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Short filmTranscript
00:00I'm going to hell for this, not metaphorically. Actually, literally hell, because I'm currently
00:06pressed against a marble column in the Sky Lounge of the Venetian Hotel in Vegas, wearing a dress
00:11I stole from a Nordstrom rack clearance bin and drinking champagne that probably costs more than
00:16my rent, which I haven't paid, in three months. You look lost. I nearly choke on Dom Perignon.
00:22The voice comes from my left, smooth, dark, expensive, like bourbon aged in a cask made
00:29of better decisions than I've ever made. I turn and, oh, fuck. He's the kind of handsome that makes
00:37you forget your own name. Sharp jaw, dark hair pushed back like he just ran his fingers through
00:42it, eyes so blue they look photoshopped. He's wearing a black suit that probably costs more
00:48than my car, which got repossessed. Last week. I'm sensing a pattern in my life. I'm not lost,
00:56I say, lifting my chin. I'm exploring. His mouth quirks. This is a private event. Is it?
01:05I glance around the rooftop lounge like I'm just noticing the security guards, the velvet ropes,
01:11the fact that everyone here looks like they summer in the Hamptons and winter in Aspen.
01:15Weird. The elevator let me up. The elevator. He says it like I just told him I flew here on a
01:22magic carpet. Yep. I pop the pee and take another sip of champagne, because if I'm getting kicked
01:29out, I'm taking this glass with me. Press the button and everything. He studies me for a long
01:35moment, and I feel it, the weight of his attention like a physical thing. It's unnerving. Also kind of
01:42hot, which is a problem, because I'm supposed to be finding Chelsea, not getting distracted by a guy
01:48who looks like he owns this entire building, which knowing my luck, he probably does.
01:54What's your name? He asks.
01:56Jane. I lie automatically. Jane.
02:00The way he repeats it makes it sound like a dare.
02:02You have a last name, Jane? Doe. His eyebrows lift. Jane Doe. My parents had a sense of humor.
02:11Or you're a terrible liar. Why not both? For a second. Just a second. I see something crack in
02:19that perfect composure. His lips twitch, and it transforms his entire face. He goes from intimidating
02:25to devastating. And I have to remind myself that I'm here for a reason that has nothing to do with
02:30flirting with men who probably have Roman numerals after their names. I'm looking for someone,
02:35I admit, because the champagne is hitting and because I'm tired of pretending.
02:40My best friend. She came here with some guy she met at Omnia last night, and she hasn't answered
02:45her phone in 12 hours, and she has a tendency to make really questionable decisions when there's
02:50a trust fund involved, so... So you snuck into a private party to rescue her. I prefer strategically
02:56infiltrated. You're brave, he says. Or stupid. Again, why not both? He almost smiles again.
03:05Almost. Instead, he reaches into his jacket, and my survival instincts, which clearly went
03:11to sleep somewhere around 2015, finally wake up and start screaming. But he just pulls out
03:18a phone, taps something, looks at me with those impossible blue eyes that feel like they can
03:24see straight through my borrowed dress to the target underwear beneath.
03:28What's her name? Chelsea. Chelsea Morrison. Blonde. Five-six. Has a tattoo of a dolphin
03:35on her ankle that she got in Cabo and deeply regrets. He types. Waits. The silence stretches
03:42between us like taffy, and I become acutely aware of how close he's standing. He smells expensive.
03:48Cedar and something dark I can't name. Old money and new danger. His phone buzzes. She's in the
03:55diamond suite, he says. Fourth floor, with Marcus Vitelli's youngest son, who is... He pauses,
04:01and I swear to God I see distaste flicker across his face. An idiot, but harmless. I blink. How did
04:09you... I own the hotel. Of course he does. All of them, actually. He pockets his phone.
04:16Every Venetian property in the country. So you're rich. Obscenely. And modest. Not particularly.
04:26I should leave. Thank him and go find Chelsea and get the hell out of here before my Cinderella
04:32moment expires and someone realizes I don't belong. But I'm frozen, caught in the gravitational pull of
04:39whatever this is. This weird, electric thing happening in the space between us. You didn't
04:45ask my name, he says. I figured if you wanted me to know, you'd tell me. Smart. He steps closer and
04:54my breath catches. I'm Luca. Just Luca. Like Cher. Or God. Well, Luca. I drain the rest of my champagne
05:06because I need something to do with my hands that isn't touching his face. Thanks for the intel.
05:12I'll just go collect my disaster of a best friend and... Mr. Salvatore. We both turn. A security guard
05:20is striding toward us, his face carved from granite and bad intentions. Behind him, I see two more,
05:26and they're all looking at me like I'm a bug they're about to squash. This woman doesn't have clearance,
05:31granite face says. We've been tracking her since she came up on the service elevator.
05:36Service elevator? Luca's voice drops several degrees. You told me you took the elevator.
05:42I did take an elevator, I say weekly. Just, you know, a different one. The kitchen staff elevator.
05:51It had buttons. How was I supposed to know it was morally distinct from other elevators?
05:55Granite face reaches for my arm. Sir, we'll escort her out. Don't touch her. The temperature plummets.
06:04Luca doesn't raise his voice. Doesn't move. But something shifts in the air. Something primal and
06:10dangerous that makes the hair on my arm stand up. Granite face freezes mid-reach, his hand hovering
06:16inches from my elbow. She's with me, Luca says, and his eyes stay locked on mine. She belongs to me.
06:24My heart stops. Restarts. Does a complicated gymnastics routine.
06:31Sir? Granite face sounds confused. You heard me, Tony? Luca finally looks away from me and I can
06:38breathe again. Sort of. This is my guest. Anyone who has a problem with her being here can take it up
06:44with me directly. Are we clear? Tony nods so hard I'm worried about whiplash. Crystal, sir? Good.
06:52Now leave us. They evaporate like smoke. And suddenly it's just me and Luca and the Vegas sun
06:58beating down on us from a cloudless sky. The party continues around us. Beautiful people drinking
07:04beautiful drinks. Laughing at beautiful jokes. But we're in our own bubble. Our own dangerous,
07:10confusing, absolutely shouldn't be this hot bubble. I don't belong to you, I say. I know.
07:16Then why did you? Because they would have thrown you out. He tilts his head, studying me like I'm a
07:23puzzle he's deciding whether to solve. And I'm not done talking to you yet. I need to find Chelsea.
07:30After. After what? He smiles then. Really smiles. And it's like watching the sun come up.
07:38After you tell me your real name, Jane Doe. I should run. Everything in my body is screaming
07:46at me to run. But I don't. Instead, I look up at this beautiful, dangerous man who just claimed me
07:53in front of his security team, and I do the stupidest, bravest thing I've done all day.
07:58I smile back. Maren, I say. Maren Blake. Maren. He tastes my name like it's that expensive champagne.
08:06Better than Jane. Low bar. He gestures toward the edge of the rooftop, away from the crowd.
08:13Walk with me. It's not a question, but I follow anyway because apparently I've decided to make
08:18terrible decisions a full-time career. We move past clusters of people who look like they belong
08:24in a Forbes photo spread, and I catch snippets of conversation, mergers, acquisitions, someone's
08:30yacht in Monaco. So, I say, because silence makes me nervous and he seems perfectly
08:36comfortable with it. You just tell security that random women belong to you? Is that a Tuesday
08:42thing, or only when they break into my parties? I didn't break in. Breaking implies force. I used
08:49stealth. You used the kitchen elevator. Strategically. We reach a quiet corner where the strip sprawls
08:56below us in daylight glory, all glass and gold and excess. He leans against the railing, and the sun
09:03catches in his dark hair, and I really need to stop noticing things like that. Why hasn't Chelsea
09:09answered her phone? He asks. Because she's probably horizontal with Trust Fund Jr. That bothers you.
09:17Of course it bothers me. She does this, meets some guy with money and disappears for days, and I'm the
09:23one who picks up the pieces when he turns out to be married or boring or both. I stop, realizing I'm
09:30word vomiting to a stranger. A hot stranger who owns hotels. Plural.
09:36Sorry. You don't need my friendship drama.
09:39I don't need a lot of things, Luca says. Doesn't mean they're not interesting.
09:45The way he looks at me makes my stomach flip. Like I'm the most interesting thing on this entire
09:51rooftop, which is insane because there's literally a woman over there wearing a dress made of crystals.
09:56His phone buzzes. He glances at it, and something dark crosses his face.
10:02Problem? I ask.
10:05Always.
10:06He types something quickly.
10:08I have a meeting in 20 minutes.
10:10Downstairs.
10:11Then I should come with me.
10:14I laugh. Actually laugh.
10:16I'm not crashing your meeting.
10:18Why not? You crashed my party.
10:21That was different.
10:22How?
10:23I had a reason.
10:24You still do.
10:26He pockets his phone and looks at me with an intensity that feels like a physical touch.
10:31I want you there.
10:33You don't even know me.
10:35I'm working on that.
10:38My brain is screaming abort.
10:40Abort.
10:40But my mouth says,
10:42Fine.
10:44But if this is some weird rich person thing where you're secretly filming me for a reality show,
10:48I'm out.
10:50Noted.
10:51The meeting is in a conference room that's bigger than my entire apartment.
10:55Floor-to-ceiling windows, a table that could seat 20, and five men in suits who all look like they bench-press luxury cars for fun.
11:03They also all look deeply uncomfortable with my presence.
11:07Luca, one of them says.
11:09Silver hair.
11:10Expensive watch.
11:11The kind of tan that comes from private beaches.
11:13This is a closed meeting.
11:16Marin stays.
11:17Luca says simply.
11:19I'm standing by the door wondering what the hell I've gotten myself into when he pulls out a chair.
11:24Next to his.
11:25The message is clear.
11:26Sit or leave.
11:27But he wants me to sit.
11:29I sit.
11:30Gentlemen, Luca says.
11:32And somehow that one word contains more authority than most people manage in a full speech.
11:38Update.
11:39Silver hair clears his throat.
11:41The Chicago situation is escalating.
11:44Dante Rossini is making moves.
11:46Bought three properties in our territory last week, spreading money around to local businesses, making friends.
11:53Dante's always making friends, another man says.
11:56It's what he does before he burns everything down.
12:00I must make a sound.
12:01Some tiny indicator that I recognize that name.
12:04Because Luca's eyes cut to mine.
12:07You know him?
12:08He asks.
12:09I know of him.
12:11Everyone in Vegas knows of Dante Rossini.
12:13He tried to buy the bar where I work.
12:16Well, worked.
12:17Past tense.
12:18We closed last month.
12:20The room goes quiet.
12:22Which bar?
12:23Luca's voice is too casual.
12:26Murphy's.
12:27On East Fremont.
12:28I shrug.
12:30Owner couldn't keep up with the new rent.
12:32Landlord doubled it overnight, and suddenly we were done.
12:35Who was the landlord?
12:37Some LLC.
12:38I don't remember the name.
12:41Silver hair pulls out a tablet.
12:43Types.
12:44His face goes carefully blank.
12:46Crimson Holdings.
12:49Witches.
12:49I look around at faces that have all gone eerily still.
12:54A Rossini shell company.
12:56Luca says quietly.
12:58He's been buying up properties, forcing out small businesses, filling the spaces with his
13:03own people.
13:04Money laundering fronts mostly.
13:06Oh.
13:07Oh.
13:08So you're...
13:09I gesture vaguely at him, at the room, at the universe of implications currently crashing
13:14down on my head.
13:15You're actually like mafia.
13:18We prefer family business.
13:21Silver hair says dryly.
13:23Is there a difference?
13:25Not really.
13:26Luca admits.
13:28Does that scare you?
13:29It should.
13:31It absolutely should.
13:32But I'm thinking about Mrs. Murphy crying when she had to lay us all off.
13:37About how I've been living off credit cards and hope for three months.
13:41About Dante Rossini's smug face in that grainy photo from the review journal.
13:46No, I say.
13:47It pisses me off.
13:50Something flickers in Luca's eyes.
13:52Approval, maybe.
13:53Or interest.
13:54The Chicago families are backing him, Silver hair continues.
14:00They want a foothold in Vegas, and Dante's their weapon.
14:04He's planning something big.
14:05We just don't know what yet.
14:07Find out, Luca says.
14:09I want eyes on every property he's bought, every person he's meeting with, every dollar
14:13he's spending.
14:14If Dante Rossini breathes in this city, I want to know about it.
14:18The meeting continues.
14:21Strategy.
14:21Surveillance.
14:23Terms I don't fully understand.
14:24And I sit there absorbing the reality that I'm in a room with actual mobsters.
14:29That Luca Salvatore isn't just rich, he's dangerous.
14:32That family business means the kind of family that settles disputes with more than strongly
14:37worded emails.
14:38I should be terrified.
14:39Instead, I'm fascinated.
14:41When the meeting ends and the men file out, Luca turns to me.
14:46You're quiet.
14:47I'm processing.
14:49Having second thoughts?
14:50About what?
14:51We're not dating.
14:52We barely know each other.
14:54You just...
14:55Claimed me in front of your security guards and then brought me to your mob meeting.
15:00Technically, it was a business meeting.
15:02Your business is crime.
15:04My business is protection.
15:07He stands, moves to the windows.
15:09The Salvatores have run Vegas for three generations.
15:12We keep order.
15:13We make sure the real predators don't take over.
15:16Dante Rossini?
15:17He's a predator.
15:18He hurts people for fun.
15:19What we do, what I do, is keep people like him in check.
15:24That's a very convenient justification.
15:27It's the truth.
15:29He looks at me and there's something raw in his expression.
15:32I'm not asking you to approve.
15:35I'm just asking you to understand.
15:36I join him at the window.
15:40Below us, Vegas glitters in the afternoon sun.
15:42Beautiful and brutal and somehow both at once.
15:46My dad was a cop, I say quietly.
15:49Shot in the line of duty when I was 16.
15:52The guy who did it walked on a technicality.
15:54Wrong warrant.
15:55Evidence thrown out.
15:57My mom says the justice system works.
15:59But sometimes I think...
16:01I trail off.
16:02Sometimes you think people like me are necessary.
16:06Luca finishes.
16:07Sometimes I think the world is more complicated than good guys and bad guys.
16:12His hand finds mine on the railing.
16:14His fingers are warm.
16:16Solid.
16:17Real.
16:18I like you, Maren Blake.
16:19He says.
16:20I don't usually like people.
16:22That's concerning.
16:24Probably.
16:25He smiles and it's softer than before.
16:27Have dinner with me tonight.
16:29I can't.
16:30I have to...
16:31What?
16:32Go home to my empty apartment and stress about bills I can't pay?
16:36I should check on Chelsea.
16:38Already done.
16:39I had someone bring her to the lobby 20 minutes ago.
16:42She's fine.
16:43Annoyed that you tracked her down, but fine.
16:46Of course he did.
16:47Dinner, he says again.
16:49My ranch.
16:50Outside the city.
16:51I'll send a car.
16:52You have a ranch.
16:54I have several.
16:55This one has horses.
16:57Do you ride?
16:58Every morning.
17:00His thumb brushes across my knuckles.
17:02Casual and devastating.
17:04I'll teach you.
17:05I should say no.
17:06This is crazy.
17:08He's mafia.
17:09I'm unemployed.
17:10We're from different worlds.
17:11Different lives.
17:12Different tax brackets.
17:14But when I look into those impossible blue eyes,
17:17I hear myself say,
17:18What time?
17:20His smile could light up the entire strip.
17:23Six.
17:24Wear jeans.
17:26The ranch is ridiculous.
17:28Not ridiculous like,
17:29Oh, cute.
17:30He has some horses.
17:31Ridiculous like,
17:32This is literally a resort disguised as a ranch,
17:34And I think I just saw a stable nicer than my apartment.
17:38The car.
17:39A black SUV with leather seats that smell like money.
17:42Drops me at the main house.
17:44Which is all stone and wood and windows that reflect the desert sun.
17:48It's four in the afternoon.
17:50And the heat shimmers off the landscape like a mirage.
17:53Luca's waiting on the porch in jeans and a white button down with the sleeves rolled up.
17:58And Jesus Christ, he should come with a warning label.
18:00You came, he says.
18:02You sent a very persuasive driver.
18:05Marco does good work.
18:07He comes down the steps, and I notice he's holding two bottles of water.
18:10Thought we'd go for a ride before dinner.
18:12Unless you're scared of horses.
18:14I'm from Arizona originally.
18:16I've ridden.
18:17Good.
18:18He hands me a water bottle, and our fingers brush.
18:21That spark again.
18:23Electric and dangerous.
18:25Come on.
18:26The stables are, and I cannot stress this enough,
18:29nicer than most people's homes.
18:32Twelve stalls, each one occupied by a horse that probably costs more than a car.
18:36Luca leads me to a beautiful Palomino mare.
18:39This is Stella, he says.
18:41She's gentle.
18:42Won't throw you.
18:44Comforting.
18:45He helps me mount, his hands steadying my waist, and I try very hard not to think about
18:50how that feels.
18:51Then he swings onto a black stallion with the kind of easy grace that suggests he's been
18:55doing this his entire life.
18:58We ride out into the open desert, past cacti and scrub brush and endless blue sky.
19:03It's quiet except for the sound of hooves and wind, and for the first time in months,
19:08I feel like I can actually breathe.
19:10This is beautiful, I say.
19:12I...
19:13It's home.
19:15Luca rides beside me, relaxed in a way I haven't seen before.
19:18My grandfather bought this land in the 60s.
19:21Built it up from nothing.
19:22He said a man needs a place where nobody can touch him.
19:25Sounds lonely.
19:26It was.
19:27He looks at me.
19:29For him, anyway.
19:30We ride for maybe 30 minutes before he leads us to a ridge overlooking the valley, dismounts
19:36and helps me down, and suddenly we're standing close enough that I can see flecks of silver
19:40in his blue eyes.
19:41Why did you really invite me here, I ask?
19:45Because I wanted to see you again.
19:48You could have taken me to a restaurant.
19:51I could have.
19:52He doesn't step back.
19:53But then we'd be surrounded by people, and you'd be wondering if I brought you there
19:58to show you off or impress you, and you'd spend the whole time analyzing my intentions
20:02instead of just being here.
20:04That's very presumptuous.
20:07Is it wrong?
20:09Damn it.
20:10No.
20:12He smiles, that real smile that transforms his face, and reaches up to tuck a strand of
20:17hair behind my ear.
20:19The gesture is so casual, so intimate that my breath catches.
20:23I haven't stopped thinking about you, he says quietly.
20:27Since yesterday.
20:29Since you stood on my rooftop in a stolen dress, drinking champagne and lying about your name.
20:34It wasn't stolen.
20:36It was clearance.
20:38Maren?
20:39The way he says my name feels like a touch.
20:43This is insane, I whisper.
20:45We don't know each other.
20:46You're—you're you, and I'm—
20:48You're brave and funny, and you broke into my party to save your friend.
20:52You sat through a meeting about territorial disputes and money laundering without flinching.
20:57You lost your job because of Dante Rossini, and instead of being scared, you got angry.
21:02His hand cups my jaw.
21:04You're extraordinary.
21:06I'm unemployed and broke.
21:08I don't care.
21:10You should.
21:11Why?
21:12His thumb brushes my cheekbone.
21:14Because we're from different worlds?
21:16Because I have money and you don't?
21:18Because my family's business is complicated and dangerous?
21:21He leans closer, and I can feel his breath on my lips.
21:25None of that matters, Maren.
21:27Not to me.
21:28I should pull away.
21:30This is moving too fast.
21:32He's mafia.
21:33This is a terrible idea, but I don't pull away.
21:36Instead, I kiss him.
21:38It's soft at first, tentative, testing.
21:41Then his hand slides into my hair and mine fist in his shirt, and suddenly it's not soft at all.
21:46It's heat and hunger and three days of tension exploding into something that makes my knees weak.
21:52When we finally break apart, we're both breathing hard.
21:55Okay, I say shakily.
21:59That was...
22:00His phone rings.
22:02Luca closes his eyes, clearly debating whether to ignore it, then sighs and pulls it out.
22:07This better be important.
22:09He listens.
22:10His entire body goes rigid.
22:13When?
22:14Pause.
22:15Where is she now?
22:17Another pause, and his jaw clenches.
22:19Keep her there.
22:20I'm coming.
22:22He hangs up and looks at me, and the softness is gone.
22:26He's all business now.
22:27All cold, lethal focus.
22:30What's wrong?
22:31I ask.
22:33Chelsea.
22:33My stomach drops.
22:35What about Chelsea?
22:37Dante's people grabbed her.
22:39An hour ago.
22:40Outside her apartment.
22:41He's already moving toward the horses.
22:44They're holding her at a warehouse on the east side.
22:47They sent photos.
22:48Made it very clear it's a message for me.
22:50Why would they?
22:52But I know.
22:53I already know.
22:54Because of me.
22:56They saw us together yesterday.
22:58At the party.
23:00His voice is tight with rage.
23:03This is Dante making a move.
23:05Showing me he can touch people close to me.
23:08I'm not close to you.
23:09We just met.
23:11He stops.
23:13Looks at me with eyes that burn.
23:14You think that matters?
23:17You were on my rooftop.
23:19Under my protection.
23:20That makes you mine, Maren.
23:22And now he's using your best friend to draw me out.
23:25The world tilts.
23:27This is my fault.
23:29Chelsea's in danger because I snuck into a stupid party.
23:32Because I flirted with a mobster.
23:33Because I didn't think about consequences.
23:36We have to get her, I say.
23:38I have to get her.
23:39You're staying here.
23:41Like hell I am.
23:43Maren.
23:44She's my best friend.
23:45My responsibility.
23:47I'm the reason she's in this mess.
23:49I grab his arm.
23:50I'm coming with you.
23:52It's dangerous.
23:54I don't care.
23:56We stare at each other.
23:58And I see him weighing options.
24:00Calculating risks.
24:01Finally, he nods once.
24:03Stay close to me.
24:05Do exactly what I say.
24:06Understand?
24:08Yes.
24:09And Maren?
24:11His hand catches mine.
24:13After this is over, we're having a very long conversation about your definition of self-preservation.
24:19Looking forward to it.
24:20The warehouse is exactly what you'd expect.
24:22Concrete.
24:23Industrial.
24:24Surrounded by chain-link fence.
24:26But it's three in the afternoon, and the sun is beating down like a spotlight, making everything harsh and visible and real.
24:33Luca's men are already there.
24:35Six of them.
24:35Armed and positioned.
24:37Silver hair from yesterday briefs us quickly.
24:39Four hostels inside.
24:42Dante himself isn't here.
24:44Sent his lieutenant, Marco Venz.
24:45They have the girl in the back office.
24:47They're waiting.
24:48Of course they are.
24:51Luca checks his gun with practiced ease.
24:53This is a trap.
24:54Absolutely.
24:55Then let's spring it.
24:57He looks at me.
24:59You stay with Tony.
25:00He'll keep you safe.
25:02Luca?
25:03Not negotiable.
25:04But his hand cups my face, gentle despite the violence brewing around us.
25:08I will get her back.
25:10I promise.
25:12Then he kisses me, hard and fast and desperate, and walks toward the warehouse.
25:17I watch him go with my heart in my throat.
25:20It happens fast.
25:22Luca and his men go in.
25:23There's shouting.
25:24A gunshot.
25:25Sharp and terrifying even in broad daylight.
25:28Then another.
25:29Tony has his hand on my arm, keeping me behind the SUV, but I can see through the warehouse's high windows.
25:35Shadows moving.
25:37More shouting.
25:38Then Chelsea appears in the doorway.
25:40Alive.
25:41Unharmed.
25:42Running.
25:43Behind her, Luca emerges with two of his men.
25:46They're escorting someone.
25:47A man in an expensive suit, bleeding from his shoulder.
25:50Marco Venz, presumably.
25:53Chelsea reaches us first, throwing herself into my arms.
25:56Oh my god, Morin, what the hell?
25:58Are you okay?
25:59Did they hurt you?
26:01No, they just...
26:02They kept asking about you.
26:03About Luca Salvatore.
26:05I didn't know what to say, and then these guys showed up and...
26:09She pulls back.
26:10Mascara streaked.
26:11Furious and scared.
26:13What is happening?
26:15Long story.
26:16I'll explain everything.
26:17I promise.
26:19Luca approaches with Marco Venz, who looks significantly less cocky than I imagine he did an hour ago.
26:25They stop in front of us, and Luca's face is cold.
26:28The kind of cold that makes Arctic winters look tropical.
26:31Tell Dante.
26:32Luca says quietly.
26:34That if he ever touches anyone close to me again, I will burn his empire to the ground and salt the earth where it stood.
26:41Tell him this city belongs to the Salvatores, and that will never change.
26:45And tell him...
26:46He glances at me, and something soft cracks through that ice.
26:50That Maren Blake is under my protection.
26:53Permanently.
26:55Marco nods frantically.
26:56I'll tell him, I swear.
26:59Good.
27:00Luca gestures, and his men drag Marco away.
27:03Then he turns to me, and his hands are gentle when they frame my face.
27:07You okay?
27:08He asks.
27:10I'm fine.
27:11Chelsea's fine.
27:12You're...
27:12I notice blood on his sleeve.
27:15You're bleeding.
27:17Grazed.
27:18Nothing serious.
27:19He brushes his thumb across my cheek.
27:21I told you I'd get her back.
27:24You did.
27:25I'm shaking now.
27:26Adrenaline crashing through me.
27:30I don't know how to...
27:31Stay.
27:32I blink.
27:34What?
27:35Stay with me.
27:37His eyes are so blue, so intense.
27:40Not just tonight.
27:42Not just until this blows over.
27:44Stay.
27:45Let me protect you.
27:46Let me...
27:48He stops, searching for words.
27:50Let me keep you.
27:52Luca, I can't just...
27:53Why not?
27:54You have no job.
27:55No apartment you love.
27:56No reason to say no, except fear.
27:59He steps closer, and his voice drops.
28:02And you're not afraid of me, Maren.
28:03Maren, you've never been afraid of me.
28:06He's right.
28:07I'm not afraid of him.
28:09I'm afraid of how much I already feel for him.
28:12I barely know you, I whisper.
28:16Then get to know me.
28:17I have time.
28:19I have all the time in the world.
28:21His forehead touches mine.
28:24Say yes.
28:26Behind us, Chelsea clears her throat.
28:28For what it's worth, he did just save my life,
28:31and he's insanely hot.
28:33I'm voting yes.
28:35I laugh.
28:36Actually laugh.
28:37Because, of course, Chelsea's first response to trauma is relationship advice.
28:42Then I look at Luca Salvatore,
28:44this dangerous, complicated, beautiful man who crashed into my life and turned everything upside down,
28:49and I think about playing it safe versus taking the most terrifying leap of my life.
28:53I think about my empty apartment and my maxed-out credit cards and my complete lack of reasons to say no.
29:00I think about the way he looks at me like I'm the only person in the world who matters.
29:04Okay, I say.
29:07His smile could power the entire strip.
29:10Okay?
29:11Yes.
29:12I'll stay.
29:14I'll...
29:15We'll figure this out.
29:16He kisses me then, deep and slow and sweet,
29:20while the vaguest sun beats down and Chelsea wolf whistles and his men politely look away.
29:25When we break apart, he's still smiling.
29:28I'm going to take very good care of you, Maren Blake, he murmurs against my lips.
29:33You better, I say.
29:35I have expensive taste.
29:36Good thing I'm obscenely rich.
29:40And modest.
29:41Not particularly.
29:43I kiss him again.
29:45Because I can.
29:46Because he's mine now and I'm his.
29:48And because sometimes the craziest decisions turn out to be the best ones.
29:52Sometimes you sneak into a party and meet a mobster and your whole life changes.
29:57Sometimes that's exactly what you needed all along.
30:00The End
30:01The If You Loved Maren and Luca's Story, Don't Keep It to Yourself
30:05Like this story if their chemistry made your heart race subscribe for more cinematic
30:10mafia romance stories that'll make you swoon.
30:13Comment below.
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30:18What did you think of Luca's You Belong to Me moment?
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