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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.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBezdu4aW0P
That’s the part that pisses me off the most.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoaf7c6aGH2
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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.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ZiZTMax4l
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She walked in like she owned the block.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPPj9e7f1NK
Tight black jeans, boots heavy like she was ready for war, and them neon braids swingin’ like a weapon.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPnETy4wZLd
Didn’t smile. Didn’t flinch.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnIY20n23Co
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.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbEVfPyWC2e
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I was about to send security her way—until I saw what was on her screen.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaZU5yQTptq
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Camera feeds.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjCuJN3iJGE
My feeds.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyANO5gBfjS
My damn security system.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3cjiD7w9MW
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I moved in slow, calm, calculated.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOlZxQ9IivJ
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.”15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOL9TVcUzvz
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She didn’t even blink.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMJT34hf114
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“Maybe if your encryption wasn’t trash, I’d have more respect,” she said, eyes still on the screen.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuUWi4dRN2o
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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.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpuuHVn33uf
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She finally looked up. Eyes sharp. Cold. Beautiful in a way that was more threat than invitation.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfijWg6QdDP
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“You must be Saint,” she said.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGiWVlEJa8R
Like she already knew everything about me.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwCxOZ7DRFm
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I remember thinking: She talks too slick for someone who should be dead.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7A0RiztewK
Then again, I like slick.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgdsiLklRud
And maybe part of me wanted to see how far she’d go.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ086WlI7RrJ
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“And you are?”15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD0rjxUZU88
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“Nova.”15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJcpJLVYCv0
Just that. Like it was enough.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEd3GUqtOib
And it was.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxysnOgVHkg
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She slid a flash drive across the bar.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6fF1uqfueI
“You’ve got a rat in your house. I’ll let you guess who. First one’s free. Next time costs.”15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡey1jHqgqmc
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Then she got up. Walked out like the whole damn room didn’t freeze watching her pass.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNt4oSeYyXj
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I let her go.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW7oFj3XOBP
Didn’t stop her. Didn’t chase.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNmqeEabC8L
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But from that night on,15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6RT0QwpJQb
I watched her.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSRbuClhdkS
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And every time her name came up,15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyZCLfcBn1q
every time her fingerprints showed up where they shouldn’t—15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFSeq9ik3NK
I felt it.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ42lGRhGcqT
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A shift.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFugFs9rWIp
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Like something wild had just stepped into my world and refused to be caged.
