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The Blackmailed Bride: Falling in Love With a Criminal Boss
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00:02Thank God. Are you okay? He didn't chain you up somewhere. He's not. No. No dungeons. I'm fine.
00:09You don't look fine. She's right. I don't feel fine. I feel like I'm playing three different
00:13chess games at once and losing all of them. I start to tell her about Franco, about Tomas,
00:17about the deadline. But before I can get past the first sentence, are you okay? You seem terrified
00:22of him. Of course I'm terrified. His men run the entire East Coast. He could be listening to us
00:26right now, Mia. Serena, you're not making sense. Why do you even know so much about him? Who's
00:29your dad? Something shifts in her expression. Something serious and old and tired like she's
00:34been waiting for this question and dreading it at the same time. Mia, it's time you know
00:38who I am. The door exploding open. A masked man with a gun raised screaming at everyone
00:42to get on the floor. The cafe erupts into chaos. I freeze. I stand in the middle of it all
00:47and
00:47my body simply refuses to move like it's deciding whether any of this is real. Mia, get down.
00:52I can't move. You deaf? I said down. The robber spots me. Move. Why can't I move?
01:08Marco, put it down. Please.
01:16I stand there with a stranger's arm around neck and think absurdly about the alley three months
01:20ago. About how I peeked my head out and said hello like an idiot. About how that one bad
01:24decision led to every bad decision after it. A chain of dominoes I set off the moment I dragged
01:28a bleeding cartel king off the pavement. I really shouldn't have saved him. Then the door opens
01:32again. Emilio walks in like he has nowhere else to be. Like this is a meeting he scheduled. Gun
01:36raised. Jaw set. Eyes finding me in under a second. Oh yeah? Who's she? The president's wife?
01:41Emilio shoots him in the arm. The arm around my throat goes slack. I drop. Serena catches me.
01:46No you're fucking not. I don't see what happens next. The world tilts, goes soft at the edges and I
01:52stop being able to hold myself up. The last thing I feel before I feign is someone lifting me.
01:57His arms, his cologne, that particular steadiness that shouldn't feel like safety but does.
02:04The next morning a small army arrives at my door. They work on me for two hours. I sit in
02:09the chair
02:09and let them and feel like a doll being dressed for a party I didn't ask to attend. Which is,
02:14technically, exactly what's happening. I slip out when they're arguing about earrings. Down the hall,
02:18through the tall living room windows, I spot Emilio outside with Diego. He's in a sharp suit and he's
02:23furious. Jaw tight, gesturing hard, words muffled through the glass but unmistakably sharp. He's
02:28beautiful when he's angry. I notice this and immediately wish I hadn't.
02:34You're gonna tell me why you want my baby and what it'd have to do with Palacio?
02:38Who?
02:38The man at your apartment.
02:40He knows. He's known. The realization lands slowly and then all at once and I think about
02:44every moment since he showed up at my door. The conference table, the handkerchief,
02:47the drawer full of condoms and understand that he has been pulling at this thread the entire time.
02:52I don't know what you're talking about.
02:53Do you know what happened to the last person who lied to me?
02:57I cut out their tongue and made them eat it.
03:00I hate them. I blink hard. He's a monster, I tell myself. Remember that.
03:04This isn't over.
03:05I know. It's never over. That's the problem.
03:10I walk in on Emilio's arm in a dress that cost more than three months of my old salary.
03:15Diamonds at my throat and I feel like a very convincing fake.
03:18Emilio greets people with a smile that doesn't touch his eyes and steers me through the room
03:22with a hand at the small of my back that feels like both a claim and a warning.
03:26Stay close. Don't talk to anyone.
03:28I'm not allowed to talk to people.
03:30You've caused enough trouble on your own.
03:31That wasn't in the contract.
03:33I'm a cartel boss, Mia. A contract won't stop me from doing whatever I want.
03:38I don't see Franco until his hand closes around my arm and yanks me into the shadows.
03:42Hello, little Mia. You didn't forget our deal?
03:45What are you doing here?
03:47Emilio invited me. We go way back.
03:48Emilio invited him. The information sits in my chest like a stone.
03:51I think about the look on Emilio's face through the window. Furious. Deliberate.
03:54I think about this isn't over.
03:56You've been living with him for three weeks, little Mia. Why aren't you pregnant yet?
04:07What did you do to her?
04:08Nothing. We were just talking. Why don't you ask her?
04:12This is his land between us like a grenade.
04:14I watch Emilio's grip loosen, just slightly, just for a moment and see it on his face,
04:18the recalculation, the betrayal trying to find its shape.
04:21Our eyes meet and I have never felt so exposed in my life.
04:24Then DeLeon is there, murmuring something about engagement photos,
04:27and Emilio exhale through his teeth and goes.
04:30I watch him walk away with his shoulders set and his jaw tight,
04:33and something aching and hollow opens up in the middle of my chest.
04:36You know something's wrong. Tell him yourself before this ends badly.
04:39I can't.
04:41Under the bright lights of the photo area,
04:43Emilio and I stand six inches apart like strangers.
04:46The photographer keeps asking us to move closer.
04:49We comply in small, miserable increments.
04:51Is it that unborable standing next to me?
04:52Only when you're mad at me.
04:54I'm mad because you're hiding something.
04:55I can't.
04:56Perfect. Now give each other a little kiss.
04:58The silence that follows is approximately a thousand years long.
05:01Then Emilio grabs my chin and kisses me.
05:03It's not gentle. It's a question with teeth.
05:05Demanding and frustrated and searingly humiliatingly effective.
05:09The camera flashes go off like a small storm.
05:11That was my first kiss.
05:12That was my first kiss and he used it like propunctuation.
05:17His mouth was just there.
05:19Angry and warm and nothing like I'd imagined
05:22and I have absolutely been imagining it
05:24and that is a problem I don't have time for right now.
05:26He was furious and I still got turned on.
05:29What is wrong with me?
05:32Did you sleep with him?
05:33What?
05:34Who?
05:34Franco Palagio. Is that what you're hiding?
05:35Is that why you wouldn't kiss me?
05:36No, I didn't sleep with him!
05:37You shoved me away like I was contagious!
05:39Because I could breathe! I've never... I haven't...
05:40The fury in his expression shifts.
05:42Slowly, like a tide going out.
05:44It gives way to something quiet and more careful.
05:46Breathe through your nose.
05:47He presses his lips to mine
05:48and this time it's nothing like before.
05:50Soft, slow, like he's asking instead of taking.
05:52Like he has all the time in the world and intends to use it.
05:56One more.
05:56I don't say no. I don't say anything.
05:58He kisses me again, deeper,
06:00one hand sliding to the back of my neck
06:01and I stop being able to think in anything but sensation.
06:04Warmth and the smell of his cologne
06:05and the ridiculous, inconvenient certainty
06:07that I am in very serious trouble.
06:09Say yes, ma'am.
06:10Yes.
06:14Then he stops.
06:15Not all at once.
06:16He trails his lips down my throat,
06:17unhurried while I'm still trying to remember what air is for.
06:19His hands are at my waist,
06:20mine are in his hair.
06:21The whole world has narrowed down
06:22to this locked bathroom,
06:23this basin, his mouth.
06:24But I don't think you deserve it yet.
06:26What?
06:26You're still hiding something from me.
06:28You and my worst enemy.
06:29I can't tell you.
06:30I'm sorry.
06:31He drops to his knees in front of me,
06:32parting my legs,
06:33and I barely have time to process what's happening
06:36before his mouth is on me
06:37and my head snaps back
06:38and I forget every coherent thought I've ever had.
06:40You'll tell me eventually,
06:41before it's too late.
06:43He's using this against me.
06:44I know he's using this against me.
06:46I can't make myself care.
06:48A security guard threatening to break it down.
06:50Promise me you'll tell me the truth
06:52or that guard walks in and finds you like this.
06:54That's...
06:54You can't...
06:55That's blackmail.
06:56Yes, I promise.
06:57I'll tell you everything.
06:58Turns back to me,
07:00eyes dark.
07:01Remember your promise.
07:04He leaves.
07:05I sit on the basin
07:06in the sudden quiet, chest heaving,
07:08ring glittering on my finger
07:09and press my hands to my face.
07:10He used pleasure as a weapon.
07:12And the worst part,
07:13the part I can't stop thinking about
07:14as I swipe off the basin
07:15and fix my lipstick
07:16and walk back out into the party,
07:18is that I would let him do it again.
07:22Sleep well?
07:24Hmm.
07:25You don't look like you slept well.
07:26I can arrange a sleep therapist.
07:28You used sex to blackrail me?
07:30No.
07:31I don't need a therapist.
07:31I need a cop.
07:32You think a cop would help?
07:33No.
07:34Because you're the cartel king
07:35and you do whatever you want.
07:37Not everything I want.
07:39Not when it comes to you.
07:40I don't know what to do with that.
07:41I look at my hands.
07:42I don't like being lied to, Mia.
07:44I grew up in this world.
07:45Betrayal is the worst sin there is.
07:47But I'll wait.
07:48Tell me when you're ready.
07:49Something in my chest
07:50loosens just slightly.
07:52The first millimeter of relief in weeks.
07:54I'll tell you.
07:54At the right time.
07:56I need to think it through.
07:57That's all I need.
07:59I have money.
08:00You have peanuts.
08:01Buy whatever you want.
08:02I'll see you tonight, fiancé.
08:04I look up from five credit cards
08:05and the ring on my finger
08:06and the ghost of his mouth on mine
08:07and I think about Tobos
08:08and Franco's deadline
08:10and the promise I made
08:11in a locked bathroom.
08:12I'll tell him.
08:13At the right time.
08:14My phone buzzes.
08:15It's a message from an unknown number.
08:17A photo.
08:17Toas.
08:18Beaten.
08:18Barely consciousness.
08:19A map pin.
08:20One line of text.
08:21Come alone.
08:22I'm running some errands today.
08:24You can come along.
08:24Let's see how long you last.
08:29I know that's what it was.
08:30A list of errands Emilio had quietly arranged.
08:33A list of things I was supposed to need.
08:35A list of reasons to stay close to the house.
08:37I ditched them at the corner of 5th and Carator,
08:39slipped into a doorway while they ran past in the wrong direction,
08:42and stood there for three whole seconds,
08:44feeling like I'd actually won something.
08:46The address was a neighborhood that had given up on itself.
08:49Cracked pavement, bored windows,
08:51a smell like rust and old rain.
08:52The building at the end of the block looked like it was held together by habit.
08:56I pushed the door open anyway.
08:58He needs me, I told myself.
09:00He can't hurt me yet.
09:01There's no baby.
09:03The whole scene arranged like something from a bad movie.
09:06Little Mia.
09:07Took you long enough.
09:09I had to get rid of Emilio's people.
09:10I'm not talking about that.
09:11I'm talking about why you're not pregnant yet.
09:12He looked up when he heard me.
09:13My stomach turned.
09:15He started pulling one of the women closer,
09:17making a show of it,
09:18watching my face.
09:21When something slammed into the building from the back,
09:24a sound like the world rearranging itself.
09:31Franco got one hand on my arm before a gunshot punched through the air,
09:35and he dropped.
09:40Emilio stood in the doorway,
09:42guns still raised,
09:44still smoking.
09:45He looked at Franco on the floor for exactly one second.
09:49Then he looked at me.
09:51You okay?
09:52Did he hurt you?
09:53I couldn't make words happen.
09:55I just shook my head against his chest and kept shaking.
09:58Take care of the rest.
09:59We're leaving.
10:00Then he lifted me.
10:02Literally lifted me.
10:03And carried me out of that building like I weighed nothing.
10:05Like it was the most natural thing in the world.
10:07Like he'd been doing it his whole life.
10:09Outside, the afternoon light was so ordinary,
10:11it almost hurt.
10:15I kept waiting for him to put me down to say something cold,
10:18to remind me that this was a contract and feelings weren't included.
10:21He didn't.
10:22He just held me against his chest in the back seat while Diego drove
10:25and the city slipped past the windows like a film I wasn't part of.
10:28He set me on the living room sofa,
10:30carefully,
10:30gently,
10:31and told the staff to leave with a single look.
10:33The room emptied in seconds.
10:34It was just us,
10:36and the afternoon quiet,
10:37and the weight of everything that had happened in that filthy room.
10:40He threatened my cousin.
10:41He wanted me to have your baby so he could use the child as leverage against you.
10:45Why didn't you come to me?
10:46He said he'd kill Tomas if I did.
10:48Your cousin was working with Galadio.
10:50He owed him money.
10:52They built this trap together.
10:53For you.
10:54The word together landed like a stone.
10:58What?
10:59He gambled himself into a grave.
11:01Palazio owned him.
11:02I stared at my hands.
11:04The whole architecture of the passwords rearranged itself in my head.
11:07Toa sweeping on my floor.
11:09The threats.
11:09All of it planned.
11:10All of it aimed at me.
11:12Sorry isn't gonna cut it.
11:16I thought he was going to be cold about it.
11:18That's what I braced for.
11:19The cartel king voice.
11:20The gun on the table voice.
11:22That I told you so wrapped in ice.
11:24Instead, he said something I didn't expect at all.
11:28You own me.
11:29I dropped meetings to pull you out of that coffee shop.
11:31I kissed you at our engagement party when I should have been shaking hands.
11:34I couldn't kill you when you lied to my face three times and I tried.
11:37I sat there and I tried and I couldn't do it.
11:39Don't quote that stupid contract to me when you own me, Mia Espinosa.
11:43Body and soul.
11:43As much as I own you.
11:46Kiss me like you own me.
11:48His jaw worked.
11:49He said something about not being able to stop once he started.
11:52I didn't let him finish.
11:53I grabbed his collar and pulled him down to me and for one second he went still with pure shock.
11:58And then he took over, kissing me like he'd been keeping it locked up for months, which I think he
12:02had.
12:03Yes.
12:04Do whatever you want to me.
12:06Punish me.
12:07Fuck me like you own me.
12:09He looked at me for a long moment.
12:10Something fierce and half undone in his face.
12:14Don't say I didn't warn you, Mia.
12:21There's a mirror above the dresser in his bedroom.
12:23I didn't notice it until he bent me over the drawers and his mouth found my neck.
12:27And I looked up and saw us.
12:28His hands in my hair, my face flushed, his eyes burning into mine through the glass.
12:32Look in the mirror.
12:34Look how slutty you get from me.
12:36I couldn't look away.
12:37I'm the only one who gets to see you like this.
12:40Do you understand?
12:41Yes.
12:42Lift your dress.
12:44Watch when I take you.
12:45What followed I will not describe in detail because there are no adequate words for it.
12:50I'll say that every time my eyes dropped, he cupped my chin and brought my gaze back to the mirror.
12:54Mine.
12:54Every time he said mine, I believed him more completely than I've believed anything in my life.
12:59Mine.
13:01Mine.
13:04Mine.
13:05Afterward we lay in the dark, his arm across my waist, his breath slow and even.
13:09I stared at the ceiling and felt the particular silence of someone who has crossed a line they can't cross
13:15back over.
13:15You own me, Mia Espinoza.
13:17I pressed my face into his shoulder and tried not to feel how much I wanted that to be true.
13:21Don't fall, I told myself.
13:23I was already falling.
13:27One week later, I came home to flowers.
13:29That's not quite accurate.
13:31I came home to an abundance of flowers.
13:33A proliferation.
13:33A situation that had clearly escalated well beyond what any reasonable person would call a floral arrangement.
13:38Every surface in the living room held a different vase.
13:41The whole space smelled like a greenhouse had moved in while I was out.
13:44Standing in the middle of it introducing herself with a warm professional smile was a woman named Ollie.
13:49She was in her 30s, polished, very pretty, and she was looking at the door behind me in a way
13:53that told me exactly who she was waiting for.
13:56Emilio came in 30 seconds later.
13:57He stopped, swept his eyes across the flowers, then across me, and something in his face went immediately soft and
14:02that way it only does when it's just us.
14:04Hello, wife.
14:05I missed you.
14:06He dropped kisses on my forehead.
14:08I held his forearms and forgot for a moment that there was a third person in the room.
14:13You must be Mr. Reyes.
14:15I'm Ollie.
14:16I'm helping Mrs. Reyes with the wedding florets.
14:18Emilio looked at all the flowers again.
14:20How many flowers does a wedding need?
14:22As many as I like.
14:23You told me I could have whatever I wanted.
14:26He leaned in close, eyes warming.
14:29I was thinking of something else entirely when I said that.
14:32I shoved his chest.
14:33He laughed and pulled me into his side.
14:36I didn't notice Ollie's expression yet.
14:39I would.
14:42The roses were imported from Bulgaria, apparently.
14:46Perfect for expressing passion.
14:48A good fit for your character, sir.
14:50I looked at Emilio.
14:52He was looking at me.
14:53What do you think?
14:55They look pretty.
14:56Ollie pivoted to Lily's before I finished the sentence.
14:59They opened with just a little attention.
15:01And her eyes lingered on Emilio the way eyes linger when they're not really looking at flowers.
15:07They look cheap.
15:08Then orchids.
15:11High-main taint in it.
15:12But a man like you can definitely afford to spoil someone.
15:15Stop.
15:16Both of them looked at me.
15:18I know what you're doing.
15:20And I don't like it.
15:22Ollie gave me a polished, innocent smile.
15:25Mrs. Reyes, I assure you...
15:27It's Mrs. Reyes.
15:28You're flirting with my man.
15:30In my house.
15:32I don't like that.
15:33Emilio made a sound that was almost a laugh.
15:36He lowered his mouth to my ear.
15:37You're about to become a mob queen.
15:39Show her your claws.
15:41I turned back to Ollie.
15:42You're fired.
15:43You heard my wife.
15:44Security came.
15:46She went.
15:47The door closed.
15:49Emilio was grinning.
15:50You called me your man.
15:51Because you are.
15:54I told him he was sleeping on the couch.
15:57In respect, this was optimistic of me.
15:59For what sin exactly?
16:01You didn't shut her down.
16:03You just stood there.
16:04I was looking at you the whole time.
16:06I didn't hear a word she said.
16:07That's not the point.
16:09Couch.
16:10I turned to walk away.
16:11He caught my wrist.
16:12I had about one second of thinking I'd won
16:15before he lifted me over his shoulder
16:16like I was a bag he was rearranging.
16:20I squealed.
16:21I couldn't help it.
16:22Put me down.
16:24You'll be down when I decide you're down.
16:27He carried me out of the room
16:28while I laughed and hit his back
16:30and told him he was ridiculous.
16:31He ignored all of it with complete serenity.
16:34On the other side of the city,
16:35in the abandoned house where Franco had died,
16:37Damien moved through the filthy rooms alone.
16:39He stopped at the body,
16:41crouched down,
16:42studied what was left of the man
16:43who had been his instrument.
16:45He stood up slowly.
16:47Coward.
16:49He looked around at the decay,
16:50the silence,
16:52the ruined plan.
16:54Then he pulled out his phone.
16:57Guess I'm on my own now.
17:00The letter appeared with breakfast.
17:03Morning, wife.
17:04You got a letter.
17:07I read the first line and went completely still.
17:10It was an admission letter.
17:11Nursing school.
17:12I never applied for this.
17:13I did.
17:14He said it casually like it was obvious,
17:16like the most natural thing in the world
17:18was for a cartel boff to submit nursing school applications
17:20on behalf of a woman he'd coerced into a contract marriage.
17:23How did you even know I wanted to go back?
17:26He stopped moving,
17:27turned to look at me with an expression I'd never seen on him before.
17:31Completely serious.
17:32Completely open.
17:33The night you saved me,
17:35you said you were a nursing school dropout.
17:37The storage room.
17:39The blood.
17:41His voice fading in and out as I pressed gauze to his chest,
17:44trying to keep him here.
17:46I'm a nursing school dropout.
17:49You'll survive.
17:51He'd been carrying that for months.
17:52I listen to everything you say.
17:54He took my hand and kissed the back of it.
17:56Told me the semester started on the 18th.
17:57Two weeks.
17:58He'd arranged bodyguards.
17:59I started to object.
18:00He said two,
18:01not a convoy.
18:01And I let it go.
18:02Then I sat very still,
18:04looking at the letter.
18:05The 18th.
18:06My period was late.
18:08More than late.
18:09I thought about the soreness I'd been ignoring for a week,
18:12and a cold plerry moved through me,
18:13fast and certain.
18:16Bathroom.
18:18I was already gone.
18:22I sat on the bathroom floor for a long time.
18:26The test was in my hand.
18:28Two lines,
18:29unmistakable,
18:30sitting there in the morning light,
18:32like the simplest and most complicated fact in the world.
18:36Pregnant.
18:37I pressed my palm flat against my stomach.
18:39Nothing felt different yet.
18:41The same body,
18:42the same skin.
18:43But somewhere in there,
18:44something had started.
18:45Something that was half me
18:47and half the man in the kitchen
18:48who had kissed the back of my hand
18:49and said,
18:49I listen to everything you say.
18:51The man who had carried me out of that building.
18:53Who said you own me
18:55and meant it with his whole body.
18:56The man I needed to tell.
18:58I thought about what it meant to be pregnant
19:00with the cartel king's child.
19:01The leverage of it.
19:02The danger of it.
19:04The way a baby becomes a weapon in this world
19:06whether you want it to or not.
19:07I thought about Tomos.
19:09About all the traps I'd walked into already.
19:12And then I stopped thinking about danger
19:14and just felt it.
19:16I'm going to be a mother.
19:18Emilio is going to be a father.
19:19I wiped my face.
19:21Stood up.
19:22Opened the door.
19:24Diego was in the hall.
19:26Where's Emilio?
19:27Meeting, miss.
19:29With Damian.
19:30Take me to him.
19:31Please.
19:32It's important.
19:34The boss doesn't like to be disturbed.
19:36But something in my face
19:38must have convinced him.
19:39He nodded.
19:41I followed him out.
19:43The test folded in my palm.
19:45My heart running ahead of my feet.
19:50Diego walked me to the study door and left.
19:52I could hear voices inside.
19:54Emilio and Damian.
19:55Low and urgent.
19:56I raised my hand to knock and stopped.
19:59The test was still in my palm.
20:01Two lines.
20:02The most important thing I'd ever held.
20:04Then Amadio's voice cut through the door.
20:06Mia's cousin?
20:07She's a fucking clown.
20:09My hand dropped.
20:10I stood very still.
20:12I knew I should walk away.
20:13I knew that eavesdropping on the cartel king's private meetings
20:17was the kind of thing that ended badly in this world.
20:19I pressed my ear to the door anyway.
20:21He could have been useful.
20:24He's Mia's only blood relative.
20:26Tied to Palosio's mob.
20:29He was leverage.
20:31What the hell is going on with you?
20:33I'm just saying, as the East Coast Cartel King,
20:36you could play more strategically.
20:38Like not shooting your cousin-in-law in the head.
20:41My blood went cold.
20:46I couldn't move.
20:47What I have with Mia is none of your fucking business.
20:51Damien said something else.
20:53Something about fixing things with her.
20:55Keeping Tomas alive as a peace offering.
20:57But the words were coming through water now.
20:59Muffled and distant.
21:01Shooting your cousin-in-law in the head.
21:04Tomas was dead.
21:07Emilio had killed him.
21:08My cousin, the only blood family I'd left,
21:11the person whose life I'd accepted a mob marriage to save,
21:14and Emilio had shot him.
21:16While Tomas was under his roof.
21:18While I was sleeping down the hall,
21:20thinking I'd kept him safe.
21:21Damien said something about the forged will next.
21:24Lying about her inheritance just to marry her.
21:27A sound at the door.
21:29Emilio's voice sharpened.
21:30Who's there?
21:36I turned and ran.
21:39I was packing before I fully decided to pack.
21:42The suitcase was open on the bed,
21:44and my hands were moving,
21:45and the test was still in my fist.
21:47I don't know why I kept holding it.
21:49And Emilio came through the door,
21:5120 seconds later,
21:52face pale.
21:53Wait.
21:54What are you doing?
21:56What does it look like?
21:57Mia, let's talk.
21:58I don't negotiate with the devil.
22:00I tried to pass him.
22:02He grabbed my arm.
22:03Stop.
22:04Let's talk.
22:05I jerked free.
22:06You lied.
22:07You killed my cousin.
22:09Then you lied again.
22:10There's nothing left to say.
22:12He exhaled,
22:13sharp and frustrated.
22:14Is killing your scumbag cousin
22:15really that big of a deal?
22:17I stared at him.
22:18I waited for a moment to feel shocked,
22:19but there was none left.
22:20Of course he said that.
22:21Of course.
22:22He was a criminal boss
22:23who ran an empire built on violence,
22:24and I had somehow convinced myself
22:26that the version of him
22:26who kissed my forehead
22:27and listened to everything I said
22:28was the real one.
22:30Does a human life mean anything to you?
22:32I'm a criminal boss.
22:35You knew that when you signed the contract.
22:38Which you forged.
22:41My aunt never wanted me to marry you,
22:43did she?
22:45A long silence.
22:47He didn't deny it.
22:48You added the marriage clause
22:50to trap me.
22:51So what?
22:52I run a mob.
22:54Be grateful I didn't take you by force.
22:56The words landed like a slap.
22:58Grateful.
22:58He wanted me to be grateful.
23:00So grateful.
23:01Grateful you dragged me into this hell,
23:03got my cousin killed,
23:05and got me...
23:05The test was still in my hand.
23:07I looked down at it.
23:09The two lines looked back.
23:10You'll never know, I thought.
23:12You don't deserve to.
23:14I zipped the suitcase shut.
23:18Just let me go, Emilio.
23:20You know I can't.
23:21In one motion,
23:22I reached across him
23:23and grabbed the gun from his hip.
23:25I had it pressed against myself
23:26before I'd thought about what I was doing.
23:28The barrel cold against my ribs,
23:30my hands shaking,
23:31tears running down my face.
23:32Mia.
23:34His voice had changed completely.
23:36All the cold stripped out of it.
23:38Either you let me walk out,
23:40or I pull this trigger.
23:44He went very still.
23:46Then he extended his hand,
23:48palm up,
23:48the way you'd extend a hand
23:50to a frightened animal.
23:51Give me the gun,
23:52and I'll let you leave.
23:54Just like that?
23:56Yes.
23:57You know I can't say no to you.
24:00Just give me the gun.
24:02Please.
24:03The please undid something in my chest.
24:06I hated that it did.
24:08After a long moment,
24:09I laid the gun in his palm.
24:12He tucked it away
24:13without breaking eye contact.
24:14We can fix this.
24:15We can pretend none of this happened.
24:18I can't pretend.
24:20Everything between us was built on lies.
24:22He stepped closer.
24:24His voice dropped,
24:25thick with something
24:26he was fighting to contain.
24:27My feelings for you aren't lies.
24:29A tear ran down my face.
24:31I looked at his face.
24:32Really looked at it.
24:34This man who had saved me
24:35and lied to me
24:36and killed my cousin
24:37and kissed my forehead in the morning.
24:39All of it true at the same time.
24:41None of it simple.
24:42I took his hand.
24:43I placed the ring in his palm.
24:45Goodbye, Emilio.
24:46He stood frozen,
24:47fist closing around the ring
24:49as I walked out the door.
24:53I went to Serena's.
24:55She opened the door
24:56before I finished knocking,
24:58took one look at my face,
24:59and pulled me inside
25:00without asking any questions.
25:02She made tea.
25:03She handed me tissues.
25:04She sat with me on the sofa
25:06and let me cry
25:07until there was nothing left.
25:08Then she waited.
25:09He killed my cousin.
25:13He lied about the inheritance.
25:17Everything from the beginning
25:19was fabricated
25:20to get me into that house.
25:22Serena was very quiet.
25:23She handed me another tissue.
25:28Too quiet.
25:31I looked at her.
25:33Serena.
25:35He killed my cousin.
25:37Why aren't you shocked?
25:38She couldn't meet my eyes.
25:41Serena.
25:43Why do you look like
25:44you already knew?
25:45A long silence.
25:46The kind that means
25:47the answer is going to change things.
25:49I brought Thomas to him.
25:51The room tilted.
25:53What?
25:57My dad is a Mafia Don.
26:00I heard the words.
26:02I processed them
26:03in a very distant,
26:04clinical way.
26:06The way you process information
26:08that is too large
26:09to fit into the ordinary world.
26:11You lied to me.
26:14For five years.
26:17I hid it to protect you
26:18so you'd never get dragged
26:20into this mob world.
26:22But then Emilio showed up
26:24and did you know
26:25he killed my cousin?
26:26The silence that followed
26:28was the worst silence
26:29of my life.
26:30Yes.
26:32Emilio shot your cousin
26:33in front of me.
26:34I pulled away from her.
26:36She reached for my arm.
26:38Mia, please.
26:40My family doesn't change
26:41who I am,
26:42what you mean to me.
26:45You sound just like him.
26:47I lied to protect you.
26:51You watched him die
26:52and you didn't tell me?
26:54I stood up.
26:55She scrambled after me,
26:57saying my name,
26:58reaching for my arm.
26:59I got to the door.
27:01Mia, wait!
27:02We're done, Serena.
27:03I ran.
27:07The street was cold.
27:10Serena chased me
27:10for half a block
27:11before her phone rang
27:12and she stopped.
27:13I didn't look back.
27:14I just walked.
27:15Arms wrapped around myself.
27:16No destination,
27:17no plan.
27:18Just moving because
27:19stopping felt like drowning.
27:20I thought about my mother
27:21who had died
27:22and left me in a world
27:22I didn't understand.
27:23I thought about Toas
27:24who had sold me to a monster
27:26for gambling debts.
27:27I thought about the ring
27:28I'd left in Emilio's hand
27:29and the test still folded
27:30in my pocket
27:31and the fact that I was pregnant
27:32and alone in the dark
27:33with nowhere to go.
27:34The city moved around me,
27:35indifferent.
27:36A car slowed alongside me.
27:39I squinted.
27:40Emilio?
27:41The door opened.
27:42Not Emilio.
27:44Damien.
27:48Relax.
27:49I'm not dragging you anywhere.
27:51Then what do you want?
27:53I have orders to stay with you.
27:55But
27:56I can take you to a safe house.
27:59Emilio won't know.
28:00He watched my face.
28:01Patient.
28:02Almost gentle.
28:03I can even get you
28:04out of the country.
28:07I stared at him.
28:09Damien was smiling
28:10that easy smile.
28:11Hands in his pockets.
28:12Like he was offering him
28:13a ride to the airport.
28:14Nothing in his face
28:15looked wrong.
28:16Why would you help me?
28:17You're his brother.
28:18I'd like to balance out
28:19some of the bad I've done.
28:21I'll handle your phone.
28:22He put a tracker on it.
28:24Even works when it's off.
28:26I looked down at my phone.
28:27Then at him.
28:29Then at the dark street
28:30stretching in both directions
28:31with nowhere to go.
28:33I handed him the phone.
28:34He took it
28:35and I climbed into the back seat.
28:37I was so tired.
28:38I was so tired of being afraid.
28:40Of running.
28:41Of trying to stay
28:41one step ahead of men
28:42with more power
28:43than I would ever have.
28:44The leather seat was warm.
28:45Damien got into the front
28:47without speaking.
28:48There's water in the back
28:49if you need it.
28:51I reached for the bottle.
28:53Opened it.
28:54Took a long drink.
28:56Thank you Damien.
28:57You're a good man.
28:58He watched me
28:59in the rear view mirror
29:00and something moved
29:01across his face
29:01that I didn't have time
29:02to read.
29:05The water tasted like water.
29:08That was the last thing
29:09I registered clearly.
29:11Then the edges of the window
29:12started to blur.
29:13The streetlights smeared
29:14into long yellow streaks.
29:16My hand felt very heavy.
29:18I looked down at the bottle
29:19in my lap
29:20and thought,
29:21distantly,
29:21that something was wrong.
29:23What?
29:26The thought didn't finish.
29:28I slumped sideways
29:30and the world went out
29:31like a light.
29:33In the front seat,
29:34Damien watched me
29:35through the mirror.
29:36His easy smile
29:37had changed
29:38into something else entirely.
29:40Something that had been
29:41waiting behind it
29:42all along.
29:43Sweet little Mia,
29:45you have no idea
29:46what's coming.
29:47For you
29:48or for my arrogant
29:49half-brother.
29:53We're on our way.
29:54Have the island ready.
29:56Outside,
29:56the city light
29:57slid past
29:57and fell behind us
29:58and Emilio's mansion
30:00disappeared into the dark.
30:01And I was gone
30:02before I knew
30:02I'd been taken.
30:06I woke up
30:07to the sound of ocean.
30:08That was wrong.
30:09I lived in the city.
30:11The city didn't sound like that.
30:13Steady and vast
30:14and indifferent,
30:15like breathing
30:15from a long way away.
30:17I lay still
30:18for a moment
30:18with my eyes closed,
30:19waiting for the world
30:21to reassemble itself
30:22into something familiar.
30:23It didn't.
30:24I opened my eyes.
30:25An unfamiliar room.
30:27Whitewashed walls.
30:28Wooden shutters.
30:29Light coming in sideways
30:30in gold.
30:31Not a hotel.
30:32Not anywhere I'd ever been.
30:34I got up
30:34and went to the window.
30:36Trees.
30:37Ocean.
30:38Nothing else
30:39in any direction.
30:40The door opened
30:41behind me.
30:42Good.
30:42You're awake.
30:44I turned around.
30:47He was standing
30:48in the frame,
30:49hands in his pockets,
30:50looking pleased
30:51with himself
30:52in that particular way
30:53that meant something
30:53had gone exactly
30:54according to plan.
30:56Where am I?
30:57Somewhere no one
30:58can find you.
30:59Not even my brother.
31:01The memory came back
31:02all at once.
31:04The car.
31:05The water.
31:06The bottle in my hand.
31:07The edges of the window
31:08blurring.
31:09You kidnapped me.
31:11Smart girl.
31:13I see why Emilio
31:14kept you around.
31:16But not smart enough.
31:18He moved into the room
31:19and I stepped back
31:21until the wall found me.
31:26He told me about Palacio.
31:28Not the way I'd understood it.
31:30Franco is Emilio's enemy
31:31using me as a pawn.
31:32Damian had been behind
31:33Franco the whole time.
31:34He'd found my cousin
31:35the moment he ran
31:36my background check.
31:37He'd built the trap,
31:38handed Tomas to Franco
31:39and watched the whole thing
31:39play out from inside
31:40Emilio's house.
31:41Franco Palano
31:42was a fucking idiot.
31:44But he was a useful one
31:45until your cartel king
31:47shot him in the head.
31:49My cousin died
31:50because of you.
31:51His expression
31:52didn't change.
31:53I slapped him.
31:55His head snapped sideways.
31:57A beat of absolute silence.
31:59Then he turned back
31:59and the easy smile
32:01was gone.
32:01Replaced by something
32:03that had always
32:03been underneath it.
32:05He grabbed my throat
32:07and slammed me
32:07into the wall.
32:09You're lucky I need you
32:12or I'd choke the life
32:13out of you right now.
32:15His eyes moved over me
32:16in a way that made
32:16my skin crawl.
32:18If my cold-hearted brother
32:19is obsessed with you,
32:20there must be something
32:22worth exploring.
32:23He leaned in.
32:25I bit him.
32:26Hard.
32:30He pulled back
32:31with a snarl
32:31and I saw his arm
32:33draw back.
32:33Don't!
32:34Please!
32:34I'm pregnant!
32:35His fist stopped.
32:37The room went very quiet.
32:39Damian stared at me,
32:40the fury draining
32:41out of his face
32:41and being replaced
32:42by something more dangerous.
32:44Calculation.
32:45You're pregnant?
32:46With Emilio's baby?
32:48I nodded.
32:49My throat ached
32:50where his hand had been.
32:51He stepped back.
32:52Then he started laughing.
32:53Really laughing.
32:54The kind that fills a room.
32:56And I stood against the wall
32:57and watched him
32:58and felt a cold,
32:59creeping dread.
32:59Oh, this is gold.
33:01Palami actually pulled it off.
33:02I thought his plan
33:03to knock you up
33:03was ridiculous.
33:04Emilio would never.
33:05Never what?
33:06There's a rumor
33:06he's infertile.
33:07Maybe it's real.
33:09Maybe he spread it
33:09so women wouldn't chase him.
33:10Either way,
33:11you and that baby
33:12just changed everything.
33:13He headed for the door,
33:14still grinning.
33:15What are you going to do to me?
33:17He turned,
33:18one hand on the frame.
33:20Relax.
33:22I was gonna let my men
33:23have some fun with you.
33:25But now,
33:27I need that baby unharmed.
33:31He told me about the island.
33:34Pacific.
33:35Private.
33:36Surrounded by his army.
33:38And buried in the ground
33:39all around the house.
33:41Explosives.
33:42Enough to bring everything down.
33:44Triggered by a detonator
33:45he kept on his person.
33:46If Emilio tries anything,
33:48boom.
33:49Then he left me there.
33:50I slid down the wall
33:51and sat on the floor
33:52and tried to think.
33:54The ocean kept making
33:56its vast in a myrient sound
33:57outside the shuttered window.
33:59You're on a private
34:00Pacific island.
34:02Surrounded by a full army.
34:04With bombs underneath you.
34:06I pressed both hands
34:07flat against my stomach.
34:09I'm going to get us out of here.
34:11I didn't know if that was true.
34:12I said it anyway
34:13because someone had to.
34:15I thought about the note
34:17Emilio had tucked
34:17into a nursing school envelope.
34:20I listened to everything you say.
34:22I thought about the way
34:23he'd lifted me out of
34:24Franco's building
34:24like I was something
34:25worth carrying.
34:27I thought about his fist
34:28closing around my ring.
34:29Find me, I thought.
34:31Please find me.
34:33The door stayed closed.
34:35The ocean kept breathing.
34:37I stayed on the floor
34:38and I waited.
34:41On the third night
34:42a hand touched my shoulder.
34:44I jolted awake
34:45already pulling back
34:46already opening my mouth
34:47to scream
34:48and a hand covered it.
34:49A familiar weight
34:50a familiar smell.
34:51Mia, it's me.
34:53A voice in my ear
34:54barely a breath.
34:55I collapsed into him.
34:57He held me
34:57for exactly three seconds.
34:59His arms around me
35:00his chin on my head
35:01the realness of him
35:02solid and overwhelming
35:03and then he pulled back
35:05and cupped my face
35:06and checked me
35:06the way he'd checked me
35:07in the warehouse
35:08all those months ago.
35:09Systematic and frantic
35:10at the same time.
35:12Are you hurt?
35:12No.
35:13How did you-
35:14Serena
35:14and your mafia princess friend
35:16has a helicopter.
35:17He pressed his lips
35:18to my forehead
35:18quick and fierce.
35:19Follow my lead
35:20we're heading to the chopper.
35:21Stay close, stay quiet.
35:22He had a gun
35:23in his hand.
35:23He opened the door
35:24checked the corridor
35:25and guided me out
35:26into the dark.
35:29We made it 30 feet.
35:31Damien's voice
35:32came from ahead of us
35:33easy and amused
35:34like he'd been waiting.
35:36Since when
35:36does the cartel king
35:37use knockout drugs
35:38to sneak in?
35:40Emilio stopped.
35:41Gun raised.
35:42Since when
35:43do you skip dinner?
35:47Damien stepped out
35:48of the shadows.
35:49In his hand
35:50raised between
35:51two fingers
35:51like a cigarette
35:52was the detonator.
35:55Since the day
35:56dad handed you
35:57the cartel.
35:58His thumb
35:59hovered over the button.
36:01Emilio moved
36:01in front of me
36:02without thinking about it
36:03blocking me
36:04with his body.
36:05Drop the gun, brother.
36:10Emilio dropped it.
36:12You want the cartel?
36:14Fine.
36:14I'll give it to you.
36:16I don't want
36:16the stupid mob!
36:17It's you!
36:18It's always been you!
36:20His voice had broken open
36:21and underneath
36:22the ease
36:22and the planning
36:23and the long patient game
36:24was something rawer.
36:25Something that had been
36:26sitting in that house
36:27for years
36:28growing in the dark.
36:29Then take me.
36:30Do whatever you want
36:31but let Mia go.
36:33Don't drag her into this.
36:37It happened
36:37in less than a second.
36:39Emilio crossing
36:39the corridor
36:39in two strides
36:40shoulder dropping
36:41crashing into his brother.
36:42The Decnator flew
36:43from Damian's hand
36:44but Damio's smile
36:45came back
36:46colder than before.
36:47No.
36:49Your offspring
36:50isn't getting out
36:51today either.
36:52He turned to me
36:53slowly
36:54and in that moment
36:55nothing in his face
36:56was the cartel king.
36:58Nothing was the man
36:58who made rooms go silent
37:00and had people removed.
37:01He just looked at me
37:02like I was the only thing
37:03in the room that mattered.
37:05You're pregnant.
37:06I nodded.
37:08His jaw set.
37:08He turned back
37:10to Damian.
37:12Not happening.
37:16Then we all die.
37:18His thumb moved.
37:19Emilio lunged.
37:21He of them
37:21hit the window
37:22behind them
37:23and went through it
37:23in a shower of glass
37:24and frame
37:25and night air.
37:29Emilio!
37:32Silence.
37:33Then the night outside
37:35was just the ocean
37:36and the dark
37:37and the sound
37:37of my own breathing.
37:39Ragged
37:39and desperate.
37:41I ran for the door.
37:44They were both
37:45on the ground outside.
37:47Unconscious.
37:48Not moving.
37:50Damian face down
37:51in the dirt.
37:52Emilio on his back
37:53with his eyes closed
37:54and one arm thrown wide
37:55and glass in his hair.
37:56I heard voices.
37:58Serena.
37:58Marco.
37:59Running toward me.
38:00I dropped to my knees
38:02beside Emilio.
38:06Emilio!
38:06Emilio!
38:07Wake up!
38:08We have to go!
38:10Mia!
38:11Marco was already
38:12beside me.
38:13Hands on Emilio's chest.
38:15Pressing and counting.
38:16I sat there
38:17and held Emilio's hand
38:19and watched Marco's face
38:20and couldn't breathe.
38:22Come back.
38:24Come back.
38:25Come back.
38:29Emilio coughed.
38:31His chest heaved.
38:32His eyes opened.
38:35Everyone let out a breath
38:36at the same time.
38:38I'm okay.
38:40We need to move.
38:42He started to get up.
38:43I helped him,
38:44my hands shaking.
38:45Chopper's ready!
38:46This way!
38:47Emilio stood.
38:49Unsteady
38:49and looked at Damien's
38:50limp body.
38:54You go ahead.
38:55I need to finish him.
38:59I'm not leaving you.
39:01You want to watch me
39:02shoot my own brother?
39:04I don't care!
39:07You're pregnant, Mia.
39:09Go.
39:10His voice was gentle
39:11but final.
39:12The voice that meant
39:13he'd already decided.
39:14Promise you'll come.
39:16I promise.
39:17Serena took my arm.
39:18I let her pull me away,
39:20looking back over my shoulder
39:21at Emilio standing over
39:22his brother in the dark.
39:23He didn't look back at me.
39:24He was already somewhere else.
39:26Somewhere cold and necessary.
39:27He's going to be fine.
39:28He's Emilio Reyes.
39:30We were 20 yards from the house.
39:32Then 30.
39:33The helicopter was somewhere ahead,
39:35its blades beginning to turn.
39:36I kept walking.
39:37He promised.
39:38He promised.
39:39He promised.
39:43The world turned white.
39:44The sound hit me a full second
39:46after the light.
39:47A wall of pressure and noise
39:49that knocked me sideways.
39:50Serena's grip tearing loose.
39:52I turned around.
39:54The house was on fire.
39:56Not catching fire.
39:57Already fire.
39:58Instant and total.
39:59A column of flame reaching up
40:01into the dark sky.
40:02The windows gone.
40:03The roof already folding.
40:04The air tasted like smoke.
40:08I couldn't move.
40:09Serena was saying something.
40:11Marco was saying something.
40:13The helicopter blades
40:13were louder now.
40:15Someone was pulling at my arm
40:16and I couldn't move
40:17because Emilio was in that house
40:18and he had promised
40:19and he was in that house.
40:21No!
40:22The word came out of me
40:23like something being torn out.
40:24No! Emilio!
40:26Serena had both arms around me
40:27from behind holding me back.
40:28I fought her.
40:30I don't remember deciding to fight her.
40:32My body just refused
40:33to go anywhere without him.
40:34Mia!
40:34Let me sit there!
40:36He's Mia!
40:37Stop!
40:38Marco was already running back
40:39toward the burning house
40:40calling into his radio.
40:42I stopped fighting.
40:44I just stood there
40:45in Serena's arms
40:46and watched the fire
40:47eat the house
40:47and felt the heat on my face
40:49and thought about
40:49a man in a study saying
40:51I listened to everything you say
40:52and a man in a corridor
40:54with his shoulder dropping
40:55and his body going through glass.
40:57Going through glass
40:58to keep a detonator
40:59out of his brother's hand.
41:00Going through glass for me.
41:01The flames climbed higher.
41:03The night was orange and black.
41:05I pressed both hands
41:07over the small life inside me
41:08and I waited
41:09and I waited
41:10and I waited
41:11and no one came.
41:15Five months later.
41:17That's what the subtitle would say
41:18if my life were a movie.
41:20Five months later.
41:21A neat jump cut.
41:24All the grief
41:25and the waiting
41:25and the nights
41:26I lay awake
41:27with one hand on my stomach
41:28and the other
41:28pressed to my mouth
41:29to keep quiet
41:30compressed into three words
41:32and a hard cut
41:33to a woman on a street corner
41:34in white gloves.
41:35Me.
41:36I'm eight months pregnant
41:37and I'm wearing white gloves
41:39and I'm standing on a sidewalk
41:40watching a homeless man run.
41:42He thinks he's running
41:43from the two cars
41:44that boxed him in.
41:47He's not.
41:48He's running from me.
41:50The car door opens.
41:52I step out.
41:54Damien stops.
41:56He looks older.
41:57Thinner.
41:58Five months on the street
41:59will do that.
42:00Five months knowing
42:01that the woman
42:01whose house you burnt out
42:02is carrying the air
42:03to the Reyes cartel
42:04and is looking for you.
42:06That will do it too.
42:07I pull off one gloves
42:09finger by finger.
42:11Hello brother-in-law.
42:15My men take him
42:16before he can speak.
42:19Wait.
42:20Mia.
42:21We should talk.
42:22Yes.
42:23We should.
42:27The basement
42:28of the Reyes mansion
42:29is very quiet.
42:30I had Diaz repaint it.
42:32New lighting.
42:33A good chair for me
42:34to sit in.
42:35Positioned at exactly
42:36the right distance.
42:37I learned from the best
42:38after all.
42:39I watched Emilio
42:40run this house for months.
42:41I know how it's done.
42:42I sit with my legs
42:43rapes crossed
42:44and my hands folded
42:46over my stomach
42:46and I watched
42:48two of my men work.
42:49Mia.
42:50Damien screams.
42:51He begs.
42:52He says my name
42:53like it's a password
42:54that will open a door
42:55like some part of him
42:56still believes
42:56I'm the nursing student
42:57from the fast food restaurant
42:58who cried on a sofa
43:00and couldn't look
43:00Emilio in the eye.
43:01I'm not her anymore.
43:03Make this stop.
43:04Please.
43:05Mia.
43:06I give the men a look.
43:07They hit harder.
43:09After a while
43:09I raise a hand
43:10and they stop.
43:11The basement goes quiet
43:12except for Damien's
43:13raggled breathing
43:14and the distant sound
43:15of the city outside.
43:16I stand up
43:17and walk over to him.
43:21Tell me where he is.
43:23Damien looks up at me
43:25through blood.
43:26His smile is still there
43:27somehow cracked
43:29and terrible.
43:30Come closer.
43:32I'll tell you.
43:41He's rotting in hell
43:43just like you will be
43:45you stupid.
43:46I straightened up.
43:48I pulled the gun
43:49from the back
43:49of my waistband.
43:52The one Diego
43:53had started leaving
43:54on my night state
43:55three months ago
43:56after the first two
43:57attempts on my life
43:58after I'd started
43:58running this operation
43:59alone
44:01and I shot Damien once.
44:02He slumped.
44:03I stood there
44:04for a moment
44:05and looked at him.
44:06Emilio's brother.
44:07The man who had built
44:08every trap I'd walked into.
44:09The man who had
44:10burned down the house
44:11with Emilio inside it.
44:13Then I peeled off
44:14the other glove,
44:15folded both of them
44:16together
44:16and walked out.
44:20Diego was waiting
44:21in the Rorto
44:21with a package.
44:23Mail address
44:23to your name, ma'am.
44:24He held it out.
44:25The label read
44:27Mia Espinoza.
44:28I frowned.
44:30I thought I changed
44:31my last name
44:31on everything.
44:32Could be from before.
44:36I took it.
44:40I opened it
44:41in the study.
44:43A file.
44:45Legal documents.
44:46A will.
44:47Notarized.
44:47Witness.
44:48Dated three months
44:49before Leshia died.
44:50I read the first page
44:51and had to sit down.
44:53One hundred million dollars.
44:55Her actual inheritance.
44:56Not the fabricated
44:57claws Amizio had invented
44:58to get me into his house.
45:00The real thing.
45:01The money she'd spent
45:01her life accumulating
45:02and had always meant
45:04to give to the niece
45:04she wrote letters to
45:05and called her girl.
45:06Where it all started,
45:07I thought.
45:08Diego stood near the door.
45:11Mr. Reyes would have found you
45:12regardless of the inheritance.
45:17Sounds like him.
45:19I turned to the last page
45:20and a small piece of paper
45:21fell out.
45:22Folded once.
45:23The size of a fortune cookie slip.
45:25I picked it up.
45:26The handwriting was Emilio's.
45:27I'd seen it on a hundred things.
45:29Notes.
45:29Contracts.
45:30The margin of a book
45:31he'd left open
45:31on the kitchen counter.
45:32I'd have known it anywhere.
45:33It said,
45:34Love at first sight.
45:35I sat there holding
45:36that small piece of paper
45:37for a long time.
45:39Then I pressed it
45:39against my chest
45:40and closed my eyes.
45:41I'll find you Emilio Reyes.
45:43Wherever you are.
45:47He was in Sicily.
45:48I didn't know that yet.
45:50I knew it the way
45:51you know things
45:51when you've been running
45:52someone's empire
45:53for five months
45:54and you've learned
45:54to read Diego's face.
45:55There was somewhere
45:56he wouldn't look.
45:58Some piece of information
45:59that lived just behind
46:00his careful
46:01professional expression.
46:02But he wouldn't tell me
46:03and I understood why.
46:05Emilio had told him not to.
46:07So I waited.
46:09On a balcony
46:10overlooking the Mediterranean
46:11a man in a wheelchair
46:12watched the ocean.
46:14He'd been watching it for weeks.
46:16The light changed.
46:17The water changed.
46:19He watched it all
46:20with the patience
46:20of someone who has decided
46:22not to go anywhere
46:23until they're ready.
46:24Serena flew to Sicily
46:26on a Tuesday.
46:27She found him
46:28on the balcony
46:28thinner than she'd left him
46:30the ocean wind
46:31moving through his hair.
46:32She dropped a photograph
46:33on his lap
46:34without greeting him first.
46:36In the photo
46:36Damien
46:37dead.
46:38Emilio picked up the photo
46:40looked at it
46:40for a long moment.
46:42That's my girl.
46:45She's gonna be pissed
46:46if you're not there
46:47when she gives birth.
46:49I can't see her like this.
46:51You could show up
46:52as a worm
46:53and she'd still love you.
46:54I'm tired of lying
46:55to my best friend.
46:56Again.
46:59She'll forgive you.
47:00Serena ground
47:01and sat down
47:02on the low wall
47:03beside his chair.
47:04The Mediterranean
47:04was the specific blue
47:05it gets in the late afternoon.
47:07Almost violet
47:08at the edges.
47:09Come back with me tomorrow.
47:10I'm flying out
47:11in the morning.
47:12No.
47:13Emilio.
47:14I'll return
47:15when I can stand
47:16on my own feet.
47:18I want her to know
47:18I'm still the man
47:19who can protect her
47:20and our baby.
47:22Serena stared at him
47:23for a long moment.
47:24Toxic masculinity
47:25from a cartel king.
47:26Who would have thought?
47:27A beat.
47:28You know you're kinda cute
47:29in a wheelchair.
47:31Don't let your bodyguard
47:32hear that.
47:33He helps me
47:33to the bathroom.
47:35Serena laughed.
47:35A real laugh.
47:37Surprised out of her.
47:37She stood up
47:38and kissed the top
47:39of his head.
47:39Don't take too long.
47:41She walked out.
47:44Emilio stayed
47:45on the balcony
47:45until the light
47:46was gone.
47:49He reached
47:50into his pocket.
47:51The ring was small
47:52and cold
47:53and familiar.
47:54Mia's engagement ring.
47:56The one she'd placed
47:57in his palm
47:57in the bedroom
47:58and walked away from.
47:59He'd been carrying it
48:00since that night.
48:01Through the crash,
48:02through the window,
48:03through however many surgeries
48:04he didn't fully remember.
48:06Through the months
48:06of physical therapy
48:07on this balcony
48:08overlooking the sea.
48:09He turned it
48:10in his fingers.
48:11He thought about
48:12the night in the alley
48:12when he'd looked up
48:13from the pavement
48:14and seen a woman
48:14he'd never met
48:15pressing gons to his chest
48:16and telling him
48:16to stop moving
48:17or he'd bleed more.
48:18He'd been half dead
48:19and delirious
48:19and he thought,
48:20I know you.
48:21I don't know you yet
48:21but I know you.
48:23Lietia had talked
48:23about her for years.
48:24Her niece,
48:25the nursing student,
48:27the girl who sent letters
48:28and called every Sunday
48:29and had her mother's
48:29stubbornness
48:30and her own fierce
48:31particular kindness.
48:33He'd carried the shape
48:34of her before he knew
48:34her face.
48:35He closed his hand
48:36around the ring.
48:37I'm coming back
48:38to you, Mia.
48:39The ocean was dark now.
48:41The stars were coming out
48:42one by one
48:43over Sicily.
48:45I'm coming back.
48:49Two months later,
48:51I thought giving birth
48:52at home would be easier.
48:53I was wrong.
48:54It's never easy.
48:56I hate you.
48:57I hate you,
48:58Emilio Reyes.
48:59Almost there.
49:00One more push.
49:01I hate you.
49:03I pushed.
49:04The world split open
49:06and then there was a sound,
49:07small and indignant
49:09and completely certain
49:10of itself.
49:11And the doctor was saying
49:12something I couldn't hear
49:13and someone was crying
49:15and I thought it might be me.
49:16Ma'am,
49:17you need to stay with us.
49:18You haven't seen your baby.
49:19But I'm just so tired.
49:21I was tired in a way
49:22I had never been tired before.
49:24Down into the marrow,
49:25my body suddenly hollow
49:26and enormous
49:27at the same time.
49:28Stay.
49:29Stay.
49:29You have to stay.
49:30My eyes closed.
49:32Someone said my name.
49:33I tried to hold on.
49:34Then,
49:35at the edge of the light,
49:36a silhouette appeared
49:37in the doorway.
49:38Not Diego.
49:40Not Serena.
49:41Not a doctor.
49:42A silhouette that moved
49:43the way only one person
49:45in my life had ever moved.
49:49He was standing
49:49on his own feet.
49:50That was the first thing
49:51I registered.
49:52Not that he was there,
49:53not even that he was alive,
49:54but that he was standing.
49:55On his own two feet.
49:56In the doorway of my hospital room,
49:58wearing clothes
49:59I didn't recognize,
50:00thinner than I remembered,
50:01with a look on his face
50:01that I had no word for.
50:03Mia.
50:03My name and his voice.
50:05I had been so tired.
50:06A moment ago,
50:07the darkness had been
50:08pulling me down
50:08and I had been letting it
50:09because I didn't have
50:10anything left to fight with.
50:12But my eyes opened.
50:14Emilio.
50:15He crossed the room.
50:16He dropped to his knees
50:17beside the bed.
50:17He took my face in both hands
50:19and pressed his forehead to mine.
50:20I felt him shaking.
50:21This man who never shook,
50:21who never showed anything,
50:22who had spent 32 years
50:23building a wall around himself
50:24and had spent six months
50:25tearing it down for me.
50:26He was shaking.
50:27Somewhere behind him,
50:28a baby was crying.
50:29Our baby.
50:29Ours.
50:30You came.
50:31I told you I was coming back.
50:33Outside the hospital window,
50:34the city was beginning
50:35its ordinary morning,
50:36entirely aware
50:36that something fundamental
50:37had just changed.
50:38Inside,
50:39I closed my eyes
50:40and held on to him
50:40and listened to the small,
50:42indignant,
50:42perfect sound
50:43of our daughter
50:43announcing herself to the world.
50:45We were here.
50:45Both of us.
50:46Finally.
50:50This is what I know now.
50:51I know that love
50:52is not the clean,
50:53safe thing I thought it would be.
50:54When I was 22
50:55and working at a fast food counter
50:56and keeping a wish list
50:57of what my life
50:58was supposed to become,
50:59I thought love would feel
51:00like arriving somewhere.
51:01I thought it would be warm
51:03and certain
51:03and uncomplicated.
51:05It is none of those things.
51:07It is a man pressing gauze
51:09to a wound in a back room.
51:11It is a ring in a palm
51:13and a door closing
51:14and a house going up in flames.
51:17It is five months
51:18of running an empire
51:19I didn't ask for.
51:21Learning the weight of a gun
51:22and the patience required
51:23to wait for someone
51:24who promised to come back.
51:26He is not a good man
51:27in the simple sense.
51:28I know what he runs
51:30and what it costs
51:30and I have made my peace
51:32with the distance
51:33between who he is out there
51:34and who he is in this room.
51:37Holding our daughter
51:37like she is the most fragile
51:39and important thing
51:40he has ever been handed.
51:41He is sitting in the chair
51:42beside my bed
51:43and she is asleep on his chest
51:44and he is not looking
51:45at anything in the room
51:46except her.
51:47She has his dark eyes.
51:49She has, already,
51:50even at one day old,
51:51a particular expression
51:52of absolute conviction
51:53that I recognize
51:54from watching him
51:55walk into rooms.
51:55I saved a man
51:56in an alley once.
51:58I was 22
51:58and afraid
51:59and I had no idea
52:00what I was saving him into.
52:02Best mistake I ever made.
52:04Best mistake I ever made.
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