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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 standing in the billing office of Mercy General Hospital at 11 in the morning on a Tuesday,
00:04and I'm about to cry in front of a woman named Debra who looks like she's never cried a day in her life.
00:10Miss Hayes, I'm afraid we can't proceed with your mother's treatment until the outstanding balance is addressed.
00:15Outstanding balance. Like it's a mild inconvenience.
00:18Like it's not $43,000 standing between my mom and the chemo that might actually save her life.
00:25I have $600, I say, pulling out the envelope from my apron pocket.
00:29It smells like coffee and desperation.
00:32I can get more by Friday, I just need $600 won't even cover today's consultation fee.
00:38Debra doesn't look up from her computer screen. Her nails are perfect. Mine are bitten to hell.
00:44Then apply it to whatever keeps her in that bed for one more week.
00:49Miss Hayes, her name is Catherine. Catherine Hayes.
00:53She's in room 4 on 12 and she's scared and I'm her daughter and I'm asking you.
00:58No. My voice cracks. God, I hate that it cracks.
01:02Debra finally looks at me. There's something like pity in her eyes, but pity doesn't pay medical bills.
01:08I'm sorry, hospital policy.
01:11I want to scream. I want to flip her desk.
01:15Instead, I grab my envelope and walk out before I do something that gets me arrested.
01:19The hallway smells like antiseptic and broken promises.
01:23I lean against the wall, trying to remember how to breathe.
01:27Two jobs.
01:27I work two jobs.
01:29Morning shift at Roasted.
01:31The coffee shop on Fifth that smells like burnt beans and shattered dreams.
01:35Night shift at Harlan's.
01:36The bar where men tip well if you smile like you mean it.
01:40I sleep four hours a night.
01:42I haven't bought new jeans in two years.
01:44And it's still not enough.
01:46It's never enough.
01:47I'm halfway to the elevator when I hear it.
01:49A commotion near the east wing.
01:52Shouting.
01:52Something that sounds like expensive shoes on linoleum.
01:55Moving fast.
01:56Then I see him.
01:58He's walking through the hospital lobby like he owns it.
02:01Maybe he does.
02:02I wouldn't be surprised.
02:04Tall, dark suit that probably costs more than my car.
02:07Jawline that could cut glass.
02:09He's got two men flanking him.
02:11Both built like they eat smaller men for breakfast.
02:14But it's not them I'm staring at.
02:17It's him.
02:18He moves through the crowd and people just...
02:21part.
02:22Like the Red Sea had an appointment it couldn't miss.
02:24His face is all sharp angles and control.
02:27The kind of face that makes you wonder what he looks like when he loses it.
02:31If he ever loses it.
02:33Our hospital administrator, Mr. Kellerman, is practically jogging to keep up.
02:38Mr. Torino, we're so grateful for your generosity.
02:41The new children's wing will...
02:42Where's the paperwork?
02:44His voice is deep.
02:46Bored.
02:47American.
02:48But with something else underneath.
02:50Old money.
02:51Old power.
02:52Right here, sir.
02:54If you'll just...
02:55That's when I do the dumbest thing I've done all week.
02:59I step directly into his path.
03:02The two linebacker types move forward.
03:04But he raises one hand and they freeze.
03:06His eyes land on me.
03:08They're dark.
03:09Almost black in this lighting.
03:10And they don't blink.
03:11You donate to hospitals, I say.
03:15It's not a question.
03:17His eyebrow raises a fraction of an inch.
03:20Apparently.
03:21The children's wing.
03:23Among other things.
03:25My heart is pounding so hard I can feel it in my throat.
03:28Donate to cancer treatment.
03:30Fourth floor.
03:31Room 412.
03:32The administrator makes a choking sound.
03:35Miss, you can't just...
03:37How much?
03:38Torino asks.
03:39His eyes haven't left my face.
03:41I'm sorry?
03:42How much does room 412 need?
03:45I blink.
03:46I...
03:4743,000.
03:49But I'm not asking for charity.
03:51I'm asking for a loan.
03:52I'll pay you back.
03:53I just need...
03:55Done.
03:56The world tilts slightly.
03:59I'm sorry, what?
04:00He turns to the administrator who looks like he might pass out.
04:04Add 45,000 to today's donation, allocated specifically to...
04:09He glances at me.
04:11Catherine Hayes.
04:12I whisper.
04:14Room 412.
04:16Catherine Hayes.
04:17Room 412.
04:18Make sure every treatment she needs is covered.
04:20No more billing issues.
04:22Kellerman is nodding so hard his head might fall off.
04:26Yes, Mr. Torino, absolutely.
04:28Right away.
04:29Wait.
04:30I grab Torino's arm without thinking.
04:33That was a mistake.
04:34The two bodyguards move like synchronized attack dogs.
04:37But again, that hand.
04:40He stops them with just a gesture.
04:42Then he looks down at where my fingers are wrapped around his very expensive sleeve.
04:46I let go like I've been burned.
04:49Why?
04:50I ask.
04:50Why what?
04:52Why would you do that?
04:54You don't know me.
04:55You don't know my mom.
04:57Something flickers across his face.
04:59Almost like amusement.
05:01You're right.
05:02I don't.
05:04So what's the catch?
05:05The catch, he says slowly, like he's tasting the words, is dinner.
05:11I stare at him.
05:13Dinner.
05:15Tonight, 7 o'clock.
05:16I'll send a car.
05:18You just paid $45,000 for my mom's cancer treatment in exchange for dinner?
05:24$43,000.
05:26The extra two is for something decent to wear.
05:29His eyes flick down my coffee-stained shirt and back up.
05:33It should feel insulting.
05:35Instead, it feels like being seen through.
05:38That's insane.
05:40That's the offer.
05:41He's already turning away, his men falling into formation around him.
05:46Take it or leave it, but decide fast.
05:48I have a meeting in 20 minutes, and your mother has a 2 o'clock treatment that won't happen without my signature.
05:54He's blackmailing me.
05:56With my mother's life.
05:57With the one thing I can't say no to.
05:59And the worst part?
06:01He knows it.
06:02You're an asshole.
06:04I call after him.
06:06He stops.
06:07Turns.
06:08And for the first time, he smiles.
06:10It's devastating.
06:127 o'clock, Ms. Hayes.
06:14Don't be late.
06:14Then he's gone, sweeping out of the hospital like a storm that decided to wear Armani.
06:19I stand there, shaking, my phone buzzing in my pocket.
06:23Three missed calls from Roasted.
06:25My shift started ten minutes ago.
06:28Kellerman appears at my elbow, slightly breathless.
06:31Ms. Hayes, if you'll come with me, we can process the payment and...
06:35Who is he?
06:36I interrupt.
06:37Kellerman blinks.
06:39You don't know?
06:40Would I be asking if I knew?
06:42That's Julian Torino.
06:46He says the name like it should mean something.
06:48Like it should make me run.
06:50He owns half of Chicago.
06:52Hotels, restaurants, real estate.
06:54And other things.
06:56What other things?
06:58Kellerman's smile is tight.
07:01The kinds of things people don't ask about if they're smart.
07:05Oh.
07:06Oh.
07:07I just made a deal with a mobster.
07:09I just agreed to have dinner with a man who probably has people killed before breakfast.
07:14My phone buzzes again.
07:16I look at it.
07:18A text from an unknown number.
07:20Black dress.
07:21Heels.
07:22Hair down.
07:23JT.
07:24I should run.
07:26I should grab my mom and disappear into whatever witness protection program takes idiots who make deals with handsome devils.
07:32Instead, I text back,
07:33I don't take orders.
07:35Wear what you want.
07:35I'll wear what I want.
07:38Three dots appear.
07:39Then, seven o'clock.
07:41Be ready.
07:43I look up at the ceiling, at the fluorescent lights that have watched a thousand people make a thousand bad decisions.
07:49Mom's treatment starts at two?
07:51I ask Kellerman.
07:53Yes, ma'am.
07:54All cleared.
07:54No charge.
07:56I nod.
07:57Swallow hard.
07:58Good.
07:59That's...
07:59That's good.
08:00I walk toward the elevator, toward my car, toward the coffee shop where I'm definitely getting fired for being late.
08:07Tonight, I'm having dinner with the devil, and I don't even own a black dress.
08:12The car that picks me up at 6.55 p.m. is a black Mercedes that costs more than my entire life.
08:18I'm wearing the only dress I own, navy blue, three years old, bought for a wedding I didn't want to attend.
08:24My heels are scuffed.
08:26My hair is down because putting it up felt like letting him win, and I'm petty enough to care about small victories.
08:32The driver doesn't speak, just opens the door, waits for me to slide in, and pulls into traffic like we're late for something important.
08:40We are.
08:41Probably.
08:42Men like Julian Torino don't wait.
08:44Except when we pull up to the restaurant, some Italian place on the Gold Coast with no sign, and a doorman who looks like he moonlights as a Secret Service agent, Julian is already there, standing outside, hands in his pockets.
08:56Waiting.
08:57For me.
08:59He's in a different suit.
09:01Charcoal gray, no tie.
09:03White shirt open at the collar.
09:05He looks like every warning your mother ever gave you about dangerous men.
09:08And I'm walking straight toward him anyway.
09:10You're late, he says as I approach.
09:14I'm three minutes early.
09:16I've been here for twenty.
09:18I stop in front of him, tilting my head.
09:20That sounds like a you problem.
09:22His mouth twitches.
09:23Almost a smile.
09:25You didn't wear black.
09:27You don't own me.
09:29Not yet.
09:30He offers his arm.
09:31I stare at it like it might bite.
09:33It's dinner, Harper.
09:35Not a execution.
09:36How do you know my first name?
09:39I know everything.
09:41He says it casually, like it's not the most terrifying sentence in the English language.
09:46Your full name is Harper Catherine Hayes.
09:49You're twenty-seven.
09:51You graduated from Northwestern with a degree in journalism that you're not using.
09:55You work at Roasted from six to noon and Harlan's from six to midnight.
09:59You sleep in your car sometimes between shifts.
10:02Your mother has stage three ovarian cancer.
10:04And you're drowning.
10:06I can't breathe.
10:07Did you run a background check on me?
10:10I run background checks on everyone.
10:13That's...
10:14That's insane.
10:15That's stalker behavior.
10:17That's protection.
10:19He's still holding out his arm.
10:20I don't invest in unknowns, Harper.
10:24I paid forty-five thousand dollars for your mother's treatment.
10:27That buys me the right to know who you are.
10:30You said it was for dinner.
10:33Dinner's the start.
10:34Knowledge is the insurance.
10:36He steps closer.
10:37And God.
10:38He smells good.
10:40Something expensive and cedar dark.
10:42Now take my arm before Roberto thinks you're about to run and tackles you.
10:47I glance over.
10:48The doorman, Roberto, apparently, is watching us with the focus of a man paid to handle problems.
10:55I take Julian's arm.
10:57Good girl, he murmurs.
10:59Don't call me that.
11:01Why not?
11:03Because I'm not a dog.
11:04And you're not my owner.
11:05We walk inside, and the restaurant is exactly what I expected.
11:11Low lighting.
11:12Wait.
11:12No.
11:13It's not low.
11:14It's late afternoon sun streaming through floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the lake.
11:18Everything is white marble and gold fixtures and the kind of quiet that only comes with money.
11:23Every table is full.
11:25But we don't stop at any of them.
11:27Julian leads me through the dining room, past the kitchen, and up a private staircase to a rooftop terrace I didn't know existed.
11:34There's one table.
11:35It's set for two.
11:37The sun is just starting to dip, painting the sky orange and pink, and the lake stretches out like a promise.
11:44You rented out the roof, I say.
11:46I own the restaurant.
11:48He pulls out my chair.
11:50I own the building.
11:52Of course you do.
11:53I sit, mostly because my legs are shaking.
11:57Do you own the lake, too?
11:58Or is that still public property?
12:01Working on it.
12:02I laugh.
12:03I don't mean to, but it bursts out anyway, and Julian's face does something complicated, like he wasn't expecting that sound.
12:11A waiter appears, silent, efficient, and pours wine I definitely can't pronounce.
12:16I didn't order yet, I say.
12:19You don't have to.
12:20I ordered for us.
12:22Of course you did.
12:24I take a sip of wine.
12:26It tastes like it costs more than my rent.
12:28So what's the plan here, Julian?
12:30You pay off my mom's medical bills, you buy me dinner, and then what?
12:35I owe you something?
12:36Is that how this works?
12:38He leans back in his chair, studying me.
12:41What do you think I want from you?
12:43I don't know.
12:45That's the terrifying part.
12:47I could want a lot of things.
12:49His voice drops just slightly.
12:51But what I actually want is to understand why you walked up to a complete stranger in a hospital and demanded money.
12:58I didn't demand.
12:59I asked.
13:01You blocked my path and made demands.
13:03There's a difference between asking and what you did.
13:06Fine.
13:07I was desperate.
13:08You looked rich.
13:09I took a shot.
13:10You took a risk, he corrects.
13:12You had no idea who I was.
13:14I could have had you thrown out.
13:16Arrested.
13:16Worse.
13:17But you didn't.
13:19No.
13:20He picks up his wine glass, swirls it once.
13:23I didn't.
13:25Why?
13:26The food arrives before he can answer.
13:29Pasta that looks like art.
13:30Bread that smells like heaven.
13:32Vegetables I can't name but would probably die for.
13:35We eat in silence for a moment.
13:37The sun sinks lower.
13:39The city starts to glow.
13:41My mother died of cancer, Julian says suddenly.
13:45Eight years ago.
13:46Pancreatic.
13:47By the time they found it, it was too late.
13:50I set down my fork.
13:52I'm sorry.
13:53Don't be.
13:54She lived a full life.
13:56Made her choices.
13:58But watching her die.
14:00He pauses.
14:01Something dark crossing his face.
14:03It's the only time in my life I've felt completely powerless.
14:07All the money in the world.
14:09And I couldn't save her.
14:11So you save other people's mothers instead?
14:14Sometimes.
14:16He looks at me.
14:17And there's something raw in his expression.
14:20Something unguarded.
14:22When they're brave enough to ask.
14:25My chest tightens.
14:27I'm not brave.
14:29I'm just out of options.
14:32Bravery and desperation look the same from the outside.
14:36We fall into conversation after that.
14:38Easier than it should be.
14:40He asks about my journalism degree.
14:43And I tell him about the career that never launched.
14:46The internships that went nowhere.
14:48The student loans that haunt me.
14:50He tells me about growing up in Chicago.
14:52About taking over his father's business at 25.
14:55About the weight of legacy.
14:56He doesn't say the word mafia.
14:59Neither do I.
15:00But it sits between us like a third guest at the table.
15:03So what happens now?
15:05I ask as dessert arrives.
15:07Tiramisu that looks like a cloud.
15:09You've fed me.
15:11You've impressed me with your tragic backstory and your rooftop view.
15:15What's the endgame?
15:16I want to see you again.
15:18I nearly choke on my wine.
15:20What?
15:21Dinner.
15:22Tomorrow night.
15:24Julian.
15:25And the night after that.
15:27You can't just...
15:28I want you in my life, Harper.
15:31He says it plainly, like he's discussing the weather.
15:34However that looks.
15:36Whatever that means.
15:37You don't even know me.
15:39Then let me.
15:41He reaches across the table.
15:43And his fingers brush mine.
15:45It's barely contact.
15:47But I feel it everywhere.
15:49Let me know you.
15:51Why?
15:52Because you're the first person in five years who's looked at me like I'm a problem to solve
15:56instead of a god to worship.
15:58His thumb traces my knuckle.
16:00Because you didn't flinch when I told you what I want.
16:03Because you're wearing a three-year-old dress and scuffed heels,
16:05and you're still the most beautiful woman I've ever seen.
16:09Oh.
16:09Oh, no.
16:10This is a bad idea, I whisper.
16:13Probably.
16:15You're dangerous.
16:17Definitely.
16:18I should run.
16:19You should.
16:21His hand tightens on mine.
16:23But you won't.
16:25He's right.
16:26God help me.
16:27He's right.
16:29My phone buzzes.
16:30I glance at it.
16:31A text from an unknown number.
16:33Tell Torino his shipment's been intercepted.
16:36Donovan sends his regards.
16:38I look up.
16:39Julian's phone is buzzing, too.
16:41His face doesn't change, but something in his eyes does.
16:44Something cold and lethal.
16:46I have to go, he says, standing.
16:48What's wrong?
16:50Business.
16:51He signals to Roberto, who appears like a shadow.
16:54Take her home.
16:55Stay with her until I call.
16:58Julian, what?
16:59He cups my face, and the tenderness in the gesture doesn't match the violence in his eyes.
17:05Do not leave your apartment tonight.
17:07Do not answer the door for anyone but Roberto.
17:10Do you understand?
17:12You're scaring me.
17:14Good.
17:15Fear keeps you alive.
17:16He kisses my forehead.
17:18Brief.
17:19Burning.
17:20I'll call you in two hours.
17:22If I don't, Roberto will take you somewhere safe.
17:25Then he's gone, moving down the stairs like a man walking toward war.
17:29And I'm left on a rooftop terrace, holding a napkin and a half-eaten tiramisu, realizing I just fell for a man who might not survive the night.
17:38Roberto drives me home in silence.
17:39He's built like a tank and has the personality of one, too.
17:43But when he walks me to my apartment door, he says,
17:46Mr. Torino is very careful.
17:48He'll be fine.
17:50You don't know that.
17:52I've worked for him for seven years.
17:54He's always fine.
17:55He waits until I lock the door.
17:57Then I hear him settle outside in the hallway.
18:00My own personal mob bodyguard.
18:02This is my life now, apparently.
18:05I pace my tiny apartment, all 400 square feet of it, checking my phone every 30 seconds.
18:11Nothing.
18:13I text Julian.
18:14Are you okay?
18:15No response.
18:16I try calling.
18:17Straight to voicemail.
18:19An hour passes.
18:20Then two.
18:22Roberto knocks once, tells me Julian's still handling business, and goes back to his post.
18:27At midnight, my phone finally rings.
18:30Harper.
18:31His voice sounds tired.
18:33Rough.
18:34Are you alive?
18:37Unfortunately for some people, yes.
18:39I sink onto my couch, relief flooding through me.
18:42What happened?
18:44Nothing you need to worry about.
18:46Donovan's taken care of.
18:48Taken care of how?
18:50Silence.
18:52Julian.
18:53He won't be a problem anymore.
18:56His tone makes it clear I shouldn't ask follow-up questions.
18:59Are you okay?
19:00You.
19:01Am I.
19:01You're the one who ran off to fight a mob war, and you're asking if I'm okay?
19:05You're the one I care about.
19:08My breath catches.
19:09You can't just say things like that.
19:12Why not?
19:13Because we had one dinner.
19:15Because you're you, and I'm me, and this doesn't make sense.
19:19And I'm coming over.
19:20It's midnight.
19:22I'm aware.
19:23Julian.
19:23I need to see you.
19:24I need to.
19:26He stops.
19:27Breathes.
19:28Please.
19:29That one word breaks me.
19:31Okay.
19:31He arrives twenty minutes later, still in his suit, but rumpled now.
19:35Tie gone.
19:36Sleeves rolled up.
19:38There's a cut on his jaw that wasn't there before.
19:40His knuckles are bruised.
19:42Roberto nods at him and disappears down the stairs.
19:45Julian stands in my doorway, and for the first time since I met him, he looks uncertain.
19:50Can I come in?
19:52I step aside.
19:54He walks into my apartment, and I watch him take it all in.
19:56The thrift store furniture, the medical bills stacked on my counter, the Northwestern diploma
20:01I haven't bothered to hang.
20:03This is what forty-five thousand dollars bought him access to.
20:06My broke, messy, ordinary life.
20:08Your hand, I say, nodding at his bruised knuckles.
20:13It's nothing.
20:14It's bleeding.
20:15It's.
20:16I grab my first aid kit, the one I keep stocked because my mom taught me to be prepared for
20:20everything, and sit him down on my couch.
20:24He lets me, which is somehow more surprising than anything else tonight.
20:28I clean his knuckles with antiseptic.
20:30He doesn't flinch.
20:32Who did you hit?
20:33I ask quietly.
20:35No one important.
20:36Did you kill anyone?
20:38Would it matter if I did?
20:41I look up at him.
20:42His eyes are dark, challenging, waiting for me to run.
20:46I don't know, I admit.
20:49Maybe it should.
20:50But right now, all I care about is that you're here and you're safe.
20:55Something in his expression cracks.
20:57You shouldn't care about me.
20:59Too late.
21:00Harper, I know what you are.
21:02I wrap gauze around his knuckles, careful and gentle.
21:05I'm not stupid.
21:07I know what you do, what your world is, and I'm terrified.
21:10But I'm also...
21:12I tie off the gauze.
21:14I'm also sitting here at midnight patching you up and I don't want you to leave.
21:18And that should scare me more than anything.
21:20But it doesn't.
21:22He catches my wrist, his thumb finding my pulse.
21:24I could ruin your life.
21:27My life's already ruined.
21:29Medical debt, dead-end jobs, no future.
21:31You can't ruin what's already broken.
21:33You're not broken.
21:35Neither are you.
21:37He laughs, bitter and sharp.
21:39You don't know me.
21:41Then tell me.
21:42I sit back, meeting his eyes.
21:45Tell me who you are.
21:47The real you.
21:48Not the guy who owns half of Chicago or the one who scares men like Donovan.
21:52You.
21:54For a long moment, he just looks at me.
21:56Then he starts talking.
21:58He tells me about growing up watching his father build an empire on blood and loyalty.
22:02About being groomed from age 10 to take over.
22:05About his mother, the only soft thing in his world.
22:08And how losing her hollowed him out.
22:11About the weight of keeping hundreds of people employed.
22:14Families fed.
22:15Territories protected.
22:16About the violence that comes with the crown.
22:20I don't enjoy it, he says quietly.
22:23The violence.
22:24Some men in my position do.
22:26They get off on the power.
22:28But for me, it's just necessary.
22:31The price of protecting what's mine.
22:34And what's yours, I ask.
22:36His eyes find mine.
22:38Right now?
22:39You.
22:41My heart slams against my ribs.
22:43Julian.
22:44I know it's too fast.
22:46I know it's insane.
22:47But from the moment you stepped in front of me in that hospital, something changed.
22:52You looked at me like I was just a man.
22:54Not a monster.
22:56Not a myth.
22:57Just.
22:59A man who could help.
23:01And I've spent my entire adult life being everything to everyone except just.
23:06Myself.
23:07So what do you want?
23:09I whisper.
23:10I want you to stay.
23:12He shifts closer, his hand coming up to cut my jaw.
23:16I want to take you to breakfast tomorrow in some cafe where no one knows my name.
23:19I want to meet your mother and tell her terrible jokes until she laughs.
23:23I want to figure out what the hell this is between us without anyone shooting at me.
23:27That's a low bar.
23:29His lips twitch.
23:30Start small.
23:31What if I can't handle your world?
23:34Then I'll change my world.
23:35You can't just.
23:37People don't just leave the mafia, Julian.
23:40They do if they're powerful enough.
23:42His thumb brushes my cheekbone.
23:44And I'm very powerful.
23:46You'd give it up?
23:48For me?
23:49I'd give up anything for you.
23:52He says it simply.
23:54Certainly.
23:55The question is, do you want me to?
23:58I think about it.
24:00Really think about it.
24:01This man with his bruised knuckles and his broken empire and his desperate need to be
24:05seen as human.
24:07This man who paid my mother's medical bills and asked for dinner instead.
24:11Who waited 20 minutes outside a restaurant just to see me three minutes early.
24:15Who ran toward danger and called to make sure I was safe.
24:18No, I say finally.
24:21He blinks.
24:22No?
24:22He blinks.
24:24I don't want you to give it up.
24:26I want you to figure out how to do both.
24:29Be who you are and be with me.
24:31Because if you walk away from everything you've built, eventually you'll resent me for it.
24:36And I can't.
24:37I won't be the reason you lose yourself.
24:40Harper.
24:42But I have conditions.
24:44I straighten my shoulders.
24:46No secrets.
24:48If something's happening, you tell me.
24:50No lies about business meetings when you're actually going to war.
24:54And no shutting me out when things get dangerous.
24:56If I'm in this, I'm in this.
24:58All of it.
24:59He stares at me like I'm speaking a foreign language.
25:02You want transparency?
25:04I want partnership.
25:06No one's ever...
25:08He stops.
25:10Starts again.
25:11Everyone in my life either fears me or wants something from me.
25:14You're the first person who wants me.
25:18So what's your answer?
25:19I ask.
25:20Can you give me honesty?
25:22Can you let me in?
25:24He's quiet for a long moment.
25:26Then he stands, pulling me up with him, his hands framing my face.
25:31Yes.
25:32He says.
25:34To all of it.
25:35The honesty.
25:36The partnership.
25:37The goddamn breakfast tomorrow morning.
25:39Yes.
25:40Then he kisses me.
25:42It's not gentle.
25:44It's desperate and claiming and full of everything we've been dancing around for two days.
25:49His hands slide into my hair, tilting my head back.
25:53And I grab his shirt, pulling him closer, closer, until there's no space left between us.
25:59When we break apart, we're both breathing hard.
26:02Breakfast.
26:03I gasp.
26:04You said breakfast?
26:069 a.m., that place on Halstead with the pancakes?
26:08You know a place with pancakes?
26:11I know everything, remember?
26:14His smile is crooked.
26:16Boyish.
26:17Nothing like the dangerous man who walked into the hospital yesterday.
26:21Wear whatever you want.
26:22Order whatever you want.
26:24Be whoever you want.
26:26What if who I want to be is yours?
26:29His eyes darken.
26:31Then you already are.
26:32Three months later.
26:35I'm sitting in Julian's penthouse.
26:37Our penthouse now, technically.
26:39Though I still can't wrap my head around that.
26:41Working on a freelance article about Chicago's underground food scene.
26:45My journalism degree is finally getting used, thanks to Julian connecting me with editors
26:50who actually read my pitches.
26:52Mom's in remission.
26:54The doctors are cautiously optimistic, and she's started volunteering at the hospital,
26:59helping other families navigate the nightmare of cancer treatment.
27:03She likes Julian, which is either a good sign or proof that she's lost her mind.
27:07Probably both.
27:08Julian's in the kitchen making lunch.
27:10He's shirtless, wearing joggers, and singing off-key to some terrible 90s song,
27:15and I'm so stupidly in love with him it hurts.
27:18Harper, he calls.
27:19Do we have tomatoes?
27:21Check the bottom drawer.
27:23Found them.
27:24Pause.
27:25Why do we have seventeen tomatoes?
27:28Because you bought them yesterday, and I bought them today, and neither of us checked
27:31the fridge first.
27:33He appears in the doorway, grinning.
27:35We're terrible at cohabitation.
27:38The worst!
27:39He crosses to me, drops a kiss on my head.
27:42Good thing we have forever to figure it out.
27:45Forever's a long time.
27:47Not long enough.
27:48He tilts my face up.
27:50Not with you.
27:52And there, in the afternoon sunlight streaming through floor-to-ceiling windows, with tomato-buying
27:57dysfunction and terrible singing, and a love that started with $45,000 and a desperate
28:02gamble, I kiss the man who saved my mother's life.
28:06The man who let me save his.
28:07And I think, sometimes the best stories start with a collision.
28:12Sometimes they start with the exact right person, standing in your path at the exact
28:17right moment.
28:18Sometimes they start with a girl who had nothing to lose and a man who had everything to gain.
28:23And sometimes, just sometimes, they get their happy ending after all.
28:28The End
28:29Did Harper and Julian's story leave you breathless?
28:33If you loved watching a broke barista challenge a powerful mafia boss and find love in the
28:38most unexpected way, smash that like button.
28:41Want more intense romance stories with sharp dialogue, dangerous men, and fearless women
28:46who don't back down?
28:48Subscribe now so you never miss a new story.
28:51Drop a comment below telling me your favorite moment.
28:54Was it the hospital confrontation?
28:56The rooftop dinner?
28:57Or that midnight confession?
28:59And if you know someone who needs a swoon-worthy mafia romance in their life,
29:03hit share and spread the love.
29:05Your support helps me create more stories that make your heart race.
29:09Thank you for reading, and I'll see you in the next one.
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