- 2 days ago
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00:00The sound of tires screeching burns into my skull before I even see the car.
00:04I'm halfway across the street, clutching a steaming cup of coffee I can't afford to spill on my only decent coat,
00:10when the black SUV spins the corner too fast.
00:13The world goes white for a second.
00:15Headlights.
00:16A blast of wind.
00:18And then silence except for the rush of my own pulse.
00:21Something heavy slams against the curb beside me.
00:24A black briefcase.
00:25It bursts open just enough for me to see what's inside.
00:29Stacks.
00:29Cash.
00:30Real cash.
00:31So much of it the edges shimmer green under the streetlight.
00:35I freeze.
00:37It's early morning.
00:38The street outside my tiny bookstore still half asleep.
00:41I glance around, expecting someone to shout, to claim it.
00:44But the SUV is gone, swallowed by fog.
00:47I should walk away.
00:48Every logical part of me screams walk away, Alara.
00:51But my rent's due.
00:53My electricity was cut last week.
00:55And I've been one bad day from collapsing for months.
00:58I'm twenty-six.
00:59A bookstore owner clinging to a dream that's bleeding me dry.
01:03So I pick it up.
01:04The leather handle is slick with something that's not water.
01:07My stomach turns when I realize it's blood.
01:10My breath catches.
01:11There's a metallic tang in the air.
01:13Then, from down the street, another sound.
01:16Gunshots.
01:17Muffled, but close.
01:18I run.
01:20The bell above my bookstore door clangs violently as I stumble inside,
01:24dragging the briefcase with me.
01:26I lock the door, pull the shades, and try to breathe.
01:30My reflection in the window looks feral.
01:32Wide eyes, shaking hands, coffee splashed across my sleeve.
01:36It takes me a full minute before I dare to touch the case again.
01:40The blood's half-dried.
01:42Someone's hurt.
01:43Someone's looking for this.
01:45When I finally unlatch it,
01:47my breath leaves me in a single, broken sound.
01:49Neat bricks of hundred-dollar bills fill the case to the rim.
01:54No documents.
01:55No ID.
01:56Just money.
01:57And the faint scent of smoke.
01:59I sit there on the floor for an eternity,
02:02torn between survival and conscience.
02:05I tell myself I'll call the police.
02:07I tell myself I'll just hold it until I figure out what to do.
02:10But deep down,
02:12a quieter voice whispers something I hate.
02:15You could run.
02:16The voice gets louder when the lights outside flicker
02:20and a shadow moves past my door.
02:23I stay frozen behind the counter,
02:26watching the figure through the crack in the blinds.
02:29Tall.
02:30Broad shoulders.
02:32Black suit.
02:32The kind of walk that isn't hurried because people make way for him.
02:36My chest tightens with dread and a strange, inexplicable fascination.
02:40He stops at my door.
02:42Knocks once.
02:43Open up.
02:43The voice isn't loud, but it carries weight.
02:46Low.
02:47Deep.
02:48And calm in a way that terrifies me.
02:50I don't move.
02:52He tries the handle.
02:53Locked.
02:55He waits a few seconds.
02:56Then speaks again.
02:57Quieter this time.
02:59I saw you take it.
03:01My pulse stutters.
03:02The next sound is the click of metal.
03:04A gun.
03:05He fires once at the lock.
03:07And the door swings inward.
03:08He steps in with the quiet certainty of someone who's done this before.
03:13Dark hair slicked back.
03:15White dress shirt open at the throat.
03:17The fabric spattered faintly with blood.
03:19There's a cut along his cheekbone.
03:21A glint of silver under his jacket.
03:23He's beautiful in the way knives are beautiful.
03:26Sharp.
03:27Lethal.
03:28And impossible to look away from.
03:30He sees me.
03:31Crouched by the counter.
03:33You shouldn't have opened it.
03:35I...
03:35I didn't...
03:37My words fail.
03:39He glances at the briefcase, then back to me.
03:42You touched it.
03:43That means you're involved now.
03:45I swallow hard.
03:46I didn't know whose it was.
03:48I thought someone...
03:49Someone?
03:50He moves closer.
03:51Slow.
03:52Deliberate.
03:53Someone bled all over it in the middle of the street, and you thought what?
03:56Finders keepers?
03:57My back hits the wall.
03:59I wasn't stealing it.
04:00He stops inches away.
04:02His eyes dark like a storm.
04:04There's no rage in them, only calculation.
04:07What's your name?
04:08Alara.
04:09He says it once, rolling it over his tongue like a word he intends to remember.
04:14Alara.
04:16His gaze flicks to my trembling hands, then to the shelves around us, lined with books
04:21that haven't sold in months.
04:23This your place?
04:24Yes.
04:25You run it alone?
04:26I nod.
04:27He looks at me like he's reading a file.
04:29You're lucky I got here before someone else did.
04:31That money doesn't belong to the kind of people you want visiting your little shop.
04:36Who does it belong to?
04:37He smirks faintly, humorless.
04:40Me?
04:40I freeze.
04:41You?
04:42He closes the briefcase with a snap.
04:44And now you've seen it, touched it, and lied about it.
04:47That complicates things.
04:49I didn't lie.
04:50He cuts me off with a raised hand.
04:52You'll come with me.
04:53It's safer that way.
04:55Every instinct screams no.
04:57But the way he says it, flat, certain, makes it sound like a law of nature.
05:03Not an offer.
05:04I'm not going anywhere with you.
05:06His jaw tightens, but his voice stays calm.
05:09You think you have a choice?
05:10I try to dart for the back door, but he catches my wrist mid-motion.
05:14His grip is iron, unyielding but not cruel.
05:17Don't.
05:18Let go.
05:18I struggle, but he pulls me closer, his breath ghosting against my hair.
05:23I'm not going to hurt you.
05:25But if you stay here, someone else will.
05:28Something in his tone makes me stop fighting.
05:30It's not a threat.
05:32It's a fact.
05:33He looks at me for a long moment, then releases me.
05:36Get your coat.
05:38Who are you?
05:39I whisper.
05:40He hesitates, then says quietly,
05:43Call me Luca.
05:45He turns, scanning the street before motioning me to follow.
05:49Against every shred of reason, I do.
05:51Outside, the city feels colder.
05:53Quieter.
05:54A black car waits at the corner, engine running.
05:57He opens the passenger door for me like this is some kind of twisted chivalry.
06:02As soon as we're inside, I start talking fast, desperate to make sense of it.
06:07If it's your money, just take it and let me go.
06:10I don't want any part of this, Luca's eyes flick toward me.
06:13You already have a part.
06:14You picked it up.
06:16That's insane.
06:17That's life.
06:19The car glides through the fog, heading downtown.
06:22My mind races.
06:23What happens now?
06:25He leans back, voice low.
06:26Now I figure out if you're a liability or not.
06:30That sentence drops like a stone in my stomach.
06:33He watches me in silence for a few minutes,
06:36studying me the way a predator studies something it doesn't intend to kill yet.
06:39Then his phone buzzes.
06:41He answers with one word.
06:42Talk.
06:43Talk.
06:44His tone shifts.
06:46Cold.
06:47Clipped.
06:47No, she didn't.
06:49She's with me.
06:50Handle the rest.
06:51He ends the call and pockets the phone.
06:54Who was that?
06:55He doesn't answer.
06:56We stop outside a building that looks too sleek to exist in my world.
07:00Glass, steel, and money.
07:02He steps out first, then glances back.
07:05Stay close.
07:06Inside, the elevator ride feels endless.
07:09My reflection in the mirrored walls looks pale.
07:12Fragile.
07:13His, beside me, looks carved from control.
07:16When the doors open, we step into a penthouse that screams wealth.
07:21City lights stretch below us, gold and endless.
07:23He sets the briefcase on the counter, removes his jacket, and loosens his tie.
07:28Why bring me here?
07:29I ask.
07:30Because someone saw you pick it up.
07:32My stomach drops.
07:33Who?
07:34I don't know yet.
07:36He turns, eyes narrowing.
07:37But they'll come.
07:39And when they do, they'll think you know more than you do.
07:42I back away, trembling.
07:44You said it's your money.
07:45It was.
07:46His voice hardens.
07:48Now it's bait.
07:49He moves toward the kitchen, grabs a cloth, and starts wiping blood from his hands.
07:53The gesture shouldn't look intimate, but it does.
07:57When he speaks again, it's quieter.
07:59You're shaking.
08:00Of course I'm shaking, I snap.
08:02A man just shot my door open.
08:05He looks at me then.
08:06Really looks.
08:08And for the first time, there's something almost human in his expression.
08:12You handled it better than most.
08:13I don't know whether that's a compliment or a warning.
08:17I turn toward the window, hugging my arms.
08:21You said they'll come for me.
08:23He nods once.
08:24They won't get near you.
08:26Not while you're under my roof.
08:27The words hang between us.
08:30Possessive.
08:31Terrifying.
08:33Oddly reassuring.
08:35Something inside me twists, caught between fear and the strange pull I feel toward him.
08:40The man who barged into my life with a gun now feels like the only thing standing between me and chaos.
08:46He steps closer, voice low.
08:49You have no idea what you've walked into, Alara.
08:52But you'll learn.
08:54The distance between us shrinks until I can smell the faint mix of blood and cologne on him.
08:59He doesn't touch me.
09:00He doesn't have to.
09:01The air vibrates with something that feels like danger and safety all at once.
09:06Get some rest, he says finally.
09:08You'll need it.
09:10I glance at the closed briefcase on the counter, the faint smear of blood he missed on the handle.
09:15I think about the sound of gunfire still echoing in my mind, and I realize, with cold clarity, that nothing about my life will ever be ordinary again.
09:29Sleep doesn't come.
09:30The city hums below the penthouse like a beast I can't escape.
09:33I lie on a bed far too soft, staring at a ceiling that probably costs more than my entire bookstore lease.
09:40The smell of him lingers on the sheets.
09:42Smoke.
09:43Leather.
09:44Danger.
09:44Every time I close my eyes, I see the briefcase, the blood, and Luca's expression when he said I was under his roof.
09:53At some point, exhaustion wins.
09:56When I wake, sunlight cuts through the floor-to-ceiling windows and the city looks unreal, like a world I was never supposed to see.
10:04There's a tray on the nightstand.
10:06Black coffee.
10:07Toast.
10:08Fruit.
10:09A note beneath the mug, written in sharp, decisive handwriting.
10:13Don't leave the apartment.
10:15Elmi's first instinct is to do exactly the opposite, but when I step into the living room, I see him.
10:20Luca stands by the glass wall, suit jacket off, sleeves rolled, a gun holstered under his shoulder.
10:27He looks like he's been awake for hours.
10:30You move quiet, he says without turning.
10:33I didn't want to wake you.
10:34He half smiles at the reflection in the glass.
10:36You think I sleep?
10:38That silences me.
10:40He turns, and for a moment, I see the night before still clinging to him.
10:45Tension.
10:46Exhaustion.
10:47The faint red line healing on his cheek.
10:49You eat?
10:51He asks.
10:53I wasn't hungry.
10:55He crosses the room, takes the untouched coffee, and hands it to me anyway.
10:59You'll need strength today.
11:01For what?
11:02He studies me for a beat.
11:04For answers.
11:06Luca moves to the kitchen island, opens his phone, and swipes through messages like he's
11:10controlling a war.
11:12The men who dropped that briefcase were running from me.
11:15They thought they could disappear with my money.
11:17And they didn't make it?
11:19They made it as far as your street.
11:21His eyes lift to mine.
11:23You saw the end of it.
11:24I gripped the coffee tighter.
11:25And now I'm a witness.
11:28Now your leverage, he corrects softly.
11:31To them, you're a problem.
11:32To me, you're under protection.
11:35There's no comfort in the way he says it.
11:37Only certainty.
11:39Protection doesn't mean imprisonment, I say.
11:42Trying to sound braver than I feel.
11:45He leans closer, resting his palms on the counter.
11:48In my world it does.
11:50For a second I can't breathe.
11:52There's something magnetic in his control.
11:54Something that draws me even as I know I should hate it.
11:58He sees it too.
11:59His gaze lingers on my mouth a fraction too long before he steps back.
12:03Get dressed.
12:04We're leaving in ten minutes.
12:06To where?
12:07He doesn't answer.
12:08When I emerge, he's waiting by the door.
12:10Sunglasses on.
12:11All sharp lines and quiet authority.
12:14We descend in the private elevator in silence.
12:17The moment we hit the street, two black cars pull up.
12:20His men, because of course he has men, open doors without a word.
12:23The ride is short.
12:25Tense.
12:26We stop at a warehouse by the docks.
12:28The kind of place where sunlight dies before touching the floor.
12:31Luca's mood shifts instantly.
12:33The easy calm disappears.
12:35The air around him turns lethal.
12:38Stay here.
12:39He orders.
12:40Stepping out.
12:41I watch through the tinted glass as two men are dragged from another car.
12:45They're beaten, bloodied, terrified.
12:47Luca walks toward them slowly, removes his jacket, and rolls his sleeves with clinical precision.
12:53When he speaks, I can't hear the words, but I see the power.
12:57The fear.
12:59Then one of the men spits at him.
13:00A mistake.
13:01Luca moves like a storm.
13:03Fast.
13:03Efficient.
13:04Terrifyingly calm.
13:06He doesn't shoot.
13:06Doesn't yell.
13:07He uses his fists.
13:08Methodical.
13:09Each blow controlled.
13:11Measured.
13:11When it's over, both men are alive, but barely.
13:15My hands shake.
13:16I can't look away.
13:18He turns.
13:19Spots me through the car window.
13:22For a long frozen moment, our eyes lock.
13:24His expression is unreadable.
13:26Then he walks back, opens the door, and slides in beside me as if he hadn't just broken someone in half.
13:32Now you know what I am, he says quietly.
13:36I can't speak.
13:38He looks down at his blood-smeared knuckles.
13:41Then at me.
13:42Still think I should have let you walk home with that briefcase?
13:45The answer lodges in my throat.
13:47You didn't have to kill them.
13:50I didn't.
13:51His voice is soft.
13:53Cold.
13:55Not today.
13:56Silence fills the car like smoke.
13:59When we return to the penthouse, the city's light feels wrong.
14:04Too bright for what I've seen.
14:06I move past him quickly.
14:08Straight to the sink.
14:09Splash cold water on my face.
14:12He follows.
14:13Leans against the counter.
14:15You shouldn't have seen that.
14:17You didn't stop me.
14:18I wanted you to understand.
14:20Understand what?
14:21I whirl on him.
14:23That you're some kind of monster?
14:25He steps forward.
14:27That I'm the reason you're still breathing.
14:29The air between us crackles.
14:31My heart hammers.
14:32His proximity is suffocating and addictive at once.
14:35Do you even hear yourself?
14:36I whisper.
14:38His gaze drifts to my throat, then back to my eyes.
14:41You think I like this life?
14:42You think I chose it?
14:44I hesitate.
14:45For the first time, his mask slips.
14:47My father built this empire, he says, voice low.
14:51I was twelve when I watched him shoot a man who tried to rob our house.
14:54He told me, power is survival.
14:57Compassion is death.
15:00I spent my life learning how to be him, and hating every second of it.
15:05Something inside me softens despite my fear.
15:08So why not leave?
15:10Because leaving means someone else takes the throne.
15:13Someone worse.
15:13The truth in his voice steals my breath.
15:17I don't want your sympathy, Alara, he adds.
15:21Just your silence.
15:22I meet his stare.
15:23You have it.
15:24But I'm not afraid of you, he lets out a dry laugh.
15:28You should be.
15:29He moves past me, but his hand brushes mine, slow and deliberate.
15:33It's enough to send a spark straight through me.
15:36He feels it, too.
15:37I see it in the way his jaw tightens before he pulls away.
15:40That night, he insists I sleep in the guest room across from his.
15:45I try, but the walls feel too thin, the silence too heavy.
15:49Around midnight, I hear raised voices, mail urgent.
15:53I step into the hallway.
15:54Luca stands near the door, arguing with one of his men.
15:58She's the reason they know where you are, the man says.
16:02You should have left her behind.
16:04She stays, Luca replies, voice low and dangerous.
16:09She's a liability.
16:11Luca's hand shoots out, slamming the man against the wall.
16:15Say that again.
16:16Boss.
16:18Touch her.
16:18Even look at her wrong and you're done.
16:20The man mutters an apology and leaves.
16:23Luca notices me then, half in shadow.
16:25You shouldn't eavesdrop.
16:27I couldn't sleep.
16:30He exhales, tension bleeding from his shoulders.
16:33You're safe here.
16:35No one will touch you.
16:36I nod, but my pulse is a drumbeat.
16:38And what about you, Luca?
16:40Can I trust you?
16:41He walks toward me slowly.
16:43Stops when we're close enough that I can feel the heat radiating from his body.
16:47You shouldn't, he murmurs.
16:49But you will.
16:50The next day blurs into a strange rhythm.
16:54I wander the penthouse while he works, his phone ringing with names I don't want to know.
16:59He brings food, insists I eat, and every time our hands brush, the air shifts.
17:04By evening, rain lashes the windows.
17:08The storm cuts the power for a moment, plunging us into darkness.
17:12I hear his footsteps before I see him.
17:14You're trembling, he says.
17:17It's cold.
17:18He moves closer, his shadow merging with mine.
17:21There's a generator, but it takes a minute.
17:24Lightning flashes, and I see his face inches from mine.
17:28The tension that's been coiling between us since that first night snaps.
17:32He doesn't kiss me.
17:34He just stands there, hand on my jaw, thumb brushing my pulse.
17:38His voice drops.
17:39Tell me to stop.
17:41I don't.
17:42When the lights flicker back on, he steps away first, his control snapping back into place.
17:48You should sleep.
17:49I want to tell him I can't.
17:52That the image of him beating those men still haunts me.
17:54But I also can't deny the way I feel when he's near.
17:59Before I can speak, his phone buzzes.
18:03He answers, face hardening instantly.
18:05What?
18:06A pause.
18:07Then who?
18:08His tone changes, lethal calm.
18:11Keep her out of sight.
18:12I'm coming.
18:13He hangs up, grabs his gun, and turns to me.
18:16You stay here.
18:17Do not open the door for anyone.
18:19What's happening?
18:20They found us.
18:21My chest tightens.
18:23Luca, he's already halfway to the elevator.
18:25Lock the door.
18:26If I'm not back in an hour, run.
18:29The doors close behind him, and the silence left in his wake is unbearable.
18:34Minutes crawl.
18:35Every sound outside the door makes my heart jump.
18:38Then, faintly, gunfire echoes in the distance.
18:41I grip the counter, whispering to the empty room,
18:45Come back.
18:45When the door finally bursts open,
18:49It's not Luca.
18:50It's one of his men, bleeding.
18:52Panicked.
18:53They got him, he gasps.
18:55They took the boss.
18:56The world tilts.
18:57My knees nearly give out.
18:59For a few seconds, I can't move.
19:09The words they took the boss bounce around my skull like ricochets.
19:13The man who said them collapses by the door, clutching his side.
19:17Blood spills through his fingers.
19:18Who?
19:19I demand.
19:20My voice sounds strange, like it belongs to someone else.
19:23Rossi's crew.
19:24He chokes.
19:25Ambush.
19:26He went alone to buy you time.
19:28The air leaves my lungs.
19:30Luca walked into a trap for me.
19:32Where did they take him?
19:33The man groans, half-conscious.
19:35Old shipyard.
19:36South pier.
19:37I grab his phone and the gun from his holster, ignoring his protests.
19:41My hands shake, but my mind is ice clear.
19:43For once, there's no one to tell me what to do.
19:45No safety net.
19:47Just choice.
19:48I'm done hiding.
19:49The elevator ride down feels like falling through silence.
19:52Outside, rain needles my face as I run to the street.
19:55I barely remember stealing one of Luca's cars.
19:58The keys were still in the bowl by the door.
20:01The engine roars to life like it knows where we're going.
20:04The shipyard looms over the harbor.
20:07A maze of rusted containers and floodlights.
20:10The kind of place nightmares like to hide.
20:13I kill the headlights and creep forward, every instinct screaming at me to turn back.
20:17But the image of Luca being dragged, beaten.
20:20Maybe worse.
20:21No.
20:21Not after what he's done for me.
20:24Not after everything he risked.
20:26The rain muffles sound.
20:28But I catch voices ahead.
20:30Men shouting, laughter that curdles my blood.
20:33I edge around a stack of crates and see him.
20:36Luca's on his knees.
20:37Hands tied.
20:38Blood streaking his jaw.
20:41Even beaten, he looks unbreakable.
20:42His captor.
20:43A heavyset man with a scar bisecting his eyebrow.
20:46Grins like he's already won.
20:48Shouldn't have gone soft, Luca.
20:50He sneers.
20:51All for a bookstore girl?
20:53Pathetic.
20:54My stomach twists.
20:55They know about me.
20:57Luca spits blood.
20:58Lifts his head with that same calm arrogance.
21:01She's more than you'll ever understand.
21:03The man laughs.
21:05You'll die for her.
21:06Luca's smile is faint.
21:08Defiant.
21:09You'll die first.
21:10The gun comes up, aimed at his head.
21:12That's when I move.
21:13I step out from behind the crates, firing the weapon I barely know how to use.
21:19The shot goes wide but loud enough to shatter the moment.
21:22The men whip around, shouting.
21:23I duck behind cover, adrenaline roaring in my ears.
21:27Luca's voice cuts through the chaos.
21:29Alara, what the hell are you doing?
21:31Saving you!
21:32A laugh escapes him, raw and incredulous.
21:35You're insane.
21:36Two men flank me.
21:37I fire again.
21:38Miss once.
21:39Hit the leg of another.
21:40He goes down, screaming.
21:41Luca uses the distraction to slam his shoulder into his captor, sending both sprawling.
21:47He's up in a flash, grabs a fallen gun, and in a heartbeat the balance shifts.
21:52Luca moves with terrifying precision, each motion fueled by fury and purpose.
21:57The last man standing reaches for me.
21:59Luca fires first.
22:01Silence.
22:02Only rain.
22:04My whole body trembles.
22:06He lowers the weapon, breathing hard and walks toward me.
22:09The look in his eyes stops me cold.
22:12Relief.
22:13Disbelief.
22:14Something dangerously close to pride.
22:17You shouldn't have come, he says, voice rough.
22:20You'd be dead if I didn't.
22:23He laughs once, brokenly.
22:25You don't even know how to hold that gun.
22:28I figured it out.
22:30He stares at me, soaked, shaking, rain plastering my hair to my face.
22:34You're insane, he repeats softly.
22:38And perfect.
22:40He closes the distance, his hands gripping my face like he's afraid I'll vanish.
22:45His mouth crashes against mine.
22:47Rough.
22:48Desperate.
22:49Everything we've both been fighting since that first night.
22:52It's not gentle.
22:53It's claiming.
22:54It's confession through touch.
22:56When we break apart, we're both breathing hard.
23:00I thought I lost you.
23:02I whisper.
23:03You almost did.
23:05His thumb traces the side of my jaw.
23:08You should have run.
23:09I couldn't.
23:11Something shifts in his expression.
23:13Something unguarded.
23:15You came for me.
23:16Looks like it.
23:17He huffs a laugh.
23:18Half relief.
23:19Half disbelief.
23:21You don't listen to a damn thing I say.
23:24Maybe that's why you're alive.
23:26He tilts his head, studying me with something dark and tender.
23:31You've got fire, Ilara.
23:32The world I live in will try to burn it out of you.
23:36Then let it try.
23:38He stares another beat.
23:40Then nods once, like he's made a decision.
23:43Then you stay.
23:44With me.
23:45The words land heavy.
23:46What does that even mean?
23:47It means you don't go back to that bookstore.
23:50It means no one touches you.
23:51It means you're mine.
23:52There's danger in his tone, but not possession.
23:55Protection.
23:56A vow.
23:56And if I say no?
23:58He steps closer.
23:59Then I'll spend the rest of my life making you say yes.
24:02Before I can reply, headlights flare through the rain.
24:06Another car screeches up.
24:08His men.
24:09Guns drawn.
24:10The tension snaps.
24:11Boss.
24:12One of them yells.
24:13We thought you were dead?
24:15Luca finishes.
24:17Not tonight.
24:18He glances back at me, eyes softening.
24:20You did good, Ilara.
24:21I manage a shaky smile.
24:23You're welcome.
24:25He slides an arm around my waist, steering me toward the car.
24:28Let's get the hell out of here.
24:30The city's skyline looks different from the back seat of his car.
24:34Less distant.
24:35More alive.
24:36Luca sits beside me.
24:38Knuckles raw.
24:39Shirt torn.
24:40When he reaches for my hand, I let him.
24:43Rossi's gone.
24:45One of his men reports from the front seat.
24:47Your message is sent.
24:48Luca nods.
24:49No one touches her.
24:51Spread the word.
24:52Yes, boss.
24:53It hits me, then.
24:54What he is.
24:55What this means.
24:56Power isn't a thing he owns.
24:58It's a language he commands.
24:59And now, somehow, I'm written into it.
25:04Back at the penthouse.
25:05He cleans the blood from his face in silence while I patch a cut on his arm.
25:10The first aid kit sits between us, ridiculous against the marble countertop.
25:14You're shaking, he murmurs.
25:17Adrenaline.
25:19I lie.
25:20He studies me, then catches my wrist gently.
25:23You were brave tonight.
25:24I was terrified.
25:27Brave doesn't mean fearless.
25:28I tape the last bandage in place, but he doesn't let go.
25:33His fingers slide up, resting against my throat, tracing my pulse.
25:37When I saw that gun at your head, I knew.
25:39Knew what?
25:40That I'd burn the world for you.
25:43The words knock the air out of me.
25:45He leans in, forehead brushing mine, voice low.
25:48You walked into hell and dragged me out.
25:50No one's ever done that.
25:52My voice trembles.
25:53What happens now?
25:55He gives a faint, crooked smile.
25:57Now you stay alive.
25:58With me.
25:59Until when.
26:00Forever sounds about right.
26:02His mouth finds mine again.
26:03Slow this time.
26:04Reverent.
26:05The kind of kiss that feels like a promise and a warning all at once.
26:10When he finally pulls back, he whispers,
26:12You still don't understand what you've done, do you?
26:16What did I do?
26:17You made me human again.
26:18Weeks pass.
26:19The police call the shootout a gang conflict.
26:22The bookstore stays shuttered,
26:24its window cracked from the night I found the briefcase.
26:27Sometimes I drive past it,
26:29just to remember the girl I used to be.
26:31The one who believed in safety and small dreams.
26:35Luca never mentions the money again.
26:38It's gone.
26:39Probably cleaned through one of his endless businesses.
26:42But he makes sure I never want for anything.
26:45One evening,
26:46as the city bleeds into dusk,
26:48I stand on the penthouse balcony.
26:51He comes up behind me,
26:52silent as always.
26:53His arms slide around my waist,
26:55chin resting on my shoulder.
26:57You still miss that old life?
26:59He asks.
27:00Sometimes.
27:01You'd trade this for it?
27:02I glance back at him.
27:03The suit.
27:04The scars.
27:05The quiet danger he carries like a second skin.
27:08Not anymore.
27:09He smiles against my neck.
27:11Good answer.
27:12I turn to face him.
27:13Does it ever end?
27:15The fighting?
27:15The blood?
27:16It ends when I say it does.
27:18He says simply.
27:19And now,
27:20with you here,
27:21maybe I will.
27:23The wind catches his words,
27:26scattering them across the skyline.
27:28I study him.
27:30The man who terrified me.
27:32Saved me.
27:33Changed everything I thought I knew about right and wrong.
27:36I found a briefcase full of cash.
27:38I whisper,
27:39half smiling.
27:41And somehow found you.
27:43He tilts my chin up,
27:44eyes softer than I've ever seen.
27:46You didn't find me,
27:47he says.
27:48You saved me.
27:50And when he kisses me this time,
27:51there's no hesitation,
27:52no fear.
27:53Just the certainty that I'll never walk away from him.
27:56Because the moment I picked up that bloodstained briefcase,
28:00my fate and his became the same story.
28:03Outside,
28:04thunder rumbles over the city,
28:05and his hand tightens on my waist.
28:08Mine.
28:09He murmurs against my lips.
28:11Yours.
28:12I breathe back.
28:14The storm breaks,
28:15and the world below keeps turning.
28:17Unaware that somewhere high above,
28:19a bookstore girl and a mafia king
28:21just rewrote the rules of survival into love.
28:23Love.
28:26Love.
28:27Love.
28:28Love.
28:29Love.
28:29Love.
28:29Love.
28:29Love.
28:29Love.
28:29Love.
28:29Love.
28:29Love.
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28:30Love.
28:30Love.
28:30Love.
28:30Love.
28:31Love.
28:31Love.
28:31Love.
28:31Love.
28:31Love.
28:31Love.
28:32Love.
28:32Love.
28:32Love.
28:32Love.
28:33Love.
28:33Love.
28:34Love.
28:35Love.
28:35Love.
28:36Love.
28:37Love.
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28:39Love.
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28:41Love.
28:42Love.
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28:46Love.
28:47Love.
28:48Love.
28:49Love.
28:50Love.
28:51Love.
28:52Love.
28:53Love.
28:54Love.
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