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00:00You know that strange moment when life splits?
00:02When you can almost hear the sound of it tearing?
00:06For me, it wasn't a gunshot or a scream.
00:08It was the sound of my little boy's shoes squeaking on the linoleum floor,
00:13right before he said,
00:14Mommy, look what I found.
00:17I was standing at the sink,
00:19washing the same plate for the third time,
00:21because I couldn't afford to think about the overdue bills on the counter.
00:26The faucet dripped in that slow, accusing way,
00:30and the silence in our tiny apartment pressed against my ribs.
00:34Look, Ethan said again,
00:36his voice bright and too loud for the small space.
00:39He held up a black leather wallet like it was treasure.
00:42I turned, towel in hand,
00:45ready to tell him to put it back where he found it.
00:48But the second I saw the thing,
00:50something in my chest twisted.
00:52It wasn't the wallet, it was the weight of it.
00:55Heavy.
00:56Too heavy for just cards and cash.
00:58Where did you get that?
01:01I asked.
01:03Outside, he said,
01:05grinning like he'd just won a prize.
01:07It was by the steps.
01:09Nobody was there.
01:11I wiped my hands,
01:12heart already racing.
01:14Our neighborhood wasn't the kind of place where you picked up lost things.
01:18Here,
01:18everything came with a warning label.
01:21I took the wallet from him and flipped it open.
01:23Thick bills,
01:24gold credit cards,
01:25an ID with a name I didn't want to say out loud.
01:29Luca Santori.
01:30I froze.
01:32I'd heard that name whispered around the block,
01:34said like a curse or a prayer.
01:36Everyone knew he wasn't just rich.
01:38He was untouchable.
01:40I shoved the wallet shut.
01:42Ethan,
01:43you can't touch things that don't belong to you.
01:45But what if the man's sad,
01:48he said.
01:49What if he's looking for it?
01:51He was six.
01:53Everything was still that simple to him.
01:56Wrong and right.
01:57Found and lost.
01:59Good people and bad people.
02:01I wanted to keep it that way.
02:02I'll take care of it,
02:05I said,
02:06slipping the wallet into the drawer beneath the sink.
02:09That night,
02:10the wind scraped against the windows.
02:13I couldn't sleep.
02:14I kept hearing Ethan's words in my head.
02:17What if he's looking for it?
02:19And somewhere between exhaustion and fear,
02:21I decided I'd drop it off anonymously.
02:25Leave it near one of his clubs, maybe.
02:27Let it disappear like it never touched my hands.
02:29But the next morning,
02:32someone knocked.
02:34Three slow knocks.
02:36Firm.
02:37Final.
02:39Ethan looked up from his cereal,
02:41milk dripping down his chin.
02:43Mommy,
02:44stay there,
02:46I whispered.
02:47When I opened the door,
02:49the world narrowed to black fabric and quiet authority.
02:52A man stood there in a tailored suit,
02:55white shirt unbuttoned at the throat.
02:58His hair was dark.
02:59Slicked back.
03:01His expression unreadable.
03:03He didn't have to introduce himself.
03:06The silence around him did it for him.
03:09Miss Carver,
03:10he said.
03:12His voice was low.
03:14Too calm.
03:15You have something that belongs to me.
03:18My throat closed.
03:21I...
03:22He looked past me.
03:23Into the apartment.
03:24His eyes softened for a fraction when he saw Ethan,
03:28still clutching his spoon.
03:29Then they flicked back to me,
03:31sharp again.
03:33Can I come in?
03:35It wasn't a question.
03:37I stepped aside.
03:38Because what else do you do when a storm asks politely to enter?
03:41He walked in,
03:44every movement controlled,
03:46like he'd learned to keep the world from touching him too hard.
03:49He stopped near the table,
03:52gaze resting on Ethan's little drawing taped to the fridge.
03:54Your son found my wallet.
03:57I nodded,
03:58voice small.
04:00Yes,
04:01I meant to...
04:02To return it?
04:03His tone carried something between amusement and disbelief.
04:07Most people wouldn't.
04:09I reached into the drawer and pulled it out.
04:12We don't take things that aren't ours.
04:15He took it,
04:16but his eyes didn't leave me.
04:17And yet,
04:20you waited.
04:22That landed harder than it should have.
04:25I wanted to tell him the truth,
04:26that I was scared,
04:28that I didn't even know how to find him.
04:30But the words stuck.
04:32Ethan stood up,
04:33shy but curious.
04:35Are you mad at my mom?
04:38The man crouched slightly,
04:39so he was eye-level with my son.
04:42No,
04:43he said quietly.
04:44She did the right thing.
04:45Ethan smiled,
04:48relieved.
04:49Then you're not scary.
04:51Luca's lips curved,
04:53but it wasn't a real smile.
04:55Some people would disagree.
04:57I felt my stomach twist again.
04:59He's just a kid.
05:01I know.
05:02His gaze shifted to me.
05:04He's a good one.
05:06Honest.
05:07Then softer.
05:09That's rare.
05:10He slid a thick bill from the wallet
05:12and set it on the counter.
05:14For his honesty,
05:15I pushed it back.
05:17We don't want that.
05:19You should,
05:20he said,
05:21because most people pay a higher price
05:23for meeting me.
05:25Something in his tone made me shiver.
05:27Not because it was threatening,
05:29but because it sounded like a fact.
05:32He turned to leave,
05:34and I thought that was the end of it.
05:37That maybe we'd just been a strange blip in his world.
05:39But at the door,
05:41he paused.
05:42He looked over his shoulder,
05:44eyes darker now.
05:47You've earned my attention, Miss Carver.
05:50The words slid under my skin,
05:52cold and electric.
05:54After he left,
05:55I stood there for a long time,
05:57trying to breathe.
05:59Ethan tugged at my shirt.
06:01Mommy?
06:02Is he a superhero?
06:03I almost laughed.
06:06Something like that,
06:07I said.
06:09But that night,
06:10when I turned off the lights,
06:11I swore I could still feel him in the air.
06:14His calm,
06:15his presence,
06:16his danger.
06:18Days passed,
06:19and nothing happened.
06:21Or maybe everything was happening.
06:23Just quietly.
06:25My shifts at the diner felt longer.
06:28People whispered when I walked by.
06:31A black car parked across from our building
06:33and didn't leave for hours.
06:35Then,
06:36one afternoon,
06:38as I picked Ethan up from school,
06:40a man in a dark coat approached me.
06:43Mr. Santori would like to see you,
06:45he said.
06:46My pulse jumped.
06:48I have nothing else of his.
06:50He insists.
06:52Ethan gripped my hand,
06:53sensing the fear I was trying to hide.
06:56I told the man,
06:58tell him I can't.
07:00He gave a small nod,
07:02then leaned close enough
07:03that I could smell smoke and steel.
07:05He doesn't hear, can't.
07:08When we got home,
07:09I locked the doors
07:10and tried to convince myself
07:12it was overreaction.
07:13But by the time night came,
07:15another knock echoed through the apartment.
07:18Three slow knocks.
07:19Again.
07:21Ethan was already asleep.
07:22His small body curled up under his blanket.
07:25I walked to the door,
07:27heart hammering.
07:28And when I opened it,
07:30he was there.
07:32Luca Santori.
07:33The man with calm eyes
07:35and quiet ruin written all over him.
07:38He didn't wait for an invitation this time.
07:41He stepped inside
07:41like he already owned the space.
07:43I told my men to leave you alone,
07:47he said.
07:48But I had to see for myself.
07:51See what?
07:52I whispered.
07:53Why you interest me.
07:55I wanted to tell him to leave.
07:57To take his attention
07:58and his world
07:59and get them away from my son.
08:02But when I looked at him,
08:04I couldn't move.
08:06There was something in his eyes
08:07that wasn't cruelty.
08:08It was curiosity.
08:11And loneliness.
08:13He noticed my shaking hands.
08:15You're afraid of me.
08:17Shouldn't I be?
08:19He tilted his head.
08:21Maybe.
08:21But I don't hurt people
08:22who tell the truth.
08:24Then what do you do with them?
08:26His gaze softened,
08:28almost like he didn't know either.
08:30I remember them.
08:32The air thickened.
08:34The city outside faded into static.
08:37He took a step closer,
08:38slow and deliberate.
08:41You don't have to fear me, Ava.
08:44Hearing my name in his voice
08:46felt like a secret
08:46being spoken out loud.
08:49How do you know my name?
08:51I asked.
08:52I make it my business
08:53to know things, he said.
08:55Especially about people
08:56who touch my world.
08:58I wanted to scream
08:59that I didn't want to touch his world.
09:01That all I wanted was peace.
09:03A job.
09:05A quiet life for my boy.
09:07But instead,
09:08what came out was softer.
09:11Please don't bring your world into mine.
09:14He looked at me for a long time.
09:16And then his voice dropped.
09:18Too late.
09:20When he left that night,
09:22I locked the door behind him,
09:24slid to the floor,
09:25and cried silently
09:26until the first light
09:28touched the windows.
09:30Because I knew.
09:31It wasn't about the wallet anymore.
09:34I'd been seen by a man
09:35no one could afford to see.
09:37And that was how everything
09:38began to fall apart.
09:41I didn't see him for three weeks.
09:43Long enough to start
09:44pretending he'd vanished.
09:46Long enough to start
09:47breathing again.
09:49But breathing
09:50isn't the same as living.
09:52Every night,
09:53I'd wake up to the sound
09:54of tires in the street
09:56and think it was him.
09:58Every morning,
09:58I'd check the window,
10:00half afraid,
10:01half disappointed.
10:03I kept working double shifts
10:04at the diner,
10:05watching Ethan color pictures
10:06of rockets and dogs
10:07in the corner booth
10:08while I poured coffee
10:09for strangers.
10:10I tried to believe
10:12we were normal.
10:13But normal doesn't watch
10:14shadows move across the street
10:15and wonder if they belong
10:17to someone who once said,
10:18You've earned my attention.
10:20Then one night,
10:22as I was locking up,
10:24a black car pulled to the curb.
10:26The headlights stayed on,
10:28blinding.
10:29I froze,
10:31keys in hand.
10:32The driver's window rolled down.
10:34Get in,
10:36Luca said.
10:37The same voice,
10:38quiet,
10:39certain,
10:40dangerous.
10:41I took a step back.
10:42I can't.
10:43My son's waiting.
10:45He's safe,
10:46Luca interrupted.
10:48My men are outside your building.
10:50They'll stay there
10:50until we're done.
10:52Done with what?
10:53Dinner,
10:54he said simply.
10:56You look like you haven't
10:57eaten in days.
10:58I should have walked away,
11:00but I didn't.
11:02Maybe it was exhaustion
11:03or curiosity
11:05or the way his tone
11:06wasn't a command
11:07so much as a statement of care.
11:10I got in.
11:11The car smelled like leather
11:13and winter rain.
11:15He didn't speak
11:15until we were halfway
11:16across the bridge.
11:18You're angry,
11:18he said finally.
11:20He,
11:20shouldn't I be?
11:22You sent people
11:22to watch my home.
11:24His hands tightened
11:25on the wheel.
11:27To protect it.
11:28I don't need your protection.
11:31He glanced at me.
11:33Everyone does.
11:34Some just don't admit it.
11:36We stopped at a restaurant
11:37with no sign,
11:39tucked between
11:39empty warehouses.
11:41Inside,
11:42it was quiet.
11:44Too quiet.
11:44A single table set for two,
11:47candles flickering
11:48against the glass walls.
11:50I didn't know
11:51if it was romantic
11:51or a warning.
11:53You own this place,
11:55I said.
11:56I own too many places,
11:58he replied.
11:59This one's private.
12:01He pulled out my chair
12:02like a gentleman
12:03from another century.
12:05When I sat,
12:06my reflection ghosted
12:07against the glass.
12:09I looked tired,
12:10small,
12:11almost fragile.
12:12I hated that
12:14he could see that.
12:16Why am I here?
12:18I asked.
12:19He leaned back,
12:20studying me
12:21like I was something
12:22worth understanding.
12:24Because you don't
12:25ask for anything.
12:27Everyone who crosses
12:27my path wants something.
12:29Money.
12:30Safety.
12:31Revenge.
12:32You.
12:33You just wanted to return
12:34what wasn't yours.
12:36That's not special,
12:38I said.
12:39It is,
12:40he replied.
12:41In my world,
12:43honesty is extinct.
12:44I should have rolled
12:44my eyes.
12:46Instead,
12:47I looked down
12:48at my hands,
12:49trembling slightly
12:50against the silverware.
12:52He noticed.
12:53Does my presence
12:54scare you that much?
12:56He asked.
12:57It's not fear,
12:58I said.
12:59It's confusion.
13:01You're...
13:02not what people
13:03say you are.
13:04What do they say?
13:06That you ruin lives.
13:08His mouth twitched,
13:09something between
13:10truth and regret.
13:12They're not wrong.
13:13The food came.
13:15Steak.
13:16Wine.
13:16Something delicate
13:17I couldn't pronounce.
13:18He ate quietly.
13:20I barely touched mine.
13:22Your son,
13:23he said suddenly.
13:25He's brave.
13:26I stiffened.
13:28You've been watching him?
13:29He didn't answer.
13:31Just sipped his wine.
13:33The silence said enough.
13:35Don't.
13:36I whispered.
13:37Don't bring him
13:39into this.
13:40I won't hurt him,
13:42Luca said.
13:43I'd protect him
13:44before I'd protect myself.
13:46Why?
13:48Because he reminds me
13:49of something I lost
13:50a long time ago.
13:51He looked out the window
13:53after that,
13:54and for the first time,
13:55I saw the man
13:56beneath the legend.
13:58Not the mafia boss
13:59everyone feared,
14:01but someone who'd been
14:02hollowed out by years
14:03of power and loneliness.
14:04When he drove me home,
14:06he didn't speak.
14:08But when the car stopped,
14:10he said,
14:10You'll see me again.
14:13I wanted to say no,
14:14but something inside
14:15whispered yes.
14:17A week later,
14:19the diner was robbed.
14:20Two masked men,
14:22guns,
14:22shouting.
14:23Everything turned to chaos.
14:25I remember the sound
14:26of a plate shattering,
14:28Ethan's cry,
14:29and then,
14:30silence.
14:30When the cops came,
14:33they called it a random hit.
14:34I knew better.
14:36That night,
14:37another knock.
14:39When I opened the door,
14:41Luca stood there,
14:42coat still wet,
14:43eyes burning with something
14:44I couldn't name.
14:46They came for you,
14:48he said.
14:49I told the police.
14:51The police can't stop them.
14:53He walked in,
14:54scanning the room
14:55like a soldier.
14:56Pack a bag,
14:57both of you.
14:58I'm not going anywhere.
15:00He stepped closer,
15:02voice sharp now.
15:03You don't have a choice.
15:05Whoever sent those men
15:06won't stop until they find
15:07what they think you have.
15:09What would that be?
15:11Me.
15:12That word hit like a punch.
15:15Before I could argue,
15:16Ethan came out of his room,
15:17clutching his stuffed rabbit.
15:20Mommy!
15:21Luca knelt,
15:22meeting his eyes.
15:23Hey, little man.
15:24You like adventures?
15:26Ethan nodded cautiously.
15:28Good,
15:29Luca said.
15:30Because we're going on one.
15:32And that's how we ended up
15:33in his world.
15:35The house wasn't a house.
15:36It was a fortress.
15:37Stone,
15:38glass,
15:39and silence.
15:41Guards in black.
15:42Cameras in corners.
15:44Ethan thought it was magic.
15:47I thought it was a cage.
15:49Luca told me it was safer here.
15:51I didn't believe him,
15:52but I stayed because
15:53the world outside felt hungrier.
15:56He gave Ethan a room full of books and toys.
15:58He gave me quiet.
16:00Too much of it.
16:02I tried to stay out of his way,
16:04but he had a habit of appearing when the walls closed in.
16:07Like one evening,
16:09when I found him in the library,
16:10sleeves rolled up,
16:12reading to Ethan about knights and monsters.
16:14You're not very good at voices,
16:17I teased.
16:18He looked up,
16:19smiling faintly.
16:20He doesn't seem to mind.
16:23Ethan giggled.
16:24You sound like Batman.
16:26That's a compliment,
16:28Luca said,
16:28closing the book.
16:30Bedtime, kid.
16:31When Ethan left,
16:33Luca turned to me.
16:35You're still afraid.
16:37Maybe because I'm living in a stranger's mansion.
16:40He walked closer,
16:42slow enough to make my breath catch.
16:44I don't want to be a stranger.
16:47You don't get to choose that,
16:49I whispered.
16:50His jaw tightened.
16:52No.
16:53But I can try.
16:55He lifted his hand,
16:57hesitated,
16:58and then brushed a strand of hair from my face.
17:01It wasn't a move of power.
17:03It was something gentler,
17:05unguarded.
17:06You shouldn't be here,
17:08I said.
17:09I could say the same to you.
17:11That night, I couldn't sleep.
17:13Every time I closed my eyes,
17:15I saw the look in his.
17:16The kind of look that promised trouble
17:18disguised as safety.
17:20Days bled into each other.
17:22Luca was everywhere and nowhere.
17:24He'd disappear for hours,
17:26return smelling like smoke and secrets.
17:28But sometimes he'd sit at the kitchen table with us,
17:32helping Ethan with math or asking about his drawings.
17:35Once, Ethan told him,
17:37You're like Iron Man, but quieter.
17:41Luca actually laughed.
17:43Maybe, he said.
17:44But Iron Man doesn't have to hide.
17:46I didn't ask what he meant.
17:49One evening, I found him in his office, pacing.
17:52His phone was on the desk, a gun beside it.
17:55You shouldn't be here,
17:57he said without looking up.
17:58I live here,
18:00I said.
18:01At least for now.
18:02He sighed,
18:03running a hand through his hair.
18:05You shouldn't have been dragged into this.
18:07They think you're leverage.
18:09For what?
18:11Control.
18:12He looked at me,
18:13eyes dark.
18:15Someone's trying to take what's mine.
18:17And what's that?
18:18He paused.
18:20You.
18:21My heart stopped.
18:23That's not funny.
18:24It's not a joke.
18:26I backed away.
18:27I didn't ask for this.
18:29Any of it.
18:31I know.
18:32He stepped forward, softer now.
18:34But I can't undo it.
18:36You stepped into my life
18:37the moment your son picked up that wallet.
18:40He stopped inches away,
18:42his voice low.
18:43And now,
18:45I can't unsee you.
18:47Before I could respond,
18:49a loud bang shattered the moment,
18:51a gunshot from outside.
18:52He shoved me behind the desk,
18:54shouting orders into his radio.
18:56The house erupted with chaos.
18:59Through the window,
18:59I saw flashes of light,
19:01heard shouting.
19:02Stay down!
19:03He barked.
19:05But I wasn't thinking about safety.
19:07I was thinking about Ethan.
19:10I ran,
19:11ignoring Luca's call,
19:12tearing down the hallway
19:13toward my son's room.
19:15When I burst in,
19:16Ethan was crying,
19:17clutching his rabbit.
19:19I grabbed him,
19:20holding him tight.
19:21It's okay, baby.
19:23I've got you.
19:25Luca appeared at the door,
19:27chest heaving.
19:28They're gone,
19:29he said.
19:30But we need to leave.
19:32Now.
19:33I didn't argue this time.
19:35He led us to a hidden staircase,
19:38his hand gripping mine.
19:39I could feel the tremor in his fingers,
19:42the adrenaline.
19:44When we reached the underground garage,
19:46he turned to me.
19:48They weren't after me,
19:49he said quietly.
19:51They were after you.
19:53Why?
19:55He looked at me,
19:56eyes full of something close to guilt.
19:59Because of what I did.
20:01The silence between us was a blade.
20:04What did you do, Luca?
20:06I whispered.
20:08He hesitated.
20:09I made a deal to protect you,
20:11and I might have just broken it.
20:14I stared at him,
20:15my heart pounding.
20:17What deal?
20:19Before he could answer,
20:20another explosion shook the ground.
20:22He pushed me toward the car,
20:23shouting,
20:24Get in!
20:25And as the door slammed,
20:27and the world behind us caught fire,
20:29I realized,
20:30I wasn't running from him anymore.
20:33I was running with him.
20:36I used to think silence meant safety.
20:39Turns out it just means the storm
20:41hasn't found you yet.
20:42The night we fled Luca's house,
20:45the world outside was burning behind us.
20:48Flashes of orange in the rearview mirror,
20:50smoke curling like ghosts in the dark.
20:54Ethan slept across my lap in the back seat,
20:56his little hand clenched around that worn-out rabbit.
21:00Luca drove like a man with nowhere left to go.
21:02No one spoke.
21:04The road wound through empty fields,
21:06headlights cutting through fog.
21:08His knuckles were white on the steering wheel,
21:10and I realized he was bleeding,
21:13just a thin red line tracing down his arm,
21:15but enough to scare me.
21:17You're hurt,
21:19I said softly.
21:21He shook his head.
21:23Not enough to matter.
21:25Everything matters,
21:27I whispered.
21:29He looked at me then,
21:31a flicker of something raw in his eyes.
21:33Not in my world.
21:36We didn't stop until sunrise.
21:38The motel was half dead.
21:40Peeling paint.
21:41Flickering sign.
21:43But it was quiet.
21:45He checked in under a fake name,
21:47carried Ethan to bed,
21:48and stood by the window
21:49until the light turned his face into shadow.
21:52When I tried to thank him,
21:54he cut me off.
21:56Don't,
21:57he said.
21:58I don't do this for gratitude.
22:01Then why?
22:02He hesitated.
22:04Because I can't lose another innocent person
22:06because of my choices.
22:08I wanted to ask who he'd lost,
22:11but something in his voice told me I already knew.
22:14Someone once honest,
22:15once good.
22:16Maybe the last person who'd looked at him without fear.
22:19Ethan stirred in his sleep,
22:20and Luca's gaze softened.
22:22He trusts me,
22:24he said quietly.
22:26He sees the good in everyone,
22:28I said.
22:29Even monsters?
22:31I shook my head.
22:33Maybe he doesn't believe in them.
22:35He looked away,
22:36jaw tightening.
22:37Then he's luckier than most.
22:40Days passed.
22:41We moved from place to place.
22:43Cheap motels,
22:45back roads,
22:46borrowed names.
22:47Luca said it was safer that way.
22:50He didn't tell me who was after us,
22:51and I didn't press.
22:53I learned to read the things he wouldn't say.
22:55The way he checked every mirror twice.
22:58The way his hand never strayed far from the gun hidden beneath his coat.
23:01One evening,
23:02when Ethan was asleep,
23:03I finally asked,
23:05How long can we keep running?
23:07As long as it takes.
23:09And after that,
23:10he looked at me,
23:12eyes tired.
23:14After that,
23:15you go home.
23:16And you?
23:17He smiled faintly.
23:19I don't get to go home.
23:20That hurt more than it should have.
23:24Because somewhere between fear and gratitude,
23:27I'd started to care.
23:29Not in the foolish way of fairy tales,
23:31but in the slow, terrifying way of people who've seen each other at their weakest.
23:36He must have seen it in my face because his voice dropped lower.
23:40You shouldn't look at me like that, Ava.
23:43Like what?
23:44Like I could be something good.
23:47I don't think you're good,
23:49I said.
23:50But I think you could be better.
23:53For a second,
23:54his control cracked.
23:55He reached out,
23:57fingers brushing my cheek,
23:58and I saw every war he was fighting with himself reflected in his eyes.
24:03Then he pulled away.
24:05Go to sleep,
24:06he said.
24:07But I couldn't.
24:09Because I'd finally realized what terrified me most.
24:12It wasn't the men chasing us.
24:14It was the thought of losing him.
24:17The next morning,
24:18I woke up alone.
24:20Luca's jacket was gone.
24:21His car keys, too.
24:23Only a note lay on the nightstand,
24:25written in quick,
24:26slanted handwriting.
24:28Stay here.
24:29Don't follow me.
24:31This ends tonight.
24:32I didn't listen.
24:34By noon,
24:34I found a news alert on the motel TV.
24:37Warehouse fire downtown.
24:38Suspected gang confrontation.
24:40The name Santori flashed across the screen.
24:43Ethan tugged at my arm,
24:44frightened.
24:46Mommy,
24:46is he dead?
24:48I swallowed hard.
24:50No,
24:51he can't be.
24:52I packed our things and drove toward the smoke.
24:55The city felt like a war zone.
24:57Sirens,
24:58flashing lights,
24:59chaos.
25:00I parked two blocks away and ran through alleys,
25:03heart pounding.
25:04The warehouse was half collapsed,
25:06the air thick with ash.
25:08And then I saw him.
25:10Luca.
25:11He was on his knees,
25:12blood staining his shirt,
25:14surrounded by men with guns.
25:16I didn't think.
25:17I screamed his name.
25:19The sound stopped everything for a heartbeat.
25:22He looked up,
25:24eyes widening.
25:26Ava,
25:26no!
25:28Someone grabbed me from behind,
25:30yanking me back.
25:31I fought,
25:32kicked,
25:33bit,
25:34until a gun went off and the world fractured.
25:37Luca lunged forward,
25:38rage twisting his face.
25:40The man holding me dropped,
25:41and suddenly Luca was there,
25:44dragging me behind cover.
25:45Are you insane?
25:47He hissed.
25:48You said it ends tonight.
25:51It was supposed to end without you here.
25:53Gunfire ripped through the air.
25:55He shoved me down,
25:57shielding me with his body.
25:59When I say run,
26:00you run.
26:01I'm not leaving you.
26:03He looked at me,
26:05bleeding,
26:06furious,
26:07and heartbreakingly gentle all at once.
26:09You already did the impossible once, Ava.
26:12You made me feel human again.
26:15Don't ruin it by dying.
26:17Then he stood,
26:19returned fire,
26:20and everything blurred into smoke and noise.
26:23When the silence finally came,
26:25it wasn't peace.
26:26It was aftermath.
26:28He was on the ground,
26:29breath shallow,
26:31blood pooling beneath him.
26:33I dropped beside him, shaking.
26:35Stay with me, Luca.
26:36Please.
26:37He smiled weakly.
26:39You keep saying please
26:40like I've ever been able to say no to you.
26:43Don't do this.
26:45He reached up,
26:46fingers brushing my face.
26:48You'll be fine.
26:49Raise him strong.
26:50Keep him honest.
26:52No.
26:53I pressed my hand against his wound.
26:56You're coming with us.
26:58He laughed,
26:59the sound broken.
27:01You don't know how to quit, do you?
27:03And then his hand fell away.
27:04I don't remember screaming,
27:07but I must have.
27:08Because suddenly people were there.
27:11Sirens,
27:11uniforms,
27:13shouting.
27:14Someone pulled me back.
27:16Someone carried Ethan out
27:17from where he'd been hiding in the car.
27:19The last thing I saw
27:20before they took him away
27:21was Luca being loaded onto a stretcher.
27:25His body still.
27:26His face pale.
27:27I didn't know if he'd live.
27:31All I knew was that I already missed him.
27:34Three months later,
27:35the world was quiet again.
27:37I found a job in a small coastal town.
27:41Clean air,
27:41good schools,
27:43kind strangers who didn't ask questions.
27:46Ethan laughed again.
27:48He drew pictures of the ocean
27:49and said the waves sounded like whispers.
27:52Sometimes,
27:53I'd stand by the water
27:54and think about him.
27:56Not the mafia boss.
27:57Not the danger.
27:59But the man who read bedtime stories
28:01in a low, uncertain voice.
28:03The man who'd bleed for a child
28:05that wasn't his.
28:07Then one evening,
28:08as the sun slipped low
28:09and gold across the waves,
28:11someone knocked.
28:12Three slow knocks.
28:14My breath caught.
28:15I opened the door,
28:17and there he was.
28:18Alive.
28:19Barely,
28:19but alive.
28:21His face was thinner,
28:22his arm in a sling.
28:24But his eyes.
28:25His eyes were the same.
28:27I didn't move.
28:28Neither did he.
28:30Finally, he said,
28:31You moved near the ocean.
28:34You almost died,
28:35I whispered.
28:36He smiled faintly.
28:38I got better.
28:40Ethan came running,
28:41stopping short when he saw him.
28:44You came back,
28:45he said.
28:47Luca crouched,
28:47wincing slightly.
28:49Told you I don't break promises.
28:52Ethan threw his arms around him,
28:54and I turned away,
28:55because the sight of it was too much.
28:57The kind of tenderness I never thought I'd see from him.
29:01When he stood again,
29:03our eyes met.
29:04I shouldn't have come,
29:06he said.
29:08Then why did you?
29:10He took a breath,
29:12stepped closer.
29:14Because peace doesn't feel like peace without you in it.
29:17I wanted to argue,
29:19to remind him that our worlds could never fit together.
29:22But instead, I said,
29:24You look tired.
29:26He smiled.
29:28You always notice the wrong things.
29:31We stood there,
29:32quiet,
29:33the ocean humming behind us.
29:36He looked around the small cottage,
29:38at Ethan's drawings taped to the walls,
29:40at the simple life I'd built.
29:42You did it,
29:44he said softly.
29:45You made it out.
29:47So did you,
29:48I said.
29:49Barely.
29:51Barely counts.
29:52He laughed,
29:54and the sound wasn't sharp or bitter.
29:55It was something fragile.
29:58Something almost free.
29:59I stepped closer,
30:01heart pounding.
30:02What happens now?
30:04He looked down at me,
30:05eyes full of that same calm that once terrified me.
30:08Whatever you'll let happen.
30:11I reached up,
30:12brushed my thumb against the scar at his jaw.
30:15Stay,
30:16I said.
30:17No grand speeches.
30:19No promises.
30:20Just that one word.
30:22He nodded.
30:24That night,
30:25after Ethan fell asleep,
30:26we sat by the window,
30:28watching the tide roll in.
30:30He told me about the deal he'd made,
30:32that he'd handed over territory,
30:34money,
30:35everything,
30:36to buy us safety.
30:37He had nothing left except the clothes on his back
30:40and the scars to prove it.
30:42I thought power meant freedom,
30:45he said quietly.
30:46But it just meant I could never stop running.
30:49And now?
30:51I asked.
30:52Now I stop.
30:54He looked at me,
30:56tired and unguarded.
30:58You were the first honest thing to happen to me in years.
31:01I don't know what that makes us,
31:03but I know I want to find out.
31:05I took his hand,
31:07felt the roughness of it,
31:08the tremor beneath the calm.
31:11Then we start small,
31:12I said.
31:13No more running,
31:14no more hiding.
31:16He smiled,
31:17small,
31:18but real.
31:19I can live with that.
31:21Outside,
31:22the sea kept breathing in and out,
31:24steady as a heartbeat.
31:26And for the first time in years,
31:28so did I.
31:30Because love didn't save me.
31:32It remade me.
31:33Not perfect,
31:34not easy,
31:36but real.
31:37If you made it this far,
31:39you already know this isn't just another love story.
31:43It's a confession that started with a lost wallet
31:45and ended with a life I never thought I'd earn.
31:49If you felt something,
31:50if you heard a piece of your own heartbeat in mine,
31:54stay.
31:55There are more stories like this waiting.
31:58Each one a secret we can share in the dark.
32:01Subscribe,
32:02listen close,
32:03and let me tell you what love costs
32:05when it finds you in the wrong place
32:06but saves you anyway.
32:07I love you.
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