising a daughter.
04:30I learned quick how to take care of myself.
04:33Learned quicker that love was a word people threw around but rarely meant.
04:38Love you, kid.
04:39He used to slur,
04:41tossing me a dollar bill like it made up for another empty fridge.
04:43I stopped believing him before I even hit middle school.
04:47By the time I was eighteen,
04:49I was done hoping anyone would show up for me.
04:52Boyfriends came and went,
04:53each one teaching me the same lesson.
04:56If they said they'd stay,
04:57they wouldn't.
04:59If they promised to protect me,
05:00they'd be the first to leave when things got hard.
05:03I built walls.
05:05Not the pretty kind.
05:06Mine were jagged,
05:07sharp,
05:08designed to keep everyone out before they had the chance to walk away.
05:12But here's the thing about walls.
05:14Sometimes,
05:15without warning,
05:17someone finds the cracks.
05:19That night in the alley,
05:21when his hand wrapped around mine,
05:23I didn't understand why I didn't pull back.
05:26I should have.
05:28I should have remembered all the times I'd been let down,
05:32all the times people swore they cared,
05:34only to disappear when I needed them most.
05:36But his touch wasn't demanding.
05:39It wasn't rough.
05:41It was steady.
05:43Solid.
05:44Like he was saying,
05:45I'm not going anywhere.
05:47Not right now.
05:48And God,
05:51I didn't realize how much I craved that
05:53until it was right there in front of me.
05:56He didn't even ask me where I lived.
05:58He just walked me down the block,
06:01his presence enough to keep the shadows from swallowing me whole.
06:04I kept sneaking glances at him,
06:06my heart pounding in a way I couldn't control.
06:09His suit looked like it belonged in some high-rise office,
06:13but the scar on his cheek told a different story.
06:16He didn't walk like a businessman.
06:18He walked like a predator.
06:21Calm.
06:22Sure.
06:23Always scanning the edges.
06:25I finally broke the silence.
06:27You do this a lot?
06:30His eyes flicked to me.
06:32What's that?
06:34Save girls in alleys.
06:36Something in his jaw tightened.
06:38No.
06:39You just looked like you needed it.
06:42I almost laughed.
06:43Everyone looks like they need saving in this part of town.
06:48Not the same way you did,
06:50he said quietly.
06:52That shut me up.
06:53Because how do you answer something like that?
06:56How do you answer a stranger who sees right through you
06:59when everyone else looks away?
07:01We reached the corner of my street.
07:04I stopped,
07:05suddenly embarrassed of the cracked steps
07:07and peeling paint of the building I called home.
07:10This is me.
07:11He nodded but didn't move.
07:14His gaze fixed on me like he was memorizing every detail.
07:18It should have made me uncomfortable.
07:20Instead,
07:21it made me feel seen in a way I hadn't in years.
07:25Thank you,
07:26I whispered.
07:28He tilted his head.
07:30Don't thank me yet.
07:32I frowned.
07:33Why not?
07:34Because once you let someone save you,
07:37his voice dropped lower,
07:40darker.
07:41You don't get to pretend you don't need them anymore.
07:44I didn't know what to say.
07:47Didn't know how to admit that maybe he was right.
07:50So I did the only thing I could.
07:53I turned and walked up those cracked steps without looking back.
07:56But when I lay awake that night,
07:59staring at the water-stained ceiling,
08:01his voice kept echoing in my head.
08:04You don't get to pretend you don't need them anymore.
08:08And that scared me.
08:10Because I'd spent my whole life surviving by pretending I didn't need anyone.
08:14The days after that blurred together.
08:17But he stayed lodged in my chest like a splinter I couldn't pull out.
08:21Every time I walked past that alley,
08:23I half expected him to be there again.
08:25He wasn't.
08:26Not at first.
08:28Instead,
08:29I carried the memory of his eyes,
08:32the weight of his words,
08:33like a secret.
08:35I tried to bury it under work shifts and long nights,
08:38but it kept surfacing,
08:40tugging at me.
08:41Why him?
08:43Why that moment?
08:44The truth is,
08:46meeting him felt different.
08:47And it terrified me.
08:50Because I'd told myself a hundred times,
08:52love wasn't for people like me.
08:55Love was for the ones who had soft landings,
08:57families who answered the phone,
08:59someone to call when the car broke down at midnight.
09:02Not for girls who'd been left behind so many times
09:05they forgot how it felt to be chosen.
09:07But when he looked at me,
09:09when he spoke to me,
09:11it was like he was choosing me without even realizing it.
09:14I hated myself for wanting it.
09:16I hated myself more for knowing that I'd already let him in,
09:20just a little.
09:22It was three nights later when I saw him again.
09:24I'd just finished a late shift,
09:27the bar's neon sign buzzing like it was on its last breath.
09:31The streets were quiet,
09:33the kind of quiet that makes you wrap your jacket tighter and keep your head down.
09:37Walking home alone again?
09:40I froze.
09:42His voice came from the shadows,
09:44low and steady,
09:45just like I remembered.
09:47I spun around,
09:48my heart stuttering in my chest.
09:51There he was,
09:52leaning against the wall like he'd been waiting.
09:54You.
09:57I breathed.
09:58His mouth curved,
10:00that not-quite smile that felt like it was carved just for me.
10:04Me.
10:05What are you doing here?
10:07Making sure you don't end up in another alley with the wrong guy.
10:11I crossed my arms,
10:13trying to sound braver than I felt.
10:15And what does that make you?
10:17The right guy?
10:19His eyes narrowed,
10:21glinting under the streetlight.
10:23No.
10:24Just the one who won't walk away.
10:26That line,
10:28those words,
10:29hit me harder than I wanted them to.
10:31Because deep down,
10:33all I ever wanted was someone who wouldn't leave.
10:35And against every rule I'd built for myself,
10:38every wall I swore no one would climb,
10:40I felt something shift.
10:42There's a moment you don't see coming,
10:45the kind that sneaks up on you
10:46while you are too busy
10:47pretending you done tea care.
10:49For me,
10:50it was that night.
10:52Walking beside him
10:53under the flickering glow of half-dead streetlights,
10:56the silence between us
10:57charged with something I couldn't name,
10:59but couldn't escape.
11:00I didn't even know his name yet.
11:02That should have scared me.
11:05But instead,
11:06it fascinated me.
11:08Who was he, really?
11:10Why was he here,
11:11wasting his time shadowing me through streets
11:13no decent man should be caught in?
11:15Are you going to tell me?
11:18I finally asked,
11:20shoving my hands into my jacket pockets
11:21to hide the way they trembled.
11:24Tell you what?
11:25He asked,
11:26his voice low,
11:28calm,
11:29like he already knew what I meant.
11:30Your name.
11:32You can't just keep showing up like this
11:33and stay a mystery forever.
11:36He smirked,
11:37the scar on his cheek
11:38pulling just enough
11:38to make the gesture sharp
11:40instead of soft.
11:40You think knowing my name
11:43makes me less dangerous?
11:46Dangerous,
11:47I repeated,
11:48the word twisting on my tongue.
11:51So you admit it.
11:53He stopped walking.
11:55Just stopped,
11:56and when he turned toward me,
11:58the weight of his gaze
11:59pinned me in place.
12:01I'm not the kind of man
12:02you should want to know.
12:04Something in my chest tightened,
12:06not with fear,
12:07but with defiance.
12:09You don't get to decide that for me.
12:11For a second,
12:13his mask cracked.
12:15His mouth parted
12:16like he wanted to say something else,
12:17but didn't.
12:18Instead,
12:19he stepped closer,
12:20close enough that I could smell
12:21the faint scent of smoke
12:23and leather clinging to his suit.
12:26Call me Adrian,
12:27he said finally,
12:29his voice rough,
12:30reluctant,
12:31like giving me that piece of himself
12:33cost him something.
12:35Adrian,
12:36I whispered,
12:37tasting the name
12:38like a secret.
12:40He watched me,
12:42silent,
12:43and I couldn't stop
12:43the way my lips curved.
12:46See,
12:46that wasn't so hard.
12:48You have no idea
12:49how wrong you are,
12:50he murmured,
12:52and the way he said it
12:53sent a shiver
12:53racing down my spine.
12:56The nights blurred
12:57after that.
12:59Adrian started
13:00appearing everywhere,
13:02outside the bar
13:02when my shifts ended,
13:04leaning against the hood
13:05of a black car
13:06that looked too expensive
13:07for this part of town,
13:08waiting in the shadows
13:09like a sentinel.
13:10He never asked to come in,
13:12never pried.
13:13He just
13:14watched,
13:16protected.
13:17I told myself
13:18I didn't like it,
13:20that it was invasive,
13:21suffocating.
13:23But the truth?
13:24Every time I saw him
13:25standing there,
13:26a part of me unraveled.
13:28Because for the first time
13:29in years,
13:30I didn't walk home alone.
13:33One night,
13:33I tried to push him away.
13:35You don't have to
13:35keep doing this,
13:37I said,
13:37hugging my jacket tighter
13:38as we walked.
13:40I'm not your problem.
13:42His gaze flicked to me,
13:44unreadable.
13:46Maybe I want you to be.
13:48The words hit me harder
13:49than I expected.
13:51I stopped walking,
13:52my chest tightening
13:53like the air had thinned.
13:55Why?
13:56For once,
13:57Adrian didn't have
13:58an answer ready.
13:59He just stared at me.
14:01His jaw clenched,
14:02as if he was wrestling
14:03with something inside himself.
14:05Finally,
14:06he said,
14:07because I see the way
14:09you look at the world,
14:11like you expect it to hit you
14:12before you even get
14:13a chance to breathe.
14:14And I don't like it.
14:17I swallowed hard,
14:18my throat aching.
14:20You don't even know me.
14:22I know enough.
14:23His voice softened
14:25just slightly.
14:26I know you don't deserve
14:28to be left standing
14:29in the dark.
14:31God help me.
14:32I wanted to believe him.
14:34I wanted to let those words
14:35sink into all the places
14:36I deconvinced myself
14:38were too broken
14:38to be healed.
14:40But belief was dangerous.
14:42Hope was dangerous.
14:45And yet,
14:46when Adrian reached
14:47for my hand,
14:48slow, deliberate,
14:50giving me every chance
14:51to pull away,
14:51I didn't.
14:54Our fingers touched,
14:56and my whole body
14:57lit up like I'd been
14:57waiting for that moment
14:58without even knowing it.
15:00His grip was warm,
15:02steady,
15:03not possessive,
15:04just certain.
15:05And in that silence,
15:07in that electric pause,
15:09I felt something ignite.
15:12The first time he kissed me,
15:14it wasn't planned.
15:15It wasn't smooth or calculated.
15:18It was a collision.
15:19We were standing outside my building,
15:21the air heavy with the smell of rain
15:23just before it breaks.
15:25I was trying to be brave,
15:27trying to pretend
15:28I wasn't unraveling
15:29under his gaze.
15:31You should stop,
15:33I whispered,
15:34my voice barely audible.
15:36Whatever this is,
15:38you should stop
15:39before it gets worse.
15:41His eyes locked on mine,
15:43dark and burning.
15:44You think I can?
15:46I shook my head,
15:47tears threatening
15:49at the edges of my vision.
15:51You don't even know
15:52what you're getting into with me.
15:55Adrian's hand lifted,
15:56his knuckles grazing my cheek,
15:58feather light
15:59but enough to make me shiver.
16:01Then show me.
16:03And then his mouth was on mine.
16:06It wasn't gentle.
16:07It wasn't patient.
16:09It was hungry.
16:10Desperate.
16:11Like he'd been holding himself
16:12back for too long.
16:14I gasped,
16:15my fingers fisting
16:16in the lapels of his jacket
16:17before I even realized
16:18I was pulling him closer.
16:21His hand slid
16:22to the back of my neck,
16:23steadying me
16:24as if I was something precious,
16:25even in the fire
16:26of his kiss.
16:28The world fell away.
16:30The broken street,
16:32the peeling paint
16:32of my building,
16:33the years of loneliness
16:35pressing down on me.
16:36None of it mattered.
16:38All that mattered
16:39was him.
16:40The way he kissed me
16:41like he'd been waiting
16:42for me his whole life.
16:43When we finally pulled apart,
16:46I was breathless,
16:48trembling.
16:49Adrian.
16:51He rested his forehead
16:52against mine,
16:54his voice rough,
16:55raw.
16:56You don't know
16:57what you're asking for.
16:59Neither do you,
17:00I whispered back.
17:02And still,
17:03neither of us let go.
17:04The days that followed
17:05blurred into something
17:06I'd never had before.
17:08Late night talks
17:09that stretched until dawn,
17:10whispered confessions
17:12traded like stolen secrets.
17:14He never told me everything.
17:17I knew he was hiding something.
17:19Maybe a lot of somethings.
17:21But when he was with me,
17:24when his eyes softened
17:25and his voice lost its edge,
17:27I let myself forget
17:28the shadows that clung to him.
17:30We'd sit on my cracked steps,
17:32a cigarette burning
17:33between his fingers,
17:34and I'd ask,
17:36why me?
17:37Every time he gave
17:39the same answer.
17:39Because you don't look away.
17:43And every time,
17:44I told myself
17:45not to fall deeper.
17:47But I was already gone.
17:49You'd think the first kiss
17:49would have settled something.
17:51Defined it.
17:52Given me clarity.
17:54But the truth is,
17:56it only made everything blurrier.
17:58Because after that night,
18:00Adrian didn't stop coming around.
18:03If anything,
18:04he became a constant shadow
18:05in my life.
18:06The kind I didn't want to lose.
18:08Even when I knew better.
18:11We were reckless
18:12in our own quiet way.
18:13He'd pick me up from shifts
18:14without asking.
18:16His black car
18:17parked under the busted streetlight
18:18like it was waiting only for me.
18:20He'd take me for drives
18:22past the city limits.
18:23The hum of the engine
18:25filling the silence
18:26while his hand rested
18:27over mine on the console.
18:29Sometimes he'd say nothing
18:30for hours.
18:31But it never felt empty.
18:33Other times,
18:34he'd ask questions
18:35I wasn't sure how to answer.
18:37Why do you always look like
18:38you're ready to run?
18:39I'm not.
18:41I'd lie.
18:42He'd glance at me,
18:44one corner of his mouth tilting.
18:46You're lying.
18:48Even when you're sitting still,
18:49your eyes are looking for exits.
18:52That was the thing about Adrian.
18:54He didn't just see me.
18:56He studied me.
18:58Like every flinch,
18:59every silence,
19:01every scar I tried to hide
19:02was a puzzle he intended to solve.
19:05And sometimes,
19:06I caught him staring off at nothing,
19:08his jaw tight,
19:09his expression locked
19:10in that same way.
19:12What about you?
19:13I asked once.
19:15Our fingers laced together
19:16on my couch,
19:17the glow of the TV
19:18casting shadows over his face.
19:21You ever think about running?
19:24His hand stilled,
19:25his gaze flicking to mine.
19:27For a second,
19:28I thought he'd shut me out completely.
19:30But then he said,
19:31every day.
19:33I just don't get to.
19:35I wanted to ask why.
19:38I wanted to press.
19:39To demand answers.
19:41But something in his tone
19:42made me stop.
19:44Because Adrian didn't talk
19:45like a man who lived
19:46a normal life.
19:48He talked like someone
19:49with chains I couldn't see.
19:51It was late one night
19:52when the silence between us cracked.
19:55Rain pounded against the window.
19:56And I was curled against him
19:58on my couch.
19:58The soft thrum of his heart
20:00beat steady under my ear.
20:03Adrian.
20:04I whispered.
20:06Hmm?
20:07You're hiding something.
20:10His chest rose beneath me
20:11and for a long moment
20:13he said nothing.
20:14Then his hand brushed over my hair.
20:17You don't want to know.
20:19Yes, I do.
20:21His body tensed,
20:22the arm around me
20:23tightening just slightly.
20:25If I tell you,
20:26you won't look at me the same.
20:28That should have scared me.
20:29Should have made me shut my mouth
20:31and keep the illusion intact.
20:33But I lifted my head,
20:35my eyes finding his
20:36in the dim light.
20:38Try me.
20:39For the first time,
20:40I saw fear flicker
20:42in his expression.
20:44Not fear of me.
20:45Fear of losing me.
20:47I don't live clean,
20:49he said slowly.
20:51Each word measured.
20:52The world I'm in,
20:53it doesn't forgive weakness
20:56and anyone close to me.
20:59They don't stay safe for long.
21:01My heart pounded.
21:03I should have pulled away,
21:05demanded he leave,
21:07cut ties before I was too deep.
21:09But instead,
21:11my fingers tightened on his shirt.
21:13You think I don't already know
21:15you're dangerous?
21:17He blinked,
21:18his jaw working
21:19like he didn't know
21:20how to respond.
21:21I'm not naive,
21:23I whispered.
21:24You show up in thousand-dollar suits
21:26but stand like a soldier.
21:28You don't sleep much.
21:29You don't trust easy.
21:31You're not just some man
21:32who stumbles into alleys
21:33and plays hero.
21:35So don't insult me
21:36by pretending I don't see it.
21:38His silence was heavy,
21:40stretching between us
21:41like a wire pulled too tight.
21:44Then he exhaled,
21:45leaning his forehead against mine.
21:47Then,
21:48why are you still here?
21:49He asked.
21:51Because I wanted him.
21:53Because I was tired
21:54of empty promises
21:55and men who left
21:56at the first sign of trouble.
21:58Because when Adrian looked at me,
22:00it was the first time in my life
22:01I felt like I wasn't disposable.
22:04I don't know,
22:06I admitted,
22:07my voice shaking.
22:08But I am.
22:10And maybe that was
22:11the most dangerous truth of all.
22:14Things between us
22:15deepened after that.
22:17He stopped pretending
22:18to be someone he wasn't.
22:20And I stopped pretending
22:21I didn't crave him.
22:23Nights blurred into mornings,
22:25my sheets tangled
22:26with the scent of his cologne,
22:28my skin still tingling
22:29from the weight of his hands.
22:31He wasn't gentle,
22:32not always.
22:33But he was careful,
22:35with me.
22:36And sometimes,
22:38when he thought
22:38I was asleep,
22:39he'd press his lips
22:40to my shoulder
22:41and whisper things
22:42I pretended not to hear.
22:44You don't know
22:45what you do to me.
22:47You should hate me
22:48for dragging you into this.
22:49I don't deserve you.
22:53I'd lie there in the dark,
22:55my chest aching,
22:56wanting to tell him
22:57he was wrong.
22:59That maybe he was
23:00the only one
23:00who ever made me feel
23:01like I wasn't
23:02a broken beyond repair.
23:04But then the shadows
23:05started to bleed in.
23:07Phone calls
23:07in the middle of the night
23:08he wouldn't answer
23:09in front of me.
23:10Bruises along his jaw
23:11he brushed off
23:12with a muttered,
23:13nothing you need
23:14to worry about.
23:16Nights where he didn't show,
23:17and when he finally did,
23:18his suit was wrinkled,
23:21his eyes haunted.
23:22I told myself
23:23not to ask,
23:24not to pry.
23:26But silence
23:27has a way of eating at you.
23:28One evening
23:29I couldn't hold it back anymore.
23:31Adrian,
23:32I said,
23:33standing in my kitchen
23:34as he leaned
23:35against the counter,
23:36sleeves rolled up,
23:38his hands wrapped
23:38around a glass of whiskey.
23:41Tell me what you're hiding.
23:43He looked up sharply,
23:45the flicker in his eyes
23:46colder than I'd ever seen.
23:48I told you.
23:49It's better if you don't know.
23:51I don't care if it's better,
23:53I shot back,
23:54my voice cracking.
23:56I care if it's real,
23:58because if you're lying to me,
24:00if all of this is some game...
24:02His glass hit the counter
24:03with a sharp crack,
24:04his hand slamming down beside it.
24:07Don't you dare think
24:08I'd risk this with you.
24:09Don't you dare think
24:10you're just some game to me.
24:12The anger in his voice
24:13should have made me step back.
24:15But instead,
24:17I stepped forward,
24:18my eyes burning.
24:20Then stopped shutting me out.
24:23He stared at me,
24:25his chest heaving,
24:26and for a moment
24:27I thought he'd break.
24:28Thought he'd finally let
24:30the truth spill out
24:30between us.
24:32But then his expression
24:33hardened again,
24:34his walls slamming
24:35back into place.
24:36You don't want the truth,
24:38he said.
24:39His voice low,
24:40final.
24:41Not for me.
24:44And then he turned away.
24:46That was the first night
24:47I realized,
24:48no matter how close
24:49I thought I was to him,
24:50there was a part of Adrian
24:51I might never touch.
24:54I used to think love
24:55broke clean,
24:56like glass shattering,
24:58sharp,
24:59fast,
24:59over in an instant.
25:01But with Adrian,
25:03it was different.
25:05It wasn't a sudden snap.
25:07It was a slow war.
25:09Every day a tug of war
25:10between the pieces of him
25:11he let me see,
25:12and the shadows
25:13he refused to share.
25:15The more I cared,
25:17the more it hurt.
25:18It started small.
25:20Missed calls,
25:22unanswered texts,
25:23nights when he promised
25:24to be there,
25:25and didn't show.
25:27At first I told myself
25:29it was nothing.
25:30That he was busy.
25:32That his world
25:32was heavier than mine,
25:34and I needed to be patient.
25:35But patience has a way
25:37of turning into poison.
25:39One night,
25:41I waited on the steps
25:42outside my building
25:43until the streetlights
25:44flickered off.
25:45The city was waking,
25:46the sky bruised with dawn,
25:48and still,
25:49no sign of him.
25:51My stomach nodded
25:52with a fear I couldn't name.
25:54When he finally appeared
25:55two days later,
25:57I didn't let him pass the door.
25:59Where were you?
26:01My voice cracked,
26:02anger barely masking
26:03the ache in my chest.
26:05Adrian looked exhausted,
26:07his shirt wrinkled,
26:08shadows carved under his eyes.
26:11Don't start.
26:13Don't start,
26:15I repeated,
26:16my hands trembling.
26:17You disappear for days.
26:19You don't answer me,
26:21and I'm just supposed
26:22to sit here
26:22pretending it doesn't matter?
26:24His jaw clenched.
26:26It's not about you.
26:28That hit harder
26:29than any slap could've.
26:31I swallowed the lump
26:32in my throat.
26:34So what is it about Adrian?
26:36What's more important
26:37than showing up
26:38when you said you would?
26:40Then...
26:40Then me?
26:42He flinched,
26:43just barely,
26:44and I hated
26:45how much I noticed.
26:46You don't understand
26:48the things I have to handle,
26:49he said,
26:50his voice low,
26:52tired.
26:53And I can't explain them
26:55without putting you in danger.
26:57I shook my head,
26:59tears burning
27:00at the corners of my eyes.
27:02You think I care
27:03about danger.
27:05I care about being lied to.
27:07I care about being treated
27:08like I matter.
27:10His eyes met mine,
27:12and for a moment,
27:13the walls dropped.
27:14There was pain there,
27:16real and raw,
27:17but then he turned it off again,
27:19just like he always did.
27:21Maybe you shouldn't,
27:23he said.
27:24My chest cracked open.
27:27Shouldn't what?
27:28Shouldn't care about me.
27:31The fight didn't end that night.
27:33It followed us,
27:34seeping into every silence,
27:36every kiss that tasted
27:37like apology
27:38but felt like distance.
27:40He'd hold me tighter,
27:42but his eyes would be elsewhere.
27:44I'd tell myself to be patient,
27:46but my heart was already bruising.
27:49One night,
27:50I broke.
27:51Why do you keep coming back
27:53if you don't want me to care?
27:55I asked,
27:56my voice trembling
27:57as we sat across from each other
27:58on my couch.
28:00He leaned forward,
28:02his elbows on his knees,
28:03his hands clasped
28:04like he was holding
28:05something fragile.
28:06Because I don't know
28:07how not to.
28:10My breath hitched.
28:11Then stopped pushing me away.
28:14His gaze locked on mine,
28:16fierce and desperate.
28:18If I pull you closer,
28:19you'll burn,
28:20and I don't want your blood
28:21on my hands.
28:22I wanted to scream.
28:25I wanted to shake him
28:25until the truth spilled out.
28:28But instead,
28:29I whispered the only thing I could.
28:32You don't get to decide
28:33what I can survive.
28:35For a long time,
28:36he said nothing.
28:38Then he reached for me,
28:40pulling me onto his lap,
28:42his arms crushing me against him
28:43like he was trying to fuse me
28:44into his skin.
28:46His lips pressed to my temple,
28:48his breath uneven.
28:49I can't lose you,
28:52he admitted,
28:53barely audible.
28:55And it broke me.
28:57Because he didn't realize
28:58he was already losing me,
29:00not to someone else,
29:01but to the silence
29:02that gnawed between us.
29:04The breaking point
29:05came a week later.
29:07We were out together,
29:09something we rarely risked.
29:11A quiet restaurant
29:12on the edge of town,
29:13candlelight flickering
29:14between us.
29:16For once,
29:16it felt almost normal.
29:18Like maybe we were just
29:19two people in love.
29:21Like maybe the shadows
29:22didn't exist.
29:23Until they walked in.
29:25Three men.
29:27Suits sharp,
29:28eyes sharper.
29:30Adrian noticed them
29:31before I did.
29:32His whole body went still,
29:34his hand tightening
29:35around his glass.
29:36Who are they?
29:37I whispered.
29:38He didn't answer.
29:40His gaze locked on theirs,
29:41his jaw set,
29:43every muscle in his body coiled.
29:44The men looked at him,
29:46then at me,
29:47and they smiled.
29:49Adrian stood abruptly,
29:51tossing cash onto the table.
29:53We're leaving.
29:55My stomach dropped.
29:57Adrian!
29:58Now!
29:59He snapped,
30:00his voice like steel.
30:02I followed him out
30:03into the night,
30:04my heart pounding,
30:06questions clawing
30:06at my throat.
30:08When we reached his car,
30:10I finally grabbed his arm.
30:12What the hell was that?
30:14He turned on me,
30:16eyes blazing,
30:17and for the first time,
30:19I saw the monster
30:20he tried to keep buried.
30:23They were a reminder
30:23of why you should
30:24be walked away from me
30:26the first night we met.
30:28Fear shot through me,
30:30not of him,
30:31but of what he wasn't saying.
30:34Tell me the truth.
30:36His fists clenched,
30:38his voice low and raw.
30:40I can't,
30:41because once I do,
30:42there's no turning back.
30:44And you'll hate me
30:45for dragging you into it.
30:47I shook my head,
30:49my voice breaking.
30:50You don't get it.
30:52I'm already in it.
30:53I'm already yours.
30:55And the only thing
30:56I can't survive
30:57is this silence.
30:59He stared at me,
31:00his chest heaving,
31:02his face torn
31:03between anger and despair.
31:05And then he said
31:06the words that shattered me.
31:08Maybe you shouldn't
31:09survive me at all.
31:10The night after the restaurant,
31:12I couldn't sleep.
31:14Every time I closed my eyes,
31:16I saw Adrian's face,
31:17hard,
31:18unyielding,
31:19his words echoing like a curse.
31:22Maybe you shouldn't
31:23survive me at all.
31:24It was the first time
31:26I let myself wonder
31:27if he meant it.
31:29If,
31:29deep down,
31:31Adrian wanted me gone.
31:32Not because he didn't love me,
31:35but because he did.
31:36Because he thought love
31:37was a weapon,
31:38and he was the one
31:40holding it.
31:41But I wasn't going
31:42to vanish quietly.
31:44The next evening,
31:45when he finally showed up
31:46at my door,
31:47I was waiting.
31:49He looked wrecked,
31:50hair unkempt,
31:52shirt rumpled,
31:53exhaustion dripping
31:54from every line
31:55of his body.
31:56Yet his eyes still found me
31:58like I was gravity.
32:00Don't,
32:01I said before he could speak.
32:03My voice was sharp,
32:05a blade I hadn't known
32:06I carried.
32:07Don't walk in here
32:08and pretend like
32:09nothing's breaking.
32:11His jaw tightened.
32:12I came to make sure
32:13you're safe.
32:15Safe from what?
32:16I demanded.
32:17From those men
32:18in the restaurant?
32:19From the world
32:20you won't tell me about?
32:21Or from you?
32:23The silence stretched
32:25between us,
32:26taut and unbearable.
32:27Then he said,
32:29All of it.
32:30I laughed,
32:32bitter and breathless.
32:33Do you even hear yourself?
32:35You vanish for days,
32:37you show up half alive,
32:38you bleed secrets
32:39all over my floor,
32:41and the only thing
32:42you ever give me
32:42is fear.
32:44Adrian's gaze
32:45snapped to mine,
32:46sharp as a blade.
32:48You think I want this?
32:50You think I chose this life?
32:52Then tell me what it is.
32:54My voice cracked,
32:56the desperation
32:56spilling out raw.
32:58For once, Adrian,
32:59tell me what you're fighting,
33:01who you're running from,
33:03why I wake up every day
33:04wondering if the man I love
33:05is even still alive.
33:07His hands fisted at his sides,
33:10trembling with a fury
33:11I didn't understand.
33:13If I tell you,
33:15they'll use you against me.
33:17You'll be leverage.
33:18And I can't.
33:19His voice broke.
33:21I can't watch them hurt you
33:23because of me.
33:24My chest heaved,
33:25my nails digging crescents
33:27into my palms.
33:27You don't get to protect me
33:30by breaking me first.
33:32He stepped forward,
33:34close enough that I could feel
33:35the storm in him
33:36radiating out like heat.
33:38And what if breaking you
33:39is the only way
33:40to keep you breathing?
33:42My vision blurred with tears,
33:44but I held his gaze.
33:46Then maybe I don't want
33:48to breathe without you.
33:49That undid him.
33:51I saw it.
33:53The flicker of anguish.
33:55The fracture in his armor.
33:56But instead of softening,
33:58he shattered harder.
34:00You don't understand,
34:02he rasped,
34:03his voice sharp with pain.
34:05There are things I've done,
34:07things I can't erase.
34:09You think you love me,
34:11but you don't even know me.
34:13Then let me,
34:14I begged.
34:16Let me carry the weight with you.
34:18Stop deciding for me
34:19what I can handle.
34:20His chest rose and fell,
34:22every breath a war.
34:24And then he whispered,
34:25almost like a confession.
34:27I killed a man once.
34:30The world tilted.
34:31My breath caught.
34:33He looked at me,
34:34waiting for the horror,
34:35the recoil.
34:36But I didn't move.
34:38Why?
34:39I asked,
34:40my voice barely audible.
34:42His throat worked,
34:43his eyes burning with shame.
34:46Because it was him or me.
34:47And I chose me.
34:49I've been choosing me ever since.
34:51And if you stay,
34:53someday,
34:54it'll be you or me.
34:55And I'll hate myself for eternity
34:57if you're the one who falls.
34:59My heart cracked open
35:00at the rawness in his voice.
35:03Adrian,
35:04I whispered,
35:06reaching for him.
35:07Don't you see?
35:09You already hate yourself.
35:11But you don't have to do it alone.
35:14For a moment,
35:15he let me touch him.
35:17His forehead fell against mine,
35:19his breath ragged.
35:21His hands gripped my waist
35:22like he was drowning,
35:24and I was the last heir
35:25left in the world.
35:26I want you,
35:28he whispered,
35:29broken,
35:30more than I've ever wanted anything.
35:33But wanting me
35:33will destroy you.
35:35And then,
35:37just like that,
35:38he tore himself away.
35:41He left without another word.
35:43The door slammed,
35:44the echo rattling through me
35:45like a gunshot.
35:47That night,
35:48I broke in a way
35:49I never had before.
35:51Not because he'd pushed me away,
35:53but because for the first time
35:54I understood.
35:56Adrian wasn't fighting me.
35:58He was fighting himself.
35:59And maybe love wasn't enough to win.
36:02The next few days blurred.
36:05I tried to function,
36:06work,
36:07sleep,
36:08eat.
36:08But everything was muted.
36:10Wrong.
36:11Every sound outside my window
36:13made me wonder if it was him.
36:15Every dream was his voice,
36:17his hands,
36:18his confession.
36:20By the fourth night,
36:21I couldn't take it anymore.
36:23I went looking.
36:25I started where I knew he went
36:27when he wanted to vanish.
36:28An abandoned warehouse
36:29at the edge of the city.
36:31The kind of place you only find
36:33if you know what you're looking for.
36:35I found him.
36:36He was alone.
36:38Sitting on the hood of his car.
36:40Staring at the horizon
36:41with a cigarette burning
36:42between his fingers.
36:44He didn't look surprised
36:45when I appeared.
36:47You shouldn't be here.
36:48He said quietly.
36:50Neither should you.
36:52I shot back.
36:54For a moment,
36:55we just stared at each other.
36:57The distance between us
36:58more than just space.
37:00Then I walked closer.
37:01I don't care what you've done,
37:05I said.
37:06My voice steady
37:07even as my heart pounded.
37:09I don't care how dark it gets.
37:11I'm not leaving you.
37:13Adrian's eyes narrowed,
37:15pain etched deep.
37:15And when my darkness
37:18swallows you whole,
37:20what then?
37:21I stepped closer.
37:23So close I could feel his breath.
37:25Then we burn together.
37:27But at least we burn honest.
37:31His face twisted,
37:32torn between pulling me in
37:33and pushing me away.
37:35You don't know what you're asking.
37:37Yes, I do,
37:38I whispered.
37:40I'm asking you to stop saving me
37:42by destroying me.
37:43The silence that followed
37:44was unbearable.
37:46Then,
37:47suddenly,
37:48he crushed his lips to mine.
37:51The kiss violent,
37:52desperate,
37:53like he was trying to kill
37:54the distance with fire.
37:57His hands gripped me
37:58like I was slipping
37:58through his fingers.
38:00When he pulled back,
38:02his forehead rested against mine,
38:04his voice hoarse.
38:06If you stay,
38:08there's no going back.
38:09I swallowed hard,
38:11my tears blurring everything.
38:14I know,
38:14his eyes closed,
38:16his jaw trembling.
38:17Then God help us both.
38:19I didn't sleep that night.
38:21Not after Adrian kissed me
38:23like a man starving
38:23and then warned me
38:24that if I stayed,
38:26there'd be no going back.
38:28The warehouse air
38:29still clung to me.
38:31Smoke,
38:32gasoline,
38:33the taste of him
38:34bitter and sweet
38:35on my lips.
38:37And under it all,
38:38the bone-deep certainty
38:40that I'd crossed
38:41some invisible line.
38:43I had chosen him.
38:45And I knew without a doubt
38:46that choice would break me
38:48before it saved me.
38:49Two nights later,
38:51the storm hit.
38:52I was walking home from work,
38:54the streets slick with rain,
38:56when a black car
38:57pulled up too close.
38:58My stomach dropped
38:59before the door even opened.
39:01Two men got out.
39:03Suits,
39:04hard faces,
39:05the kind of cold eyes
39:07that screamed danger.
39:09You're coming with us,
39:11one of them said.
39:12I froze,
39:14my pulse slamming
39:15in my throat.
39:16I don't even know you.
39:18Don't make this harder,
39:20the other snapped,
39:21grabbing my arm.
39:22Panic exploded in me,
39:23sharp and blinding.
39:25But before I could scream,
39:27a familiar voice
39:28cut through the rain.
39:29Let her go.
39:31Adrian.
39:33He stepped out of the shadows
39:34like he'd been waiting.
39:36His gun was already raised,
39:37his body steady
39:38even as fury
39:39burned off him like heat.
39:41The men tensed.
39:43One shoved me aside,
39:44drawing his own weapon.
39:46For a heartbeat,
39:48the world held its breath.
39:50Rain hammered the pavement.
39:53My hands shook.
39:55And then chaos broke.
39:57Gunfire cracked,
39:58sharp and brutal.
40:00I dropped to the ground,
40:02my ears ringing,
40:03my heart splintering.
40:05Adrian moved like he was born for this,
40:07precise,
40:08deadly,
40:09terrifying.
40:11When the noise stopped,
40:12one man was down.
40:14The other was gone,
40:16tires screeching as the black car
40:17peeled into the night.
40:20Adrian was on me in an instant,
40:22hauling me to my feet,
40:24his hands rough but trembling.
40:25Are you hurt?
40:29I...
40:29No, I...
40:31My voice shook,
40:32my breath jagged.
40:34Adrian,
40:35what the hell was that?
40:36His eyes burned into mine,
40:39wild with fear.
40:39That was the cost of loving me.
40:43You think it ends with me?
40:44It doesn't.
40:46They'll come for you because they know what you are to me.
40:49And what am I?
40:51The words ripped out of me.
40:53He didn't hesitate.
40:55Everything.
40:56My knees almost buckled at the force of it.
40:58You should hate me for dragging you into this,
41:01he said,
41:02voice breaking.
41:04But I swear to God,
41:05if you walk away now,
41:07I'll let you.
41:08I'll disappear.
41:10You'll never see me again.
41:11And you'll live.
41:13I shook my head,
41:15tears blurring my vision.
41:17You don't get it, do you?
41:19I'd rather die in your world
41:21than live in mine without you.
41:23Adrian's face crumpled.
41:25He pulled me into him
41:27like he could fuse me to his chest,
41:29his body shaking against mine.
41:31I don't deserve you.
41:34Maybe not,
41:35I whispered.
41:36But you have me.
41:39That night,
41:40we didn't sleep.
41:42We stayed in his car,
41:43parked somewhere off a deserted road,
41:45his arm wrapped around me like a shield.
41:48He told me things he'd never said before,
41:50about the family he'd lost,
41:52the betrayals that had carved him into something ruthless.
41:55And I told him about the hollow loneliness
41:58that had haunted me long before I met him.
42:00How I'd been walking through life half alive.
42:04You saved me,
42:06I whispered,
42:07tracing the scar on his forearm.
42:09Even when you thought you were destroying me.
42:12His hand trembled against my cheek.
42:15No.
42:17You saved me.
42:18But survival wasn't as simple as choosing love.
42:21The next week was hell.
42:24Adrian couldn't hide me forever.
42:26The men who had come after me weren't random.
42:29They were tied to the life he'd de-confessed.
42:32The enemies who wanted to tear down everything he'd de-built.
42:36One night,
42:37after days of running,
42:39hiding,
42:40moving from safe house to safe house,
42:43Adrian broke.
42:45We were in a cheap motel.
42:47The neon light flickering through the blinds.
42:50He sat at the edge of the bed,
42:51his head in his hands.
42:53I can't keep you safe,
42:55he said,
42:56his voice raw.
42:57No matter where I take you,
42:59they'll find us.
43:00I'm dragging you to your death.
43:02I sat beside him,
43:04my hand on his shaking back.
43:06Then we fight.
43:08Together.
43:09He looked up at me,
43:11anguish etched deep.
43:13You don't know what you're saying.
43:16Yes, I do,
43:18I said firmly.
43:19If I'm going to die,
43:21I'll die loving you,
43:23not running from it.
43:25Something in him snapped then.
43:27Not anger,
43:28not despair,
43:30but surrender.
43:31He pulled me into his lap,
43:34his arms locking around me like chains.
43:36His lips found mine,
43:38desperate and reverent all at once.
43:40And in that kiss,
43:42I felt it.
43:43The confession he couldn't say out loud.
43:45That he loved me so much it terrified him.
43:48The final blow came fast.
43:51Three nights later,
43:52the motel door exploded inward.
43:54Gunfire, shouting, chaos.
43:56Adrian shoved me to the ground,
43:58covering me with his body
43:59as bullets ripped through the walls.
44:01Stay down,
44:03he roared.
44:03I heard him fire back,
44:05the sound deafening.
44:07Heard the crash of glass,
44:08the thud of bodies.
44:10And then silence.
44:12I lifted my head,
44:14my ears ringing,
44:15my heart clawing at my ribs.
44:18Adrian was standing,
44:19his chest heaving,
44:20his gun smoking in his hand.
44:22We were alive,
44:23but barely.
44:24He turned to me,
44:25his face pale,
44:26his shirt dark with blood.
44:28No,
44:29I whispered,
44:31scrambling to my knees.
44:31Adrian.
44:33It's not mine,
44:35he lied,
44:36his voice weak.
44:37I pressed my hands to his side,
44:40hot blood seeping through my fingers.
44:42Don't you dare leave me.
44:44Don't you dare.
44:46His eyes locked on mine,
44:47glassy but fierce.
44:49I told you.
44:51No going back.
44:52And then his knees buckled.
44:54He didn't die.
44:56Not that night.
44:57The bullet missed anything fatal,
44:59but it tore him open,
45:02left him bleeding on the edge of life.
45:04I stayed with him through every second,
45:07through the blood,
45:08the screaming,
45:09the hospital lights,
45:11the stitched up wounds.
45:13I held his hand when he drifted into fevered sleep,
45:16whispering the words he'd never let himself say out loud.
45:20I love you.
45:22God,
45:23Adrian.
45:24I love you.
45:26Weeks passed before he was strong enough to leave the hospital.
45:30His world,
45:31the violence,
45:32the men who wanted him gone,
45:34hadn't vanished.
45:35But somehow,
45:36in the wreckage,
45:38we found something that mattered more.
45:40Each other.
45:42He wasn't a savior.
45:44He wasn't a monster.
45:45He was a man who had clawed his way through fire,
45:49who had tried to push me away to save me,
45:51and who finally understood that love wasn't weakness.
45:54It was survival.
45:56One night,
45:57sitting on the porch of the safe house where we'd landed,
46:00he finally said it.
46:02I thought I'd lost you,
46:04he whispered,
46:05his thumb brushing my jaw.
46:08You almost did,
46:09I murmured.
46:11His eyes burned into mine,
46:13haunted and soft all at once.
46:15But sometimes love doesn't let go.
46:19He swallowed hard,
46:21his voice breaking.
46:22Sometimes it fights back.
46:25And then he kissed me.
46:27Slow,
46:28steady,
46:29a promise instead of a plea.
46:31For the first time,
46:33I believed we might actually survive.
46:35Not because the world had grown kinder,
46:38but because we'd learned to face it together.
Recommended
0:46
2:11
2:55
11:13
1:00
2:50
Be the first to comment