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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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu7HieLIbIh
That’s the part that pisses me off the most.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ1GrLPMkvD
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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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjMKVkRs5Tv
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She walked in like she owned the block.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZpH2l6gaer
Tight black jeans, boots heavy like she was ready for war, and them neon braids swingin’ like a weapon.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJpzXCUx7iP
Didn’t smile. Didn’t flinch.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs8SgNOf6va
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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXNiEvKtXkh
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I was about to send security her way—until I saw what was on her screen.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnU9N2NVPOY
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Camera feeds.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWFcQwks0ZX
My feeds.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL4IR4fnM2h
My damn security system.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzeJkqVkYyw
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I moved in slow, calm, calculated.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3rxPcw1T2G
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.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEV2l4dO0xO
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She didn’t even blink.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjwQJeGwrc6
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“Maybe if your encryption wasn’t trash, I’d have more respect,” she said, eyes still on the screen.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSyLFY0oGV5
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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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7FV84TfFq5
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She finally looked up. Eyes sharp. Cold. Beautiful in a way that was more threat than invitation.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9EaLSybUZC
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“You must be Saint,” she said.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW5uNgCFYLh
Like she already knew everything about me.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡemqBPtjdMY
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I remember thinking: She talks too slick for someone who should be dead.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqjiQOFuFlm
Then again, I like slick.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ270kjXOyk2
And maybe part of me wanted to see how far she’d go.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdj3o8SMq6G
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“And you are?”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsrOafcho60
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“Nova.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO2SOIDA5bX
Just that. Like it was enough.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjiSnNCfb4s
And it was.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNRMgMN5Q6P
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She slid a flash drive across the bar.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6NL30BRGuU
“You’ve got a rat in your house. I’ll let you guess who. First one’s free. Next time costs.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzQ7hHgw4Qc
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Then she got up. Walked out like the whole damn room didn’t freeze watching her pass.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzMoM4GPfid
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I let her go.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP6csZS60Qw
Didn’t stop her. Didn’t chase.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Sc6jAlzvF
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But from that night on,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGHpVRro6pX
I watched her.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxZaBqhyQNw
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And every time her name came up,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcKQQMJ9UYJ
every time her fingerprints showed up where they shouldn’t—21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkTWjKylcbl
I felt it.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCl9HttE9Os
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A shift.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvZpFJbkdYK
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Like something wild had just stepped into my world and refused to be caged.
