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People think growing up in a crime family means fast cars, stacks of cash, and respect out the gate.
They forget what it really feels like—
To be a kid in a kingdom built on blood.
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I was six the first time I saw someone get shot.
Seven when I stopped flinching at it.
Eight when my pops slid a Glock across the dinner table and said,
“You protect what’s yours, or you don’t deserve to have it.”
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There were no bedtime stories in our house.
Only war stories, whispered over dark liquor and cigar smoke.
The men in my family were soldiers with gold rings, missing morals, and a God complex.
The women?
Silenced, shadowed, or gone.
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My mama was one of the gone.
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They say she ran. I say she survived.
She left one morning with nothing but her purse and her prayers.
Left me behind. Left him behind.
And for the longest, I hated her for it.
Until I realized—she didn’t leave me.
She left him.
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My pops raised me like I was his next investment.
No hugs. No I’m proud of yous.
Just expectations like iron on my back.
Make money. Be feared. Trust no one—not even blood.
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So I learned early:
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- Emotions get you killed.
- Weakness gets used.
- And love? Love ain’t real. It’s just leverage in a pretty package.
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By fourteen, I was already running numbers and cleaning up messes.
By sixteen, I made my first body disappear.
No panic. No guilt. Just business.
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They started calling me Saint around then—
Because I never raised my voice, never lost my cool.
But behind the calm was just a boy praying somebody would see he was drowning in a name that didn’t fit.
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Nobody did.
So I became the man they expected.
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Cold. Calculated. In control.
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But sometimes—
In the dead quiet, when the city’s asleep and no one’s watching—
I still think about her.
Not my mama.
Her.
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The one girl I pushed away because I didn’t know how to let someone stay.
The day I met her….
I wasn’t lookin’ for her.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZQ0DDYXiTI
That’s the part that pisses me off the most.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡllBACPZI7j
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I was posted at The Silo, one of my lower-level spots. Mid-week, quiet night, just there to check on things, make sure the cash was clean and the faces were familiar.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrEFnQI0VfL
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She walked in like she owned the block.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrDOj7f2vtV
Tight black jeans, boots heavy like she was ready for war, and them neon braids swingin’ like a weapon.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpkTpN76Rbu
Didn’t smile. Didn’t flinch.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2MUyBWVOH1
Walked straight to the bar, ordered cranberry juice, and pulled out a laptop like this was a damn coffee shop and not one of the most dangerous rooms in the city.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP2glZc30vR
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I was about to send security her way—until I saw what was on her screen.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX88mBN1f2K
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Camera feeds.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSvKha4U9uc
My feeds.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5fMEtZt7YS
My damn security system.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLzDp109vcJ
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I moved in slow, calm, calculated.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv27FJZ8cqX
Pulled up the stool next to her and said, “That’s not a smart thing to do in a place full of men who kill over less.”20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGoKKDC1Ohb
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She didn’t even blink.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMwnybptfsu
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“Maybe if your encryption wasn’t trash, I’d have more respect,” she said, eyes still on the screen.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlfLEZDugjQ
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I stared at her, trying to figure out what the hell kind of woman hacked into my building and had the nerve to call my system trash—while sitting in it.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcsr1rusinz
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She finally looked up. Eyes sharp. Cold. Beautiful in a way that was more threat than invitation.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZGDkFPL0q0
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“You must be Saint,” she said.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpfmaifVSIU
Like she already knew everything about me.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd2zV9bWu5b
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I remember thinking: She talks too slick for someone who should be dead.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu418WZmsym
Then again, I like slick.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIIGjqsDfI6
And maybe part of me wanted to see how far she’d go.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNzwG7ToVBa
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“And you are?”20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVzyHDQPv1q
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“Nova.”20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcpdOoH21s6
Just that. Like it was enough.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8TIZUlkIPX
And it was.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlUeKguxdTC
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She slid a flash drive across the bar.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡstiv8GnUia
“You’ve got a rat in your house. I’ll let you guess who. First one’s free. Next time costs.”20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡziuWhJ9Ehq
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Then she got up. Walked out like the whole damn room didn’t freeze watching her pass.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEiobeosavl
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I let her go.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTtKlqELpcs
Didn’t stop her. Didn’t chase.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX72wUFvgcX
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But from that night on,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5QgAYl9Hq8
I watched her.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIokXBd7Qxn
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And every time her name came up,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrHeZznrb6F
every time her fingerprints showed up where they shouldn’t—20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFJsdmunIf5
I felt it.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsavtmlr5Yb
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A shift.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQwKjSqwBky
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Like something wild had just stepped into my world and refused to be caged.
