The Blackmailed Bride: Falling in Love With a Criminal Boss EP

CineBrief

Transcript

00:00:00I once read that the most dangerous thing a woman can do is save a man's life.

00:00:04I didn't believe it.

00:00:06I was 22, idealistic, and three semesters short of a nursing degree.

00:00:11When I found a man bleeding out in an alley behind a fast food restaurant,

00:00:14I didn't think about danger.

00:00:16I just pressed my hands to the wound.

00:00:18I didn't know his name.

00:00:19I didn't know that the blood soaking through my uniform

00:00:22belonged to the most feared cartel boss on the East Coast.

00:00:25I didn't know that behind those dark half-conscious eyes

00:00:27was a man who would remember everything I did.

00:00:30Every word, every touch, every desperate instruction I gave him in the dark.

00:00:34I didn't know he would come back for me.

00:00:36Three months later, a man named Emilio Reyes walked into my life

00:00:40and told me I had inherited a fortune from my late aunt on one condition.

00:00:44Marriage. To him. Immediately.

00:00:47No. I said no.

00:00:49He smiled like I hadn't spoken at all.

00:00:52This is the story of how I married a criminal.

00:00:55How I hated him, feared him,

00:00:57and somewhere in the middle of all the lies he built our life on

00:01:00fell desperately, irreversibly in love with him.

00:01:03I want to tell you I fought it.

00:01:05I want to tell you I was smarter than this.

00:01:07But the truth is,

00:01:08the moment I pressed my hands to his chest in that alley,

00:01:11I was already his.

00:01:13I just didn't know it yet.

00:01:15The alley behind the shop smells like grease and rain.

00:01:19I take the trash out at midnight

00:01:22because Miguel never does

00:01:23and I'm too tired to fight about it.

00:01:30That's when I hear it.

00:01:31A shuffle.

00:01:33A grunt.

00:01:34The unmistakable sound of someone about to do something terrible.

00:01:38I peek my head out.

00:01:40First mistake of the night.

00:01:44Hello?

00:01:48Two men immediately pin me against the wall.

00:01:51I open my mouth to scream.

00:01:52Someone beats me to it.

00:01:53He steps out of the dark like he owns it.

00:01:56Tall, jaw tight.

00:01:58One hand pressed to his ribs.

00:02:00He's bleeding.

00:02:01I can see it soaking through his shirt

00:02:03in a dark, spreading stain.

00:02:05He shouldn't be standing.

00:02:07Standing anyway.

00:02:08Let her go.

00:02:11The men charge.

00:02:13He moves.

00:02:13Fast, precise, brutal.

00:02:17And it's over in seconds.

00:02:19One man clutches his arm, screaming.

00:02:22The other is already gone.

00:02:26And then the stranger folds like paper,

00:02:29thing the wet pavement before I can catch him.

00:02:33I drag him inside.

00:02:35I don't know why.

00:02:40I'm a nursing school dropout,

00:02:42with shaking hands,

00:02:44and no business saving anyone.

00:02:46But I press gauze to his chest,

00:02:49and count his breaths,

00:02:51and tell him to stay with me.

00:02:53And somewhere between one breath and the next,

00:02:56I start to believe he might actually listen.

00:02:58He opens his eyes,

00:02:59grabs my wrist hard enough to bruise.

00:03:02No one has ever seen me like this.

00:03:06You're dead.

00:03:07Stop moving or you'll bleed more.

00:03:09He lets go.

00:03:12He passes out.

00:03:14I keep working.

00:03:15By the time I come back with antibiotics,

00:03:18he's gone.

00:03:19The room is empty,

00:03:21except for the bloody gons,

00:03:22and the faint smell of something expensive,

00:03:25cologne,

00:03:26maybe,

00:03:26or power.

00:03:31I stand in the doorway,

00:03:32and feel something I can't name,

00:03:34settle into my chest.

00:03:38Hope you make it, stranger.

00:03:45The days pass.

00:03:47My life goes on.

00:03:49The midnight shifts blur into each other,

00:03:52and I almost convince myself the whole thing

00:03:55was a fever dream.

00:03:57The blood.

00:03:58The alley.

00:04:00The man who threatened to kill me

00:04:01while I was saving his life.

00:04:04Almost.

00:04:06It isn't until three months later

00:04:09that I understand the mistake I made that night.

00:04:12It wasn't peeking my head out into that alley.

00:04:15It was pulling the stranger back from the edge.

00:04:18I'm wiping down the counter

00:04:19when his face fills the TV screen above the register.

00:04:25Emilio Reyes.

00:04:26East Coast Cartel King.

00:04:29Dangerous.

00:04:30Untouchable.

00:04:32The customers are whispering.

00:04:33The word monster drifts past my ear like smoke.

00:04:38I stare at the screen,

00:04:40and the memory hits me like a cold wave.

00:04:43His hand locked around my wrist,

00:04:45even through the blood loss.

00:04:49No one has ever seen me like this.

00:04:53You're dead.

00:04:56Shit.

00:04:57I set down the tray.

00:04:59I turn for the door.

00:05:01A black bag drops over my head.

00:05:03The last thing I hear before the world goes dark.

00:05:06You're coming with us.

00:05:14They take the bag off in a room that costs more than my entire life.

00:05:18He's standing by the window with his back to me,

00:05:20and even from behind I can feel the weight of him.

00:05:23The absolute, unharried certainty of a man who has never once been told no.

00:05:29He turns around slowly, like he has all the time in the world.

00:05:34Like I'm not hyperventilating in the middle of his Persian rug.

00:05:37He looks at me the way you look at something you already own.

00:05:40Hello, wife.

00:05:42Wife?

00:05:43He pulls out a file and slides it across the desk.

00:05:47Leticia Vierido, my aunt, who I barely knew,

00:05:51who apparently knew him very well.

00:05:53She raised him.

00:05:54He called her family.

00:05:55And when she died, she left everything to me.

00:05:59One million dollars.

00:06:02I stare at the number until the zeros blur.

00:06:06You're handing out one million dollars to me?

00:06:08Just like this?

00:06:10Of course not.

00:06:12Your inheritance comes with a condition.

00:06:14Marry me for one year.

00:06:16Part of me wants to laugh.

00:06:17The part that's been eating ramen for six months.

00:06:20Drowning in debt.

00:06:22Too proud to ask for help.

00:06:23One million dollars.

00:06:25I could breathe again.

00:06:26I could actually breathe.

00:06:28But then, the other part of me kepts up.

00:06:31The part that recognizes his face from every news broadcast.

00:06:34Every whispered warning.

00:06:36Every story that ends badly.

00:06:38Marry a mafia king with a promise of one million dollars?

00:06:42Is this Watt Mac novel really happening to me?

00:06:44Me?

00:06:45I set down the file.

00:06:47What do you get out of this?

00:06:50I'm a nobody.

00:06:51He steps closer.

00:06:53Close enough that I have to tilt my head back to hold his gaze.

00:06:56And I hate that I do it.

00:06:59You're not a nobody.

00:07:02Don't ever say that again.

00:07:06He says it quietly.

00:07:08Too quietly.

00:07:09Too gently.

00:07:10Like he means it.

00:07:12Like he's been thinking about it.

00:07:14And the words land somewhere soft and unprotected.

00:07:17Before I can get my guard back up.

00:07:21I don't know what to do with them.

00:07:23So I look away, down at the floor.

00:07:25And that's when I see it.

00:07:27A dark stain in the carpet.

00:07:29Old and brown at the edges.

00:07:31Blood.

00:07:32Someone's blood.

00:07:33Soaked into the fibers and never fully cleaned away.

00:07:35The word yes dies in my throat.

00:07:38No.

00:07:40Then you just made your first mistake as my future wife.

00:07:48His hand moves toward his hip.

00:07:50My survival instincts shoot up.

00:07:54Wait.

00:07:55I didn't mean no.

00:07:57I just...

00:07:57I need time.

00:07:59To think.

00:08:01I'm allowed to think, right?

00:08:03A beat.

00:08:04His hand stills.

00:08:05Of course.

00:08:07I try the door.

00:08:10Locked.

00:08:11Of course it's locked.

00:08:14My heart hammers against my ribs as his footsteps cross the room behind me.

00:08:18Quiet.

00:08:19Unhurried.

00:08:20Inevitable.

00:08:21His hand covers mine on the knob.

00:08:23His mouth is close enough to my ear that I feel the warmth of his breath.

00:08:27And every rational thought I have dissolves.

00:08:29I'm a king, Mia.

00:08:32Don't even think about running.

00:08:36I'll see you at the altar.

00:08:38He twists the knob.

00:08:39The door swings open.

00:08:40I don't walk out.

00:08:42I flee.

00:08:43I nearly collide with a man in the hallway.

00:08:46Younger than Emilio.

00:08:47Easier to read.

00:08:48With a smile that doesn't reach his eyes.

00:08:50He watches me scramble past and says nothing.

00:08:53Behind me, I hear him say something to Emilio in a low voice.

00:08:57I don't stop to listen.

00:08:58Back in my apartment.

00:08:59Serena screams at me through the phone for ten solid minutes.

00:09:03I hold it away from my ear and stare at the ceiling.

00:09:05You should have left him bleeding in that alley.

00:09:08I know.

00:09:09He's a monster.

00:09:11My food's here.

00:09:11Talk later.

00:09:15I open the door expecting delivery.

00:09:46A gun barrel.

00:09:48We need to talk.

00:09:52His name is Franco Palacio.

00:09:55I am Franco.

00:09:56He says it like a title, like something I should already know and fear.

00:10:00He says it while one of his men pins my arms behind me.

00:10:04And another kicks the boy hard enough to crack ribs.

00:10:07Tomas.

00:10:09Tomas.

00:10:35Tomas.

00:10:36I couldn't have saved Emilio that night.

00:10:42He ignores me and crouches beside Tomas, dragging a knife down his cheek so slowly, so precisely,

00:10:48that the line of red it draws looks almost surgical.

00:10:53Tomas makes a sound I'll hear in my sleep for years.

00:10:55Tomas.

00:10:56Tomas.

00:10:56You're gonna marry Emilio Reyes.

00:10:58You're gonna give him an heir.

00:11:03And that child will be born under my command.

00:11:08What?

00:11:09Tomas.

00:11:09A wife.

00:11:10A baby.

00:11:12That's all it takes to ruin a man like him.

00:11:16You're gonna be my weapon, sweetheart.

00:11:19He stands, moves back to Tomas, and presses the flat of the blade against his eyelid.

00:11:25One month.

00:11:26Get pregnant.

00:11:31Or your cousin loses more than an eye.

00:11:34I can't breathe.

00:11:36I can't think.

00:11:37The room has shrunk to the size of that knife.

00:11:39That eye.

00:11:40That terrible, soft sound Tomas makes when the blade presses harder.

00:11:45Stop.

00:11:46Left eye?

00:11:48Or right?

00:11:49Stop!

00:11:50I'll do it!

00:11:52The blade lifts.

00:11:53Franco smiles like I've given him a gift.

00:11:56Then the front door Sweeney splinters off its hinges.

00:12:02Emilio doesn't come in like a rescue.

00:12:04He comes in like weather.

00:12:06Sudden, total, impossible to argue with.

00:12:09His men fan out behind him.

00:12:12Franco's men scatter.

00:12:14And then it's just the two of us.

00:12:16And Tomas is gone.

00:12:17Dragged out in the chaos.

00:12:19And I'm on the floor.

00:12:22With my knees pulled to my chest.

00:12:25And my whole body shaking so hard my teeth click together.

00:12:28I don't hear him cross the room.

00:12:30I just feel the air change.

00:12:32Mia.

00:12:34His voice is different.

00:12:35Softer than I've heard it.

00:12:37I look up.

00:12:37And something in his face does things I don't expect.

00:12:41It cracks.

00:12:42Just at the edges.

00:12:44Just for a second.

00:12:45I don't decide to move.

00:12:46I just do it.

00:12:48I throw myself at him.

00:12:52And his arms close around me before I can second guess it.

00:12:56And I press my face into his chest.

00:12:59And cry in a way I haven't cried since I was a little girl.

00:13:04Ugly.

00:13:04And desperate.

00:13:05And completely undignified.

00:13:08He holds me like he means it.

00:13:11He doesn't speak.

00:13:13Doesn't ask questions.

00:13:15Just keeps one hand on the back of my head.

00:13:18And breathes slowly.

00:13:20Steadily.

00:13:21Like he's trying to teach me how.

00:13:23And gradually my shaking slows.

00:13:25When I finally pull back his expression has closed again.

00:13:28But his eyes haven't.

00:13:31You're my woman, Mia.

00:13:33Your tears belong to me.

00:13:36I should have a response to that.

00:13:38I don't.

00:13:39I just look at him.

00:13:40And feel the words settle somewhere deep and permanent.

00:13:45Like a key turning in a lock I didn't know I had.

00:13:48He wipes my face with his thumb.

00:13:51Gentle.

00:13:52Careful.

00:13:52Like I'm something worth being careful with.

00:13:56I'm not your woman.

00:13:58I haven't agreed to anything yet.

00:14:01I know.

00:14:02We should talk.

00:14:04He says it quietly.

00:14:05He doesn't push.

00:14:07He just looks at me like he's already decided.

00:14:09And he's willing to wait.

00:14:10That might be the most frightening thing he's done yet.

00:14:15The next morning.

00:14:17We sit on opposite sides of a conference table.

00:14:19With a contract between us.

00:14:21Sick enough to stop a bullet.

00:14:22Our marriage contract.

00:14:26Read it.

00:14:29Terms and conditions.

00:14:32We'll discuss today.

00:14:38I keep my spine straight as I flip through the pages.

00:14:41I try very hard to absorb what I'm about to sign my life onto.

00:14:46But not a single word makes it to my brain.

00:14:52Instead, Franco's voice echoes like a curse on a loop.

00:14:56Marry Emilio.

00:14:58Baby.

00:14:59One month.

00:15:02My weapon.

00:15:05To save a cousin I barely know in a gangster war I never asked to be part of?

00:15:09I'm going to lie to a cartel king sitting right across from me, expecting a real marriage.

00:15:16Of course I'll sign this contract.

00:15:18But it's not my choice.

00:15:20It was never my choice.

00:15:21I am completely, utterly out of control of this situation.

00:15:26And I have to pretend otherwise.

00:15:28Perfectly.

00:15:29Or Thomas pays for it.

00:15:31Everything okay?

00:15:35I startle.

00:15:36He's watching me.

00:15:37Of course he's watching me.

00:15:40Men like him watch everything.

00:15:45I need to smooth this over.

00:15:47For my cousin.

00:15:50The contract doesn't mention sleeping arrangements.

00:15:53He goes very still.

00:15:56Sleeping arrangements.

00:16:00We'd be married.

00:16:04It would be natural that we...

00:16:07The chair scrapes back.

00:16:09He's in front of me in two steps.

00:16:11He's leaning over the table with both hands planted on either side of the contract.

00:16:16Close enough that I can smell his cologne.

00:16:18And feel the warmth radiating off his skin.

00:16:22It's natural we fuck.

00:16:25My breath stops.

00:16:30Do you want me to fuck you?

00:16:34There is no good answer to that question.

00:16:41There is only the truth.

00:16:43Yes.

00:16:44Obviously.

00:16:45Embarrassingly.

00:16:46Inconveniently yes.

00:16:48And the reason behind it.

00:16:50Which I can never tell him.

00:16:55That's what husbands and wives do.

00:16:58We're not real husband and wife.

00:17:00This is a contract.

00:17:05You're attractive and rich.

00:17:08Any woman would want you.

00:17:13He tilts his head.

00:17:15Something dangerous flickering in his eyes.

00:17:18You think I'm attractive?

00:17:22Yes.

00:17:24Are you lying to me?

00:17:29No.

00:17:30I'm not lying.

00:17:32That's the problem.

00:17:34I'm not lying at all and he can see it.

00:17:37And the slow curve of his mouth tells me he's been able to see it this whole time.

00:17:43He lifts me onto the table in one motion.

00:17:46I gasp.

00:17:48Not in fear.

00:17:49Which would make sense.

00:17:51In something that runs hotter than fear.

00:17:53He nudges my knees apart.

00:17:55Not roughly.

00:17:56Just firmly.

00:17:58With the uncurried confidence of a man who already knows the answer.

00:18:04You can lie with words.

00:18:07Not with your body.

00:18:09His hand slides up my inner thigh.

00:18:15Tell me you want me.

00:18:17Tell me it's not just the contract.

00:18:19And God help me, I do.

00:18:20No.

00:18:27Well...

00:18:28She's sitting on my conference table with her knees apart.

00:18:31And her eyes blown wide.

00:18:33And I have never wanted to ruin someone so completely in my life.

00:18:40I pull my hand back slowly

00:18:42Letting her watch her own wetness dripping on my fingers

00:18:47Her breath stutters

00:18:49Is this for me?

00:18:55Do I get you this wet just by talking to you?

00:19:01Yes

00:19:02Her voice comes out wrecked and small and honest

00:19:07And it pulls me back from the edge of something I can't afford

00:19:12That voice

00:19:13That lying, beautiful voice

00:19:16I know something happened between her and Franco

00:19:19I've known since the moment I walked into her apartment

00:19:22And found her on the floor

00:19:23Because I wasn't there to rescue her

00:19:25I was there to make her talk

00:19:29Franco's men were already scattering when I kicked the door in

00:19:32I had my gun up, finger on the trigger

00:19:35Franco in my sights

00:19:37And then I saw her

00:19:40Curled on the floor, shaking

00:19:43Small in a way that hit me somewhere

00:19:45I don't let things hit me

00:19:46I lowered the gun

00:19:48I crossed the room

00:19:50And the second she threw herself against my chest

00:19:55I let out a breath I hadn't known I was holding

00:20:01The will I showed her

00:20:03I fabricated it

00:20:05My nanny, Leticia

00:20:06Was a kind woman

00:20:08Not a wealthy one

00:20:11She didn't leave a million dollars

00:20:13I forged every page

00:20:16I needed a reason to keep Mia close

00:20:20Somewhere I could watch her

00:20:23Pull the truth out of her slowly

00:20:25But that day

00:20:26With her crying in my arms

00:20:29I stopped caring about the plan

00:20:32I decided I had to have her

00:20:35One way or another

00:20:36I never expected the other way to involve this many lies

00:20:40I hate lies

00:20:45Mia

00:20:47You have no idea I'm going to torture to truth out of you

00:20:50I shove my hand back between her legs

00:20:54Fingers flying to my shoulders

00:20:59Tell me to stop if you don't want this

00:21:05She doesn't stop me

00:21:06Good

00:21:07I push her panties aside

00:21:09And press one finger inside her

00:21:11She moans

00:21:12Hips rolling forward instinctually

00:21:17Hands gripping my shoulders

00:21:18Like she needs something to hold on to

00:21:23Emelio

00:21:24God

00:21:25My name in her mouth like that

00:21:30I add a second finger and move faster

00:21:33Watching her come undone

00:21:35And I am aching with how much I want her

00:21:38But I have a mission

00:21:40I need her confession

00:21:42If I handed you the inheritance right now

00:21:45No strings, no cracks

00:21:47Would you still want me?

00:21:48Emelio

00:21:49Answer me

00:21:52Yes

00:21:53More lies

00:21:54Oh you little liar

00:21:56You have no idea what you just walked into

00:22:01He stops

00:22:02The absence of his touch is so sudden it punches the air out of me

00:22:06I look at him

00:22:07Chest heaving

00:22:08Completely undone

00:22:09And his face has already closed

00:22:11Composed

00:22:11Cool

00:22:12Like none of it happened

00:22:17You're hiding something from me

00:22:18Bad girls don't get to come

00:22:21Sign the contract

00:22:22Diego will help you move in tomorrow

00:22:24I sit on the edge of the conference table

00:22:25I sit on the edge of the conference table with his handkerchief in my hands

00:22:27And the ghost of his touch still burning under my skin

00:22:30And I stare at the closed door

00:22:32And try to remember who I am

00:22:34And why I'm here

00:22:35Stay focused Mia

00:22:37Toas

00:22:38One month

00:22:38That's all that matters

00:22:40His mansion is the size of my entire neighborhood

00:22:43I drag my suitcase through the front door

00:22:44And try not to look like I've never seen marble floors before

00:22:47The staff lines up to greet me

00:22:48I shake everyone's hand and smile until my face hurts

00:22:51And somewhere in the middle of it

00:22:52Emelio appears from a hallway

00:22:53And I make the mistake of asking if I'll be staying in his room

00:22:56We don't sleep in the same room

00:23:00He gives me a guest room with a bed too big for one person

00:23:03And curtains the color of champagne

00:23:04He drops a ring box into my palm without ceremony or eye contact

00:23:07Wear it in public

00:23:09It fits perfectly

00:23:10I don't know why that makes my chest ache

00:23:12Why are you so cold today?

00:23:14I thought we-

00:23:14Do you know what I do to people who betray me?

00:23:16No

00:23:16I kill them

00:23:17Every single one

00:23:19Betrayal doesn't exist in my world

00:23:21Are you keeping something from me Mia?

00:23:23Tell him

00:23:24Just tell him

00:23:25The words crowd my throat

00:23:26Franco Tomas, the knife, the deadline

00:23:29When I look up, Emelio is gone

00:23:31I need to get pregnant

00:23:33I need to do something

00:23:39This will have to do

00:23:42I carry a plate of cookies down the hall like an offering

00:23:45Which, honestly, is exactly what it is

00:23:47This is the plan

00:23:48This is the whole plan

00:23:49I push open the study door

00:23:51Fifteen men look up at me simultaneously

00:23:53Leave

00:23:54Not you

00:23:59I stand there tugging the hem of my shorts down

00:24:01And trying to look like I haven't just made a catastrophic mistake

00:24:04You didn't just bring me cookies dressed like this

00:24:05I didn't know you were in a meeting

00:24:07I'm half-mined to shoot every man who was just in this room

00:24:09Please don't

00:24:10What do I do to a bad girl who interrupts my meeting?

00:24:13Do I bend you over this desk and spank your pretty little ass?

00:24:15I shiver

00:24:15I should not shiver

00:24:16I shiver anyway

00:24:17Or do I force you down on your knees and make you take my cock?

00:24:19Or you could take me

00:24:22I can give you an air

00:24:27No

00:24:27No condoms

00:24:29You're not on birth control

00:24:31I know

00:24:31Something shifts in his expression

00:24:33The heat drains out of it

00:24:34Replaced by something colder and more careful

00:24:36You want my baby

00:24:37Why?

00:24:38Because your biggest enemy has my cousin

00:24:39And gave me a deadline

00:24:41And I have no other options

00:24:42And I'm terrified

00:24:43And I'm sorry

00:24:44Because you're handsome

00:24:45And I'd really love to

00:24:47Get out

00:24:48What?

00:24:49Get out

00:24:50I slide to the floor and stand there for one horrible second

00:24:53Completely exposed

00:24:54The cookies

00:24:55The shorts

00:24:56The desperate transparent wanting of all of it

00:24:58And then I turn and walk out with whatever dignity I have left

00:25:00Which is not much

00:25:02I need a new plan

00:25:05Serena

00:25:05Can you meet me?

00:25:06I need to tell you everything

00:25:07Outside my window

00:25:08The city hums and glitters like it doesn't know anything is wrong

00:25:11Like the world is perfectly ordinary

00:25:13And I haven't spent the last week tangled up in a cartel king

00:25:16Who sees straight through every lie I tell

00:25:18Except the one that might get us both killed

00:25:20What did I get myself into?

00:25:26Thank god

00:25:27Are you okay?

00:25:28He didn't chain you up somewhere?

00:25:29He's not

00:25:30No

00:25:30No dungeons

00:25:32I'm fine

00:25:33You don't look fine

00:25:34She's right

00:25:35I don't feel fine

00:25:36I feel like I'm playing three different chess games at once

00:25:38And losing all of them

00:25:39I start to tell her about Franco

00:25:40About Tomas

00:25:41About the deadline

00:25:42But before I can get past the first sentence

00:25:44Are you okay?

00:25:45You seem terrified of him

00:25:46Of course I'm terrified

00:25:47His men run the entire East Coast

00:25:48He could be listening to us right now, Mia

00:25:50Serena, you're not making sense

00:25:51Why do you even know so much about him?

00:25:53Who's your dad?

00:25:54Something shifts in her expression

00:25:55Something serious and old and tired

00:25:57Like she's been waiting for this question

00:25:59And dreading it at the same time

00:26:00Mia, it's time you know who I am

00:26:02The door exploding open

00:26:03A masked man with a gun raised

00:26:05Screaming at everyone to get on the floor

00:26:06The cafe erupts into chaos

00:26:08I freeze

00:26:09I stand in the middle of it all

00:26:11And my body simply refuses to move

00:26:13Like it's deciding whether any of this is real

00:26:14Mia, get down

00:26:16I can't move

00:26:17You deaf?

00:26:19I said down!

00:26:20The robber spots me

00:26:21Move!

00:26:21Why can't I move?

00:26:29For one second, I think it's over

00:26:32Marco, put it down

00:26:34Please

00:26:40I stand there with a stranger's arm around neck

00:26:42And think absurdly about the alley three months ago

00:26:44About how I peeked my head out and said hello like an idiot

00:26:46About how that one bad decision led to every bad decision after it

00:26:50A chain of dominoes I set off the moment I dragged a bleeding cartel king off the pavement

00:26:53I really shouldn't have saved him

00:26:55Then the door opens again

00:26:56Emilia walks in like he has nowhere else to be

00:26:58Like this is a meeting he scheduled

00:26:59Gun raised

00:27:00Jaw set

00:27:01Eyes finding me in under a second

00:27:02Oh yeah?

00:27:03Who's she?

00:27:04The president's wife?

00:27:05Emilio shoots him in the arm

00:27:06The arm around my throat goes slack

00:27:08I drop

00:27:08Serena catches me

00:27:10No you're fucking not

00:27:12I don't see what happens next

00:27:13The world tilts

00:27:14Goes soft at the edges

00:27:15And I stop being able to hold myself up

00:27:17The last thing I feel before I feign

00:27:19Is someone lifting me

00:27:20His arms

00:27:21His cologne

00:27:22That particular steadiness

00:27:23That shouldn't feel like safety

00:27:24But does

00:27:27I wake up in a bed that isn't mine

00:27:29It's too big

00:27:30Too soft

00:27:30Smells too expensive

00:27:31The ceiling is high and unfamiliar

00:27:33And for a disoriented moment

00:27:34I have no idea where I am

00:27:36Or what year it is

00:27:36Then I remember the gun

00:27:38The arm around my throat

00:27:39The sound of a shot

00:27:39I sit up too fast

00:27:41My head swims

00:27:42Are you okay?

00:27:43He's still in his suit

00:27:44He's looking at me with an intensity

00:27:46That doesn't belong on a face

00:27:47Pretending not to care

00:27:48I think so

00:27:49Where am I?

00:27:50My bedroom

00:27:51Your bedroom?

00:27:53I thought we had separate rooms

00:27:54You also walked into my meeting

00:27:56In a pair of shorts

00:27:56And asked me to get you pregnant

00:27:58Rules are flexible

00:28:00Does that mean I can stay in your room now?

00:28:03Do you want to sleep with me that badly?

00:28:05Yes

00:28:05Says every nerve in my body

00:28:06Yes

00:28:07But not for the reason you think

00:28:08Says the part of me that remembers Tomas

00:28:10And Franco

00:28:11And the deadline that is still ticking

00:28:12What if I say yes?

00:28:14His eyes darken

00:28:15For one suspended second

00:28:16I think he's going to close the distance between us

00:28:18And my heart rate does something embarrassing

00:28:20He stands instead

00:28:21Adjusts his jacket

00:28:22Rest

00:28:23Tomorrow's a big day

00:28:24What's tomorrow?

00:28:25The engagement party

00:28:26Where I tell the world you're mine

00:28:28Am I falling for him?

00:28:29No

00:28:29Focus

00:28:30Tomas

00:28:30One month

00:28:33The next morning a small army arrives at my door

00:28:36They work on me for two hours

00:28:38I sit in the chair and let them

00:28:39And feel like a doll being dressed for a party I didn't ask to attend

00:28:42Which is technically exactly what's happening

00:28:45I slip out when they're arguing about earrings

00:28:47Down the hall through the tall living room windows

00:28:49I spot Emilio outside with Diego

00:28:51He's in a sharp suit and he's furious

00:28:53Jaw tight, gesturing hard, words muffled through the glass but unmistakably sharp

00:28:57He's beautiful when he's angry

00:28:58I notice this and immediately wish I hadn't

00:29:04You're going to tell me why you want my baby and what it has to do with Palacio

00:29:07Who?

00:29:08The man at your apartment

00:29:09He knows

00:29:10He's known

00:29:11The realization lands slowly and then all at once

00:29:13And I think about every moment since he showed up at my door

00:29:15The conference table, the handkerchief, the drawer full of condoms

00:29:18And understand that he has been pulling at this thread the entire time

00:29:21I don't know what you're talking about

00:29:23Do you know what happened to the last person who lied to me?

00:29:26I cut out their tongue and made them eat it

00:29:29I hate them

00:29:30I blink hard

00:29:31He's a monster, I tell myself

00:29:32Remember that

00:29:33This isn't over

00:29:34I know

00:29:35It's never over

00:29:36That's the problem

00:29:39I walk in on Emilio's arm in a dress that cost more than three months of my old salary

00:29:44Diamonds at my throat and I feel like a very convincing fake

00:29:47Emilio greets people with a smile that doesn't touch his eyes

00:29:50And steers me through the room with a hand at the small of my back

00:29:53That feels like both a claim and a warning

00:29:55Stay close

00:29:56Don't talk to anyone

00:29:57I'm not allowed to talk to people

00:29:59You've caused enough trouble on your own

00:30:01That wasn't in the contract

00:30:02I'm a cartel boss, Mia

00:30:03A contract won't stop me from doing whatever I want

00:30:07I don't see Franco until his hand closes around my arm and yanks me into the shadows

00:30:11Hello, little Mia

00:30:13You didn't forget our deal?

00:30:15What are you doing here?

00:30:16Emilio invited me to go way back

00:30:18Emilio invited him

00:30:19The information sits in my chest like a stone

00:30:21I think about the look on Emilio's face through the window

00:30:23Furious

00:30:23Deliberate

00:30:24I think about this isn't over

00:30:25You've been living with him for three weeks, little Mia

00:30:27Why aren't you pregnant yet?

00:30:37What did you do to her?

00:30:38Nothing

00:30:38We were just talking

00:30:39Why don't you ask her?

00:30:41This is his land between us like a grenade

00:30:43I watch Emilio's grip loosen

00:30:45Just slightly, just for a moment

00:30:47And see it on his face

00:30:48The recalculation

00:30:49The betrayal trying to find its shape

00:30:50Our eyes meet and I have never felt so exposed in my life

00:30:53Then DeLeon is there

00:30:55Murmuring something about engagement photos

00:30:57And Emilio exhale through his teeth

00:30:59And goes

00:30:59I watch him walk away with his shoulders set

00:31:01And his jaw tight

00:31:02And something aching and hollow

00:31:04Opens up in the middle of my chest

00:31:05I know something's wrong

00:31:07Tell him yourself before this ends badly

00:31:09I can't

00:31:11Under the bright lights of the photo area

00:31:13Emanio and I stand six inches apart like strangers

00:31:15The photographer keeps asking us to move closer

00:31:18We comply in small, miserable increments

00:31:20Is it that unborable standing next to me?

00:31:22Only when you're mad at me

00:31:23I'm mad because you're hiding something

00:31:25I can't

00:31:25Perfect

00:31:25Now give each other a little kiss

00:31:27The silence that follows is approximately a thousand years long

00:31:31Then Emilio grabs my chin and kisses me

00:31:33It's not gentle

00:31:33It's a question with teeth

00:31:35Demanding and frustrated

00:31:36And searingly humiliatingly effective

00:31:38The camera flashes go off like a small storm

00:31:40That was my first kiss

00:31:42That was my first kiss

00:31:43And he used it like propuntuation

00:31:47His mouth was just there

00:31:48Angry and warm

00:31:50And nothing like I'd imagined

00:31:51And I have absolutely been imagining it

00:31:53And that is a problem I don't have time for right now

00:31:55He was furious and I still got turned on

00:31:58What is wrong with me?

00:32:01Did you sleep with him?

00:32:03What?

00:32:03Who?

00:32:03Franco Palacio

00:32:04Is that what you're hiding?

00:32:05Is that why you wouldn't kiss me?

00:32:06No, I didn't sleep with him

00:32:07You shoved me away like I was contagious

00:32:08Because I couldn't breathe

00:32:08I've never, I haven't

00:32:09The fury in his expression shifts

00:32:11Slowly, like a tide going out

00:32:13It gives way to something quiet and more careful

00:32:15Breathe through your nose

00:32:16He presses his lips to mine

00:32:17And this time it's nothing like before

00:32:19Soft, slow, like he's asking instead of taking

00:32:22Like he has all the time in the world

00:32:24And intends to use it

00:32:25One more

00:32:25I don't say no

00:32:26I don't say anything

00:32:27He kisses me again, deeper

00:32:29One hand sliding to the back of my neck

00:32:31And I stop being able to think in anything but sensation

00:32:33Warmth and the smell of his cologne

00:32:35And the ridiculous, inconvenient certainty

00:32:37That I am in very serious trouble

00:32:38Say yes, ma'am

00:32:39Yes

00:32:43Then he stops

00:32:44Not all at once

00:32:45He trails his lips down my throat

00:32:46Unhurried while I'm still trying to remember what air is for

00:32:49His hands are at my waist

00:32:50Mine are in his hair

00:32:51The whole world has narrowed down to this locked bathroom

00:32:53This basin

00:32:53His mouth

00:32:54But I don't think you deserve it yet

00:32:55What?

00:32:56You're still hiding something from me

00:32:57You and my worst enemy

00:32:58I can't tell you

00:32:59I'm sorry

00:33:00He drops to his knees in front of me

00:33:02Parting my legs

00:33:03And I barely have time to process what's happening

00:33:05Before his mouth is on me

00:33:06And my head snaps back

00:33:08And I forget every coherent thought I've ever had

00:33:10You'll tell me eventually

00:33:11Before it's too late

00:33:12He's using this against me

00:33:14I know he's using this against me

00:33:15I can't make myself care

00:33:17A security guard threatening to break it down

00:33:19Promise me you'll tell me the truth

00:33:21Or that guard walks in and finds you like this

00:33:23That's...

00:33:24You can't...

00:33:24That's blackmail

00:33:25Yes, I promise

00:33:26I'll tell you everything

00:33:28Turns back to me

00:33:29Eyes dark

00:33:30Remember your promise

00:33:33He leaves

00:33:34I sit on the basin in the sudden quiet chest heaving

00:33:37Ring glittering on my finger and press my hands to my face

00:33:40He used pleasure as a weapon

00:33:41And the worst part

00:33:43The part I can't stop thinking about as I swipe off the basin

00:33:45And fix my lipstick and walk back out into the party

00:33:47Is that I would let him do it again

00:33:52Sleep well?

00:33:53Hmm

00:33:54You don't look like you slept well

00:33:56I can arrange a sleep therapist

00:33:58You used sex to blackrail me?

00:34:00No, I don't need a therapist

00:34:01I need a cop

00:34:02You think a cop would help?

00:34:03No, because you're the cartel king

00:34:05And you do whatever you want

00:34:06Not everything I want

00:34:08Not when it comes to you

00:34:09I don't know what to do with that

00:34:11I look at my hands

00:34:12I don't like being lied to, Mia

00:34:13I grew up in this world

00:34:15Betrayal is the worst sin there is

00:34:17But I'll wait

00:34:17Tell me when you're ready

00:34:18Something in my chest loosens just slightly

00:34:21The first millimeter of relief in weeks

00:34:23I'll tell you

00:34:24At the right time

00:34:25I need to think it through

00:34:26That's all I need

00:34:28I have money

00:34:29You have peanuts

00:34:30Buy whatever you want

00:34:31I'll see you tonight, fiancé

00:34:32I look up from five credit cards

00:34:34And the ring on my finger

00:34:35And the ghost of his mouth on mine

00:34:37And I think about Tobos

00:34:38And Franco's deadline

00:34:39And the promise I made in a locked bathroom

00:34:41I'll tell him

00:34:42At the right time

00:34:43My phone buzzes

00:34:44It's a message from an unknown number

00:34:46A photo

00:34:47Toas

00:34:47Beaten

00:34:48Barely consciousness

00:34:48A map pin

00:34:49One line of text

00:34:51Come alone

00:34:51I'm running some errands today

00:34:53You can come along

00:34:54Let's see how long you last

00:34:58I know that's what it was

00:34:59A list of errands Emilio had quietly arranged

00:35:02A list of things I was supposed to need

00:35:04A list of reasons to stay close to the house

00:35:06I ditched them at the corner of 5th and Carator

00:35:08Slipped into a doorway while they ran past in the wrong direction

00:35:11And stood there for three whole seconds

00:35:13Feeling like I'd actually won something

00:35:15The address was a neighborhood that had given up on itself

00:35:18Cracked pavement

00:35:19Board windows

00:35:20A smell like rust and old rain

00:35:22The building at the end of the block looked like it was held together by habit

00:35:25I pushed the door open anyway

00:35:27He needs me, I told myself

00:35:29He can't hurt me yet

00:35:31There's no baby

00:35:32The whole scene arranged like something from a bad movie

00:35:36Little Mia

00:35:37Took you long enough

00:35:38I had to get rid of Emilio's people

00:35:40I'm not talking about that

00:35:41I'm talking about why you're not pregnant

00:35:42He looked up when he heard me

00:35:43My stomach turned

00:35:44He started pulling one of the women closer

00:35:46Making a show of it

00:35:47Watching my face

00:35:50When something slammed into the building from the back

00:35:53A sound like the world rearranging itself

00:36:01Franco got one hand on my arm before a gunshot punched through the air

00:36:04And he dropped

00:36:10Emilio stood in the doorway

00:36:11Guns still raised

00:36:13Still smoking

00:36:14He looked at Franco on the floor for exactly one second

00:36:19Then he looked at me

00:36:21You okay?

00:36:22Did he hurt you?

00:36:22I couldn't make words happen

00:36:24I just shook my head against his chest and kept shaking

00:36:28Take care of the rest

00:36:29We're leaving

00:36:29Then he lifted me

00:36:31Literally lifted me

00:36:32And carried me out of that building like I weighed nothing

00:36:35Like it was the most natural thing in the world

00:36:37Like he'd been doing it his whole life

00:36:38Outside, the afternoon light was so ordinary

00:36:41It almost hurt

00:36:44I kept waiting for him to put me down to say something cold

00:36:47To remind me that this was a contract and feelings weren't included

00:36:50He didn't

00:36:51He just held me against his chest in the back seat while Diego drove

00:36:54And the city slipped past the windows like a film I wasn't part of

00:36:57He set me on the living room sofa

00:36:59Carefully, gently

00:37:00And told the staff to leave with a single look

00:37:02The room emptied in seconds

00:37:04It was just us

00:37:05And the afternoon quiet

00:37:07And the weight of everything that had happened in that filthy room

00:37:09He threatened my cousin

00:37:10He wanted me to have your baby so he could use the child as leverage against you

00:37:14Why didn't you come to me?

00:37:16He said he'd kill Tomas if I did

00:37:17Your cousin was working with Galadio

00:37:20He owed him money

00:37:21They built this track together

00:37:23For you

00:37:24The word together landed like a stone

00:37:27What?

00:37:29He gambled himself into a grave

00:37:31Galadio owned him

00:37:32I stared at my hands

00:37:33The whole architecture of the pastures rearranged itself in my head

00:37:37Toas weeping on my floor

00:37:38The threats

00:37:39All of it planned

00:37:39All of it aimed at me

00:37:41Sorry isn't gonna cut it

00:37:45I thought he was going to be cold about it

00:37:47That's what I braced for

00:37:48The cartel king voice

00:37:50The gun on the table voice

00:37:51That I told you so wrapped in ice

00:37:54Instead he said something I didn't expect at all

00:37:57You own me

00:37:58I dropped meetings to pull you out of that coffee shop

00:38:01I kissed you at our engagement party when I should have been shaking hands

00:38:03I couldn't kill you when you lied to my face three times

00:38:06And I tried

00:38:06I sat there and I tried and I couldn't do it

00:38:08Don't quote that stupid contract to me when you own me, Mia Espinosa

00:38:12Body and soul

00:38:13As much as I own you

00:38:16Kiss me like you own me

00:38:17His jaw worked

00:38:18He said something about not being able to stop once he started

00:38:21I didn't let him finish

00:38:23I grabbed his collar and pulled him down to me

00:38:25And for one second he went still with pure shock

00:38:27And then he took over

00:38:29Kissing me like he'd been keeping it locked up for months

00:38:31Which I think he had

00:38:32Yes

00:38:34Do whatever you want me

00:38:35Punish me

00:38:36Fuck me like you own me

00:38:38He looked at me for a long moment

00:38:40Something fierce and half undone in his face

00:38:44Don't say I didn't warn you, Mia

00:38:50There's a mirror above the dresser in his bedroom

00:38:52I didn't notice it until he bent me over the drawers and his mouth found my neck

00:38:56And I looked up and saw us

00:38:58His hands in my hair

00:38:59My face flushed

00:39:00His eyes burning into mine through the glass

00:39:02Look in the mirror

00:39:03Look how slutty you get from me

00:39:05I couldn't look away

00:39:07I'm the only one who gets to see you like this

00:39:09Do you understand?

00:39:11Yes

00:39:11Lift your dress

00:39:13Watch when I take you

00:39:15What followed I will not describe in detail

00:39:17Because there are no adequate words for it

00:39:19I'll say that every time my eyes dropped

00:39:21He cupped my chin and brought my gaze back to the mirror

00:39:23Mine

00:39:24Every time he said mine

00:39:25I believed him more completely than I've believed anything in my life

00:39:29Mine

00:39:31Mine

00:39:34Afterward we lay in the dark

00:39:36His arm across my waist

00:39:37His breath slow and even

00:39:39I stared at the ceiling and felt the particular silence of someone who has crossed a line

00:39:43They can't cross back over

00:39:45You own me Mia Espinoza

00:39:46I pressed my face into his shoulder and tried not to feel how much I wanted that to be true

00:39:51Don't fall

00:39:51I told myself

00:39:52I was already falling

00:39:56One week later I came home to flowers

00:39:59That's not quite accurate

00:40:00I came home to an abundance of flowers

00:40:02A proliferation

00:40:03A situation that had clearly escalated well beyond what any reasonable person would call a floral arrangement

00:40:08Every surface in the living room held a different vase

00:40:10The whole space smelled like a greenhouse had moved in while I was out

00:40:13Standing in the middle of it introducing herself with a warm professional smile was a woman named Ollie

00:40:19She was in her 30s, polished, very pretty, and she was looking at the door behind me in a way

00:40:23that told me exactly who she was waiting for

00:40:25Emilio came in 30 seconds later

00:40:27He stopped, swept his eyes across the flowers, then across me

00:40:30And something in his face went immediately soft and that way it only does when it's just us

00:40:33Hello wife

00:40:34I missed you

00:40:36He dropped kisses on my forehead

00:40:37I held his forearms

00:40:39And forgot for a moment that there was a third person in the room

00:40:43You must be Mr. Reyes

00:40:44I'm Ollie

00:40:45I'm helping Mrs. Reyes with the wedding florets

00:40:47Emilio looked at all the flowers again

00:40:49How many flowers does a wedding need?

00:40:52As many as I like

00:40:53You told me I could have whatever I wanted

00:40:55He leaned in close

00:40:57Eyes warming

00:40:58I was thinking of something else entirely when I said that

00:41:01I shoved his chest

00:41:03He laughed and pulled me into his side

00:41:05I didn't notice Ollie's expression yet

00:41:08I would

00:41:11The roses were imported from Bulgaria, apparently

00:41:15Perfect for expressing passion

00:41:17A good fit for your character, sir

00:41:20I looked at Emilio

00:41:21He was looking at me

00:41:23What do you think?

00:41:24They look pretty

00:41:25Ollie pivoted to Lily's before I finished the sentence

00:41:28They opened with just a little attention

00:41:30And her eyes lingered on Emilio

00:41:33The way eyes linger when they're not really looking at flowers

00:41:36They look cheap

00:41:38Then orchids

00:41:39High main taint in it

00:41:41But a man like you can definitely afford to spoil someone

00:41:44Stop

00:41:45Both of them looked at me

00:41:47I know what you're doing

00:41:50And I don't like it

00:41:51And I don't like it

00:41:52Ollie gave me a polished, innocent smile

00:41:55Mrs. Reyes, I assure you

00:41:56It's Mrs. Reyes

00:41:58You're flirting with my man

00:41:59In my house

00:42:01I don't like that

00:42:02Emilio made a sound that was almost a laugh

00:42:05He lowered his mouth to my ear

00:42:07You're about to become a mob queen

00:42:09Show her your claws

00:42:10I turned back to Ollie

00:42:12You're fired

00:42:12You heard my wife

00:42:13Security came

00:42:15She went

00:42:17The door closed

00:42:18Emilio was grinning

00:42:19You called me your man

00:42:21Because you are

00:42:24I told him he was sleeping on the couch

00:42:26In respect, this was optimistic of me

00:42:29For what sin exactly?

00:42:30You didn't shut her down

00:42:32You just stood there

00:42:34I was looking at you the whole time

00:42:35I didn't hear a word she said

00:42:37That's not the point

00:42:38Couch

00:42:39I turned to walk away

00:42:40He caught my wrist

00:42:42I had about one second of thinking I'd won

00:42:44Before he lifted me over his shoulder

00:42:46Like I was a bag he was rearranging

00:42:50I squealed

00:42:51I couldn't help it

00:42:52Put me down

00:42:54You'll be down when I decide you're down

00:42:56He carried me out of the room

00:42:58While I laughed and hit his back

00:42:59And told him he was ridiculous

00:43:00He ignored all of it with complete serenity

00:43:03On the other side of the city

00:43:04In the abandoned house where Franco had died

00:43:06Damien moved through the filthy rooms alone

00:43:09He stopped at the body

00:43:10Crouched down

00:43:11Studied what was left of the man who had been his instrument

00:43:14He stood up slowly

00:43:17Coward

00:43:18He looked around at the decay

00:43:20The silence

00:43:21The ruined plan

00:43:24Then he pulled out his phone

00:43:26Guess I'm on my own now

00:43:30The letter appeared with breakfast

00:43:33Morning wife

00:43:34You got a letter

00:43:37I read the first line and went completely still

00:43:39It was an admission letter

00:43:40Nursing school

00:43:41I never applied for this

00:43:43I did

00:43:43He said it casually like it was obvious

00:43:45Like the most natural thing in the world

00:43:47Was for a cartel boff to submit nursing school applications

00:43:50On behalf of a woman he'd coerced into a contract marriage

00:43:53How did you even know I wanted to go back?

00:43:55He stopped moving

00:43:56Turned to look at me

00:43:58With an expression I'd never seen on him before

00:44:00Completely serious

00:44:01Completely open

00:44:02The night you saved me

00:44:04You said you were a nursing school dropout

00:44:07The storage room

00:44:08The blood

00:44:10His voice fading in and out as I pressed gauze to his chest

00:44:14Trying to keep him here

00:44:16I'm a nursing school dropout

00:44:18You'll survive

00:44:20He'd been carrying that for months

00:44:22I listened to everything you say

00:44:23He took my hand and kissed the back of it

00:44:25Told me the semester started on the 18th

00:44:27Two weeks

00:44:27He'd arranged bodyguards

00:44:29I started to object

00:44:29He said two

00:44:30Not a convoy

00:44:31And I let it go

00:44:32Then I sat very still

00:44:33Looking at the letter

00:44:34The 18th

00:44:36My period was late

00:44:37More than late

00:44:38I thought about the soreness I'd been ignoring for a week

00:44:41And a cold plerry moved through me

00:44:43Fast and certain

00:44:45Bathroom

00:44:47I was already gone

00:44:51I sat on the bathroom floor for a long time

00:44:55The test was in my hand

00:44:57Two lines

00:44:59Unmistakable

00:45:00Sitting there in the morning light

00:45:01Like the simplest and most complicated fact in the world

00:45:05Pregnant

00:45:06I pressed my palm flat against my stomach

00:45:09Nothing felt different yet

00:45:10The same body

00:45:11The same skin

00:45:12But somewhere in there

00:45:13Something had started

00:45:15Something that was half me

00:45:16And half the man in the kitchen

00:45:17Who had kissed the back of my hand

00:45:19And said I listened to everything you say

00:45:20The man who had carried me out of that building

00:45:23Who said you own me

00:45:24And meant it with his whole body

00:45:26The man I needed to tell

00:45:27I thought about what it meant to be pregnant

00:45:29With the cartel king's child

00:45:31The leverage of it

00:45:32The danger of it

00:45:33The way a baby becomes a weapon in this world

00:45:35Whether you want it to or not

00:45:36I thought about Tomos

00:45:38About all the traps I'd walked into already

00:45:42And then I stopped thinking about danger

00:45:44And just felt it

00:45:45I'm going to be a mother

00:45:47Emilio is going to be a father

00:45:49I wiped my face

00:45:50Stood up

00:45:52Opened the door

00:45:53Diego was in the hall

00:45:55Where's Emilio?

00:45:57Meeting miss

00:45:58With Damian

00:45:59Take me to him

00:46:00Please

00:46:02It's important

00:46:03The boss doesn't like to be disturbed

00:46:06But something in my face must have convinced him

00:46:08He nodded

00:46:11I followed him out

00:46:12The test folded in my palm

00:46:14My heart running ahead of my feet

00:46:19Diego walked me to the study door and left

00:46:21I could hear voices inside

00:46:23Emilio and Damian

00:46:25Low and urgent

00:46:26I raised my hand to knock and stopped

00:46:28The test was still in my palm

00:46:30Two lines

00:46:31The most important thing I'd ever held

00:46:33Then Imadio's voice cut through the door

00:46:35Mia's cousin?

00:46:37He's a fucking clown

00:46:38My hand dropped

00:46:40I stood very still

00:46:41I knew I should walk away

00:46:43I knew that eavesdropping on the cartel king's private meetings

00:46:46Was the kind of thing that ended badly in this world

00:46:49I pressed my ear to the door anyway

00:46:51He could have been useful

00:46:53He's Mia's only blood relative

00:46:55Tied to Palosio's mob

00:46:58It was leverage

00:47:00What the hell is going on with you?

00:47:03I'm just saying

00:47:04As the east coast cartel king

00:47:05You could play more strategically

00:47:07Like not shooting your cousin-in-law in the head

00:47:10My blood went cold

00:47:15I couldn't move

00:47:17What I have with Mia is none of your fucking business

00:47:20Damian said something else

00:47:22Something about fixing things with her

00:47:24Keeping Tomas alive as a peace offering

00:47:26But the words were coming through water now

00:47:29Muffled and distant

00:47:30Shooting your cousin-in-law in the head

00:47:34Tomas was dead

00:47:36Emilio had killed him

00:47:38My cousin

00:47:39The only blood family I'd left

00:47:41The person whose life I'd accepted a mob marriage to save

00:47:43And Emilio had shot him

00:47:45While Tomas was under his roof

00:47:47While I was sleeping down the hall

00:47:49Thinking I'd kept him safe

00:47:50Damian said something about the forged will next

00:47:54Lying about her inheritance just to marry her

00:47:56A sound at the door

00:47:58Emilio's voice sharpened

00:48:00Who's there?

00:48:05I turned and ran

00:48:08I was packing before I fully decided to pack

00:48:11The suitcase was open on the bed

00:48:13And my hands were moving

00:48:14And the test was still in my fist

00:48:17I don't know why I kept holding it

00:48:18And Emilio came through the door

00:48:2020 seconds later

00:48:22Face pale

00:48:22Wait

00:48:23What are you doing?

00:48:25What does it look like?

00:48:27Mia, let's talk

00:48:28I don't negotiate with the devil

00:48:29I tried to pass him

00:48:31He grabbed my arm

00:48:32Stop

00:48:34Let's talk

00:48:35I jerked free

00:48:36You lied

00:48:37You killed my cousin

00:48:38Then you lied again

00:48:39There's nothing left to say

00:48:41He exhaled

00:48:42Sharp and frustrated

00:48:43Is killing your scumbag cousin really that big of a deal?

00:48:46I stared at him

00:48:47I waited for a moment to feel shocked

00:48:49But there was none left

00:48:50Of course he said that

00:48:50Of course

00:48:51He was a criminal boss who ran an empire built on violence

00:48:54And I had somehow convinced myself that the version of him who kissed my forehead

00:48:57And listened to everything I said was the real one

00:48:59Does a human life mean anything to you?

00:49:02I'm a criminal boss

00:49:04You knew that when you signed the contract

00:49:08Which you forged

00:49:10My aunt never wanted me to marry you, did she?

00:49:15A long silence

00:49:16He didn't deny it

00:49:18You added the marriage clause to trap me

00:49:20So what?

00:49:22I run a mob

00:49:23Be grateful I didn't take you by force

00:49:25The words landed like a slap

00:49:27Grateful

00:49:28He wanted me to be grateful

00:49:29So grateful

00:49:31Grateful you dragged me into this hell

00:49:33Got my cousin killed

00:49:34And got me

00:49:35The test was still in my hand

00:49:37I looked down at it

00:49:38The two lines looked back

00:49:39You'll never know, I thought

00:49:41You don't deserve to

00:49:43I zipped the suitcase shut

00:49:48Just let me go, Emilio

00:49:49You know I can't

00:49:50In one motion, I reached across him and grabbed the gun from his hip

00:49:54I had it pressed against myself before I'd thought about what I was doing

00:49:57The barrel cold against my ribs

00:49:59My hand shaking, tears running down my face

00:50:02Mia

00:50:03His voice had changed completely

00:50:05All the cold stripped out of it

00:50:07Either you let me walk out

00:50:10Or I pull this trigger

00:50:14He went very still

00:50:15Then he extended his hand

00:50:17Palm up

00:50:18The way you'd extend a hand to a frightened animal

00:50:20Give me the gun

00:50:22And I'll let you leave

00:50:24Just like that?

00:50:25Yes

00:50:27You know I can't say no to you

00:50:30Just give me the gun

00:50:31Please

00:50:33The please undid something in my chest

00:50:35I hated that it did

00:50:38After a long moment I laid the gun in his palm

00:50:41He tucked it away without breaking eye contact

00:50:43We can fix this

00:50:45We can pretend none of this happened

00:50:47I can't pretend

00:50:50Everything between us was built on lies

00:50:51He stepped closer

00:50:53His voice dropped

00:50:54Thick with something he was fighting to contain

00:50:56My feelings for you aren't lies

00:50:58A tear ran down my face

00:51:00I looked at his face

00:51:02Really looked at it

00:51:03This man who had saved me and lied to me and killed my cousin and kissed my forehead in the

00:51:08morning

00:51:08All of it true at the same time

00:51:10None of it simple

00:51:11I took his hand

00:51:12I placed the ring in his palm

00:51:14Goodbye Emilio

00:51:16He stood frozen

00:51:17Fist closing around the ring

00:51:18As I walked out the door

00:51:23I went to Serena's

00:51:24She opened the door before I finished knocking

00:51:27Took one look at my face

00:51:28And pulled me inside without asking any questions

00:51:31She made tea

00:51:32She handed me tissues

00:51:34She sat with me on the sofa

00:51:35And let me cry until there was nothing left

00:51:38Then she waited

00:51:39He killed my cousin

00:51:43He lied about the inheritance

00:51:46Everything from the beginning was fabricated to get me into that house

00:51:51Serena was very quiet

00:51:52She handed me another tissue

00:51:58Too quiet

00:52:00I looked at her

00:52:03Serena

00:52:04He killed my cousin

00:52:06Why aren't you shocked?

00:52:08She couldn't meet my eyes

00:52:10Serena

00:52:12Why do you look like you already knew?

00:52:14A long silence

00:52:15The kind that means the answer is going to change things

00:52:18I brought Thomas to him

00:52:20The room tilted

00:52:22What?

00:52:26My dad is a Mafia Don

00:52:29I heard the words

00:52:31I processed them in a very distant clinical way

00:52:35The way you process information that is too large to fit into the ordinary world

00:52:40You lied to me

00:52:44For five years

00:52:46I hid it to protect you

00:52:49So you'd never get dragged into this mob world

00:52:52But then Emilio showed up and

00:52:54Did you know he killed my cousin?

00:52:56The silence that followed was the worst silence of my life

00:52:59Yes

00:53:02Emilio shot your cousin in front of me

00:53:03I pulled away from her

00:53:05She reached for my arm

00:53:08Mia, please

00:53:09My family doesn't change who I am

00:53:12What you mean to me

00:53:15You sound just like him

00:53:16I lied to protect you

00:53:20You watched him die and you didn't tell me?

00:53:23I stood up

00:53:24She scrambled after me

00:53:26Saying my name

00:53:27Reaching for my arm

00:53:29I got to the door

00:53:31Mia, wait

00:53:31We're done, Serena

00:53:33I ran

00:53:36The street was cold

00:53:39Serena chased me for half a block before her phone rang and she stopped

00:53:42I didn't look back

00:53:43I just walked

00:53:44Arms wrapped around myself

00:53:46No destination

00:53:46No plan

00:53:47Just moving because stopping felt like drowning

00:53:49I thought about my mother who had died and left me in a world I didn't understand

00:53:53I thought about Toas who had sold me to a monster for gambling debts

00:53:56I thought about the ring I'd left in Emilio's hand and the test still folded in my pocket

00:54:00And the fact that I was pregnant and alone in the dark with nowhere to go

00:54:03The city moved around me, indifferent

00:54:06A car slowed alongside me

00:54:08I squinted

00:54:10Emilio?

00:54:10The door opened

00:54:12Not Emilio

00:54:13Damien

00:54:18Relax

00:54:19I'm not dragging you anywhere

00:54:21Then what do you want?

00:54:22I have orders to stay with you

00:54:25But

00:54:26I can take you to a safe house

00:54:28Emilio won't know

00:54:29He watched my face

00:54:30Patient

00:54:31Almost gentle

00:54:32I can even get you out of the country

00:54:37I stared at him

00:54:38Damien was smiling that easy smile

00:54:40Hands in his pockets

00:54:41Like he was offering him a ride to the airport

00:54:43Nothing in his face looked wrong

00:54:45Why would you help me?

00:54:46You're his brother

00:54:48I'd like to balance out some of the bad I've done

00:54:50I'll handle your phone

00:54:51He put a tracker on it

00:54:53Even works when it's off

00:54:55I looked down at my phone

00:54:56Then at him

00:54:58Then at the dark street stretching in both directions with nowhere to go

00:55:02I handed him the phone

00:55:03He took it and I climbed into the back seat

00:55:06I was so tired

00:55:07I was so tired of being afraid

00:55:09Of running

00:55:10Of trying to stay one step ahead of men with more power than I would ever have

00:55:14The leather seat was warm

00:55:15Damien got into the front without speaking

00:55:17There's water in the back if you need it

00:55:21I reached for the bottle

00:55:23Opened it

00:55:24Took a long drink

00:55:25Thank you Damien

00:55:26You're a good man

00:55:27He watched me in the rearview mirror

00:55:29And something moved across his face that I didn't have time to read

00:55:35The water tasted like water

00:55:38That was the last thing I registered clearly

00:55:40Then the edges of the window started to blur

00:55:42The streetlights smeared into long yellow streaks

00:55:45My hand felt very heavy

00:55:47I looked down at the bottle in my lap and thought, distantly, that something was wrong

00:55:53What?

00:55:55The thought didn't finish

00:55:58I slumped sideways and the world went out like a light

00:56:02In the front seat, Damien watched me through the mirror

00:56:05His easy smile had changed into something else entirely

00:56:10Something that had been waiting behind it all along

00:56:13Sweet little Mia

00:56:14You have no idea what's coming

00:56:16For you

00:56:17Or for my arrogant half-brother

00:56:22We're on our way

00:56:23Have the island ready

00:56:25Outside, the city light slid past and fell behind us

00:56:28And Emilio's mansion disappeared into the dark

00:56:30And I was gone before I knew I'd been taken

00:56:35I woke up to the sound of ocean

00:56:37That was wrong

00:56:38I lived in the city

00:56:40The city didn't sound like that

00:56:42Steady and vast and indifferent

00:56:44Like breathing from a long way away

00:56:46I lay still for a moment with my eyes closed

00:56:49Waiting for the world to reassemble itself into something familiar

00:56:52It didn't

00:56:53I opened my eyes

00:56:55An unfamiliar room

00:56:56Whitewashed walls

00:56:57Wooden shutters

00:56:58Light coming in sideways in gold

00:57:00Not a hotel

00:57:01Not anywhere I'd ever been

00:57:03I got up and went to the window

00:57:06Trees

00:57:07Ocean

00:57:07Nothing else in any direction

00:57:09The door opened behind me

00:57:11Good

00:57:11You're awake

00:57:13I turned around

00:57:16He was standing in the frame

00:57:18Hands in his pockets

00:57:20Looking pleased with himself

00:57:21In that particular way

00:57:22That meant something had gone

00:57:23Exactly according to plan

00:57:25Where am I?

00:57:27Somewhere no one can find you

00:57:28Not even my brother

00:57:30The memory came back all at once

00:57:33The car

00:57:34The water

00:57:35The bottle in my hand

00:57:36The edges of the window blurring

00:57:39You kidnapped me

00:57:40Smart girl

00:57:42I see why Emilio kept you around

00:57:45But not smart enough

00:57:47He moved into the room

00:57:49And I stepped back until the wall found me

00:57:55He told me about Palacio

00:57:58Not the way I'd understood it

00:57:59Franco as Emilio's enemy

00:58:00Using me as a pawn

00:58:01Damien had been behind Franco the whole time

00:58:03He'd found my cousin the moment he ran my background check

00:58:06He'd built the trap

00:58:07Handed Tomas to Franco

00:58:08And watched the whole thing play out from inside Emilio's house

00:58:10Franco Palano was a fucking idiot

00:58:13But he was a useful one

00:58:15Until your cartel king shot him in the head

00:58:18My cousin died because of you

00:58:20His expression didn't change

00:58:22I slapped him

00:58:24His head snapped sideways

00:58:26A beat of absolute silence

00:58:28Then he turned back

00:58:29And the easy smile was gone

00:58:31Replaced by something that had always been underneath it

00:58:35He grabbed my throat and slammed me into the wall

00:58:39You're lucky I need you

00:58:41Or I'd choke the life out of you right now

00:58:44His eyes moved over me in a way that made my skin crawl

00:58:47If my cold-hearted brother is obsessed with you

00:58:49There must be something worth exploring

00:58:52He leaned in

00:58:55I bit him

00:58:56Hard

00:58:59He pulled back with a snarl

00:59:01And I saw his arm draw back

00:59:03Don't

00:59:03Please

00:59:04I'm pregnant

00:59:05His fist stopped

00:59:06The room went very quiet

00:59:08Damien stared at me

00:59:09The hiri draining out of his face

00:59:11And being replaced by something more dangerous

00:59:13Calculation

00:59:14You're pregnant

00:59:16With Emilio's baby

00:59:18I nodded

00:59:18My throat ached where his hand had been

00:59:20He stepped back

00:59:21Then he started laughing

00:59:23Really laughing

00:59:24The kind that fills a room

00:59:25And I stood against the wall and watched him

00:59:27And felt a cold, creeping dread

00:59:29Oh, this is gold

00:59:30Palami actually pulled it off

00:59:32I thought his plan to knock you up was ridiculous

00:59:33Emilio would never

00:59:35Never what?

00:59:35There's a rumor he's infertile

00:59:37Maybe it's real

00:59:38Maybe he spread it so women wouldn't chase him

00:59:40Either way

00:59:40You and that baby just changed everything

00:59:42He headed for the door, still grinning

00:59:45What are you going to do to me?

00:59:47He turned

00:59:47One hand on the frame

00:59:49Relax

00:59:51I was gonna let my men have some fun with you

00:59:54But now

00:59:56I need that baby unharmed

01:00:00He told me about the island

01:00:04Pacific

01:00:04Private

01:00:06Surrounded by his army

01:00:07And buried in the ground all around the house

01:00:11Explosives

01:00:11Enough to bring everything down

01:00:13Triggered by a detonator he kept on his person

01:00:15If Emilio tries anything

01:00:17Boom

01:00:18Then he left me there

01:00:19I slid down the wall and sat on the floor

01:00:22And tried to think

01:00:24The ocean kept making its vast in a myrient sound outside the shuttered window

01:00:29You're on a private Pacific island

01:00:31Surrounded by a full army

01:00:33With bombs underneath you

01:00:35I pressed both hands flat against my stomach

01:00:38I'm going to get us out of here

01:00:40I didn't know if that was true

01:00:42I said it anyway because someone had to

01:00:45I thought about the note Emilio had tucked into a nursing school envelope

01:00:49I listened to everything you say

01:00:51I thought about the way he'd lifted me out of Franco's building

01:00:54Like I was something worth carrying

01:00:56I thought about his fist closing around my ring

01:00:59Find me I thought

01:01:00Please find me

01:01:03The door stayed closed

01:01:04The ocean kept breathing

01:01:07I stayed on the floor and I waited

01:01:11On the third night a hand touched my shoulder

01:01:13I jolted awake

01:01:14Already pulling back

01:01:16Already opening my mouth to scream

01:01:17And a hand covered it

01:01:18A familiar weight

01:01:19A familiar smell

01:01:20Mia

01:01:21It's me

01:01:22A voice in my ear

01:01:23Barely a breath

01:01:24I collapsed into him

01:01:26He held me for exactly three seconds

01:01:28His arms around me

01:01:30His chin on my head

01:01:31The realness of him solid and overwhelming

01:01:33And then he pulled back

01:01:34And cupped my face

01:01:35And checked me the way he'd checked me in the warehouse all those months ago

01:01:39Systematic and frantic at the same time

01:01:41Are you hurt?

01:01:42No

01:01:42How did you-

01:01:43Serena

01:01:44And your mafia princess friend has a helicopter

01:01:46He pressed his lips to my forehead

01:01:48Quick and fierce

01:01:49Follow my lead, we're heading to the chopper

01:01:50Stay close, stay quiet

01:01:51He had a gun in his hand

01:01:53He opened the door, checked the corridor

01:01:54And guided me out into the dark

01:01:58We made it thirty feet

01:02:00Damien's voice came from ahead of us

01:02:02Easy and amused

01:02:03Like he'd been waiting

01:02:05Since when does the cartel king use knockout drugs to sneak in?

01:02:09Emilio stopped

01:02:10Gun raised

01:02:11Since when do you skip dinner?

01:02:16Damien stepped out of the shadows

01:02:18In his hand

01:02:19Raised between two fingers like a cigarette

01:02:22Was the detonator

01:02:24Since the day

01:02:25Dad handed you the cartel

01:02:27His thumb hovered over the button

01:02:30Emilio moved in front of me without thinking about it

01:02:33Blocking me with his body

01:02:34Drop the gun, brother

01:02:40Emilio dropped it

01:02:42You want the cartel?

01:02:43Fine

01:02:44I'll give it to you

01:02:45I don't want the stupid mob

01:02:47It's you

01:02:47It's always been you

01:02:49His voice had broken open

01:02:51And underneath the ease and the planning and the long patient game was something rawer

01:02:55Something that had been sitting in that house for years

01:02:57Growing in the dark

01:02:58Then take me

01:03:00Do whatever you want

01:03:01But let Mia go

01:03:02Don't drag her into this

01:03:06It happened in less than a second

01:03:08Emilio crossing the corridor in two strides

01:03:10Shoulder dropping

01:03:10Crashing into his brother

01:03:11The detonator flew from Damien's hand

01:03:14But Damien's smile came back

01:03:15Colder than before

01:03:16No

01:03:18Your offspring isn't getting out today either

01:03:22He turned to me

01:03:23Slowly

01:03:24And in that moment

01:03:25Nothing in his face was the cartel king

01:03:26Nothing was the man who made rooms go silent and had people removed

01:03:30He just looked at me like I was the only thing in the room that mattered

01:03:34You're pregnant

01:03:36I nodded

01:03:37His jaw set

01:03:38He turned back to Damien

01:03:42Not happening

01:03:45Then we all die

01:03:47His thumb moved

01:03:49Emilio lunged

01:03:50He of them hit the window behind them and went through it in a shower of glass and frame and

01:03:55night air

01:03:59Emilio

01:04:01Emilio

01:04:01Silence

01:04:03Then the night outside was just the ocean and the dark and the sound of my own breathing

01:04:08Ragged and desperate

01:04:10I ran for the door

01:04:13They were both on the ground outside

01:04:17Unconscious

01:04:17Not moving

01:04:19Damien face down in the dirt

01:04:21Emilio on his back with his eyes closed and one arm thrown wide and glass in his hair

01:04:26I heard voices

01:04:27Serena

01:04:28Marco

01:04:29Running toward me

01:04:30I dropped to my knees beside Emilio

01:04:35Emilio

01:04:36Emilio

01:04:37Wake up

01:04:37We have to go

01:04:39Mia

01:04:41Marco was already beside me

01:04:43Hands on Emilio's chest

01:04:44Pressing and counting

01:04:45I sat there and held Emilio's hand and watched Marco's face and couldn't breathe

01:04:52Come back

01:04:53Come back

01:04:54Come back

01:04:59Emilio coughed

01:05:00His chest heaved

01:05:02His eyes opened

01:05:04Everyone let out a breath at the same time

01:05:07I'm okay

01:05:10We need to move

01:05:11He started to get up

01:05:12I helped him my hands shaking

01:05:14Chopper's ready

01:05:15This way

01:05:16Emilio stood

01:05:18Unsteady

01:05:19And looked at Damien's limp body

01:05:23You go ahead

01:05:24I need to finish him

01:05:29I'm not leaving you

01:05:30You wanna watch me shoot my own brother?

01:05:33I don't care

01:05:36You're pregnant Mia

01:05:38Go

01:05:39His voice was gentle but final

01:05:41The voice that meant he'd already decided

01:05:43Promise you'll come

01:05:45I promise

01:05:46Serena took my arm

01:05:48I let her pull me away

01:05:49Looking back over my shoulder

01:05:50At Emilio standing over his brother in the dark

01:05:52He didn't look back at me

01:05:54He was already somewhere else

01:05:55Somewhere cold and necessary

01:05:57He's going to be fine

01:05:58He's Emilio Reyes

01:05:59We were twenty yards from the house

01:06:01Then thirty

01:06:02The helicopter was somewhere ahead

01:06:04Its blades beginning to turn

01:06:05I kept walking

01:06:06He promised

01:06:07He promised

01:06:08He promised

01:06:12The world turned white

01:06:13The sound hit me a full second after the light

01:06:16A wall of pressure and noise that knocked me sideways

01:06:19Serena's grip tearing loose

01:06:21I turned around

01:06:23The house was on fire

01:06:25Not catching fire

01:06:26Already fire

01:06:28Instant and total

01:06:29A column of flame reaching up into the dark sky

01:06:31The windows gone

01:06:32The roof already folding

01:06:34The air tasted like smoke

01:06:37I couldn't move

01:06:38Serena was saying something

01:06:40Marco was saying something

01:06:42The helicopter blades were louder now

01:06:44Someone was pulling at my arm

01:06:45And I couldn't move

01:06:46Because Emilio was in that house

01:06:48And he had promised

01:06:49And he was in that house

01:06:50No

01:06:51The word came out of me

01:06:53Like something being torn out

01:06:54No Emilio

01:06:55Serena had both arms around me from behind

01:06:57Holding me back

01:06:58I fought her

01:06:59I don't remember deciding to fight her

01:07:01My body just refused to go anywhere without him

01:07:03Mia

01:07:04Let me sit there

01:07:05He's Mia

01:07:06Stop

01:07:07Marco was already running back toward the burning house

01:07:10Calling into his radio

01:07:11I stopped fighting

01:07:13I just stood there in Serena's arms

01:07:15And watched the fire eat the house

01:07:17And felt the heat on my face

01:07:18And thought about a man in a study saying

01:07:20I listened to everything you say

01:07:22And a man in a corridor

01:07:23With his shoulder dropping

01:07:24And his body going through glass

01:07:26Going through glass to keep a detonator out of his brother's hand

01:07:29Going through glass for me

01:07:31The flames climbed higher

01:07:32The night was orange and black

01:07:34I pressed both hands over the small life inside me

01:07:38And I waited

01:07:39And I waited

01:07:40And I waited

01:07:41And no one came

01:07:45Five months later

01:07:46That's what the subtitle would say if my life were a movie

01:07:49Five months later

01:07:50A neat jump cut

01:07:53All the grief

01:07:54And the waiting

01:07:55And the nights I lay awake

01:07:56With one hand on my stomach

01:07:58And the other pressed to my mouth

01:07:59To keep quiet

01:08:00Compressed into three words

01:08:01And a hard cut

01:08:02To a woman on a street corner

01:08:03In white gloves

01:08:04Me

01:08:05I'm eight months pregnant

01:08:07And I'm wearing white gloves

01:08:08And I'm standing on a sidewalk

01:08:10Watching a homeless man run

01:08:11He thinks he's running

01:08:13From the two cars

01:08:14That boxed him in

01:08:17He's not

01:08:17He's running from me

01:08:20The car door opens

01:08:22I step out

01:08:23Damien stops

01:08:25He looks older

01:08:26Thinner

01:08:27Five months on the street

01:08:28Will do that

01:08:29Five months knowing that the woman

01:08:31Whose house you burnt out

01:08:32Is carrying the air

01:08:33To the Reyes cartel

01:08:34And is looking for you

01:08:35That will do it too

01:08:36I pull off one gloves

01:08:38Finger by finger

01:08:41Hello brother-in-law

01:08:44My men take him before he can speak

01:08:48Wait

01:08:49Mia

01:08:50We should talk

01:08:52Yes

01:08:52We should

01:08:56The basement of the Reyes mansion

01:08:58Is very quiet

01:09:00I had Diaz repaint it

01:09:01New lighting

01:09:02A good chair for me to sit in

01:09:04Positioned at exactly the right distance

01:09:06I learned from the best after all

01:09:08I watched Emilio run this house for months

01:09:10I know how it's done

01:09:11I sit with my legs

01:09:13Frapes crossed

01:09:14And my hands folded over my stomach

01:09:16And I watch two of my men work

01:09:19Damien screams

01:09:20He begs

01:09:21He says my name like it's a password

01:09:23That will open a door

01:09:24Like some part of him still believes

01:09:26I'm the nursing student

01:09:27From the fast food restaurant

01:09:28Who cried on a sofa

01:09:29And couldn't look Emilio in the eye

01:09:31I'm not her anymore

01:09:32Make this stop

01:09:33Please

01:09:34Mia

01:09:35I give the men a look

01:09:37They hit harder

01:09:38After a while I raise a hand

01:09:40And they stop

01:09:40The basement goes quiet

01:09:41Except for Damien's raggled breathing

01:09:43And the distant sound of the city outside

01:09:46I stand up and walk over to him

01:09:51Tell me where he is

01:09:52Damien looks up at me

01:09:54Through blood

01:09:55His smile is still there

01:09:57Somehow cracked and terrible

01:09:59Come closer

01:10:01I'll tell you

01:10:05I leaned down

01:10:06His mouth was near my ear

01:10:08And I stayed perfectly still

01:10:10And waited

01:10:10He's rotting in hell

01:10:12Just like you will be

01:10:14You stupid

01:10:15I straightened up

01:10:17I pulled the gun

01:10:18From the back of my waistband

01:10:22The one Diego had started

01:10:23Leaving on my night state

01:10:24Three months ago

01:10:25After the first two attempts

01:10:26On my life

01:10:27After I'd started running

01:10:28This operation alone

01:10:30And I shot Damien once

01:10:32He slumped

01:10:33I stood there for a moment

01:10:34And looked at him

01:10:35Emilio's brother

01:10:36The man who had built

01:10:37Every trap I'd walked into

01:10:39The man who had burned down

01:10:40The house with Emilio inside it

01:10:42Then I peeled off

01:10:43The other glove

01:10:44Folded both of them together

01:10:46And walked out

01:10:49Diego was waiting in the Rorto

01:10:51With a package

01:10:52Mail address to your name, ma'am

01:10:54He held it out

01:10:55The label read

01:10:56Mia Espinoza

01:10:58I frowned

01:10:59I thought I changed my last name

01:11:01On everything

01:11:01Could be from before

01:11:05I took it

01:11:09I opened it in the study

01:11:12A file

01:11:13Legal documents

01:11:15A will

01:11:16Notarized

01:11:17Witness

01:11:17Dated three months

01:11:18Before Leschia died

01:11:19I read the first page

01:11:21And had to sit down

01:11:22One hundred million dollars

01:11:24Her actual inheritance

01:11:26Not the fabricated claws

01:11:27Amicio had invented

01:11:28To get me into his house

01:11:29The real thing

01:11:30The money she'd spent

01:11:31Her life accumulating

01:11:32And had always meant to

01:11:33To the niece

01:11:34She wrote letters to

01:11:35And called her girl

01:11:35Where it all started

01:11:36I thought

01:11:38Diego stood near the door

01:11:40Mr. Reyes would have found you

01:11:42Regardless of the inheritance

01:11:47Sounds like him

01:11:48I turned to the last page

01:11:50And a small piece of paper

01:11:51Fell out

01:11:51Folded once

01:11:52The size of a fortune cookie slip

01:11:54I picked it up

01:11:55The handwriting was Emilio's

01:11:56I'd seen it on a hundred things

01:11:58Notes

01:11:59Contracts

01:11:59The margin of a book

01:12:00He'd left open

01:12:01On the kitchen counter

01:12:01I'd have known it anywhere

01:12:02It said

01:12:03Love at first sight

01:12:04I sat there

01:12:05Holding that small piece of paper

01:12:07For a long time

01:12:08Then I pressed it

01:12:09Against my chest

01:12:10And closed my eyes

01:12:11I'll find you Emilio Reyes

01:12:13Wherever you are

01:12:16He was in Sicily

01:12:17I didn't know that yet

01:12:19I knew it the way

01:12:20You know things

01:12:21When you've been running

01:12:22Someone's empire

01:12:22For five months

01:12:23And you've learned

01:12:24To read Diego's face

01:12:25There was somewhere

01:12:26He wouldn't look

01:12:27Some piece of information

01:12:28That lived just behind

01:12:29His careful professional expression

01:12:31But he wouldn't tell me

01:12:33And I understood why

01:12:35Emilio had told him not to

01:12:36So I waited

01:12:38On a balcony

01:12:39Overlooking the Mediterranean

01:12:40A man in a wheelchair

01:12:42Watched the ocean

01:12:43He'd been watching it for weeks

01:12:45The light changed

01:12:46The water changed

01:12:48He watched it all

01:12:49With the patience of someone

01:12:50Who has decided

01:12:51Not to go anywhere

01:12:52Until they're ready

01:12:54Serena flew to Sicily

01:12:55On a Tuesday

01:12:56She found him on the balcony

01:12:58Thinner than she'd left him

01:12:59The ocean wind

01:13:00Moving through his hair

01:13:01She dropped a photograph

01:13:03On his lap

01:13:03Without greeting him first

01:13:05In the photo

01:13:06Damien

01:13:06Dead

01:13:08Emilio picked up the photo

01:13:09Looked at it for a long moment

01:13:11That's my girl

01:13:15She's gonna be pissed

01:13:16If you're not there

01:13:16When she gives birth

01:13:19I can't see her like this

01:13:20You could show up

01:13:22As a worm

01:13:22And she'd still love you

01:13:24I'm tired of lying

01:13:25To my best friend

01:13:26Again

01:13:28She'll forgive you

01:13:30Serena ground

01:13:31And sat down

01:13:31On the low wall

01:13:32Beside his chair

01:13:33The Mediterranean

01:13:34Was the specific blue

01:13:35It gets in the late afternoon

01:13:36Almost violet

01:13:37At the edges

01:13:38Come back with me

01:13:39Tomorrow

01:13:40I'm flying out

01:13:40In the morning

01:13:41No

01:13:43Emilio

01:13:43I'll return

01:13:45When I can stand

01:13:45On my own feet

01:13:47I want her to know

01:13:48I'm still the man

01:13:49Who can protect her

01:13:49And our baby

01:13:52Serena stared at him

01:13:53For a long moment

01:13:54Toxic masculinity

01:13:55From a cartel king

01:13:56Who would've thought

01:13:57A beat

01:13:57You know

01:13:58You're kinda cute

01:13:59In a wheelchair

01:14:00Don't let your bodyguard

01:14:02Hear that

01:14:02He helps me

01:14:03To the bathroom

01:14:04Serena laughed

01:14:05A real laugh

01:14:06Surprised out of her

01:14:07She stood up

01:14:08And kissed the top

01:14:08Of his head

01:14:09Don't take too long

01:14:11She walked out

01:14:13Emilio stayed

01:14:14On the balcony

01:14:15Until the light

01:14:16Was gone

01:14:18He reached

01:14:19Into his pocket

01:14:20The ring was small

01:14:22And cold

01:14:22And familiar

01:14:24Mia's engagement ring

01:14:25The one she'd placed

01:14:26In his palm

01:14:27In the bedroom

01:14:27And walked away from

01:14:29He'd been carrying it

01:14:30Since that night

01:14:31Through the crash

01:14:32Through the window

01:14:32Through however many

01:14:34Surgeries he didn't

01:14:34Fully remember

01:14:35Through the months

01:14:36Of physical therapy

01:14:37On this balcony

01:14:38Overlooking the sea

01:14:39He turned it

01:14:40In his fingers

01:14:40He thought about

01:14:41The night in the alley

01:14:42When he'd looked up

01:14:43From the pavement

01:14:43And seen a woman

01:14:44He'd never met

01:14:44Pressing gons to his chest

01:14:45And telling him

01:14:46To stop moving

01:14:47Or he'd bleed more

01:14:47He'd been half dead

01:14:48And delirious

01:14:49And he thought

01:14:49I know you

01:14:50I don't know you yet

01:14:51But I know you

01:14:52Lietia had talked

01:14:53About her for years

01:14:54Her niece

01:14:55The nursing student

01:14:56The girl who sent

01:14:57Letters and called

01:14:58Every Sunday

01:14:58And had her mother's

01:14:59Stubbornness

01:15:00And her own

01:15:00Fierce particular kindness

01:15:02He'd carried the shape

01:15:03Of her before

01:15:04He knew her face

01:15:05He closed his hand

01:15:06Around the ring

01:15:07I'm coming back

01:15:08To you Mia

01:15:09The ocean was dark now

01:15:11The stars were coming out

01:15:12One by one

01:15:13Over Sicily

01:15:15I'm coming back

01:15:19Two months later

01:15:20I thought giving birth

01:15:21At home would be easier

01:15:23I was wrong

01:15:24It's never easy

01:15:25I hate you

01:15:27I hate you

01:15:28Emilio Reyes

01:15:29Almost there

01:15:30One more push

01:15:31I hate you

01:15:32I pushed

01:15:34The world split open

01:15:35And then there was a sound

01:15:36Small and indignant

01:15:38And completely certain

01:15:39Of itself

01:15:40And the doctor

01:15:41Was saying something

01:15:42I couldn't hear

01:15:43And someone was crying

01:15:44And I thought

01:15:45It might be me

01:15:45Ma'am

01:15:46You need to stay with us

01:15:47You haven't seen your baby

01:15:49But I'm just so tired

01:15:50I was tired in a way

01:15:52I had never been tired before

01:15:53Down into the marrow

01:15:55My body suddenly hollow

01:15:56And enormous

01:15:57At the same time

01:15:58Stay

01:15:59You have to stay

01:15:59My eyes closed

01:16:01Someone said my name

01:16:02I tried to hold on

01:16:04Then

01:16:04At the edge of the light

01:16:06A silhouette appeared

01:16:07In the doorway

01:16:07Not Diego

01:16:09Not Serena

01:16:10Not a doctor

01:16:12A silhouette that moved

01:16:13The way only one person

01:16:14In my life

01:16:15Had ever moved

01:16:18He was standing

01:16:19On his own feet

01:16:20That was the first thing

01:16:21I registered

01:16:21Not that he was there

01:16:22Not even that he was alive

01:16:23But that he was standing

01:16:24On his own two feet

01:16:26In the doorway

01:16:26Of my hospital room

01:16:27Wearing clothes

01:16:28I didn't recognize

01:16:29Thinner than I remembered

01:16:30With a look on his face

01:16:31That I had no word for

01:16:32Mia

01:16:33My name in his voice

01:16:34I had been so tired

01:16:35A moment ago

01:16:36The darkness had been

01:16:37Pulling me down

01:16:38And I had been letting it

01:16:39Because I didn't have

01:16:40Anything left to fight with

01:16:41But my eyes opened

01:16:43Emilio

01:16:44He crossed the room

01:16:45He dropped to his knees

01:16:46Beside the bed

01:16:47He took my face in both hands

01:16:48And pressed his forehead to mine

01:16:49I felt him shaking

01:16:50This man who never shook

01:16:51Who never showed anything

01:16:52Who had spent 32 years

01:16:53Building a wall around himself

01:16:54And had spent six months

01:16:55Tearing it down for me

01:16:55He was shaking

01:16:57Somewhere behind him

01:16:58A baby was crying

01:16:58Our baby

01:16:59Ours

01:17:02Outside the hospital window

01:17:03The city was beginning

01:17:04Its ordinary morning

01:17:05Entirely aware

01:17:06That something fundamental

01:17:07Had just changed

01:17:08Inside I closed my eyes

01:17:09And held on to him

01:17:10And listened to the small

01:17:11Indignant perfect sound

01:17:12Of our daughter

01:17:13Announcing herself to the world

01:17:14We were here

01:17:15Both of us

01:17:16Finally

01:17:19This is what I know now

01:17:20I know that love

01:17:22Is not the clean safe thing

01:17:23I thought it would be

01:17:24When I was 22

01:17:25And working at a fast food counter

01:17:26And keeping a wish list

01:17:27Of what my life

01:17:28Was supposed to become

01:17:28I thought love would feel

01:17:30Like arriving somewhere

01:17:31I thought it would be

01:17:32Warm and certain

01:17:33And uncomplicated

01:17:34It is none of those things

01:17:37It is a man pressing gauze

01:17:39To a wound in a back room

01:17:41It is a ring in a palm

01:17:42And a door closing

01:17:43And a house going up in flames

01:17:46It is five months

01:17:47Of running an empire

01:17:48I didn't ask for

01:17:50Learning the weight of a gun

01:17:52And the patience required

01:17:53To wait for someone

01:17:54Who promised to come back

01:17:55He is not a good man

01:17:57In the simple sense

01:17:58I know what he runs

01:17:59And what it costs

01:18:00And I have made my peace

01:18:01With the distance

01:18:02Between who he is out there

01:18:04And who he is in this room

01:18:06Holding our daughter

01:18:07Like she's the most fragile

01:18:08And important thing

01:18:09He's ever been handed

01:18:10He is sitting in the chair

01:18:12Beside my bed

01:18:12And she is asleep

01:18:13On his chest

01:18:14And he is not looking

01:18:15At anything in the room

01:18:16Except her

01:18:16She has his dark eyes

01:18:18She has already

01:18:19Even at one day old

01:18:21A particular expression

01:18:22Of absolute conviction

01:18:23That I recognize

01:18:23From watching him

01:18:24Walk into rooms

01:18:25I saved a man

01:18:26In an alley once

01:18:27I was 22

01:18:28And afraid

01:18:29And I had no idea

01:18:30What I was saving him into

01:18:31Best mistake I ever made

01:18:34I had no idea

01:18:34I was having a woman

01:18:34How many of you

01:18:35Have a big deal

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