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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 a penthouse that probably costs more than my entire bloodline has earned
00:04in three generations, holding a prototype that looks like a toddler built it from spare
00:08parts, and the man across the mahogany desk is staring at me like I'm a particularly
00:12fascinating bug he's deciding whether to crush or collect.
00:16This is fine.
00:17Everything is fine.
00:19So, I say, forcing my voice to sound confident instead of like I'm about to throw up on
00:25his obscenely expensive Persian rug.
00:28The app essentially connects small businesses with local suppliers in real time, cutting
00:32out the markup from Miss Brennan.
00:35His voice is smooth, too smooth, like expensive whiskey that burns on the way down.
00:41You've been talking for seven minutes about an algorithm that already exists.
00:46My stomach drops.
00:48It doesn't.
00:49It does.
00:50He leans back in his chair, and I notice for the first time how the afternoon sunlight cuts
00:56across his face, highlighting a jawline that could probably cut glass and eyes so dark
01:01they're almost black.
01:03He's younger than I expected.
01:05Mid-30s, maybe.
01:06And wearing a charcoal suit that fits him like it was grown on his body.
01:10Three companies in Silicon Valley.
01:12Two in Austin.
01:14One failed startup in Portland that went bankrupt last year.
01:17Those platforms don't focus on underserved communities.
01:20I shoot back, gripping my prototype tighter.
01:23They ignore neighborhoods like mine because the profit margins aren't...
01:26I know what neighborhoods like yours need, Miss Brennan.
01:29He says it quietly, but something in his tone makes my skin prickle.
01:34I grew up in one.
01:36I blink.
01:38This man, who's sitting in a penthouse office in downtown Miami with floor-to-ceiling windows
01:43and abstract art that probably costs more than my car, grew up poor, then you know why
01:48this matters, I say, meeting his eyes even though every instinct is screaming at me to
01:53look away.
01:54You know what it's like when the bodega on your corner closes because they can't compete
01:58with chains?
01:59Or when...
02:00I know what it's like to watch good people lose everything because the system is rigged
02:04against them.
02:06He stands up, and I realize with a jolt that he's tall.
02:10Really tall.
02:11He moves around the desk with the kind of controlled grace that makes me think of panthers.
02:16Or sharks.
02:18I also know that your app, as currently designed, will hemorrhage money within six months.
02:23My face burns.
02:25You don't know that.
02:27I do.
02:28He stops a few feet away, hands in his pockets, studying me with an intensity that makes me
02:33want to either punch him or hide.
02:35Your user acquisition cost is too high.
02:38Your revenue model relies on suppliers paying a percentage that will drive them away.
02:43And your cash runway?
02:45He pauses, tilting his head slightly.
02:48You have about three weeks before you can't make rent, don't you?
02:51I feel like he just reached into my chest and squeezed.
02:55How do you...
02:56The shoes, he says simply.
02:58He...
02:58I look down at my flats.
03:01They're clean.
03:02Professional.
03:03I spent 20 minutes scrubbing them this morning.
03:06They're resolved, he continues, voice softer now.
03:10Good quality originally, but worn enough that you've had them fixed rather than replaced.
03:14Your bag is designer, a gift probably, or thrifted, but your phone case is cracked.
03:20You take care of your appearance because you know it matters in meetings like this, but
03:23you're rationing everything else.
03:26His eyes meet mine again.
03:28Am I wrong?
03:29I want to lie.
03:31God, I want to lie so badly.
03:34No.
03:35I whisper.
03:36Something flickers across his face.
03:38It might be respect, or pity.
03:41I can't tell which is worse.
03:43Why are you really here, Sloan?
03:45The use of my first name catches me off guard.
03:48I didn't think he'd been paying that much attention during my stammered introduction.
03:52I need funding, I say, because there's no point in pretending anymore.
03:57I've pitched to 19 investors in three months.
04:00They all said no.
04:01You were number 20.
04:03I laugh, and it sounds slightly unhinged even to my own ears.
04:08I'm here because I googled Miami investors who take risks,
04:11and your company came up, and I'm desperate enough that I didn't ask too many questions
04:15about why a venture capital firm operates out of a building with no sign and security
04:20that looks like they're guarding Fort Knox.
04:22His mouth, and Jesus, it's an unfairly nice mouth, twitches.
04:26You didn't think that was suspicious?
04:28Of course I thought it was suspicious, I snap, exhaustion making me reckless.
04:35But I've got $2,000 in my bank account, a business partner who quit last week to take
04:40a real job, and a little brother starting college in the fall who thinks I'm some kind
04:44of entrepreneurial genius because I'm too proud to tell him I'm failing.
04:48I'm breathing hard now, clutching my prototype like it's a life raft.
04:54So yeah, I walked past your terrifying security guards and your receptionist who looks like
04:58she could kill me with her pinky, and I sat in that waiting room for two hours because
05:02this is my last shot.
05:04So if you're going to tell me no, just tell me no.
05:07Don't make me stand here while you dissect my life.
05:10Silence.
05:12He's looking at me like I'm a puzzle he's trying to solve, head tilted slightly, those
05:16dark eyes tracking across my face.
05:18What's your brother studying?
05:20He asks, finally.
05:22I blink.
05:24What?
05:25Your brother.
05:26College.
05:27What's he studying?
05:29I—engineering.
05:31Mechanical engineering.
05:33Why does that—
05:34Does he know you're doing this for him?
05:36My throat tightens.
05:38He thinks I'm successful.
05:40He thinks—
05:41I trail off, hating how my voice cracks.
05:44He thinks our mom would be proud.
05:48Another flicker of something crosses his face.
05:52Pain, maybe.
05:53Old and buried deep.
05:56Sit down, he says.
05:58I'm fine standing.
06:00Sloan.
06:01He says my name like a command, but softer.
06:05Sit down before you fall down.
06:07You look like you haven't eaten today.
06:09He's right, but I'm not about to admit it.
06:12Still, my legs are shaking, so I sink into the leather chair across from his desk.
06:17He disappears through a side door and returns a moment later with a bottle of water and what
06:21looks like half a sandwich on a plate.
06:24Eat, he says, setting both in front of me.
06:27I don't need—
06:28Yes, you do.
06:31He sits on the edge of his desk, close enough that I can smell his cologne—something expensive
06:36and woodsy that makes my brain fuzzy.
06:39And while you eat, I'm going to tell you what's going to happen.
06:43I take a defiant bite of the sandwich.
06:45It's turkey and avocado, and probably the best thing I've tasted in weeks.
06:49I'm listening.
06:52I'm going to fund your startup, he says.
06:55I nearly choke.
06:57You what?
06:58$250,000 to start.
07:00More if you need it.
07:01He says it like he's discussing the weather.
07:04Not an amount of money that would change my entire life.
07:07In exchange, I want 40% equity and a seat on your board.
07:12My head is spinning.
07:13That's—
07:14You can't be serious.
07:16I'm always serious about business, Miss Brennan.
07:19But you just said—
07:20You listed all the reasons it would fail.
07:23I listed the reasons it would fail the way you're currently running it.
07:27He picks up my prototype, turning it over in his hands with surprising care.
07:32With proper funding, market research, and someone who actually knows how to structure a revenue model, it could work.
07:38You have the passion, the vision.
07:40You just need resources.
07:42I stare at him.
07:44Why?
07:45Why what?
07:46Why would you do this?
07:48I gesture around the office.
07:51You clearly don't need the money.
07:53And you said yourself, I'm three weeks from broke.
07:55I'm a terrible investment.
07:57He sets down the prototype and looks at me.
07:59Really looks at me.
08:00And for a second, I forget how to breathe.
08:03You walked into this building knowing something was off.
08:06He says quietly.
08:08You sat in that waiting room, even though every instinct probably told you to run.
08:12And when I tore apart your business model, you didn't cry or make excuses.
08:17You fought back.
08:18His mouth curves into something that might be a smile.
08:22Do you know how rare that is?
08:25Stupidity?
08:26Now he definitely smiles, and it transforms his entire face.
08:31Courage.
08:32I don't know what to say to that.
08:34My heart is pounding so hard I'm sure he can hear it.
08:38There's one condition, he adds.
08:40Of course there is.
08:41What?
08:42You meet with me every week.
08:44Progress reports.
08:46Strategy sessions.
08:47His eyes lock onto mine.
08:50In person.
08:51Something in his tone makes my skin warm.
08:54Why in person?
08:56Because I want to make sure my investment is protected.
08:59You mean you want to micromanage me.
09:02I mean, he says, leaning slightly closer.
09:05I want to see you succeed, Sloan.
09:07And I think you might need someone in your corner who won't let you give up when it gets hard.
09:12It's the way he says my name, like he's tasting it, learning its shape,
09:16that makes me realize this might be more complicated than a simple business arrangement.
09:21But I'm three weeks from eviction, and my brother's tuition is due in four months,
09:25and this man is offering me a lifeline.
09:27Even if he might also be dangerous.
09:30Even if the way he's looking at me makes me feel like I'm standing at the edge of a cliff.
09:34Okay.
09:35I whisper.
09:37His smile widens.
09:39Good.
09:40My assistant will draw up the papers.
09:42He extends his hand.
09:43Welcome to the family business, Miss Brennan.
09:46I take his hand, and his grip is warm and firm and makes electricity shoot up my arm.
09:52It's Sloan, I say.
09:54And what do I call you?
09:56Most people call me Mr. Castellano.
09:59His thumb brushes across my knuckles, so brief I almost think I imagined it.
10:03But you can call me Dante.
10:07Dante Castellano.
10:08I should probably Google that name.
10:11Something tells me I'm not going to like what I find.
10:14But right now, with his hand in mine and sunlight streaming through the windows and hope blooming in my chest for the first time in months, I don't care.
10:21I'm all in.
10:22God help me.
10:24Three weeks into this arrangement, and I'm starting to realize I've made a deal with the actual devil.
10:29Except the devil probably has worse taste in coffee and doesn't look like a GQ cover model when he's explaining cash flow projections.
10:36You're not listening, Dante says, and I snap my attention back to the spreadsheet on his laptop.
10:43We're in his beach house in Key Biscayne, because apparently he has a beach house and a ranch in Montana,
10:48and a small place in the Hamptons that's probably the size of my entire neighborhood,
10:53and the Atlantic Ocean is sparkling through the windows like a postcard trying too hard.
10:57I am listening, I lie.
10:59Then tell me what I just said.
11:02Something about... burn rate?
11:04I'm sitting cross-legged on his obscenely comfortable couch,
11:08barefoot because he insisted I stop treating his home like a corporate office,
11:11and he's in the chair across from me with his sleeves rolled up,
11:14looking unfairly attractive for 11 on a Wednesday morning.
11:17He sighs, but there's amusement in it.
11:20You're impossible.
11:21You're boring.
11:23I'm trying to keep your company from imploding.
11:25My company is fine, I shoot back, even though we both know that's only true because of him.
11:30In three weeks, he's restructured my entire business model,
11:34connected me with suppliers I didn't know existed,
11:37and somehow convinced a major grocery chain to pilot the app in five Miami locations.
11:41I had 16 new business sign-ups yesterday.
11:4416, Dante?
11:46That's...
11:46A good start, he interrupts.
11:49Not a victory.
11:50You need 300 to break even on your server costs.
11:53You're a mood killer, you know that?
11:55I'm a realist.
11:56But he's smiling now, that rare, devastating smile that makes my stomach do complicated things.
12:03And you're a dreamer who needs someone to handle the details.
12:07I can handle details.
12:09You showed up to our meeting last week with your shirt inside out.
12:13My face burns.
12:15That was one time, and I was running late because...
12:17Because you stopped to help that woman carry her groceries.
12:21His voice softens.
12:23I know.
12:24My driver told me.
12:26I freeze.
12:27Your driver was following me?
12:30My driver was making sure you got here safely.
12:33He closes the laptop and leans forward, elbows on his knees.
12:37You walk through some questionable neighborhoods, Sloan.
12:40I live in one of those questionable neighborhoods.
12:43I know.
12:45Something dark flashes across his face.
12:47We're working on that.
12:49Excuse me?
12:51Nothing.
12:52He stands up too quickly and walks to the window.
12:55Are you hungry?
12:57He does this.
12:58Changes the subject when things get too personal.
13:02I've started cataloging his tells.
13:04The jaw clench when someone mentions his family.
13:07The way his hand twitches toward his phone when certain names come up in conversation.
13:12The careful distance he maintains.
13:14Like he's afraid of what might happen if he gets too close.
13:17Except sometimes, he forgets to maintain that distance.
13:21Like last week, when I was struggling with a supplier contract,
13:25and he stood behind my chair to read over my shoulder,
13:27and I could feel the heat of him.
13:29Smell that cologne that started appearing in my dreams.
13:32Or three days ago, when I made a joke about his expensive taste,
13:36and he laughed, really laughed, and touched my shoulder,
13:40and the warmth of his hands stayed with me for hours.
13:43I'm not hungry, I say, but I am curious.
13:47About?
13:49You.
13:50I tuck my legs under me.
13:52You know everything about me.
13:54My broke childhood.
13:55My dreams.
13:56My brother's college essays.
13:58But you never talk about yourself.
14:01His shoulders tense.
14:02There's nothing interesting to tell.
14:04Bullshit.
14:06The word comes out sharper than I intended.
14:09You grew up poor, but now you have three houses and a car collection and...
14:13I wave around at the beach house.
14:15At the casual wealth that surrounds him like air.
14:18What happened in between?
14:20For a long moment, he doesn't answer.
14:23Then...
14:23I made choices.
14:26That's not an answer.
14:28It's the only one you're getting.
14:31I stand up, frustrated, and cross to where he's standing.
14:35He's looking out at the ocean, but I can see his reflection in the glass,
14:39the hard line of his mouth, the shadows in his eyes.
14:43Why are you really doing this?
14:45I ask quietly.
14:46Why fund my startup?
14:48Why meet with me every week?
14:51Why...
14:51I gesture helplessly.
14:54Why any of it?
14:55He turns to face me, and we're suddenly very close.
14:59Close enough that I can see the faint scar above his left eyebrow,
15:03the tiny imperfection in an otherwise perfect face.
15:06Because, he says voice low,
15:09when you walked into my office, you reminded me of someone.
15:13Who?
15:14Me.
15:15Ten years ago.
15:17Before I...
15:18He stops himself, jaw-clenching.
15:21You still believe the world can be fair.
15:24That hard work matters.
15:26That good people win.
15:28His hand lifts, almost unconsciously,
15:31and his fingers brush a strand of hair from my face.
15:34I want to make sure you keep believing that.
15:37My heart is hammering.
15:39And if I stop believing it?
15:41You won't.
15:43His thumb traces along my cheekbone.
15:45Feather light.
15:46Not while I'm around.
15:49The moment stretches between us,
15:51electric and dangerous,
15:53and I'm pretty sure I've forgotten how to breathe.
15:55His phone buzzes, loud and jarring.
15:58Dante steps back like I've burned him,
16:00pulling the phone from his pocket.
16:02His expression shifts as he reads the screen,
16:05from soft to stone in half a second.
16:07I have to go, he says.
16:10What?
16:10We're in the middle of...
16:12Something's come up.
16:13He's already moving,
16:15grabbing his jacket from the back of the chair,
16:17and his entire demeanor has changed.
16:19This isn't the man who was just touching my face.
16:22This is someone else.
16:24Someone colder.
16:26My driver will take you home.
16:28Dante, lock the door behind you.
16:32He stops at the threshold, turns back.
16:34And Sloan, don't Google my name.
16:37Then he's gone.
16:38Of course I Google his name.
16:41I wait until I'm home.
16:43In my tiny apartment with the leaking faucet
16:45and the neighbor's music bleeding through the walls.
16:47And then I type Dante Castellano Miami into my phone.
16:51The results make my blood turn cold.
16:54Alleged crime boss.
16:55Castellano family empire.
16:57Federal investigation.
16:59Three rival gang members found dead.
17:01I keep scrolling, my hands shaking.
17:04There are photos.
17:04Dante in a courtroom,
17:07looking detached and expensive in a navy suit.
17:11Dante leaving some club,
17:12surrounded by men who look like they could break bones as easily as breath.
17:16Dante at a charity gala,
17:18smiling that perfect smile while the caption speculates about
17:21money laundering through legitimate businesses.
17:23Oh, God.
17:25Oh, God.
17:26Oh, God.
17:26Oh, God.
17:27I've been taking business advice from a mob boss.
17:30I should run.
17:32Call the police.
17:33Shut down the app and give back the money and...
17:35My phone rings.
17:37It's him.
17:37I stare at the screen, my heart in my throat.
17:41I answer.
17:42You googled me, Dante says.
17:44Not a question.
17:46You told me not to.
17:48Since when do you listen to me?
17:50Despite everything, the fear, the shock, the sick feeling in my stomach,
17:54I almost laugh.
17:56Fair point.
17:58Silence.
17:59Then,
17:59Are you afraid of me now?
18:02I should say yes.
18:04The smart answer is yes.
18:06Should I be?
18:07I ask instead.
18:09Probably.
18:10His voice is rough.
18:12I've done things, Sloan.
18:14Things that would make you look at me differently.
18:17Like what?
18:18Like protect people who needed protecting,
18:21hurt people who deserved hurting.
18:23A pause.
18:25I'm not a good man.
18:26That's not what I asked.
18:28I'm pacing now, phone pressed to my ear.
18:31I asked if I should be afraid of you.
18:34Of you hurting me.
18:35Never.
18:36The word is immediate.
18:38Fierce.
18:39I would never hurt you.
18:41Then I'm not afraid.
18:43You're insane.
18:44Probably.
18:46I sink onto my couch, exhaustion hitting me all at once.
18:50But you're still funding my startup, right?
18:52Because I signed a lease on Office Space and hired two developers and...
18:57Sloan.
18:58He sounds almost fond.
19:00Yes.
19:00I'm still funding your startup.
19:03Good.
19:04I pull my knees to my chest.
19:06Because I'm all in now.
19:08Can't exactly return the money to a crime boss and expect no consequences.
19:13I prefer entrepreneur with flexible ethics.
19:16Now I do laugh.
19:18Is that what we're calling it?
19:20It's what I'm calling it.
19:22His voice drops lower.
19:24What happened today?
19:25The phone call.
19:26You don't have to explain.
19:28Yes, I do.
19:30He exhales slowly.
19:32Someone made a move against my family's interests.
19:35I had to handle it.
19:37Handle it how?
19:37Do you really want to know?
19:40I think about that.
19:42About the man who brings me sandwiches and remembers how I take my coffee.
19:46The man who looks at me like I'm the most interesting thing in his world.
19:49The man whose touch makes my skin sing.
19:53No.
19:54I whisper.
19:56I don't.
19:57Smart girl.
19:59Dante?
20:00Yeah?
20:02Whatever you are, whatever you've done, you're not going to drag me into it, right?
20:07My brother, my business, they're safe?
20:10They're untouchable, he says, and there's steel in his voice.
20:14I've made sure of it.
20:16Anyone who comes near you or yours will answer to me personally.
20:19The certainty in his tone should scare me.
20:24Instead, it makes me feel safer than I have in years.
20:28Okay, I say.
20:29Then we're good.
20:31Just like that?
20:32Just like that.
20:34I lie back against the couch cushions.
20:36Besides, you're right.
20:38I need someone to handle the details.
20:40Even if that someone is Miami's most wanted.
20:43I'm not.
20:44He stops.
20:45That's not funny.
20:47It's a little funny.
20:49You're going to be the death of me, Sloane Brennan.
20:52Right back at you, Dante Castellano.
20:55He's quiet for a moment.
20:57Then, get some sleep.
20:59We have work to do tomorrow.
21:02What kind of work?
21:03The kind where I teach you to negotiate with suppliers who won't be charmed by your smile.
21:08His voice holds a smile of its own.
21:11Though God knows I've never been able to resist it.
21:14He hangs up before I can process that last part.
21:18I lie there in the dark, phone clutched to my chest, and wonder what the hell I've gotten
21:22myself into, and why I'm not running.
21:26Claude is AI and can make mistakes.
21:28Please double-check responses.
21:31Two months after I googled Dante's name and decided to stay anyway, someone tries to kill
21:36me in broad daylight at a Whole Foods.
21:39I'm in the produce section.
21:41Because of course I am.
21:42This is Miami, and even assassination attempts happen somewhere expensive.
21:46When a man in a black jacket steps too close and I feel something cold press against my ribs.
21:52Walk, he says quietly.
21:54Don't scream.
21:56Don't run.
21:57My brain goes blank with terror.
22:00Then it kicks into overdrive.
22:02Are you serious right now?
22:05I hiss, clutching my basket of overpriced organic kale.
22:09It's two in the afternoon.
22:11There are cameras everywhere.
22:13Move.
22:14The pressure increases.
22:16Mr. Volkov wants to have a conversation about your business partner.
22:20My blood turns to ice.
22:23Volkov.
22:24I've heard that name exactly once, when Dante got a phone call during one of our meetings
22:28and his entire face went cold and dangerous.
22:31I don't know any Volkov, I say.
22:34But my voice shakes.
22:36But Castellano does.
22:38The man smiles, and it's worse than if he'd snarled.
22:41And he seems very attached to you.
22:43So you're coming with us, and he's going to—
22:46He doesn't finish because someone slams him face-first into the avocado display.
22:51I stumble back, heart-hammering, as the man crumples.
22:54Standing over him, wearing sunglasses and a blazer that does nothing to hide the gun holster underneath,
22:59is a woman I vaguely recognize from Dante's office.
23:02Miss Brennan, she says calmly, like she just helped me reach something on a high shelf
23:07instead of committing assault with produce.
23:10Mr. Castellano would like you to come with me.
23:13I—what?
23:14He was going to—
23:15I know.
23:17She's already pulling out her phone, speaking rapid Italian to someone.
23:21Two more men appear from nowhere.
23:23One stays with the groaning attacker.
23:25The other takes my arm gently.
23:28We need to move.
23:30Now.
23:31They hustle me through the store, past shocked shoppers and a teenage cashier filming on his phone,
23:37out into the parking lot where a black SUV is waiting with the engine running.
23:41Dante is in the backseat.
23:43He looks furious.
23:44Get in, he says, voice tight.
23:47I get in.
23:48The SUV peels out before my door is fully closed.
23:51Dante is on his phone immediately, speaking in low-clipped Italian that sounds like he's planning someone's murder.
23:56Probably because he is.
23:58Dante.
23:59I try.
24:00But he holds up one finger.
24:03Five minutes of terse phone conversation later, he hangs up and finally looks at me.
24:08Are you hurt?
24:09He asks.
24:10No, I'm—
24:11Are you sure?
24:13His hands are on me before I can answer,
24:16checking my arms, my ribs, where the man pressed the gun,
24:19his touch gentle, but his eyes wild.
24:22Did he hurt you?
24:24Did he—
24:25I'm fine, I say, catching his hands.
24:28Dante, I'm fine.
24:30He stares at me for a long moment,
24:32then pulls me against his chest so hard I lose my breath.
24:36His heart is pounding like he's just run a marathon.
24:39This is my fault, he says into my hair.
24:42I should have told you.
24:44Should have warned you that being near me means—
24:47Stop.
24:47I pull back enough to see his face.
24:50What's happening?
24:51Who's Volkov?
24:52His jaw clenches.
24:54A problem I thought I'd handled.
24:56Well, he seems pretty unhandled.
24:59Not for long.
25:01Something dark and dangerous crosses his face.
25:04He came after you to get to me.
25:06That was a mistake.
25:08Dante.
25:08I'm ending this, he says.
25:11Today.
25:12But first, I need to make sure you're safe.
25:16The SUV pulls up to a building I don't recognize.
25:19Something sleek and modern and brickle.
25:21All glass and steel.
25:23We take a private elevator to the penthouse,
25:25and suddenly I'm in an apartment that makes his beach house look modest.
25:30Stay here, Dante instructs, already moving toward the door.
25:33Marco will be outside.
25:35Don't leave.
25:35Don't open the door for anyone except me.
25:38Wait.
25:39I grab his arm.
25:40You're just going to leave?
25:42After someone tried to kidnap me?
25:43After—
25:44My voice cracks.
25:46You can't just go.
25:48He turns and his expression softens.
25:51Sloan.
25:53I know what you're going to do, I say.
25:55And I know I don't get to have an opinion about it because I'm not part of that world.
25:59But I—
26:00I take a shaky breath.
26:02Don't die, okay?
26:04Don't you dare die because then I'll have to explain to my brother why my investor was actually a mob boss and—
26:11Dante kisses me.
26:13It's not gentle.
26:14It's desperate and fierce and tastes like fear and something else.
26:18Something deeper.
26:19His hands cup my face like I'm precious.
26:22Like I'm something worth protecting.
26:24And I kiss him back with everything I have because I'm terrified this might be the last time.
26:28When he pulls away, we're both breathing hard.
26:31I'm coming back.
26:33He says.
26:34I promise.
26:35You can't promise that.
26:37Watch me.
26:38He presses his forehead to mine.
26:41I didn't claw my way up from nothing just to die before I see you succeed.
26:45Before I—
26:47He stops himself.
26:48I'm coming back, Sloan.
26:51Then he's gone.
26:53Six hours later, I'm pacing the apartment like a caged animal, ignoring Marco's attempts to bring me food when the door opens.
27:02Dante walks in, alive and whole and perfect, and I burst into tears.
27:07Hey, hey!
27:09He's across the room in seconds, pulling me into his arms.
27:12I'm here.
27:13I'm fine.
27:14It's over.
27:16You promised.
27:17I sob into his chest.
27:19You promised you'd come back.
27:21And I keep my promises.
27:23His hand strokes through my hair.
27:26Always.
27:27I pull back enough to see his face.
27:30There's a bruise forming on his jaw, and his knuckles are scraped.
27:33But he's smiling.
27:35Is he—
27:37Gone.
27:39Dante's voice is flat.
27:41He won't be bothering anyone again.
27:43Neither will anyone else who thinks they can use you to get to me.
27:46What does that mean?
27:48He guides me to the couch, sitting close enough that our knees touch.
27:52It means I made it very clear that you're under my protection.
27:56That touching you means war with the Castellano family.
27:59He takes my hand, lacing our fingers together.
28:02It also means I need to ask you something.
28:05My heart stutters.
28:07What?
28:08This—us—whatever this is?
28:11He gestures between us.
28:13It's dangerous.
28:14Being with me is dangerous.
28:16Today prove that.
28:18His thumb traces circles on my palm.
28:20So I need you to decide.
28:23Do you want out?
28:24Because I can arrange it.
28:26I can make sure you're safe.
28:27That your business thrives.
28:29That—
28:29Do you want me to leave?
28:31I interrupt.
28:32God, no.
28:34The words are torn from him.
28:36I want to keep you.
28:37I want to wake up and see you smile at me over coffee.
28:40I want to argue with you about expense reports and watch you light up when you talk about your dreams.
28:45I want—
28:46He stops, jaw-working.
28:48I want things I have no right to want.
28:52Like what?
28:54Like you.
28:55All of you.
28:57His eyes meet mine, dark and intense.
29:00I'm falling in love with you, Sloan.
29:03I think I have been since you walked into my office with that ridiculous prototype and refused to back down.
29:09My breath catches.
29:11That's not fair.
29:12I know.
29:14I'm supposed to be the sensible one.
29:16The one who knows this is crazy.
29:18I know.
29:20You're a criminal.
29:22I'm trying to help small businesses.
29:24We're—
29:25This doesn't make sense.
29:27I know.
29:29He raises our joined hands, pressing a kiss to my knuckles.
29:33But I meant what I said.
29:35I'm not a good man.
29:36But I could be.
29:38For you.
29:39I want to be.
29:41I think about the last two months.
29:43The way he looks at me like I hung the moon.
29:46The sandwiches and coffee and patient explanations.
29:50The way he touches me like I'm something precious.
29:53The way he made sure my brother's tuition was mysteriously covered by a scholarship
29:57that I know came from him.
29:59The way he promised to come back and did.
30:03I have conditions, I say.
30:06Hope flares in his eyes.
30:08Anything.
30:10No more secrets.
30:11If someone's coming after you, after us, I need to know.
30:16Done.
30:17And I'm keeping my apartment.
30:18I'm not moving into some penthouse or—
30:21We'll negotiate on that one.
30:23He's smiling now.
30:24What else?
30:26You fund my startup all the way through.
30:28Not because you love me, but because it's a good investment.
30:31It is a good investment.
30:34He tugs me closer.
30:35You're going to change the world, Sloane Brennan.
30:38And I'm going to make sure you have everything you need to do it.
30:42Even if that means going legitimate, leaving the—I wave vaguely.
30:47The family business?
30:49His expression grows serious.
30:52I've been working on that.
30:54Slowly.
30:55Carefully.
30:56It's not something you can just walk away from overnight.
31:00He touches my face, gentle.
31:02But for you, I'll find a way.
31:05I'll build something better.
31:07Something you can be proud of.
31:10I'm already proud of you, I say softly.
31:13You're funding 50 small businesses now because of our pilot program.
31:17You're creating jobs.
31:19You're—
31:19You're doing good, Dante.
31:21Maybe you've always been capable of it.
31:24Only because you make me want to be better.
31:27I lean in, closing the distance between us.
31:30Then I guess I'm all in.
31:32Again.
31:33Even knowing the danger?
31:36Especially knowing the danger.
31:38I smile against his lips.
31:41Someone has to keep you from getting too dramatic about expense reports.
31:45He laughs, really laughs, and kisses me, soft and sweet and full of promise.
31:51I love you, he murmurs, my brilliant, stubborn, impossible girl.
31:58I love you, too, I whisper back, my dangerous, overprotective, surprisingly soft mob boss.
32:06Entrepreneur with flexible ethics.
32:08Sure, we'll go with that.
32:11Outside, the Miami sun is setting over the water, painting the sky in shades of gold and orange.
32:17Tomorrow, we'll have work to do.
32:19A business to build.
32:20A empire to legitimize.
32:22A future to create.
32:24But right now, in this moment, with his arms around me and his heart beating against mine,
32:30everything is exactly where it needs to be.
32:32I came to pitch a startup.
32:34I ended up with a mafia boss who funded it just to keep seeing me smile.
32:39And somehow, impossibly, we're going to make it work.
32:43Together.
32:43Well, that's it.
32:46She got her funding, her dangerous mob boss, and apparently a future that involves both
32:51quarterly reports and questionable family dinners.
32:54So here's the deal.
32:56If you made it this far without Googling,
32:58how to pitch to a mafia don,
33:00no judgment, we've all been there,
33:02drop a comment below.
33:04Tell me,
33:05would you take funding from someone that good-looking and morally flexible?
33:09Or are you smarter than Sloan?
33:10Hit that like button if you're a sucker for a man who says,
33:14I'm not a good person.
33:15And then proceeds to be annoyingly protective and fund your dreams.
33:19And subscribe because honestly,
33:21I've got about 17 more ridiculous scenarios where ordinary women
33:24accidentally romance dangerous men in broad daylight.
33:28Next time,
33:29she rear-ended his Rolls Royce.
33:31He made her work it off at his casino.
33:35Yes, there will be banter.
33:37No, there will not be common sense.
33:38See you in the next story,
33:41where terrible decisions meet amazing men and nobody learns anything.
34:08You're welcome.
34:30You
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