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Short filmTranscript
00:00I try to pretend the bruise isn't blooming across my cheekbone, but it's there.
00:04Loud.
00:06Hot.
00:07A pulse under my skin.
00:09I can't quiet.
00:10I keep my head turned toward the refrigerated section, and hope the world stays blurry enough to ignore me.
00:17My daughter's small fingers curl into mine.
00:20Mommy?
00:21Juice?
00:22She asks, her little voice a soft balloon drifting up, oblivious to the storm in my chest.
00:28Yeah, baby, I whisper.
00:32Pick the one with the blue label.
00:34I'm trying to keep my breathing steady.
00:37Trying not to imagine what people see when they look at me.
00:40What conclusions they draw.
00:42Whether they believe the lie I've been telling for months.
00:45I'm fine.
00:47Everything is fine.
00:49I just fell.
00:51But today?
00:53Today the lie feels heavier.
00:55Like my ribcage is tired of holding it.
00:58I crouch to grab the juice, and the motion tugs the bruise under my eye.
01:03A sharp reminder of the hour I spent begging a man who was supposed to love me, not to hit me again.
01:10There had been no screaming, no broken furniture.
01:14Just his calm voice in the back of his hand.
01:17The same way someone might close a door they're tired of walking through.
01:21My daughter tugs again.
01:22Can we go home now?
01:25Home.
01:26The word tastes wrong.
01:28Like rust.
01:30I open my mouth to answer, but the air behind me shifts.
01:34Not loudly.
01:35Not dramatically.
01:37Just shifts.
01:39The way the world feels different right before a storm breaks.
01:42Then a voice speaks.
01:45Low.
01:45Steady.
01:47Threaded with something I don't have a name for.
01:50That's a bad lie you're carrying around.
01:53I freeze.
01:54My heart doesn't just race.
01:56It bolts, dragging every instinct with it.
02:00I turn slowly, praying it's no one I know.
02:03Praying it's no one he sent to make sure I keep quiet.
02:06Instead, I see him.
02:09He stands too close.
02:10Not in a threatening way.
02:12More like he stepped into a space I didn't realize was unguarded.
02:16Broad shoulders under a tailored shirt.
02:18A jaw carved from something stubborn.
02:21Eyes that don't flinch when they land on my face.
02:24On the bruise.
02:25On the fear I can't hide anymore.
02:28I know him.
02:29Not personally.
02:31But everyone in this part of the city knows him.
02:34Cassian Vale.
02:36The man whose name people say softly, like sound might summon him.
02:41A mafia boss.
02:43The kind of man who can unmake a life with a single phone call.
02:46And he's looking at me as if I've become something he didn't expect to find today.
02:51My throat dries up.
02:53I don't know what you're talking about.
02:55I whisper.
02:57His gaze flicks to my daughter, then back to me.
03:00Not cruel.
03:01Not pitying.
03:02Just observant.
03:05Yeah.
03:06He says quietly.
03:08You do.
03:09I clutch my daughter closer.
03:11I should walk away.
03:13I should run.
03:14But my feet root to the floor because no one has ever said it like that.
03:18Not with recognition.
03:19Not with certainty.
03:21Not like they cared enough to notice.
03:24He steps closer, but not close enough to scare my kid.
03:26The space between us hums.
03:29The kind of tension that lives under the skin rather than in the air.
03:33You're hurting, he says.
03:36And you think hiding it keeps you safe.
03:39Something cracks inside me.
03:41Not loudly.
03:41Just a thin fracture.
03:44I straighten my shoulders.
03:46We're fine.
03:48You're lying again.
03:50The words aren't accusing.
03:52They're soft.
03:53Almost exhaling.
03:55As if he's trying not to spook me.
03:57As if he knows exactly how close I am to breaking.
04:01My daughter shifts in my arms and looks up at him with wide, curious eyes.
04:05She doesn't know who he is.
04:08She only sees a tall man who doesn't smile.
04:11Her name?
04:12He asks gently.
04:14I hesitate.
04:16Luna.
04:18He nods once.
04:20Pretty name.
04:21I wait for him to walk away.
04:24Men like him don't involve themselves in strangers' problems.
04:27They stay in their kingdoms and let the rest of us rot quietly.
04:32But he doesn't move.
04:34His gaze returns to the bruise.
04:36And something changes in his face.
04:38The muscles tighten.
04:40His jaw sets.
04:42Just barely.
04:43Who hurt you?
04:45He asks.
04:47The words are simple.
04:49But they strike something in me I've been keeping buried for years.
04:52They slice through the numbness.
04:54Through the denial.
04:55Through the survival mechanisms I've been clinging to like a life raft.
04:59I swallow.
05:00It's not your business.
05:02It is now.
05:04The certainty in his tone shivers down my spine.
05:07I shouldn't want that.
05:09I shouldn't want anyone stepping into my life.
05:12Especially someone dangerous.
05:14But the part of me that's been drowning feels a flicker of air.
05:17Like a window cracked open.
05:20I shake my head.
05:22You can't help me.
05:23That sounds like another lie.
05:26A breath escapes me.
05:28Not quite a sob.
05:29Not quite relief.
05:31Something in between.
05:33He looks at Luna again.
05:34And the lines in his face soften almost imperceptibly.
05:38You got a place to go?
05:39He asks.
05:41We're going home.
05:43Home.
05:44He repeats the word like he's testing it.
05:46Is it yours or his?
05:50His.
05:51Always his.
05:53Even when he isn't there.
05:55I can't get the answer out.
05:57The silence speaks for me.
05:59Cassian's jaw ticks again.
06:01I wonder if he even realizes he's doing it.
06:04Then he lifts his hand.
06:07I flinch.
06:08I hate that I flinch.
06:10I hate that the world sees that reaction before it sees anything else about me.
06:15He pauses.
06:16Not touching me yet.
06:18He waits.
06:19His voice drops even lower.
06:22Can I?
06:24No one has ever asked me for permission to touch my face.
06:27Permission has always been something I owed.
06:30Not something I owned.
06:32I nod once.
06:34He tilts my chin up gently.
06:35Like I'm something breakable he refuses to mishandle.
06:39His fingers are warm.
06:42Quiet.
06:43They don't demand anything.
06:45They just reassure.
06:46And that's more dangerous than anything else.
06:50He studies the bruise.
06:51The way it colors my skin.
06:54Someone did this to you.
06:56He murmurs.
06:57And you're pretending everything's normal.
07:01Tears prick my eyes.
07:02Hot and humiliating.
07:04I blink them back.
07:06I can't afford for things to not be normal.
07:09His gaze lifts to mine.
07:12And for a second the store fades.
07:14The shelves.
07:15The bright lights.
07:17The shoppers pretending not to watch.
07:19Everything dissolves until it's only him seeing me like no one ever has.
07:23You can't afford to stay where you are.
07:26He says.
07:26I step back instinctively.
07:29His hand falls.
07:31But the space between us stays charged.
07:33Too honest.
07:34Too raw.
07:36You don't know me.
07:37I whisper.
07:39You're right.
07:40He says.
07:41But I know fear.
07:43I know what it does to people.
07:45And I know you re-holding a kid with one arm and protecting a man who doesn't deserve your silence with the other.
07:50My breath shakes.
07:53Luna presses her cheek to my shoulder, humming softly to herself.
07:58The sound is too innocent for the weight in my chest.
08:02Cassian's voice softens.
08:04She doesn't deserve to grow up watching you get smaller.
08:06That one hits me.
08:10Hard.
08:11I look away.
08:12My eyes land on a display of cereal boxes, bright and cheerful, mocking the reality of my life.
08:19He continues quietly.
08:21You're not weak.
08:23You're cornered.
08:24There's a difference.
08:26You don't know what he'll do.
08:28I breathe.
08:30He answers just as softly.
08:32Then tell me.
08:33I can't.
08:35I shouldn't.
08:36My instincts scream at me to run.
08:39To keep my head down.
08:40To make myself invisible again.
08:43But something in me stirs.
08:45Something I thought I'd buried under years of fear.
08:47Hope.
08:48Or madness.
08:49They feel too similar from the inside.
08:52I take a slow breath.
08:54You don't want to get involved.
08:56He doesn't blink.
08:58I already am.
09:00My heart beats faster.
09:02This man is danger wrapped in patience.
09:04Violence wrapped in gentleness.
09:06A contradiction I can't afford to want.
09:09Why?
09:10I whisper.
09:12His answer is immediate.
09:14Because you walked in here looking like a woman who has been asking the universe for one good moment.
09:20And the universe seems lousy at giving people what they deserve.
09:23I let out a shaky laugh.
09:27And you're the universe's spokesperson.
09:30No.
09:30He says.
09:31I'm the part people pray they never meet.
09:34But you?
09:35Somehow you're not afraid of me.
09:38He's wrong.
09:39I am terrified.
09:41Of him.
09:41Of myself.
09:42Of everything.
09:44But I don't say that.
09:46Instead, I say.
09:47I need to go.
09:49He nods once, but his eyes track every inch of me like he's memorizing proof.
09:54Then let me walk you out.
09:56I hesitate.
09:57Is that necessary?
09:59Yes.
09:59I don't ask why.
10:02I already know.
10:04Somewhere in the parking lot, danger waits.
10:07Not the kind carried in a man's holster.
10:10The kind carried in his history.
10:12I shift Luna onto my hip and turn toward the exit.
10:15Cassian steps beside us, matching my pace, closing the distance between us until I feel his presence like a quiet force field.
10:22When the doors slide open, sunlight hits my face, warm and clear.
10:28For a moment, I breathe easier.
10:31Then I see the car.
10:33His car.
10:34My ex's.
10:35Parked crooked.
10:37Engine running.
10:38Driver's door open.
10:39Waiting.
10:40My stomach drops.
10:42My pulse spikes.
10:43My skin goes cold, despite the bright daylight.
10:46Cassian's hand brushes mine.
10:48Just barely.
10:50You know him, don't you?
10:50I swallow hard.
10:52He shouldn't be here.
10:54But he is.
10:55He steps in front of me, blocking my ex's view of my face.
11:00His voice loses its softness.
11:02Stay behind me.
11:04The world narrows to a single breath.
11:08Cassian's body becomes the only thing between me and the man who S been controlling my life for years.
11:15And the last thing I hear before everything detonates is Cassian's voice.
11:19Low and dangerous enough to reshape gravity.
11:23Give me his name.
11:26The moment the name forms on my tongue, I know nothing will ever be the same again.
11:31And I say it.
11:33I don't remember saying his name.
11:35I only remember the way it leaves my mouth like I'm pulling a splinter out of my soul.
11:39Evan.
11:42Cassian repeats it under his breath, tasting it, testing it, deciding what kind of enemy it belongs to.
11:49Evan steps out of the car like he owns the sunlight.
11:53Like the world is a hallway he expects people to clear for him.
11:56He spots me behind Cassian and smirks, a cold curl of recognition that used to turn my bones to water.
12:02Today it almost does the same.
12:06But Cassian shifts, placing himself between us.
12:09And suddenly I'm breathing again.
12:12Is this your new...
12:13Friend?
12:15Evan sneers.
12:17I feel Luna bury her face into my neck.
12:20She senses more than she understands.
12:22Cassian answers before I can.
12:25Back away!
12:27Evan laughs.
12:28Who the hell do you think you are?
12:30Someone who isn't asking twice.
12:32The tone is quiet, but it's the kind of quiet that bends metal.
12:37Evan's eyes flick from Cassian to me.
12:40He wants me to step forward.
12:42To explain.
12:43To apologize for existing in the wrong place, talking to the wrong man.
12:48Old habits almost win.
12:51My body knows the script.
12:53Shrink.
12:54Soothe.
12:54Survive.
12:56But Luna's fingers curl tighter around me,
12:58and Cassian stands so still he almost vibrates with restraint.
13:03Evan spits something ugly, and gets back into his car,
13:06peeling out so fast the tires shriek against the pavement.
13:10He doesn't leave because he's scared.
13:12He leaves because he's calculating.
13:15Because he wants the next encounter to be one he controls.
13:17Cassian watches the car disappear, jaw clenched tight.
13:23I whisper.
13:24He'll be back.
13:26I know.
13:27He says softly.
13:29Which is why you aren't going home.
13:31My knees wobble.
13:33I can't just go with you.
13:35You can.
13:36He says.
13:37Or you can wait for him to come back when I'm not here.
13:40He doesn't rush me.
13:41He doesn't touch me.
13:42He just lets the truth hang in the bright, too-clean air.
13:47A silence stretches between us.
13:49Then Luna looks up at him, her small voice thin.
13:53Mommy's scared.
13:55Cassian kneels.
13:57Not to my level.
13:59To hers.
14:00His voice gentles in a way I wouldn't have believed if I hadn't seen it.
14:04You see me?
14:06He asks her softly.
14:09She nods.
14:10You see your mom?
14:12Another nod.
14:14Then you know I won't let anything happen to her.
14:17He looks up at me.
14:18And the sincerity in his expression bruises something inside me.
14:22Or to you.
14:24I don't know how to trust him.
14:26But I also don't know how to keep surviving without something changing.
14:30So I say.
14:32Okay.
14:32And everything tilts.
14:36His car is sleek and quiet.
14:38The kind that glides rather than drives.
14:40Luna sits in the back seat.
14:42Clutching her stuffed rabbit like a tiny witness to a crime scene.
14:47Cassian drives with one hand on the wheel.
14:49The other resting on his thigh.
14:52Fingers tapping a silent pattern.
14:54He keeps glancing at the mirrors.
14:56Scanning the world with the ease of a man who's always expecting someone to follow.
15:00Does he hurt her, too?
15:03Luna asks suddenly.
15:05The question cracks the silence clean in half.
15:07My throat closes.
15:10Baby...
15:11Cassian speaks first.
15:13His voice gentle but firm.
15:15You don't have to answer that, Luna.
15:16She doesn't understand boundaries like that yet.
15:20She only knows what she sees.
15:22What she hears through walls.
15:24She whispers.
15:26I don't want him at our house.
15:28My eyes burn.
15:30I turn my face toward the window, hiding whatever emotion threatens to spill.
15:35Cassian's voice comes low.
15:37He won't be anywhere near you again.
15:38I almost believe him.
15:41His penthouse isn't what I expect.
15:43I thought it would feel like a lair.
15:46Some cold den of power and secrets.
15:48But it's surprisingly warm.
15:51Bright.
15:52Expensive in a subtle, lived-in way.
15:54Books lined along one wall.
15:56A massive window overlooking the city.
15:59A soft rug that muffles the sound of my bare feet.
16:03Luna immediately gravitates toward the couch.
16:05Bouncing once.
16:06Twice.
16:07Releasing a nervous giggle.
16:10Cassian watches her with an expression I can't read.
16:13Not unkind.
16:14More like he's assessing how much space to give her.
16:17How much of himself is safe to show.
16:19Are you hungry?
16:22He asks her.
16:24Luna nods shyly.
16:25He heads to the kitchen like he's done this before.
16:28Opening cabinets.
16:30Gathering ingredients.
16:31I blink.
16:32You cook?
16:34I eat.
16:35He says dryly.
16:37So yeah.
16:39He makes grilled cheese.
16:40Simple.
16:41Golden.
16:42Perfect.
16:44Luna devours it like it's the first real meal she's had all week.
16:47I watch them from the corner.
16:49Arms wrapped around myself.
16:51Trying to anchor the whiplash of my reality.
16:54He glances at me.
16:56Your turn.
16:57I'm not hungry.
16:59You are.
17:00He says gently.
17:01Sliding a plate in front of me.
17:03You just don't remember what it feels like.
17:06I sit.
17:08I eat.
17:09And somehow that cracks something open in me more than any bruise on my skin.
17:13Later, when Luna falls asleep on the couch with her rabbit tucked under her chin,
17:17Cassian and I stand at the window.
17:19He speaks first.
17:21How long has he been hitting you?
17:24The question is a knife slipped under scar tissue.
17:27I answer anyway.
17:29Since I got pregnant.
17:31Cassian goes still.
17:33He didn't want kids, I whisper.
17:36But I did.
17:37And he resented me for it.
17:38Said I trapped him.
17:40I force a breath.
17:42He would apologize after.
17:43Every time.
17:44He'd cry.
17:46Promise he'd never do it again.
17:48And he'd be good for a while.
17:50Gentle, even.
17:52My voice breaks.
17:54But then something tiny would go wrong and...
17:57I gesture to my face.
17:59To my ribs.
18:00To every part of me I've learned to protect.
18:03He made you believe it was your fault.
18:06Cassian says softly.
18:07I let it happen.
18:09No.
18:10He says firmly.
18:12He chose it.
18:13You survived it.
18:15The way he says it.
18:17Like survival is something to be proud of.
18:19Like it's not shame.
18:21Like it's not weakness covered in makeup.
18:24My voice drops to a whisper.
18:27I hate that Luna saw any of it.
18:29She's safe now.
18:31I swallow hard.
18:32Are we?
18:34Cassian turns toward me.
18:35And the air pulls tight.
18:37You are.
18:39But you're involved now, I say.
18:42Doesn't that put you at risk?
18:44His gaze darkens.
18:45But not with fear.
18:47With certainty.
18:49No one touches what I protect.
18:52A shiver runs through me.
18:54Why?
18:55I ask.
18:56Why protect us?
18:57You don't know us.
18:59He steps closer.
19:01Not touching.
19:02Just close enough that I feel heat radiating from him.
19:05I don't need to know someone to recognize someone worth saving.
19:09The words make my breath stutter.
19:12No one's ever said anything like that to me.
19:15Then you've been around the wrong people.
19:18I look up at him.
19:20I don't want Luna in danger.
19:22She won't be, he says.
19:25I'll handle him.
19:27Fear spikes through me.
19:30Cassian.
19:31I won't kill him.
19:33I blink.
19:34He seems almost amused by my shock.
19:37Unless you want me to, he adds lightly.
19:40My breath catches.
19:42I don't want violence.
19:44Then I'll choose a different method.
19:46What method?
19:48I whisper.
19:49He steps closer still, voice low, almost brushing against my skin.
19:55One that teaches him to never put his hands on you again.
19:58My pulse skitters.
19:59I should be scared.
20:02I should be running.
20:04Instead, I feel...
20:06Safe.
20:07Too safe.
20:09He studies me in the silence that follows.
20:12His eyes dropping briefly to my lips before returning to my gaze.
20:15I wonder if he can hear how fast my heart is beating.
20:19Say it, he murmurs.
20:21Say you want my help.
20:23I shake my head.
20:24You're dangerous.
20:26And you're in danger.
20:28The truth hangs thick between us.
20:31I whisper.
20:32I don't know how to trust anyone anymore.
20:35His voice lowers.
20:37You don't have to trust me.
20:38Just let me help you breathe again.
20:41I close my eyes.
20:42Breathing.
20:43Such a simple thing.
20:45Such a luxury in my old life.
20:48I open my eyes.
20:49Okay.
20:51Cassian exhales, slow and controlled, like he's been waiting for that word.
20:55I ask,
20:56What now?
20:58He glances toward where Luna sleeps, then back at me.
21:02Now I tell you my secret.
21:04The room chills despite the warm light.
21:07What secret?
21:08He hesitates.
21:10For the first time since I met him, he actually hesitates.
21:13My world intersects with yours, he says quietly.
21:17More than you realize.
21:19My stomach drops.
21:22What do you mean?
21:23He runs a hand through his hair, jaw-tight.
21:26Your ex.
21:27Evan.
21:28He owes the wrong people money.
21:30Dangerous people.
21:32People who came to me, asking if I wanted him dealt with.
21:35I stare at him, numb.
21:38You knew about him.
21:39I didn't know he was hurting you, he says firmly.
21:43If I had...
21:45He cuts himself off.
21:47His hands curl at his sides, restraint thrumming through him.
21:50But yes, he murmurs.
21:52I knew him.
21:54And I was already deciding what to do.
21:57My voice thins.
21:59And now?
22:01He steps closer, his presence enveloping me like a confession under a bright sky.
22:06Now?
22:07He says.
22:08I'm choosing you.
22:11The words punch the air out of my lungs.
22:13And that puts all of us in danger, I whisper.
22:17He holds my gaze, unflinching.
22:19Then I'll burn the danger down.
22:22Before I can answer, a loud, sharp bang echoes from somewhere in the building.
22:25Not a gunshot.
22:27A door.
22:29Forced open.
22:30Cassian's eyes snap to mine.
22:33Take Luna, he says quietly, deadly calm.
22:37Go to the bedroom.
22:38Lock the door.
22:40My pulse erupts into chaos.
22:42Cassian.
22:44Now.
22:44I grab Luna from the couch as Cassian reaches under the table and retrieves a weapon he'd hidden there.
22:51He chambers around with terrifying efficiency.
22:54As I rush toward the hallway, Luna half asleep in my arms, I hear Cassian's low voice, a promise carved from steel.
23:02Evan just made the biggest mistake of his life.
23:06I slam the bedroom door shut.
23:08And the moment the lock clicks, someone else enters the penthouse.
23:12I don't remember the sounds in order.
23:15The shouting.
23:16The crash.
23:18Luna's frightened whisper against my neck.
23:21My own pulse roaring like a trapped animal.
23:24I only remember the moment the door burst open.
23:27Not Cassian's voice.
23:29Not Evan's voice.
23:31A stranger's.
23:33Heavy footsteps crossed the penthouse floor.
23:36A man muttering curses.
23:38A drawer yanked open.
23:39Something metallic clattered.
23:41Then a second voice.
23:43Calm.
23:44Familiar.
23:45Cassian.
23:47Walk away.
23:48No chance.
23:49The stranger shot back.
23:51We want the woman.
23:52And the kid.
23:53The debtor doesn't get to decide anymore.
23:56I froze.
23:57They weren't Evan's men.
23:59They were someone else's.
24:01Someone worse.
24:03Cassian had said Evan owed the wrong people money.
24:05I'd imagined threats.
24:06I'd imagined threats.
24:07Ugly conversations.
24:09Maybe broken bones.
24:11I hadn't imagined this.
24:13A man in my home.
24:15Hunting me.
24:16Hunting my daughter.
24:18Luna whimpered, burying her face in my shoulder.
24:21I held her tighter, swallowing the scream clawing at my throat.
24:25The voices outside escalated.
24:29A scuffle.
24:30A body slamming against a wall.
24:32Glass breaking.
24:32A gasp of pain that didn't belong to Cassian.
24:36Then silence.
24:37The kind that steals breath rather than gives it.
24:41I pressed my ear to the door.
24:43Barely daring to exhale.
24:44Footsteps approached.
24:46Slow.
24:47Purposeful.
24:48Cassian.
24:49I whispered.
24:51The footsteps paused.
24:53A beat later, his voice came through the door.
24:56I'm here.
24:58Relief cracked me open.
25:00I unlocked the door.
25:02Cassian stood there.
25:03Chest rising and falling with restrained adrenaline.
25:06Blood on his knuckles.
25:07His expression unreadable,
25:08but his gaze scanning every inch of me.
25:11You okay?
25:12He asked.
25:14I nodded even though my body trembled.
25:17And Luna?
25:18I shift her in my arms.
25:20She's scared, but she's okay.
25:23He touches her hair gently,
25:24like she's made of dusk and breath.
25:27Luna peeks up at him, eyes glossy.
25:30Did you get the bad guy?
25:32She whispers.
25:34Cassian gives her a small, real smile.
25:37Yeah, sweetheart.
25:37I did.
25:39He never tells her the truth.
25:41He didn't just get him.
25:43He stopped him permanently.
25:45But what stayed with me wasn't the violence.
25:47It was how he exhaled afterward.
25:50Not proudly.
25:51Not brutally.
25:52Just heartbroken that the world had gotten this close to her.
25:57To us.
25:59Days pass.
26:00Time doesn't feel linear.
26:01It feels slow, stretchy.
26:04Like a long exhale my body hasn't made in years.
26:07We don't leave the penthouse.
26:09Cassian insists it is safer this way.
26:12Until the rest of the men involved in Evan S.
26:14debt are taken care of.
26:16I don't ask for details.
26:17I don't want to know which parts of the city are being quietly rearranged in our protection.
26:23Luna builds towers out of blocks in the living room.
26:26She pairs her stuffed rabbit with the soft throw pillows Cassian keeps pretending he doesn't tea care about.
26:31He cooks.
26:33Or orders food from places that send dishes tasting like heaven and comfort.
26:38He asks nothing of me besides.
26:41Breathe.
26:43And I do.
26:44For the first time in a long time.
26:46I do.
26:48But the quiet lets the truth come in waves.
26:51It hits hardest the second night.
26:54Luna is asleep.
26:56The penthouse is drenched in warm light.
26:58And I'm on the couch staring at my hands.
27:00Remembering all the times Evan grabbed them.
27:03Twisted them.
27:04Held them in ways that weren't holding at all.
27:07Cassian stands a few feet away.
27:09Leaning against the counter.
27:11Observing me like I'm a page he's trying to read without tearing.
27:14He says,
27:15You're thinking too loudly.
27:18I let out a rough laugh.
27:20Is that possible?
27:22With you?
27:23Yes.
27:24He walks over.
27:26Slow.
27:27Deliberate.
27:27Like he's approaching someone who's still half-feral from survival.
27:32He sits across from me.
27:34Elbows on his knees.
27:35Voice low.
27:37Talk to me.
27:38I shake my head.
27:40I don't know where to start.
27:42Start anywhere.
27:44I look at him.
27:46At the man who stepped into my life by accident.
27:48And somehow became the axis around which my future is pivoting.
27:52You scare me.
27:54I whisper.
27:55His jaw tenses.
27:57But he doesn't look offended.
27:59He looks...
28:01Careful.
28:03Not because of what you do.
28:05I say quickly.
28:06Because of what you make me feel.
28:09He stays silent.
28:10I continue.
28:11The words slipping out like confessions from a wound.
28:15I've been scared for so long.
28:17Every day.
28:18About everything.
28:20I didn't even realize how much I shrank.
28:22How much of myself I hid.
28:25And now I'm here and you...
28:27My voice cracks.
28:29You're the first person who doesn't expect me to disappear.
28:32He exhales softly.
28:34I wouldn't know what to do with you gone.
28:37Something in my chest pulls tight.
28:40I don't know how to do this.
28:42I whisper.
28:43To let someone care.
28:46You don't have to know.
28:48He says.
28:49You just have to not run.
28:51The room is warm.
28:52The air thick with something I've never allowed myself to feel fully.
28:56Want.
28:57Safety.
28:58Not just with him, but near him.
29:00I ask.
29:01Would you ever hurt me?
29:03He answers so fast it almost startles me.
29:06No.
29:07Or Luna.
29:08Never.
29:10He says it like a vow.
29:11Like a promise sealed not with pride, but with bone-deep certainty.
29:15I sit back.
29:16Breathing through the swell of emotion.
29:18I want to believe that.
29:21You will.
29:22How can you be sure?
29:24He meets my gaze.
29:26Steady and unflinching.
29:27Because I'll show you until you do.
29:30Something inside me.
29:32Something small.
29:33Frightened and persistent.
29:35Finally exhales.
29:36That night I fall asleep on his couch.
29:40Luna curled beside me.
29:42And I don't wake up afraid.
29:44A month passes.
29:46Cassian resolves the conflict with Evan's debt quietly.
29:49Efficiently.
29:51In ways I don't fully understand but instinctively know are permanent.
29:55Evan disappears from our world.
29:57No calls.
29:58No threats.
29:59No shadows creeping near my door.
30:01Just silence.
30:03I don't know what Cassian did.
30:06I don't ask.
30:08All I know is that Luna laughs more easily now.
30:11That I don't flinch when someone knocks.
30:13That I can stand in front of a mirror and recognize myself without the bruise of fear shaping my reflection.
30:21We move into a small house a few blocks away from the penthouse.
30:25My choice.
30:26Not his.
30:27Cassian helps us carry boxes but doesn't force himself into our space.
30:32He gives us room to breathe.
30:33To rebuild.
30:34To exist independently.
30:36He comes by often.
30:38Not every day.
30:39But enough that Luna claims he has Pao a key in his pocket even if he pretends he doesn't a tea.
30:46She's not wrong.
30:48One afternoon, I'm unpacking books in the living room when Luna races to the door shouting his name.
30:54Cassian walks in holding a bag of groceries, his expression softening when he sees me sitting cross-legged on the floor.
31:01You're making this place a home, he says.
31:04I'm trying.
31:06You're succeeding.
31:06I smile.
31:08Small.
31:09Real.
31:11You didn't have to bring food.
31:13I know, he says.
31:15I wanted to.
31:16He sets the bag down and kneels beside me, close but not touching.
31:20He studies my face the way he always does, like he is checking for cracks the world left behind.
31:26You look lighter, he murmurs.
31:30I feel lighter.
31:32He nods.
31:33Good.
31:33Luna bursts back in with her drawing, a stick figure version of Cassian holding hands with me and her.
31:41This is us, she says proudly.
31:44Cassian takes the drawing, his expression doing something fragile.
31:49That's a good picture, he says.
31:51It's our family picture, Luna adds matter-of-factly.
31:57My breath catches.
31:59Cassian looks at me, waiting for rejection.
32:02For correction.
32:03For anything that would tell him he's imagining a place where he doesn't belong.
32:08But I don't correct her.
32:10I don't say a word.
32:11I take Luna's hand and brush my thumb over her fingers.
32:15Cassian's shoulders relax, just barely.
32:18The smallest sign of hope.
32:20He whispers.
32:21Do you want that?
32:23Family.
32:25Safety.
32:26A place to land.
32:28Him.
32:29All of it terrifies me.
32:31But fear isn't the same as danger anymore.
32:33So I tell him the truth.
32:35Quietly.
32:36Like I'm finally letting the universe hear the secret I've been holding too close.
32:41I want something that doesn't hurt, I say.
32:44And when you're here?
32:46It doesn't.
32:48He leans closer.
32:50His forehead nearly touches mine.
32:52He doesn't kiss me.
32:54Doesn't rush.
32:55Doesn't ask for more.
32:57He just breathes with me in the warm, sunlit space between us.
33:01I'm not perfect, he murmurs.
33:04But I will never be a danger to you.
33:06I know.
33:08And if you choose me, he adds, voice barely audible, it won't be a cage.
33:14It'll be a door.
33:16My throat tightens.
33:18A door to what?
33:20To the life you deserved from the start.
33:23I don't answer immediately.
33:25I close my eyes and breathe in his presence, steady and grounding, the opposite of every
33:30man I ever trusted before him.
33:32When I open my eyes, I nod.
33:36Then stay.
33:38I whisper.
33:40He exhales softly.
33:42Something like relief flickering across his face.
33:45He gathers me into his arms gently, like I'm made of something irreplaceable.
33:49Luna squeezes between us, giggling, anchoring us together.
33:54We stand there, three people shaped by different kinds of brokenness, forming something new.
33:59Not perfect, not polished, just whole enough to begin.
34:05Later that evening, after Luna falls asleep, Cassian and I sit on the porch, the world quiet
34:11around us.
34:12He asks,
34:14Are you happy?
34:15I think about the girl I was, the woman I became, the mother I'm learning to be, the
34:23man beside me who walked into my life on a day I thought I had run out of choices.
34:28I'm healing, I say, and it feels like the bravest answer I've ever given.
34:34Cassian reaches over, takes my hand, and threads our fingers together.
34:37Then we'll keep healing, he murmurs.
34:41Together, if you'll have me.
34:44I squeeze his hand.
34:45I already do.
34:47He doesn't kiss me.
34:49He just smiles.
34:51Small.
34:52Devastating.
34:53Honest.
34:54And presses his forehead to mine.
34:56And in that quiet, golden moment, I realize something I never admitted out loud.
35:01I'm not afraid of the world anymore, because I'm finally living in one where love feels
35:07like safety, not survival.
35:11Hey babe, if this bright-burning mafia love story gave you feels, hit that like, slide
35:17into the comments, and subscribe so you're here for every new heart-racing moment I drop.
35:23Your reactions, emojis, and energy fuel these stories more than you know.
35:29Keep them coming, okay?
35:32Share this with anyone who lives for protective men, resilient heroines, and romance that shines
35:38loud and golden.
35:40Can't wait to meet you in the next story, love.
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