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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.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmtk6rkQvVI
That’s the part that pisses me off the most.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQZ1LEdB37k
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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.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPG6pN8eFq7
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She walked in like she owned the block.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡulMpFdoSJW
Tight black jeans, boots heavy like she was ready for war, and them neon braids swingin’ like a weapon.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtbuxuqoAKA
Didn’t smile. Didn’t flinch.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa0D7uTnYcx
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.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrvcUUmjYo1
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I was about to send security her way—until I saw what was on her screen.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqOvimpPZzn
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Camera feeds.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqKds2pr5aD
My feeds.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡogixBd9CRA
My damn security system.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwruDNCz8ee
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I moved in slow, calm, calculated.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNZJFnPVfZw
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.”27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDgDx4TCY3p
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She didn’t even blink.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoyFWUJdPBI
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“Maybe if your encryption wasn’t trash, I’d have more respect,” she said, eyes still on the screen.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqY1sKvgR5C
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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.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgIq8mRUPwm
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She finally looked up. Eyes sharp. Cold. Beautiful in a way that was more threat than invitation.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhoR5JlQy23
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“You must be Saint,” she said.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUTOGoDLFJf
Like she already knew everything about me.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgPAJxibEQW
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I remember thinking: She talks too slick for someone who should be dead.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5oox5lhKe4
Then again, I like slick.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhKSPxOwWNZ
And maybe part of me wanted to see how far she’d go.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡglHgi8CxFh
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“And you are?”27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlRjG0m6Qhc
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“Nova.”27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOdZNGJWbzF
Just that. Like it was enough.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6SyPrcqkdO
And it was.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI8WPohzwyn
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She slid a flash drive across the bar.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBFqnjBZFGn
“You’ve got a rat in your house. I’ll let you guess who. First one’s free. Next time costs.”27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbgIXo4Vtmw
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Then she got up. Walked out like the whole damn room didn’t freeze watching her pass.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgIihQBeOPq
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I let her go.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoXIEWKJyMo
Didn’t stop her. Didn’t chase.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSudMUTyx0t
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But from that night on,27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7fH9vuCmhj
I watched her.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgSlAKRK6tl
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And every time her name came up,27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8K0HrMUQoM
every time her fingerprints showed up where they shouldn’t—27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyqxqKf8okZ
I felt it.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQTnnC1yzF6
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A shift.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhTsn1Io2mS
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Like something wild had just stepped into my world and refused to be caged.
