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Whether it’s the allure of wealth, the danger of the underworld, or the beauty of love against all odds — Ashley’s Stories brings you tales that are bold, emotional, and unforgettable.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00I'm serving table 17 with hands that won't stop trembling,
00:03and I keep pretending it's the steam from the kitchen making me shake.
00:06It's a lie so thin it crumbles inside me,
00:09but I cling to it like it's a lifeline I can still clutch without breaking my own ribs.
00:13I spill a little broth on the edge of the bowl.
00:15I bite back a curse.
00:17My throat feels scraped raw from holding myself together.
00:20The air is thick with cilantro and citrus, bright and sharp,
00:25and every time the swinging kitchen door smacks open,
00:27I jump like someone's firing a gun behind me.
00:30I'm not supposed to be here tonight.
00:32I wasn't supposed to be anywhere public,
00:34not after what happened this morning.
00:36But here I am.
00:37Apron knotted tight.
00:39Smile stapled on,
00:40pretending like fear isn't curling tight under my ribs.
00:43Begging to be heard.
00:45The restaurant buzzes around me in loud daylight,
00:47the big front windows pouring sunshine across the tables like it's blessing everyone except me.
00:52I've always loved that about this place.
00:54Light everywhere.
00:55No shadows to hide monsters.
00:57Turns out monsters don't need shadows.
00:58They walk right in through the door.
01:01Just like he did.
01:02I don't know his name yet.
01:03I only know Table 17 has never demanded my attention like this before.
01:08Four men sit there.
01:09Broad shoulders.
01:10Gold chains that catch the sun.
01:12Rings that gleam.
01:14Tattoos climb their arms like stories written on the skin of men who don't answer to laws I can see.
01:19But him?
01:20I felt him before I looked at him.
01:21He sits with the certainty of someone who never fears consequences.
01:25Legs apart.
01:25Shoulders relaxed but coiled.
01:28He isn't the loud one.
01:29He isn't the smiling one.
01:31He isn't even looking at the menu.
01:33He's watching the room like he's already memorized every exit.
01:36Every threat.
01:38And my mistake.
01:40My fatal, stupid, desperate mistake.
01:42Is that I look directly at him for a full second too long.
01:46His eyes drift up to mine.
01:48And I know.
01:50I know he's the kind of man people whisper about.
01:52The kind of man mothers pray their daughters never meet.
01:55The kind of man who could save you or destroy you.
01:58Depending on how his mourning began.
01:59I should look away.
02:02I want to look away.
02:04But there's something terrifyingly steady in the way he studies me.
02:07Like he's not just seeing me.
02:09He's reading the panic buried under my skin.
02:12I try to step forward.
02:14My foot catches on nothing but nerves.
02:16And the bowl almost slips.
02:18You good?
02:19One of the men asks, smirking.
02:22Yeah, yeah.
02:22I'm fine.
02:23Lie.
02:24Lie with your whole chest.
02:26Lie so hard it feels like truth.
02:27I set the plates down.
02:30Careful.
02:31Gentle.
02:31Rehearsed.
02:32When I reach his plate he catches my wrist.
02:35Not hard.
02:35Not threatening.
02:37Just two fingers resting on my pulse.
02:39And his brows lift.
02:40The smallest shift.
02:41Barely visible.
02:43It should annoy me that he feels something I can't hide.
02:45But instead, it scares me more.
02:47Because recognition flickers across his face.
02:50Like he knows fear.
02:51And this level of panic isn't normal for a girl delivering lunch.
02:54You're shaking.
02:56He murmurs.
02:57My throat locks.
02:59I pull back too fast.
03:01Kitchen's hot.
03:02He doesn't push.
03:03He doesn't call me out.
03:05He only watches me.
03:06As if silence is his own private interrogation room.
03:09I turn away.
03:11Willing myself to breathe.
03:13Willing my body not to crumble into pieces right here.
03:16In front of strangers who would smell weakness like blood.
03:19I try to focus on the tables needing refills.
03:21Receipts.
03:22Smiles.
03:22But somewhere between the register and the counter, my phone buzzes in my apron.
03:28Same message again.
03:29You think you can hide from me?
03:31You think I won't find you?
03:33My lungs stop.
03:35My ribs squeeze around nothing.
03:37I should have changed my number.
03:38I should have smashed my phone.
03:40I should have run to the next state.
03:42But survival gets messy when you've spent years learning how to freeze instead of fight.
03:45I shove the phone deeper into my apron, burying the screen as if that will bury the threat following me like a shadow.
03:52The kitchen door slams again, and I jump so hard my co-worker pauses mid-sentence.
03:57You okay?
03:59She asks, brows pinched.
04:01I'm fine.
04:02I whisper.
04:03It's starting to sound like begging.
04:05I move on autopilot, clearing plates, wiping tables, pretending my world isn't cracking in my hands.
04:10But I feel him watching me.
04:13Not staring.
04:14Just aware of me the way a storm is aware of the coastline it's about to hit.
04:18His presence isn't loud.
04:20It's gravitational.
04:21It pulls.
04:22And pulls.
04:23And I hate that I don't hate it.
04:25The men at Table 17 finish eating, laughing, talking about something I don't understand.
04:30Territory.
04:31Shipments.
04:31Someone named Rocco who apparently messed up big time.
04:34I catch fragments of their conversation.
04:36Enough to confirm what I already suspected.
04:38They run this neighborhood.
04:39Or maybe they run more than that.
04:42I avoid looking at him.
04:44But the air keeps pressing around me, urging me to.
04:47So when I return with the check, I keep my eyes down.
04:51But he doesn't sign it.
04:52He slides it back toward me, untouched.
04:55And then I feel it.
04:57That quiet current shifting between us.
04:59Who terrified you?
05:01He asks.
05:02The question lands like a punch I didn't see coming.
05:05His voice is low, even.
05:07Too calm for the earthquake inside me.
05:09He says it like he already knows the answer and wants to hear my version.
05:13I'm not.
05:14You are.
05:16I suck in a breath.
05:18I'm not scared.
05:19I lie again.
05:20He leans back, eyes still fixed on me, like he's watching someone try to outrun their own reflection.
05:26Your hands are shaking.
05:27Your heartbeat jumped when your phone buzzed.
05:29You look at the door every time someone walks by.
05:32That isn't nerves.
05:33He taps the table once with his finger.
05:35That's fear.
05:37The words rip something open in me.
05:39Something I've been holding shut for so long it feels welded to my bones.
05:43You don't know me.
05:44I whisper.
05:45No.
05:46He agrees.
05:48Quiet, but absolute.
05:49But I know fear when it walks past my table.
05:52A hot wave rises in my chest, threatening to spill.
05:55Tears.
05:56Truth.
05:57Everything I swore I'd keep buried.
06:00Survival teaches you how to swallow pain whole.
06:02But right now, in the brightness of this restaurant, under the gaze of a man built like a controlled explosion, I feel seen in a way I'm not ready for.
06:11He stands.
06:12The movement is slow.
06:14Deliberate.
06:14The other men go silent like they're used to falling quiet when he moves.
06:19He steps closer, stopping just in front of me.
06:22Not crowding me.
06:23Not touching me.
06:24Just close enough that I feel the charge of him, like heat from something dangerous but steady.
06:29I'm not the one you should be afraid of, he says.
06:32The floor shifts under me.
06:34I'm not afraid of you, I whisper.
06:36That's your first good instinct today.
06:39His mouth twitches.
06:40Not a smile.
06:41Something smaller.
06:43Warmer.
06:43Tell me who it is.
06:46My pulse stutters.
06:47My throat cinches shut.
06:49I can't.
06:50You can.
06:51His voice softens in a way that terrifies me more than if he'd raised it.
06:55Whatever you're running from, whoever thinks they still own your fear, give me a name.
07:00I shake my head and step back.
07:02It's not your problem.
07:04It became my problem the second you walked over with your hands shaking.
07:07His jaw flexes.
07:09People like me don't ignore things like that.
07:12People like him.
07:13Danger.
07:14Carved into bone.
07:15Protection.
07:16Sharpened into instinct.
07:17I should run.
07:19I should tell him nothing.
07:20I should keep this secret locked up until it suffocates me.
07:23Instead, I breathe out a truth I didn't mean to reveal.
07:27I'm being threatened.
07:29The words crack out of me like a confession I didn't consent to.
07:32His expression doesn't change.
07:33But the air around him does.
07:36It tightens.
07:37By who?
07:39He asks, voice almost gentle, like he's coaxing the fear out of me instead of demanding it.
07:44I look away.
07:45My eyes burn.
07:47The sunlight feels too bright.
07:49Too revealing.
07:50My ex.
07:51I whisper.
07:52He won't leave me alone.
07:54His breath stills.
07:56Everything about him sharpens.
07:58Not anger.
07:59Not shock.
08:00But focus.
08:01Like he's already mapping the problem.
08:03Planning the solution.
08:04Calculating a world where this man never touches my life again.
08:08But I don't get to feel safe yet.
08:10Not even with him watching me like he's ready to tear apart the threat with his bare hands.
08:14Because my phone buzzes again.
08:16And this message is worse.
08:18I'm outside.
08:19Come out.
08:20Or I come in.
08:22My heart shatters against my ribs.
08:24The room tilts.
08:25My breath disappears.
08:27And when I lift my eyes,
08:29he's already watching me with a look that says he knows exactly what that message means.
08:32He steps even closer, voice threading into my bones.
08:35Look at me.
08:36I do.
08:38Tell me what he just sent you.
08:39I swallow hard.
08:41Throat tight.
08:42Words trapped.
08:43I...
08:43I open my mouth.
08:45The panic spikes so hard my knees weaken.
08:48His hand lifts.
08:49Not to touch me.
08:50But to steady the air between us.
08:52As if anchoring me without laying a finger on my skin.
08:54Tell me.
08:55He repeats.
08:56Quieter.
08:57I breathe in.
08:58Then out.
08:59And I finally force the words past my lips.
09:02He said he's outside.
09:04His eyes change.
09:05The calm vanishes.
09:06The storm arrives.
09:08And I know.
09:09Absolutely know.
09:10That whatever happens next,
09:12I've already crossed a line.
09:13I can't walk back from.
09:15That's when the front door of the restaurant swings open.
09:18I hear a familiar voice.
09:20And everything in me breaks.
09:22The moment I hear his voice at the door,
09:24my spine turns to glass.
09:26Not delicate glass.
09:27The kind that shatters and splinters sharp enough to slice the inside of your lungs.
09:32I don't have to turn around to know it's him.
09:34My ex always carried his presence like a punch you try to dodge too late.
09:38My breath snags.
09:40My pulse spikes so fast it feels like I'm swallowing electricity.
09:44Behind me, the mafia boss,
09:46the man from Table 17 whose name I still don't know,
09:48goes still in a way that makes silence feel dangerous.
09:52The room doesn't quiet.
09:53Not really.
09:54But it feels like the noise is happening in a different universe.
09:58His men look up at the door.
09:59Then they look at him.
10:01Waiting.
10:03The sunlight pouring through the windows suddenly feels too bright on my skin.
10:07Like it's exposing every fear,
10:08every bruise you can't see.
10:10Every time I didn't run soon enough,
10:12I'm frozen.
10:13My ex steps farther inside,
10:15scanning the space like he's the one in charge.
10:18He used to do that with me.
10:19Walk into a room and suck the oxygen out
10:21until I forgot I could breathe on my own.
10:23But today,
10:24today I'm not alone.
10:26The mafia boss moves first.
10:28He doesn't lunge.
10:29He doesn't rush.
10:31He steps between me and the door with a calm
10:32so lethal it sends a tremor through the floor.
10:35He plants himself in front of me like a wall
10:36no one gets through without permission.
10:39Stay behind me,
10:40he murmurs.
10:41My throat locks.
10:43I can't.
10:44You can,
10:45he says,
10:46quiet,
10:46but immovable.
10:48And you will.
10:49I don't know why I listen.
10:51I don't know how obedience slides out of me so easily
10:54when fear has been running my life for so long.
10:56But I step back until the counter bumps my hip.
10:59My ex sees the movement.
11:01His gaze snaps to me,
11:03then to the man blocking his view.
11:05His expression curdles.
11:07He hates being ignored more than anything.
11:10So this is why you didn't answer,
11:12he barks.
11:13You're hiding behind some.
11:15He doesn't finish.
11:17Because the mafia boss steps forward one more inch.
11:20Not threatening.
11:21Just claiming space that doesn't belong to my ex anymore.
11:25You got business with her?
11:26He asks.
11:27It's not a question.
11:28My ex squares his shoulders.
11:31Who the hell are you?
11:33The boss doesn't blink.
11:35Someone you don't want to meet on your worst day.
11:37A tremor rolls through me.
11:39Not fear this time.
11:40Something else.
11:41Something like safety trying to grow roots where panic has lived for too long.
11:44My ex scoffs, puffing himself up.
11:48She's my girl.
11:49I flinch.
11:51The words hit a place inside me I thought I'd barricaded months ago.
11:54My stomach twists.
11:55Old wounds ripping open.
11:57The mafia boss notices.
11:59He always notices.
11:59She doesn't look like yours.
12:02He says softly.
12:03Almost conversational.
12:05She looks terrified of you.
12:07My ex laughs.
12:08She's scared of everything.
12:10That one lands so hard I almost double over.
12:12Because it's a lie that used to be true.
12:14A lie I swallowed until I believed it.
12:16But the boss doesn't buy it.
12:18No, he says.
12:19She's scared of you.
12:21My ex scoffs again.
12:22Louder.
12:23Meaner.
12:24Stepping forward.
12:25Back off before I...
12:26He doesn't get the rest out.
12:28The boss steps into his path.
12:30Close enough that sunlight sparks off his chain.
12:32His rings.
12:33His tattoos.
12:34Gold and ink turning into armor.
12:36You're done speaking, he says.
12:38There's no shout.
12:40No bark.
12:41Just finality threaded through velvet.
12:43My ex stutters, caught off guard.
12:45The boss tilts his head.
12:46You sent her a message saying you're coming inside.
12:49That's a threat.
12:50It wasn't...
12:52And you took a step toward her just now.
12:54Another threat.
12:55I didn't...
12:56Keep going.
12:57See where it leads.
12:59My ex finally looks around and notices the other men at table 17,
13:02watching him with the kind of quiet expectation that feels like a loaded gun set on the table.
13:06His bravado flickers.
13:08I just want to talk to her.
13:10He mutters.
13:11No, the boss says.
13:13You don't talk to her.
13:14Not here.
13:15Not anywhere.
13:16My lungs seize.
13:18My knees weaken.
13:19I grab the counter to stay upright.
13:21My ex glares at me, trying to hook me with the same stare that kept me silent for years.
13:25You think this guy's going to protect you?
13:27You think he cares?
13:29The boss glances back at me for a fraction of a second,
13:32long enough for me to read something startling in his expression.
13:35He does care.
13:36Maybe he shouldn't.
13:37Maybe he didn't plan to.
13:39But he does.
13:40Then he turns back to my ex.
13:42Leave, he says.
13:43My ex opens his mouth, but one of the other men stands, cracking his knuckles like punctuation.
13:50My ex backs up a step.
13:51Then another.
13:52Then he finally retreats out the door.
13:55The second the glass swings shut, my legs buckle.
13:57The boss catches my arm before I hit the floor.
14:00His hand is warm, steady, anchoring.
14:03He isn't rough.
14:04He isn't urgent.
14:05He's just there.
14:06Solid in a way I didn't know I needed until this exact breath.
14:09Sit.
14:10He murmurs.
14:11I can't.
14:13My voice breaks.
14:14I'm fine.
14:15You're not fine.
14:16His fingers tighten just enough to keep me upright.
14:19You're shaking again.
14:21I press a hand to my mouth.
14:23Air won't go in right.
14:24Everything I've held back for months swells to the surface.
14:27And I hate it.
14:28I hate breaking down in front of him.
14:30I hate that he sees the parts of me I tried to bury.
14:33But I can't stop it.
14:35His presence is too calm.
14:36Too steady.
14:37It makes everything inside me unravel.
14:40He lowers me into a booth before I collapse.
14:42He leans over, close enough that I feel the warmth of him like sunlight.
14:46Look at me, he says.
14:48I do.
14:49My vision blurs, but I meet his eyes.
14:52You did nothing wrong.
14:54My breath hitches.
14:55He's going to come back.
14:56Not today.
14:58You don't know him.
14:59His jaw clenches.
15:00And he doesn't know me.
15:02Something shifts inside me at those words.
15:04Something dangerous and hopeful and confusing all at once.
15:08His men hover near the counter, guarding without needing instructions.
15:12This place feels like a fortress now.
15:14And I feel guilty for it.
15:16For dragging danger into their world,
15:17even if it's nowhere as big as the worlds they navigate.
15:20I'm sorry.
15:21I whisper.
15:22Stop apologizing.
15:24His voice softens.
15:25You're allowed to feel safe.
15:27A tear breaks free.
15:28I swipe it away.
15:30I can't stay here.
15:31No, he says.
15:32You can't.
15:33That terrifies me more.
15:35What do you mean?
15:36You need to go somewhere he can't reach you.
15:38And you're not walking out there alone.
15:40I don't even know your name.
15:42His lips quirk.
15:44Enzo.
15:45The name lands with weight.
15:46Purpose.
15:47Something I shouldn't cling to, but do.
15:49And you?
15:50He asks.
15:51Kala.
15:52He nods, letting it settle between us.
15:55Kala.
15:56He repeats, tasting the shape of my name like it matters.
15:59Something inside me shivers.
16:01Before I can speak again, the door opens a crack.
16:03My ex's shadow flickers across the window glass.
16:06I choke on a gasp.
16:07Enzo notices instantly.
16:09He signals to one of his men with nothing but a glance.
16:11The man heads outside.
16:13I grip the edge of the booth.
16:15Enzo.
16:16You're coming with me, he says.
16:18What?
16:19I'm not leaving you here with him circling the building.
16:22His tone leaves no room for argument.
16:24Get your things.
16:26My heart pounds.
16:27I can't just leave work.
16:29You're not leaving, he says.
16:31You're being protected.
16:32I barely know you.
16:34You don't need to know me.
16:36He leans closer, voice dropping into something soft that sinks into my bones.
16:40You just need to trust that I'm not the one hurting you.
16:43Everything inside me twists.
16:45Tight and painful.
16:46I don't trust anyone, I whisper.
16:49His eyes soften.
16:50Not pity, not judgment.
16:52Understanding.
16:54Then trust your fear, he says.
16:55It's pointing you away from him and toward me.
16:58I feel my breath break in my chest.
17:01I stand on shaking legs.
17:03He stays close, guiding but not touching, creating a shield around me as I grab my bag,
17:07my apron, my phone.
17:10Every step feels like peeling myself out of a life that was killing me slowly.
17:14When we step outside, the sun is blinding.
17:16Too vivid.
17:17Too honest.
17:18His SUV waits at the curb.
17:20Door already open.
17:21I freeze.
17:22If I get in that car, it means I'm choosing you.
17:26No.
17:27Enzo says.
17:28It means you're choosing yourself.
17:30But when I do step toward the SUV, he watches me with something unguarded in his eyes.
17:36Something dangerous.
17:37Something tender.
17:38Something that feels like fate nudging me into his gravity.
17:40I slide into the passenger seat.
17:44He gets in beside me.
17:45The door shuts with a soft click that feels like the world's ceiling behind us.
17:49The engine rumbles to life.
17:52Where are we going?
17:53I ask, voice small, breathless.
17:57He looks at me, slow, intentional, piercing enough to shake something awake inside me.
18:02Somewhere safe, he says.
18:04Where?
18:05He turns the wheel, eyes still on the road but voice low and certain.
18:08To my home.
18:10My heart slams against my ribs.
18:12I whisper the only thing I can manage.
18:15Why?
18:16His answer is quiet enough to ruin me.
18:18Because someone threatened what's mine.
18:20My breath catches.
18:22I'm not yours.
18:23I whisper.
18:24His jaw flexes.
18:25Not yet.
18:26He says.
18:28The SUV pulls into traffic.
18:29And everything I thought I could run from rushes toward me all at once.
18:32Three weeks later.
18:34I'm standing on Enzo's balcony with the sunlight warming the scars I'm still learning to admit exist.
18:38The city below gleams in sharp color.
18:41All noise in motion.
18:43And somehow I'm no longer flinching at every sound.
18:45My hands don't shake when I breathe in the morning air.
18:48My phone doesn't vibrate with threats.
18:50My stomach doesn't twist itself into knots every time I step outside.
18:54Survival is a strange thing.
18:56You think it'll feel like victory, but it feels more like remembering how to be a person again.
19:00I'm not fixed.
19:01I'm not healed.
19:03But I'm standing.
19:04And that's something.
19:06The last three weeks were...
19:08Chaos and comfort braided so tight they're almost indistinguishable.
19:12Enzo brought me to his home.
19:14But he didn't cage me there.
19:15He gave me a room with sunlight dripping across the sheets.
19:18Gave me quiet.
19:20Gave me space to breathe.
19:22He walked in and out without demanding anything from me except truth when I could give it.
19:26Silence when I needed it.
19:28And presence whenever fear woke up like an old habit.
19:30And every time the tremor tried returning to my hands, he'd simply murmur,
19:34Breathe, Kala.
19:35I'm right here.
19:37He never said it like a promise he might break.
19:39It felt more like a fact of the universe he refused to negotiate.
19:43My ex was arrested the same night Enzo brought me here.
19:46I didn't know it until the next morning, when Enzo slid a cup of coffee toward me and said,
19:50He won't touch you again.
19:53His tone wasn't proud.
19:54Just final.
19:56Like he'd delivered justice without expecting thanks.
19:58I didn't ask how Enzo arranged it.
20:00Some doors in him I'm not ready to open.
20:03Some truths I'm not steady enough to hold.
20:05But the result is the same.
20:07My ex is gone.
20:09And the silence that replaced him is still startling.
20:12Enzo's men keep the perimeter.
20:14Not in a prison way.
20:16In a, you're safe, breathe easy way.
20:19They nod when they pass me in the hall.
20:20They treat me with a respect I don't know how to wear yet.
20:24But Enzo?
20:25He's a different story entirely.
20:28He's not simple.
20:29Not soft.
20:30He moves through his world like someone born to command it.
20:33Built for pressure most people would fold under.
20:35He talks and measure truths.
20:37And each one shakes something loose in me.
20:40Some nights he's gone for hours.
20:41Handling things he won't name.
20:43Some nights his voice is edged with steel when he returns.
20:46But he never brings that sharpness into my space.
20:49When he crosses the threshold into the living room where I usually curl up with a book I'm not reading.
20:54His voice gentles like someone dimming a too bright light.
20:57And I hate how that makes me feel seen.
21:00I hate how I'm starting to crave the moments when he stops in the doorway.
21:03Watching me like he's checking that my world is still intact.
21:05I hate it almost as much as I need it.
21:09Today, though, he's been gone all morning.
21:12The hours feel heavier without him in the background.
21:14Without the low hum of his presence settling the edges of my nerves.
21:18When the door finally clicks open downstairs, my breath catches.
21:22Footsteps.
21:23Familiar.
21:25Certain.
21:26My body reacts before my mind does.
21:28Like gravity recognizing itself.
21:30I step back inside from the balcony just as he appears at the top of the stairs.
21:34He looks tired.
21:36And expensive.
21:38And dangerous in the quiet way that's starting to feel like safety to me instead of threat.
21:42His sleeves are rolled.
21:44His chain glints in the daylight.
21:45And there's a new tension around his mouth.
21:48He tries to hide when he sees me.
21:50You okay?
21:51He asks.
21:52Funny.
21:53He's the one who looks like he carried the weight of the city on his shoulders today.
21:57I should be asking you that, I say.
22:00He huffs something that isn't quite a laugh.
22:02I've had better mornings.
22:03He walks past me.
22:05Heading toward the kitchen.
22:06But his fingers brush my wrist in passing.
22:09It's light.
22:10Barely there.
22:12But the contact sparks something warm that rolls through me too fast.
22:15I follow him without thinking.
22:17He pours a glass of water.
22:20Leans against the counter.
22:21Closes his eyes for one beat.
22:24When he looks at me again.
22:25He's different.
22:27Bracing himself.
22:28I didn't want you to hear from someone else.
22:31He says.
22:32So I'm telling you now.
22:34A chill runs down my spine.
22:37Telling me what?
22:38He sets the glass aside.
22:39Hands braced on the counter.
22:41Sunlight pours over him.
22:42Outlining the tattoos on his forearms.
22:44Tracing the sharp planes of his shoulders.
22:47Your ex made bail.
22:48The floor tilts under me.
22:50Air leaves my lungs in a sudden rush.
22:52I grip the edge of the counter to stay upright.
22:54My voice trembles.
22:56Enzo.
22:57He's not coming near you.
22:59Enzo says, stepping forward.
23:00I made sure of that.
23:02How?
23:03His jaw flexes.
23:04He hesitates.
23:05And I already know.
23:07Not through law.
23:08Through fear.
23:09The kind of fear only men like Enzo know how to deliver.
23:12You didn't have to do that.
23:13I whisper.
23:14I did.
23:16His eyes lock on mine.
23:18Kala.
23:19I would burn the world before I let him hurt you again.
23:22It hits me like a confession.
23:24Like something heavier than protection.
23:26Something that feels like truth bleeding through walls he doesn't want to tear down.
23:30My throat tightens.
23:32You barely know me.
23:33Don't do that.
23:35His voice drops low.
23:37Don't pretend this is nothing.
23:39My pulse jumps.
23:40This.
23:41He repeats.
23:42Stepping closer.
23:44Whatever this is between us.
23:46Don't lie to me about it.
23:47My breath stutters.
23:48Heat coils low in my stomach.
23:50I step back instinctively.
23:52Not because I fear him.
23:53But because I feel too much.
23:55Too fast.
23:57Enzo.
23:58I'm barely holding myself together most days.
24:01I know.
24:02His voice softens in a way that unravels something deep in my chest.
24:05I don't want you held together.
24:07I want you real.
24:09His hand lifts.
24:11Stopping just short of touching my cheek.
24:13I want you alive.
24:14Breathing.
24:15Healing.
24:16Not pretending you're made of steel.
24:18I blink hard.
24:20Tears sting my eyes.
24:21I swallow them down.
24:22He watches me.
24:24And there's no expectation in his stare.
24:26No demand.
24:27Just truth.
24:28And God.
24:29That's scarier than anything.
24:31I don't know how to let someone care.
24:33I whisper.
24:34I'm not asking you to.
24:36His lips twitch.
24:37Almost a smile.
24:38I'm asking you to let yourself care.
24:40There's a difference.
24:42I look away.
24:43Heart thundering like it's trying to escape.
24:45He steps closer.
24:46Slow.
24:46Deliberate.
24:48Kala.
24:49His voice is a breath against my ear.
24:51Look at me.
24:52I do.
24:53And his next words land so softly they break me open.
24:56You're safe.
24:58Something inside me cracks.
24:59A sob escapes before I can stop it.
25:02I press a hand to my mouth.
25:03Trying to hide the sound.
25:04But Enzo's already moving.
25:06His arms come around me.
25:08Not crushing.
25:09Not claiming.
25:10Just holding.
25:11Warm.
25:12Solid.
25:13Present.
25:14I sink into him without meaning to.
25:16For the first time in months I stop shaking.
25:19We stay like that until my breathing evens.
25:21When I finally pull back, he lets me go slowly.
25:24Like releasing something fragile he refuses to drop.
25:27You don't have to stay here.
25:28He says.
25:29But you can.
25:30I wipe a tear off my cheek.
25:32You want me to?
25:33He meets my eyes.
25:35I want you safe.
25:37Whatever that means for you.
25:39My chest aches.
25:40Not with fear.
25:41Not with memory.
25:42With possibility.
25:43I realize something then.
25:45Something terrifyingly simple.
25:47He isn't my escape.
25:48He's my after.
25:49The part of life I didn't think I'd get to keep.
25:52I take a long breath.
25:53Steady for the first time in days.
25:54Enzo.
25:56I whisper.
25:58Can we take this slow?
26:00He nods.
26:01No hesitation.
26:02Any pace you want.
26:04I don't know what I'm supposed to be to you.
26:06His expression softens in a way I've never seen.
26:09You're not supposed to be anything.
26:11You just are.
26:12Warmth floods my chest.
26:13I step closer.
26:14Just a little.
26:16And what are you to me?
26:17I ask quietly.
26:19He doesn't answer with words.
26:21He lifts my hand.
26:22Presses a kiss to the inside of my wrist.
26:23Right where he first noticed my shaking.
26:26A promise where my pulse is.
26:28Then he whispers.
26:29Someone you don't have to be afraid of.
26:32My breath catches.
26:33For the first time it doesn't hurt.
26:35I nod.
26:36Slow and certain.
26:37Okay.
26:38It's not a vow.
26:40Not a lifetime promise.
26:41Not a declaration wrapped in fireworks.
26:43It's something quieter.
26:44A beginning.
26:45A rebirth.
26:46A choice.
26:47He smiles.
26:48Small.
26:49Rare.
26:50Real.
26:51Yeah?
26:52Yeah.
26:52I whisper.
26:53He threads his fingers through mine.
26:56No pressure.
26:57Just warmth.
26:58Outside, sunlight spills through the glass.
27:01Bright enough to make everything glow.
27:03Inside, for the first time, I feel like I survived.
27:06And I realize something I'm only brave enough to admit in a whisper.
27:10This isn't the story of how he saved me.
27:13It's the story of how I started saving myself.
27:15And he simply refused to let me do it alone.
27:17Hey love, if this story pulled you in, and tugged at the places you don't usually let
27:23anyone touch, go ahead and hit, like, drop me a comment, and subscribe.
27:28Your reactions aren't just numbers.
27:29They're the heartbeat that keeps these confessional, sun-drenched mafia romances alive.
27:34So tell me what you felt.
27:36What broke you.
27:37What healed you.
27:38I'm listening.
27:39I'm listening.
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