- 5 hours ago
The Blackmailed Bride Falling in Love With a Criminal Boss
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00:02I once read that the most dangerous thing a woman can do is save a man's life.
00:00:06I didn't believe it.
00:00:07I was 22, idealistic, and three semesters short of a nursing degree.
00:00:13When I found a man bleeding out in an alley behind a fast food restaurant, I didn't think about danger.
00:00:18I just pressed my hands to the wound.
00:00:20I didn't know his name.
00:00:21I didn't know that the blood soaking through my uniform belonged to the most feared cartel boss on the East
00:00:26Coast.
00:00:27I didn't know that behind those dark, half-conscious eyes was a man who would remember everything I did.
00:00:32Every word.
00:00:33Every touch.
00:00:34Every desperate instruction I gave him in the dark.
00:00:36I didn't know he would come back for me.
00:00:38Three months later, a man named Emilio Reyes walked into my life and told me I had inherited a fortune
00:00:44from my late aunt on one condition.
00:00:46Marriage.
00:00:47To him.
00:00:48Immediately.
00:00:49No.
00:00:50I said no.
00:00:51He smiled like I hadn't spoken at all.
00:00:54This is the story of how I married a criminal.
00:00:57How I hated him.
00:00:58Feared him.
00:00:59And somewhere in the middle of all the lies he built our life on, fell desperately, irreversibly in love with
00:01:04him.
00:01:05I want to tell you I fought it.
00:01:07I want to tell you I was smarter than this.
00:01:09But the truth is, the moment I pressed my hands to his chest in that alley, I was already his.
00:01:15I just didn't know it yet.
00:01:17The alley behind the shop smells like grease and rain.
00:01:21I take the trash out at midnight.
00:01:24Because Miguel never does.
00:01:26And I'm too tired to fight about it.
00:01:32That's when I hear it.
00:01:33A shuffle.
00:01:35A grunt.
00:01:36The unmistakable sound of someone about to do something terrible.
00:01:40I peek my head out.
00:01:41First mistake of the night.
00:01:46Hello?
00:01:50New men immediately pin me against the wall.
00:01:52I open my mouth to scream.
00:01:54Someone beats me to it.
00:01:55He steps out of the dark like he owns it.
00:01:58Tall.
00:01:58Jaw tight.
00:02:00One hand pressed to his ribs.
00:02:02He's bleeding.
00:02:03I can see it soaking through his shirt.
00:02:05In a dark, spreading stain.
00:02:07He shouldn't be standing.
00:02:09Standing anyway.
00:02:10Let her go.
00:02:13The men charge.
00:02:15He moves.
00:02:16Fast.
00:02:17Precise.
00:02:18Brutal.
00:02:19And it's over in seconds.
00:02:21One man clutches his arm.
00:02:23Screaming.
00:02:24The other is already gone.
00:02:28And then the stranger folds like paper.
00:02:31Ding the wet pavement before I can catch him.
00:02:35I drag him inside.
00:02:37I don't know why.
00:02:42I'm a nursing school dropout.
00:02:44With shaking hands.
00:02:46And no business saving anyone.
00:02:48But I press gauze to his chest.
00:02:51And count his breaths.
00:02:53And tell him to stay with me.
00:02:55And somewhere between one breath and the next.
00:02:57I start to believe he might actually listen.
00:02:59He opens his eyes.
00:03:01Grabs my wrist hard enough to bruise.
00:03:04No one has ever seen me like this.
00:03:08You're dead.
00:03:09Stop moving or you'll bleed more.
00:03:11He lets go.
00:03:14He passes out.
00:03:16I keep working.
00:03:17By the time I come back with antibiotics.
00:03:20He's gone.
00:03:21The room is empty.
00:03:23Except for the bloody gons.
00:03:24And the faint smell of something expensive.
00:03:27Cologne.
00:03:28Maybe.
00:03:28Or power.
00:03:33I stand in the doorway.
00:03:35And feel something I can't name settle into my chest.
00:03:40Hope you make it.
00:03:42Stranger.
00:03:47The days pass.
00:03:49My life goes on.
00:03:51The midnight shifts blur into each other.
00:03:54And I almost convinced myself the whole thing was a fever dream.
00:03:59The blood.
00:04:00The alley.
00:04:01The man who threatened to kill me while I was saving his life.
00:04:06Almost.
00:04:08It isn't until three months later.
00:04:11That I understand the mistake I made that night.
00:04:14It wasn't peeking my head out into that alley.
00:04:17It was pulling the stranger back from the edge.
00:04:20I'm wiping down the counter.
00:04:22When his face fills the TV screen above the register.
00:04:27Emilio Reyes.
00:04:28East Coast Cartel King.
00:04:31Dangerous.
00:04:32Untouchable.
00:04:34The customers are whispering.
00:04:36The word monster drifts past my ear like smoke.
00:04:40I stare at the screen.
00:04:42And the memory hits me like a cold wave.
00:04:45His hand locked around my wrist.
00:04:47Even through the blood loss.
00:04:51No one has ever seen me like this.
00:04:55You're dead.
00:04:58Shit.
00:04:59I set down the tray.
00:05:01I turn for the door.
00:05:02A black bag drops over my head.
00:05:05The last thing I hear before the world goes dark.
00:05:08You're coming with us.
00:05:16They take the bag off in a room that costs more than my entire life.
00:05:19He's standing by the window with his back to me.
00:05:22And even from behind I can feel the weight of him.
00:05:25The absolute unharried certainty of a man who has never once been told no.
00:05:31He turns around slowly.
00:05:33Like he has all the time in the world.
00:05:36Like I'm not hyperventilating in the middle of his Persian rug.
00:05:39He looks at me the way you look at something you already own.
00:05:42Hello wife.
00:05:44Wife?
00:05:45He pulls out a file and slides it across the desk.
00:05:49Leticia Vierito.
00:05:51My aunt.
00:05:52Who I barely knew.
00:05:53Who apparently knew him very well.
00:05:55She raised him.
00:05:56He called her family.
00:05:57And when she died.
00:05:59She left everything to me.
00:06:01One million dollars.
00:06:04I stare at the number until the zeros blur.
00:06:08You're handing out one million dollars to me?
00:06:10Just like this?
00:06:12Of course not.
00:06:14Your inheritance comes with a condition.
00:06:16Marry me for one year.
00:06:18Part of me wants to laugh.
00:06:19The part that's been eating ramen for six months.
00:06:22Drowning in debt.
00:06:24Too proud to ask for help.
00:06:25One million dollars.
00:06:27I could breathe again.
00:06:28I could actually breathe.
00:06:30But then the other part of me kepts up.
00:06:33The part that recognizes his face from every news broadcast.
00:06:36Every whispered warning.
00:06:38Every story that ends badly.
00:06:41Marry a mafia king with a promise of one million dollars?
00:06:44Is this Watmack novel really happening to me?
00:06:46Me?
00:06:47I set down the file.
00:06:49What do you get out of this?
00:06:51I... I'm a nobody.
00:06:53He steps closer.
00:06:55Close enough that I have to tilt my head back to hold his gaze.
00:06:58And I hate that I do it.
00:07:01You're not a nobody.
00:07:04Don't ever say that again.
00:07:08He says it quietly.
00:07:10Too quietly.
00:07:11Too gently.
00:07:12Like he means it.
00:07:14Like he's been thinking about it.
00:07:16And the words land somewhere soft and unprotected.
00:07:19Before I can get my guard back up.
00:07:23I don't know what to do with them.
00:07:25So I look away, down at the floor, and that's when I see it.
00:07:28A dark stain in the carpet.
00:07:30Old and brown at the edges.
00:07:33Blood.
00:07:33Someone's blood.
00:07:35Soaked into the fibers and never fully cleaned away.
00:07:38The word yes dies in my throat.
00:07:40No.
00:07:42Then you just made your first mistake as my future wife.
00:07:47No.
00:07:50His hand moves toward his hip.
00:07:52My survival instincts shoot up.
00:07:56Wait.
00:07:57I... I didn't mean no.
00:07:59I just... I need time.
00:08:01To think.
00:08:03I'm allowed to think, right?
00:08:05A beat.
00:08:06His hand stills.
00:08:07Of course.
00:08:09I try the door.
00:08:12Locked.
00:08:13Of course it's locked.
00:08:16My heart hammers against my ribs as his foot steps cross the room behind me.
00:08:20Quiet.
00:08:21Unhurried.
00:08:22Inevitable.
00:08:23His hand covers mine on the knob.
00:08:25His mouth is close enough to my ear that I feel the warmth of his breath.
00:08:29And every rational thought I have dissolves.
00:08:32I'm a king, Mia.
00:08:34Don't even think about running.
00:08:38I'll see you at the altar.
00:08:40He twists the knob.
00:08:41The door swings open.
00:08:42I don't walk out.
00:08:43I flee.
00:08:45I nearly collide with a man in the hallway.
00:08:48Younger than Emilio.
00:08:49Easier to read.
00:08:50With a smile that doesn't reach his eyes.
00:08:52He watches me scramble past and says nothing.
00:08:55Behind me, I hear him say something to Emilio in a low voice.
00:08:59I don't stop to listen.
00:09:00Back in my apartment, Serena screams at me through the phone for ten solid minutes.
00:09:05I hold it away from my ear and stare at the ceiling.
00:09:07You should've left him bleeding in that alley!
00:09:10I know.
00:09:11He's a monster!
00:09:12My food's here.
00:09:13Talk later.
00:09:17I open the door expecting delivery.
00:09:20A gun barrel, cold metal, pointed at my face.
00:09:24Behind it, a man I've never seen before, silver-haired and soft-voiced.
00:09:29With the calm of someone who has done terrible things for a very long time.
00:09:34And at his feet.
00:09:35Crumbled.
00:09:36Bleeding.
00:09:36Reaching for my ankle.
00:09:38A boy I've never met.
00:09:39But somehow, recognizing the shape of his jaw, the curve of his nose.
00:09:45A stranger smiles.
00:09:46Mia Espinosa.
00:09:49Mia Espinosa.
00:09:50We need to talk.
00:09:54His name is Franco Palacio.
00:09:57I am Franco.
00:09:58He says it like a title, like something I should already know and fear.
00:10:02He says it while one of his men pins my arms behind me, and another kicks the boy hard enough
00:10:08to crack ribs.
00:10:10Tomas.
00:10:11Tomas.
00:10:11Your cousin.
00:10:12Leticia's only son.
00:10:14I didn't even know I had a cousin.
00:10:18I'm Emilio Reyes' worst nightmare.
00:10:21I don't know Emilio.
00:10:23That's a lie.
00:10:25Of course I lied.
00:10:26I would say anything to get out of this.
00:10:31This gangster war I've somehow wandered into.
00:10:34Dragging a cousin I've never met along with me.
00:10:37Maybe I really shouldn't have saved Emilio that night.
00:10:44He ignores me, and crouches beside Tomas, dragging a knife down his cheek so slowly, so precisely,
00:10:51that the line of red it draws looks almost surgical.
00:10:55Tomas makes a sound I'll hear in my sleep for years.
00:10:58You're gonna marry Emilio Reyes.
00:10:59You're gonna give him an heir.
00:11:05And that child will be born under my command.
00:11:10What?
00:11:11A wife.
00:11:12A baby.
00:11:13That's all it takes to ruin a man like him.
00:11:18You're gonna be my weapon, sweetheart.
00:11:21He stands, moves back to Tomas, and presses the flat of the blade against his eyelid.
00:11:27One month.
00:11:28Get pregnant.
00:11:33Or your cousin loses more than an eye.
00:11:36I can't breathe.
00:11:38I can't think.
00:11:39The room has shrunk to the size of that knife.
00:11:41That eye.
00:11:42That terrible soft sound Tomas makes when the blade presses harder.
00:11:47Stop.
00:11:48Left eye.
00:11:50Or right.
00:11:52Stop!
00:11:53I'll do it!
00:11:54The blade lifts.
00:11:55Franco smiles, like I've given him a gift.
00:11:58Then the front door Sweeney splinters off its hinges.
00:12:04Emilio doesn't come in like a rescue.
00:12:06He comes in like weather.
00:12:08Sudden.
00:12:09Total.
00:12:09Impossible to argue with.
00:12:11His men fan out behind him.
00:12:14Franco's men scatter.
00:12:16And then it's just the two of us.
00:12:18And Tomas is gone.
00:12:19Dragged out in the chaos.
00:12:21And I'm on the floor.
00:12:24With my knees pulled to my chest.
00:12:27And my whole body shaking so hard my teeth click together.
00:12:30I don't hear him cross the room.
00:12:32I just feel the air change.
00:12:35Mia.
00:12:35His voice is different.
00:12:37Softer than I've heard it.
00:12:38I look up.
00:12:39And something in his face does things I don't expect.
00:12:43It cracks.
00:12:44Just at the edges.
00:12:46Just for a second.
00:12:47I don't decide to move.
00:12:49I just do it.
00:12:50I throw myself at him.
00:12:54And his arms close around me before I can second guess it.
00:12:58And I press my face into his chest.
00:13:01And cry in a way I haven't cried since I was a little girl.
00:13:06Ugly and desperate and completely undignified.
00:13:10He holds me like he means it.
00:13:13He doesn't speak.
00:13:15Doesn't ask questions.
00:13:17Just keeps one hand on the back of my head.
00:13:20And breathes slowly.
00:13:22Steadily.
00:13:23Like he's trying to teach me how.
00:13:25And gradually my shaking slows.
00:13:27When I finally pull back his expression has closed again.
00:13:30But his eyes haven't.
00:13:33You're my woman, Mia.
00:13:36Your tears belong to me.
00:13:38I should have a response to that.
00:13:40I don't.
00:13:41I just look at him.
00:13:43And feel the words settle somewhere deep and permanent.
00:13:47Like a key turning in a lock I didn't know I had.
00:13:50He wipes my face with his thumb.
00:13:52Gentle.
00:13:54Careful.
00:13:54Like I'm something worth being careful with.
00:13:58I'm not your woman.
00:14:00I haven't agreed to anything yet.
00:14:03I know.
00:14:04We should talk.
00:14:06He says it quietly.
00:14:07He doesn't push.
00:14:09He just looks at me like he's already decided.
00:14:11And he's willing to wait.
00:14:13That might be the most frightening thing he's done yet.
00:14:17The next morning, we sit on opposite sides of a conference table with a contract between us sick enough to
00:14:23stop a bullet.
00:14:25Our marriage contract.
00:14:28Read it.
00:14:31Terms and conditions.
00:14:34We'll discuss today.
00:14:40I keep my spine straight as I flip through the pages.
00:14:43I try very hard to absorb what I'm about to sign my life onto.
00:14:48But not a single word makes it to my brain.
00:14:54Instead, Franco's voice echoes like a curse on a loop.
00:14:58Marry Emilio.
00:15:00Baby.
00:15:01One month.
00:15:05My weapon.
00:15:07To save a cousin I barely know in a gangster war I never asked to be part of?
00:15:11I'm going to lie to a cartel king, sitting right across from me, expecting a real marriage.
00:15:18Of course I'll sign this contract.
00:15:20But it's not my choice.
00:15:22It was never my choice.
00:15:24I am completely, utterly out of control of this situation, and I have to pretend otherwise.
00:15:29Perfectly.
00:15:31Or Thomas pays for it.
00:15:33Everything okay?
00:15:36I startle.
00:15:38He's watching me.
00:15:40Of course he's watching me.
00:15:42Men like him watch everything.
00:15:47I need to smooth this over.
00:15:49For my cousin.
00:15:51The contract doesn't mention sleeping arrangements.
00:15:55He goes very still.
00:15:58Sleeping arrangements.
00:16:02We'd be married.
00:16:06It would be natural that we...
00:16:09The chair scrapes back.
00:16:11He's in front of me in two steps, leaning over the table, with both hands planted on either side of
00:16:18the contract, close enough that I can smell his cologne, and feel the warmth radiating off his skin.
00:16:24It's natural we fuck.
00:16:27My breath stops.
00:16:32Do you want me to fuck you?
00:16:36There is no good answer to that question.
00:16:43There is only the truth.
00:16:45Yes.
00:16:46Obviously.
00:16:47Embarrassingly.
00:16:49Inconveniently yes.
00:16:50And the reason behind it...
00:16:52Which I can never tell him.
00:16:57That's what husbands and wives do.
00:17:00We're not real husband and wife.
00:17:02This is a contract.
00:17:07You're attractive and rich.
00:17:10Any woman would want you.
00:17:15He tilts his head, something dangerous flickering in his eyes.
00:17:20You think I'm attractive?
00:17:25Yes.
00:17:26Are you lying to me?
00:17:31No.
00:17:32I'm not lying.
00:17:34That's the problem.
00:17:36I'm not lying at all, and he can see it.
00:17:39And the slow curve of his mouth tells him he's been able to see it this whole time.
00:17:45He lifts me onto the table in one motion.
00:17:48I gasp.
00:17:50Not in fear, which would make sense, in something that runs hotter than fear.
00:17:55He nudges my knees apart.
00:17:57Not roughly.
00:17:59Just firmly.
00:18:00With the uncurried confidence of a man who already knows the answer.
00:18:07You can lie with words.
00:18:09Not with your body.
00:18:11His hand slides up my inner thigh.
00:18:17Tell me you want me.
00:18:19Tell me it's not just the contract.
00:18:21And God help me, I do.
00:18:34Amor.
00:18:35No.
00:18:49You don't.
00:18:51No.
00:18:51You don't.
00:18:52for me do I get you this wet just by talking to you her voice comes out
00:19:05wrecked and small and honest and it pulls me back from the edge of something
00:19:11I can't afford that voice that lying beautiful voice I know something happened
00:19:20between her and Franco I've known since the moment I walked into her apartment
00:19:24and found her on the floor because I wasn't there to rescue her I was there
00:19:28to make her talk Franco's men were already scattering when I kicked the
00:19:33door in I had my gun up finger on the trigger Franco in my sights and then I
00:19:40saw small in a way that hit me somewhere I don't let things hit me I
00:19:48I lowered the gun I crossed the room and the second she threw herself against
00:19:55it's my chest I let out a breath I hadn't known I was holding the will I showed
00:20:04her I fabricated it my nanny Latricia was a kind woman not a wealthy one she didn't
00:20:14leave a million dollars I forged every page I needed a reason to keep me a
00:20:20close somewhere I could watch her pull the truth out of her slowly but that day
00:20:28with her crying in my arms I stopped caring about the plan I decided I had to
00:20:35have her one way or another I never expected the other way to involve this
00:20:41many lies I hate lies
00:20:48Mia you have no idea I'm going to torture to truth out of you I shoved my hand back
00:20:54between her legs fingers flying to my shoulders she doesn't stop good I push
00:21:10her panties aside and press one finger inside her she moans hips rolling forward
00:21:15instinctively hands gripping my shoulders like she needs something to hold on to
00:21:25Emilio
00:21:26God my name in her mouth like that I add a second finger and move faster watching her
00:21:36come undone and I am aching with how much I want her but I have a mission I need her
00:21:43confession if I handed you the inheritance right now no strings no crack would you
00:21:49still want me
00:21:51answer me
00:21:55yes more lies oh you little liar you have no idea what you just walked into he
00:22:04stops the absence of his touch is so sudden it punches the air out of me I
00:22:08look at him chest heaving completely undone and his face has already closed
00:22:13composed cool like none of it happened
00:22:19you're hiding something from me bad girls don't get to come sign the contract
00:22:24Diego will help you move in tomorrow I sit on the edge of the conference table
00:22:27with his handkerchief in my hands and the ghost of his touch still burning under
00:22:31my skin and I stare at the closed door and try to remember who I am and why I'm
00:22:37here stay focused Mia to us one month that's all that matters his mansion is
00:22:43the size of my entire neighborhood I drag my suitcase through the front door and
00:22:47try not to look like I've never seen marble floors before the staff lines up
00:22:50to greet me I shake everyone's hand and smile until my face hurts and somewhere
00:22:53in the middle of it Emilio appears from a hallway and I make the mistake of
00:22:56asking if I'll be staying in his room we don't sleep in the same room he gives me a
00:23:03guest room with a bed too big for one person and curtains the color of
00:23:06champagne he drops a ring box into my palm without ceremony or eye contact
00:23:09wear it in public it fits perfectly I don't know why that makes my chest ache
00:23:14why are you so cold today I thought do you know what I do to people who betray me
00:23:18no I kill them every single one betrayal doesn't exist in my world are you
00:23:24keeping something from me Mia tell him just tell him the words crowd my throat
00:23:28Franco Tomas the knife the deadline when I look up Emilio is gone I need to
00:23:34get pregnant I need to do something
00:23:41this will have to do I carry a plate of cookies down the hall like an
00:23:47offering which honestly is exactly what it is this is the plan this is the whole
00:23:51plan I push open the study door 15 men look up at me simultaneously leave not
00:23:57you I stand there tugging the hem of my shorts down and trying to look like I
00:24:04haven't just made a catastrophic mistake you didn't just bring me cookies dressed
00:24:07like this I didn't know you were in a meeting I'm half mine to shoot every man
00:24:10who was just in this room please don't what do I do to a bad girl who interrupts
00:24:14my meeting do I bend you over this desk and spank your pretty little ass I
00:24:17shiver I should not shiver I shiver anyway do I force you down on your knees and
00:24:21make you take my cock or you could take me I can give you an air no no condoms you're
00:24:32not
00:24:32on birth control I know something shifts in his expression the heat drains out of it
00:24:36replaced by something colder and more careful you want my baby why because your biggest enemy
00:24:41has my cousin and gave me a deadline and I have no other options and I'm terrified and I'm sorry
00:24:46because you're handsome and I'd really love to get out what get out I slide to the floor and stand
00:24:54there for one horrible second completely exposed the cookies the shorts the desperate transparent
00:24:59wanting of all of it and then I turn and walk out with whatever dignity I have left which is
00:25:03not much
00:25:04I need a new plan Serena can you meet me I need to tell you everything outside my window the
00:25:11city
00:25:11hums and glitters like it doesn't know anything is wrong like the world is perfectly ordinary and I
00:25:16haven't spent the last week tangled up in a cartel king who sees straight through every lie I tell
00:25:20except the one that might get us both killed what did I get myself into
00:25:28thank god are you okay he didn't chain you up somewhere he's not no no dungeons I'm fine
00:25:35you don't look fine she's right I don't feel fine I feel like I'm playing three different chess games at
00:25:40once and losing all of them I start to tell her about Franco about Tomas about the deadline
00:25:44but before I can get past the first sentence are you okay you seem terrified of him of course I'm
00:25:49terrified his men run the entire East Coast he could be listening to us right now me Serena
00:25:53you're not making sense why do you even know so much about who's your dad something shifts in
00:25:57her expression something serious and old and tired like she's been waiting for this question
00:26:01and dreading it at the same time Mia it's time you know who I am the door exploding open a
00:26:06masked man
00:26:06with a gun raised screaming at everyone to get on the floor the cafe erupts into chaos I freeze I
00:26:12stand in
00:26:12the middle of it all and my body simply refuses to move like it's deciding whether any of this is
00:26:16real Mia get down I can't move you deaf I said down the robber spots me move why can't I
00:26:24move
00:26:32for one second I think it's over Marco put it down please
00:26:42I stand there with a stranger's arm around neck and think absurdly about the alley three months ago
00:26:46about how I peeked my head out and said hello like an idiot about how that one bad decision led
00:26:50to
00:26:51every bad decision after it a chain of dominoes I set off the moment I dragged a bleeding cartel king
00:26:55off the pavement I really shouldn't have saved him then the door opens again Emilio walks in like he
00:26:59has nowhere else to be like this is a meeting he scheduled gun raised jaw set eyes finding me in
00:27:04under a second oh yeah who's she the president's wife Emilio shoots him in the arm the arm around
00:27:09my throat goes slack I drop Serena catches me no you're fucking not I don't see what happens next
00:27:15the world tilts go soft at the edges and I stop being able to hold myself up the last thing
00:27:20I feel
00:27:21before I feign is someone lifting me his arms his cologne that particular steadiness that shouldn't feel
00:27:26like safety but does I wake up in a bed that isn't mine it's too big too soft smells too
00:27:33expensive
00:27:33the ceiling is high and unfamiliar and for a disoriented moment I have no idea where I am
00:27:38or what year it is then I remember the gun the arm around my throat the sound of a shot
00:27:42I sit up too
00:27:42fast my head swims are you okay he's still in his suit he's looking at me with an intensity that
00:27:48doesn't belong on a face pretending not to care I think so where am I my bedroom your bedroom
00:27:55I thought we had separate rooms you also walked into my meeting in a pair of shorts and asked me
00:27:59to
00:27:59get you pregnant rules are flexible does that mean I can stay in your room now do you want to
00:28:06sleep
00:28:06with me that badly yes says every nerve in my body yes but not for the reason you think says
00:28:11the part
00:28:11of me that remembers Tomas and Franco and the deadline that is still ticking what if I say yes
00:28:16his eyes darken for one suspended second I think he's going to close the distance between us and my
00:28:21heart rate does something embarrassing he stands instead adjusts his jacket rest tomorrow's a big day
00:28:27what's tomorrow the engagement party where I tell the world you're mine am I falling for him no focus
00:28:32Tomas one month
00:28:36the next morning a small army arrives at my door they work on me for two hours I sit in
00:28:41the chair
00:28:41and let them and feel like a doll being dressed for a party I didn't ask to attend which is
00:28:45technically
00:28:46exactly what's happening I slip out when they're arguing about earrings down the hall through the tall
00:28:51living room windows I spot Emilio outside with Diego he's in a sharp suit and he's furious jaw tight
00:28:56gesturing hard words muffled through the glass but unmistakably sharp he's beautiful when he's
00:29:00angry I noticed this and immediately wish I hadn't you're gonna tell me why you want my baby and what
00:29:08it have to do with Palacio who the man at your apartment he knows he's known the realization lands
00:29:14slowly and then all at once and I think about every moment since he showed up at my door the
00:29:18conference
00:29:18table the handkerchief the drawer full of condoms and understand that he has been pulling at this thread
00:29:22the entire time I don't know what you're talking about do you know what happened to the last person
00:29:27who lied to me I cut out their tongue and made them eat it I hate them I blink hard
00:29:33he's a monster
00:29:34I tell myself remember that this isn't over I know it's never over that's the problem
00:29:42I walk in on Emilio's arm in a dress that cost more than three months of my old salary diamonds
00:29:47at
00:29:47my throat and I feel like a very convincing fake Emilio greets people with a smile that doesn't
00:29:52touch his eyes and steers me through the room with a hand at the small of my back that feels
00:29:55like both a claim and a warning stay close don't talk to anyone I'm not allowed to talk to people
00:30:01you've caused enough trouble on your own that wasn't in the contract I'm a cartel ball boss
00:30:06Mia a contract won't stop me from doing whatever I want I don't see Franco until his hand closes
00:30:12around my arm and yanks me into the shadows hello little Mia you didn't forget our deal
00:30:17what are you doing here Emilio invited me go way back Emilio invited him the information sits in
00:30:22my chest on the stone I think about the look on Emilio's face through the window furious deliberate
00:30:26I think about this isn't over you've been living with him for three weeks little Mia why aren't
00:30:30you pregnant yet what did you do to her nothing we were just talking why don't you ask her the
00:30:44scissors land between us like a grenade I watch Emilio's grip loosen just slightly just for a
00:30:49moment and see it on his face the recalculation the betrayal trying to find its shape our eyes meet
00:30:54and I have never felt so exposed in my life then DeLeon is there murmuring something about engagement
00:30:59photos and Emilio exhale through his teeth and goes I watch him walk away with his shoulders set
00:31:04and his jaw tight and something aching and hollow opens up in the middle of my chest you know something's
00:31:09wrong tell him yourself before this ends badly I can't under the bright lights of the photo area
00:31:15Emmanuel and I stand six inches apart like strangers the photographer keeps asking us to move closer
00:31:20we comply in small miserable increments is it that unborable standing next to me only when you're mad at
00:31:25me I'm mad because you're hiding something I can't perfect now give each other a little kiss
00:31:30the silence that follows is approximately a thousand years long then Emilio grabs my chin and kisses me
00:31:35it's not gentle it's a question with teeth demanding and frustrated and searingly humiliatingly effective
00:31:40the camera flashes go off like a small storm that was my first kiss that was my first kiss and
00:31:45he used
00:31:46it like prepuntuation his mouth was just there angry and warm and nothing like I'd imagined and I have
00:31:54absolutely been imagining it and that is a problem I don't have time for right now
00:31:58he was furious and I still got turned on what is wrong with me
00:32:04did you sleep with him? who? Franco Palazzo is that what you're hiding is that why you wouldn't kiss me?
00:32:08no I didn't sleep with him! you shoved me away like I was contagious! because I couldn't breathe I've never
00:32:11I haven't
00:32:12the fury in his expression shifts slowly like a tide going out it gives way to
00:32:16something quiet and more careful breathe through your nose he presses his lips to
00:32:20mine and this time it's nothing like before soft slow like he's asking instead
00:32:24of taking like he has all the time in the world and intends to use it I don't say
00:32:28no I don't say anything he kisses me again deeper one hand sliding to the back of
00:32:33my neck and I stop being able to think in anything but sensation warmth and the
00:32:37smell of his cologne and the ridiculous inconvenient certainty that I am in
00:32:39very serious trouble say yes ma'am yes
00:32:46then he stops not all at once he trails his lips down my throat unhurried while
00:32:49I'm still trying to remember what air is for his hands are at my waist mine are in
00:32:53his hair the whole world has narrowed down to this locked bathroom this basin his
00:32:56mouth but I don't think you deserve it yet what you're still hiding something
00:32:59from me you and my worst enemy I can't tell you I'm so he drops to his knees in
00:33:04front of me parting my legs and I barely have time to process what's happening
00:33:07before his mouth is on me and my head snaps back and I forget every coherent
00:33:11thought I've ever had you'll tell me eventually before it's too late he's
00:33:15using this against me I know he's using this against me I can't make myself care
00:33:20a security guard threatening to break it down promise me you'll tell me the
00:33:23truth or that guard walks in and finds you like this that's you can't that's
00:33:27blackmail yes I promise I'll tell you everything turns back to me eyes dark
00:33:33remember your promise he leaves I sit on the basin in the sudden quiet chest
00:33:39heaving ring glittering on my finger and press my hands to my face he used
00:33:43pleasure as a weapon and the worst part the part I can't stop thinking about as I
00:33:47swipe off the basin and fix my lipstick and walk back out into the party is that I
00:33:50would let him do it again sleep well you don't look like you slept well I can
00:33:59arrange a sleep therapist you used sex to black rail me no I don't need a
00:34:03therapist I need a cop you think a cop would help no because you're the cartel
00:34:07king and you do whatever you want not everything I want not when it comes to
00:34:12you I don't know what to do with that I look at my hands I don't like being lied to
00:34:16Mia I grew up in this world betrayal is the worst sin there is but I'll wait tell me
00:34:20when you're ready something in my chest loosens just slightly the first
00:34:24millimeter of relief in weeks I'll tell you at the right time I need to think
00:34:28it through that's all I need I have money you have peanuts buy whatever you want
00:34:33I'll see you tonight fiancee I look up from five credit cards in the ring on my
00:34:37finger and the ghost of his mouth on mine and I think about Tobos and Franco's
00:34:41deadline and the promise I made in a locked bathroom I'll tell him at the right
00:34:45time my phone buzzes it's a message from an unknown number a photo to us
00:34:50beaten barely conscious a map pin one line of text come alone I'm running some
00:34:55errands today you can come along let's see how long you last I know that's what
00:35:01it was a list of errands Emilio had quietly arranged a list of things I was
00:35:06supposed to need a list of reasons to stay close to the house I ditched them at
00:35:10the corner of fifth and character slipped into a doorway while they ran past in the
00:35:13wrong direction and stood there for three whole seconds feeling like I'd
00:35:17actually won something the address was a neighborhood that had given up on
00:35:20itself cracked pavement board windows a smell like rust and old rain the
00:35:25building at the end of the block looked like it was held together by habit I
00:35:29pushed the door open anyway he needs me I told myself he can't hurt me yet
00:35:33there's no baby the whole scene arranged like something from a bad movie little
00:35:39Mia took you long enough I had to get rid of Emilio's people I'm not talking
00:35:43about that I'm talking about why you're not pregnant he looked up when he
00:35:45heard me my stomach turned he started pulling one of the women closer making
00:35:49a show of it watching my face when something slammed into the building from
00:35:55the back a sound like the world rearranging itself
00:36:03Franco got one hand on my arm before a gunshot punched through the air and he
00:36:12dropped Emilio stood in the doorway guns still raised still smoking he looked at
00:36:18Franco on the floor for exactly one second then he looked at me you okay did
00:36:24he hurt you I couldn't make words happen I just shook my head against his
00:36:28chest and kept shaking take care of the rest we're leaving then he lifted me
00:36:33literally lifted me and carried me out of that building like I weighed nothing like it
00:36:37was the most natural thing in the world like he'd been doing it his whole life
00:36:41outside the afternoon light was so ordinary it almost hurt I kept waiting
00:36:48for him to put me down to say something cold to remind me that this was a
00:36:51contract and feelings weren't included he didn't he just held me against his
00:36:55chest in the back seat while Diego drove and the city slipped past the windows
00:36:58like a film I wasn't part of he set me on the living room sofa carefully gently and
00:37:03told the staff to leave with a single look the room emptied in seconds it was just
00:37:07us and the afternoon quiet and the weight of everything that had happened in
00:37:11that filthy room he threatened my cousin he wanted me to have your baby so he
00:37:15could use the child as leverage against you
00:37:17why didn't you come to me he said he'd kill Tomas if I did your cousin was working
00:37:21with Galatio he owed him money they built this trap together for you the word
00:37:26together landed like a stone
00:37:31what he gambled himself into a grave Galatio owned it I stared at my hands the whole
00:37:36architecture of the past weeks rearranged itself in my head toes weeping on my
00:37:40floor the threats all of it planned all of it aimed at me sorry isn't gonna cut it
00:37:48I thought he was going to be cold about it that's what I braced for the cartel king voice
00:37:52the gun on the table voice that I told you so wrapped in ice instead he said something I didn't
00:37:58expect at all you own me I dropped meetings to pull you out of that coffee shop I kissed you
00:38:04at
00:38:04our engagement party when I should have been shaking hands I couldn't kill you when you lied to my face
00:38:08three times and I tried I sat there and I tried and I couldn't do it don't quote that stupid
00:38:12contract to
00:38:13me when you own me me Espinosa body and soul as much as I own you kiss me like you
00:38:19own me
00:38:20his jaw worked he said something about not being able to stop once he started I didn't let him
00:38:25finish I grabbed his collar and pulled him down to me and for one second he went still with pure
00:38:29shock and then he took over kissing me like he'd been keeping it locked up for months which I think
00:38:34he had yes do whatever you want to me punish me fuck me like you own me he looked at
00:38:41me for a long
00:38:42moment something fierce and half undone in his face don't say I didn't warn you there's a mirror
00:38:53above the dresser in his bedroom I didn't notice it until he bent me over the drawers and his mouth
00:38:58found my neck and I looked up and saw us his hands in my hair my face flushed his eyes
00:39:03burning into mine
00:39:03through the glass look in the mirror look how slutty you get for me I couldn't look away I'm the
00:39:10only
00:39:10one who gets to see you like this do you understand lift your dress watch when I take you what
00:39:18followed
00:39:18I will not describe in detail because there are no adequate words for it I'll say that every time my
00:39:23eyes dropped he cupped my chin and brought my gaze back to the mirror every time he said mine I
00:39:28believed
00:39:28him more completely than I've believed anything in my life mine mine mine afterward we lay in the dark
00:39:38his arm across my waist his breath slow and even I stared at the ceiling and felt the particular
00:39:44silence of someone who has crossed a line they can't cross back over you own me Mia Espinoza I
00:39:49pressed my face into his shoulder and tried not to feel how much I wanted that to be true
00:39:53don't fall I told myself I was already falling one week later I came home to flowers that's not
00:40:02quite accurate I came home to an abundance of flowers a proliferation a situation that had
00:40:07clearly escalated well beyond what any reasonable person would call a floral arrangement every surface
00:40:11in the living room held a different vase the whole space smelled like a greenhouse had moved in while I
00:40:15was out standing in the middle of it introducing herself with a warm professional smile was a woman named
00:40:20Ollie she was in her 30s polished very pretty and she was looking at the door behind me in a
00:40:25way that
00:40:26told me exactly who she was waiting for Emilio came in 30 seconds later he stopped swept his eyes
00:40:30across the flowers then across me and something in his face went immediately soft and that way it only
00:40:35does when it's just us hello wife I missed you he dropped kisses on my forehead I held his forearms
00:40:41and forgot for a moment that there was a third person in the room you must be Mr. Reyes I'm
00:40:47Ollie I'm
00:40:48helping Mrs. Reyes with the wedding florets Emilio looked at all the flowers again how many flowers
00:40:53does a wedding need as many as I like you told me I could have whatever I wanted he leaned
00:40:59in close
00:40:59eyes warming I was thinking of something else entirely when I said that I shoved his chest he laughed and
00:41:06pulled me into his side I didn't notice Ollie's expression yet I would
00:41:14the roses were imported from Bulgaria apparently perfect for expressing passion a good fit for your
00:41:21character sir I looked at Emilio he was looking at me what do you think they look pretty Ollie
00:41:28pivoted to lilies before I finished the sentence they open with just a little attention and her eyes
00:41:34lingered on Emilio the way eyes linger when they're not really looking at flowers they look cheap
00:41:40then orchids high maintained in it but a man like you can definitely afford to spoil someone
00:41:47stop both of them looked at me I know what you're doing and I don't like it Ollie gave me
00:41:55a polished
00:41:55innocent smile Mrs. Reyes I assure you it's Mrs. Reyes you're flirting with my man in my house
00:42:04I don't like that Emilio made a sound that was almost a laugh he lowered his mouth to my ear
00:42:09you're about to become a mob queen show her your claws I turned back to Ollie you're fired you heard
00:42:16my wife security came she went the door closed Emilio was grinning you called me your man because you
00:42:24are I told him he was sleeping on the couch in respect this was optimistic of me for what sin
00:42:32exactly you didn't shut her down you just stood there I was looking at you the whole time I didn't
00:42:38hear a word she said that's not the point couch I turned to walk away he caught my wrist I
00:42:45had about
00:42:45one second of thinking I'd won before he lifted me over his shoulder like I was a bag he was
00:42:50rearranging
00:42:52I squealed I couldn't help it put me down you'll be down when I decide you're down he carried me
00:42:59out
00:43:00of the room while I laughed and hit his back and told him he was ridiculous he ignored all of
00:43:04it with
00:43:05complete serenity on the other side of the city in the abandoned house where Franco had died Damien
00:43:10moved through the filthy rooms alone he stopped at the body crouched down studied what was left of
00:43:15the man who had been his instrument he stood up slowly coward he looked around at the decay the
00:43:23silence the ruined plan then he pulled out his phone guess I'm on my own now
00:43:33the letter appeared with breakfast morning wife you got a letter I read the first line and went
00:43:41completely still it was an admission letter nursing school I never applied for this I did he said it
00:43:47casually like it was obvious like the most natural thing in the world was for a cartel boff to submit
00:43:51nursing school applications on behalf of a woman he'd coerced into a contract marriage how did you even
00:43:56know I wanted to go back he stopped moving turned to look at me with an expression I'd never seen
00:44:02on him
00:44:02before completely serious completely open the night you saved me you said you were a nursing school
00:44:09dropout the storage room the blood his voice fading in and out as I pressed gauze to his chest
00:44:16trying to keep him here I'm a nursing school dropout you'll survive he'd been carrying that for months
00:44:24I listened to everything you say he took my hand and kissed the back of it told me the semester
00:44:29started on the 18th two weeks he'd arranged bodyguards I started to object he said two not a convoy and
00:44:34I
00:44:34let it go then I sat very still looking at the letter the 18th my period was late more than
00:44:41late
00:44:41I thought about the soreness I'd been ignoring for a week and a cold plerry moved through me
00:44:45fast and certain bathroom I was already gone
00:44:54I sat on the bathroom floor for a long time
00:44:58the test was in my hand two lines unmistakable sitting there in the morning light like the
00:45:04simplest and most complicated fact in the world pregnant I pressed my palm flat against my stomach
00:45:11nothing felt different yet the same body the same skin but somewhere in there something had started
00:45:18something that was half me and half the man in the kitchen who had kissed the back of my hand
00:45:21and said
00:45:22I listened to everything you say the man who had carried me out of that building who said you own
00:45:27me and meant it with his whole body the man I needed to tell I thought about what it meant
00:45:31to be
00:45:32pregnant with the cartel king's child the leverage of it the danger of it the way a baby becomes a
00:45:37weapon in this world whether you want it to or not I thought about Tomos about all the traps I'd
00:45:43walked into already and then I stopped thinking about danger and just felt it I'm going to be a mother
00:45:49Emilio is going to be a father I wiped my face stood up open the door Diego was in the
00:45:57hall
00:45:57where's Emilio meeting miss with Damian take me to him please it's important the boss doesn't like
00:46:07to be disturbed but something in my face must have convinced him he nodded I followed him out
00:46:15the test folded in my palm my heart running ahead of my feet Diego walked me to the study door
00:46:24and
00:46:24left I could hear voices inside Emilio and Damian low and urgent I raised my hand to knock and stopped
00:46:30the test was still in my palm two lines the most important thing I'd ever held then Amadio's voice
00:46:37cut through the door Mia's cousin he's a fucking clown my hand dropped I stood very still I knew I
00:46:45should walk away I knew that eavesdropping on the cartel king's private meetings was the kind of
00:46:50thing that ended badly in this world I pressed my ear to the door anyway he could have been useful
00:46:56he's Mia's only blood relative tied to Palosio's mob it was leverage
00:47:03what the hell is going on with you I'm just saying as the east coast cartel king you could
00:47:09play more strategically like not shooting your cousin-in-law in the head my blood went cold
00:47:18I couldn't move what I have with Mia is none of your fucking business Damian said something else
00:47:24something about fixing things with her keeping Tomas alive as a peace offering but the words were
00:47:30coming through water now muffled and distant shooting your cousin-in-law in the head Tomas was
00:47:37dead Emilio had killed him my cousin the only blood family I'd left the person whose life I'd accepted a
00:47:45mob marriage to save and Emilio had shot him while Tomanis was under his roof while I was sleeping down
00:47:51the hall thinking I'd kept him safe Damian said something about the forged will next lying about
00:47:57her inheritance just to marry her a sound at the door Emilio's voice sharpened who's there
00:48:08I turned and ran I was packing before I fully decided to pack the suitcase was open on the bed
00:48:16and my
00:48:16hands were moving and the test was still in my fist I don't know why I kept holding it and
00:48:22Imadio came through the door
00:48:2320 seconds later face pale wait what are you doing what does it look like Mia let's talk
00:48:30I don't negotiate with the devil I tried to pass him he grabbed my arm stop let's talk I jerked
00:48:38free
00:48:38you lied you killed my cousin then you lied again there's nothing left to say he exhaled sharp and
00:48:46frustrated he's killing your scumbag cousin really that big of a deal I stared at him I waited for a
00:48:50moment to feel shocked but there was none left of course he said that of course he was a criminal
00:48:55boss who ran an empire built on violence and I had somehow convinced myself that the version of him
00:48:59who kissed my forehead and listened to everything I said was the real one does a human life mean
00:49:03anything to you I'm a criminal boss you knew that when you signed the contract which you forged
00:49:13my aunt never wanted me to marry you did she a long silence he didn't deny it you added the
00:49:22marriage
00:49:22clause to trap me so what I run a mob be grateful I didn't take you by force the words
00:49:29landed like a
00:49:30slap grateful he wanted me to be grateful so grateful grateful you dragged me into this hell got my cousin
00:49:36killed and got me the test was still in my hand I looked down at it the two lines looked
00:49:42back you'll
00:49:43never know I thought you don't deserve to I zipped the suitcase shut just let me go Emilio you know
00:49:52I
00:49:53can't in one motion I reached across him and grabbed the gun from his hip I had it pressed against
00:49:58myself
00:49:58before I thought about what I was doing the barrel cold against my ribs my hand shaking tears running down
00:50:04my face Mia his voice had changed completely all the cold stripped out of it either you let me walk
00:50:12out or I pull this trigger he went very still then he extended his hand palm up the way you'd
00:50:21extend a
00:50:22hand to a frightened animal give me the gun and I'll let you leave just like that yes you know
00:50:30I can't say
00:50:31no to you just give me the gun please the please undid something in my chest I hated that it
00:50:39did after
00:50:41a long moment I laid the gun in his palm he tucked it away without breaking eye contact we can
00:50:47fix this
00:50:47we can pretend none of this happened I can't pretend everything between us was built on lies he stepped
00:50:55closer his voice dropped thick with something he was fighting to contain my feelings for you aren't
00:51:01lies a tear ran down my face I looked at his face really looked at it this man who had
00:51:07saved me and
00:51:08lied to me and killed my cousin and kissed my forehead in the morning all of it true at the
00:51:12same time none
00:51:13of it simple I took his hand I placed the ring in his palm goodbye Emilio he stood frozen fist
00:51:20closing around the ring as I walked out the door I went to Serena's she opened the door before I
00:51:29finished knocking took one look at my face and pulled me inside without asking any questions she
00:51:35made tea she handed me tissues she sat with me on the sofa and let me cry until there was
00:51:40nothing left
00:51:40then she waited he killed my cousin he lied about the inheritance everything from the beginning was
00:51:51fabricated to get me into that house Serena was very quiet she handed me another tissue
00:52:00too quiet I looked at her Serena he killed my cousin why aren't you shocked
00:52:11she couldn't meet my eyes Serena why do you look like you already knew a long silence the kind
00:52:19that means the answer is going to change things I brought Thomas to him the room tilted what
00:52:29my dad is a mafia Don I heard the words I processed them in a very distant clinical way the
00:52:38way you process
00:52:39information that is too large to fit into the ordinary world you lied to me for five years
00:52:49I hid it to protect you so you'd never get dragged into this mob world but then Emilio showed up
00:52:56and
00:52:57did you know he killed my cousin the silence that followed was the worst silence of my life
00:53:02yes Emilio shot your cousin in front of me I pulled away from her she reached for my arm
00:53:11Mia please my family doesn't change who I am what you mean to me
00:53:18you sound just like him I lied to protect you
00:53:23you watched him die and you didn't tell me
00:53:26I stood up she scrambled after me saying my name reaching for my arm I got to the door
00:53:33Mia wait we're done Serena I ran
00:53:39the street was cold Serena chased me for half a block before her phone rang and she stopped I
00:53:45didn't look back I just walked arms wrapped around myself no destination no plan just moving because
00:53:51stopping felt like drowning I thought about my mother who had died and left me in a world I didn't
00:53:55understand I thought about Toas who had sold me to a monster for gambling debts I thought about the
00:54:00ring I'd left in Emilio's hand and the test still folded in my pocket and the fact that I was
00:54:04pregnant
00:54:04and alone in the dark with nowhere to go the city moved around me indifferent a car slowed alongside me
00:54:11I squinted Emilio the door opened not Emilio Damien
00:54:21relax I'm not dragging you anywhere then what do you want I have orders to stay with you
00:54:27but I can take you to a safe house Emmanuel won't know he watched my face patient almost gentle I
00:54:38can
00:54:40stared at him Damien was smiling that easy smile hands in his pockets like he was offering him a
00:54:45ride to the airport nothing in his face looked wrong why would you help me you're his brother
00:54:51I'd like to balance out some of the bad I've done I'll handle your phone he put a tracker on
00:54:56it even
00:54:56works when it's off I looked down at my phone then at him then at the dark street stretching in
00:55:03both
00:55:03directions with nowhere to go I handed him the phone he took it and I climbed into the back seat
00:55:09I was so tired I was so tired of being afraid of running of trying to stay one step ahead
00:55:14of men
00:55:15with more power than I would ever have the leather seat was warm Damien got into the front without
00:55:20speaking there's water in the back if you need it I reached for the bottle opened it took a long
00:55:28drink
00:55:28thank you Damien you're a good man he watched me in the rearview mirror and something moved across
00:55:33his face that I didn't have time to read the water tasted like water that was the last thing I
00:55:42registered
00:55:42clearly then the edges of the window started to blur the streetlight smeared into long yellow streaks
00:55:48my hand felt very heavy I looked down at the bottle in my lap and thought distantly that something was
00:55:55wrong what the thought didn't finish I slumped sideways and the world went out like a light
00:56:05in the front seat Damien watched me through the mirror his easy smile had changed into something
00:56:11else entirely something that had been waiting behind it all along sweet little Mia you have no
00:56:18idea what's coming for you or for my arrogant half-brother we're on our way have the island
00:56:27ready outside the city light slid past and fell behind us and Emilio's mansion disappeared into
00:56:33the dark and I was gone before I knew I'd been taken I woke up to the sound of ocean
00:56:40that was wrong I
00:56:42lived in the city the city didn't sound like that steady and vast and indifferent like breathing from
00:56:48a long way away I lay still for a moment with my eyes closed waiting for the world to reassemble
00:56:54itself into something familiar it didn't I opened my eyes an unfamiliar room whitewashed walls wooden
00:57:01shutters light coming in sideways and gold not a hotel not anywhere I'd ever been I got up and went
00:57:07to the window trees ocean nothing else in any direction the door opened behind me good you're awake I
00:57:16I turned around he was standing in the frame hands in his pockets looking pleased with himself in
00:57:24that particular way that meant something had gone exactly according to plan where am I somewhere no
00:57:30one can find you not even my brother the memory came back all at once the car the water the
00:57:38bottle in
00:57:39my hand the edges of the window blurring you kidnapped me smart girl I see why Emilio kept you around
00:57:48but not smart enough he moved into the room and I stepped back until the wall found me
00:57:58he told me about Palacio not the way I'd understood it Franco as Emilio's enemy using me as a pawn
00:58:04Damian had been behind Franco the whole time he'd found my cousin the moment he ran my background check
00:58:09he'd built the trap handed Tomas to Franco and watched the whole thing play out from inside
00:58:13Emilio's house Franco Palano was a fucking idiot but he was a useful one until your cartel king shot
00:58:20him in the head my cousin died because of you his expression didn't change I slapped him his head
00:58:28snapped sideways a beat of absolute silence then he turned back and the easy smile was gone
00:58:34replaced by something that had always been underneath it he grabbed my throat and slammed me into the
00:58:40wall you're lucky I need you or I'd choke the life out of you right now his eyes moved over
00:58:48me in a way
00:58:49that made my skin crawl if my cold-hearted brother is obsessed with you there must be something worth
00:58:54exploring he leaned in I bit him hard he pulled back with a snarl and I saw his arm draw
00:59:05back don't
00:59:06please I'm pregnant his fists stopped the room went very quiet Damian stared at me the hearing draining
00:59:13out of his face and being replaced by something more dangerous calculation you're pregnant with Emilio's
00:59:20baby I nodded my throat ached where his hand had been he stepped back then he started laughing
00:59:26really laughing the kind that fills a room and I stood against the wall and watched him and felt a
00:59:31cold creeping dread oh this is gold Palami actually pulled it off I thought his plan to knock you up
00:59:36was ridiculous Emilio would never never what there's a rumor he's infertile maybe it's real maybe he spread
00:59:42it so women wouldn't chase him either way you and that baby just changed everything he headed for the
00:59:46door still grinning what are you going to do to me he turned one hand on the frame relax I
00:59:55was gonna
00:59:55let my men have some fun with you but now I need that baby unharmed he told me about the
01:00:04island
01:00:07Pacific private surrounded by his army and buried in the ground all around the house explosives enough to
01:00:15bring everything down triggered by a detonator he kept on his person if Emilio tries anything boom then
01:00:21he left me there I slid down the wall and sat on the floor and tried to think the ocean
01:00:28kept making
01:00:28its vast in a myrient sound outside the shuttered window you're on a private Pacific island surrounded
01:00:35by a full army with bombs underneath you I pressed both hands flat against my stomach I'm going to get
01:00:42us out of here I didn't know if that was true I said it anyway because someone had to I
01:00:48thought
01:00:49about the note Emilio had tucked into a nursing school envelope I listened to everything you say
01:00:54I thought about the way he'd lifted me out of Franco's building like I was something worth carrying
01:00:59I thought about his fist closing around my ring find me I thought please find me the door stayed closed
01:01:07the ocean kept breathing I stayed on the floor and I waited
01:01:14on the third night a hand touched my shoulder I jolted awake already pulling back already opening
01:01:19my mouth to scream and a hand covered it a familiar weight a familiar smell Mia it's me a voice
01:01:26in my ear
01:01:26barely a breath I collapsed into him he held me for exactly three seconds his arms around me his chin
01:01:33on
01:01:33my head the realness of him solid and overwhelming and then he pulled back and cupped my face and
01:01:39checked me the way he'd checked me in the warehouse all those months ago systematic and frantic at the
01:01:43same time are you hurt no how did Serena and your mafia princess friend has a helicopter he pressed his
01:01:50lips to my forehead quick and fierce follow my lead we're heading to the chopper stay close stay quiet
01:01:54he had a gun in his hand he opened the door checked the corridor and guided me out into the
01:01:59dark
01:02:01we made it 30 feet Damien's voice came from ahead of us easy and amused like he'd been waiting
01:02:08since when does the cartel king use knockout drugs to sneak in Emilio stopped gun raised since when do
01:02:15you skip dinner
01:02:19Damien stepped out of the shadows in his hand raised between two fingers like a cigarette was the
01:02:26detonator since the day dad handed you the cartel his thumb hovered over the button
01:02:33Emilio moved in front of me without thinking about it blocking me with his body drop the gun brother
01:02:43Emilio dropped it you want the cartel fine I'll give it to you I don't want the stupid mob
01:02:50it's you it's always been you his voice had broken open and underneath the ease and the planning and the
01:02:56long patient game was something rawer something that had been sitting in that house for years
01:03:00growing in the dark then take me do whatever you want but let me a go don't drag her into
01:03:07this
01:03:09it happened in less than a second Emilio crossing the corridor in two strides shoulder dropping crashing
01:03:14into his brother the detonator flew from Damien's hand but Damien's smile came back colder than
01:03:19before no your offspring isn't getting out today either he turned to me slowly and in that moment
01:03:28nothing in his face was the cartel king nothing was the man who made rooms go silent and had people
01:03:33removed he just looked at me like I was the only thing in the room that mattered you're pregnant
01:03:39I nodded his jaw set he turned back to Damien not happening
01:03:48then we all die his thumb moved Emilio lunged he of them hit the window behind them and went
01:03:55through it in a shower of glass and frame and night air
01:04:05silence then the night outside was just the ocean and the dark and the sound of my own breathing
01:04:11ragged and desperate I ran for the door
01:04:16they were both on the ground outside unconscious not moving Damien face down in the dirt Emilio on
01:04:25his back with his eyes closed and one arm thrown wide and glass in his hair I heard voices Serena
01:04:31Marco running toward me I dropped to my knees beside Emilio
01:04:39Emilio Emilio wake up we have to go
01:04:42Marco was already beside me hands on Emilio's chest pressing and counting I sat there and held
01:04:50Emilio's hand and watched Marco's face and couldn't breathe come back come back
01:05:02Emilio coughed his chest heaved his eyes opened everyone let out a breath at the same time
01:05:10I'm okay we need to move he started to get up I helped him my hands shaking choppers ready this
01:05:19way
01:05:19Emilio stood unsteady and looked at Damien's limp body
01:05:26you go ahead I need to finish him
01:05:32I'm not leaving you you want to watch me shoot my own brother
01:05:37I don't care
01:05:39you're pregnant Mia go his voice was gentle but final the voice that meant he'd already decided
01:05:46promise you'll come I promise Serena took my arm I let her pull me away looking back over my
01:05:53shoulder at Emilio standing over his brother in the dark he didn't look back at me he was already
01:05:57somewhere else somewhere cold and necessary he's going to be fine he's Emilio Reyes we were 20 yards
01:06:03from the house then 30 the helicopter was somewhere ahead its blades beginning to turn I kept walking
01:06:09he promised he promised he promised
01:06:15the world turned white the sound hit me a full second after the light a wall of pressure and
01:06:21noise that knocked me sideways Serena's grip tearing loose I turned around the house was on fire
01:06:28not catching fire already fire instant and total a column of flame reaching up into the dark sky the
01:06:35windows gone the roof already folding the air tasted like smoke
01:06:40I couldn't move Serena was saying something Marco was saying something the helicopter blades were louder
01:06:46now someone was pulling at my arm and I couldn't move because Emilio was in that house and he had
01:06:51promised and he was in that house the word came out of me like something being torn out Serena had
01:06:59both arms around me from behind holding me back I fought her I don't remember deciding to fight her
01:07:04my body just refused to go anywhere without him
01:07:07let me sit there he's me stop Marco was already running back toward the burning house calling into his
01:07:14radio I stopped fighting I just stood there in Serena's arms and watched the fire eat the house
01:07:20and felt the heat on my face and thought about a man in a study saying I listen to everything
01:07:24you
01:07:25say and a man in a corridor with his shoulder dropping in his body going through glass going
01:07:30through glass to keep a detonator out of his brother's hand going through glass for me the
01:07:34flames climbed higher the night was orange and black I pressed both hands over the small life inside
01:07:41me and I waited and I waited and I waited and no one came
01:07:48five months later that's what the subtitle would say if my life were a movie five months later a
01:07:55neat jump cut all the grief and the waiting and the nights I lay awake with one hand on my
01:08:00stomach
01:08:01and the other pressed to my mouth to keep quiet compressed into three words and a hard cut to a
01:08:05woman on a street corner in white gloves me I'm eight months pregnant and I'm wearing white gloves and
01:08:12I'm standing on a sidewalk watching a homeless man run he thinks he's running from the two cars that
01:08:17boxed him in he's not he's running from me the car door opens I step out Damien stops he looks
01:08:29older
01:08:29thinner five months on the street will do that five months knowing that the woman whose house you burnt
01:08:35out is carrying the air to the Reyes cartel and is looking for you that will do it too I
01:08:40pull off one
01:08:41gloves finger by finger hello brother-in-law
01:08:47my men take him before he can speak wait Mia we should talk yes we should
01:08:59the basement of the Reyes mansion is very quiet I had Diaz repaint it new lighting a good chair for
01:09:06me to sit in positioned at exactly the right distance I learned from the best after all I watched
01:09:12Emilio run this house for months I know how it's done I sit with my legs grapes crossed and my
01:09:18hands
01:09:18folded over my stomach and I watched two of my men work Damien screams he begs he says my name
01:09:26like it's
01:09:26a password that will open a door like some part of him still believes I'm the nursing student from the
01:09:30fast food restaurant who cried on a sofa and couldn't look Emilio in the eye I'm not her anymore
01:09:36make this stop please
01:09:38I give the men a look they hit harder after a while I raise a hand and they stop the
01:09:44basement
01:09:44goes quiet except for Damien's raggled breathing and the distant sound of the city outside
01:09:48I stand up and walk over to him
01:09:54tell me where he is Damien looks up at me through blood his smile is still there somehow cracked and
01:10:01terrible come closer I'll tell you
01:10:08I lean down his mouth was near my ear and I stayed perfectly still and waited he's rotting in hell
01:10:16just like you will be you stupid I straightened up I pulled the gun from the back of my waistband
01:10:25the one Diego had started leaving on my night state three months ago after the first two attempts on
01:10:30my life after I'd started running this operation alone and I shot Damien once he slumped I stood there
01:10:37for a moment and looked at him Emilio's brother the man who had built every trap I'd walked into
01:10:42the man who had burned down the house with Emilio inside it then I peeled off the other glove
01:10:47folded both of them together and walked out
01:10:53Diego was waiting in the Rorto with a package
01:10:55mail address to your name ma'am
01:10:57he held it out the label read Mia Espinoza I frowned I thought I changed my last name on
01:11:04everything could be from before
01:11:08I took it
01:11:12I opened it in the study
01:11:16a file legal documents a will notarized witness dated three months before Leshia died
01:11:23I read the first page and had to sit down
01:11:26one hundred million dollars her actual inheritance not the fabricated claws Amicio had invented to get
01:11:31me into his house the real thing the money she'd spent her life accumulating and had always meant to
01:11:36the niece she wrote letters to and called her girl where it all started I thought
01:11:41Diego stood near the door Mr. Reyes would have found you regardless of the inheritance
01:11:50sounds like him
01:11:52I turned to the last page and a small piece of paper fell out folded once the size of a
01:11:56fortune
01:11:57cookie slip I picked it up the handwriting was Emilio's I'd seen it on a hundred things
01:12:01notes contracts the margin of a book he'd left open on the kitchen counter
01:12:05I'd have known it anywhere it said love at first sight I sat there holding that small piece of
01:12:10paper for a long time then I pressed it against my chest and closed my eyes I'll find you Emilio
01:12:15Reyes
01:12:16wherever you are
01:12:19he was in Sicily I didn't know that yet I knew it the way you know things when you've been
01:12:25running
01:12:25someone's empire for five months and you've learned to read Diego's face there was somewhere he wouldn't
01:12:30look some piece of information that lived just behind his careful professional expression but
01:12:35he wouldn't tell me and I understood why Emilio had told him not to so I waited on a balcony
01:12:42overlooking
01:12:43the Mediterranean a man in a wheelchair watched the ocean he'd been watching it for weeks the light
01:12:49changed the water changed he watched it all with the patience of someone who has decided not to go
01:12:55anywhere until they're ready Serena flew to Sicily on a Tuesday she found him on the balcony thinner
01:13:02than she'd left him the ocean wind moving through his hair she dropped a photograph on his lap without
01:13:07greeting him first in the photo Damien dead Emilio picked up the photo looked at it for a long moment
01:13:14that's my girl
01:13:18she's gonna be pissed if you're not there when she gives birth
01:13:22I can't see her like this you could show up as a worm and she'd still love you I'm tired
01:13:28of lying to
01:13:28my best friend again she'll forgive you Serena ground and sat down on the low wall beside his chair
01:13:36the Mediterranean was the specific blue it gets in the late afternoon almost violet at the edges
01:13:41come back with me tomorrow I'm flying out in the morning no Emilio I'll return when I can stand on
01:13:49my own feet I want her to know I'm still the man who can protect her and our baby Serena
01:13:55stared at
01:13:56him for a long moment toxic masculinity from a cartel king who would have thought a beat you know you're
01:14:02kind of cute in a wheelchair don't let your bodyguard hear that he helps me to the bathroom Serena laughed
01:14:08a real laugh surprised out of her she stood up and kissed the top of his head don't take too
01:14:13long
01:14:14she walked out Emilio stayed on the balcony until the light was gone
01:14:22he reached into his pocket the ring was small and cold and familiar Mia's engagement ring the one she'd
01:14:29placed in his palm in the bedroom and walked away from he'd been carrying it since that night through
01:14:35the crash through the window through however many surgeries he didn't fully remember through the
01:14:39months of physical therapy on this balcony overlooking the sea he turned it in his fingers he thought
01:14:44about the night in the alley when he'd looked up from the pavement and seen a woman he'd never met
01:14:48pressing gons to his chest and telling him to stop moving or he'd bleed more he'd been half dead and
01:14:52delirious and he thought I know you I don't know you yet but I know you Lietia had talked about
01:14:56her for
01:14:57years her niece the nursing student the girl who sent letters and called every Sunday and had her
01:15:02mother's stubbornness and her own fierce particular kindness he'd carried the shape of her before he
01:15:07knew her face he closed his hand around the ring I'm coming back to you Mia the ocean was dark
01:15:13now
01:15:14the stars were coming out one by one over Sicily I'm coming back
01:15:22two months later I thought giving birth at home would be easier I was wrong it's never easy I hate
01:15:29you I hate you Emilio Reyes almost there one more push I hate you I pushed the world split open
01:15:39and
01:15:39then there was a sound small and indignant and completely certain of itself and the doctor was
01:15:45saying something I couldn't hear and someone was crying and I thought it might be me
01:15:49ma'am you need to stay with us you haven't seen your baby but I'm just so tired I was
01:15:54tired in a way
01:15:55I had never been tired before down into the marrow my body suddenly hollow and enormous at the same
01:16:00time stay stay you have to stay my eyes closed someone said my name I tried to hold on then
01:16:08at the
01:16:08edge of the light a silhouette appeared in the doorway not Diego not Serena not a doctor a silhouette that
01:16:16moved the way only one person in my life had ever moved he was standing on his own feet that
01:16:23was the
01:16:24first thing I registered not that he was there not even that he was alive but that he was standing
01:16:27on his own two feet in the doorway of my hospital room wearing clothes I didn't recognize thinner
01:16:33than I remembered with a look on his face that I had no word for Mia my name in his
01:16:37voice I had been so
01:16:38tired a moment ago the darkness had been pulling me down and I had been letting it because I didn't
01:16:43have
01:16:43anything left to fight with but my eyes opened Emilio he crossed the room he dropped to his knees
01:16:49beside the bed he took my face in both hands and pressed his forehead to mine I felt him shaking
01:16:53this man who never shook who never showed anything who had spent 32 years building a wall around
01:16:57himself and had spent six months tearing it down for me he was shaking somewhere behind him a baby was
01:17:01crying our baby ours you came I told you I was coming back outside the hospital window the city was
01:17:07beginning its ordinary morning entirely aware that something fundamental had just changed inside I
01:17:12closed my eyes and held on to him and listened to the small indignant perfect sound of our daughter
01:17:16announcing herself to the world we were here both of us finally this is what I know now I know
01:17:25that
01:17:25love is not the clean safe thing I thought it would be when I was 22 and working at a
01:17:29fast food counter
01:17:29and keeping a wish list of what my life was supposed to become I thought love would feel like arriving
01:17:34somewhere I thought it would be warm and certain and uncomplicated it is none of those things it is
01:17:41a man pressing gauze to a wound in a back room it is a ring in a palm and a
01:17:46door closing and a house
01:17:47going up in flames it is five months of running an empire I didn't ask for learning the weight of
01:17:54a gun
01:17:55and the patience required to wait for someone who promised to come back he is not a good man in
01:18:00the
01:18:00simple sense I know what he runs and what it costs and I have made my peace with the distance
01:18:05between
01:18:06who he is out there and who he is in this room holding our daughter like she's the most fragile
01:18:12and important thing he's ever been handed he is sitting in the chair beside my bed and she is asleep
01:18:17on his chest and he is not looking at anything in the room except her she has his dark eyes
01:18:21she has
01:18:22already even at one day old a particular expression of absolute conviction that I recognize from watching
01:18:27him walk into rooms I saved a man in an alley once I was 22 and afraid and I had
01:18:33no idea what I was
01:18:34saving him into best mistake I ever made
Comments