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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.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNeJu092iWE
That’s the part that pisses me off the most.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXVU1nquXbF
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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.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ31CyKgEeiQ
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She walked in like she owned the block.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBs3o3DRpWO
Tight black jeans, boots heavy like she was ready for war, and them neon braids swingin’ like a weapon.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqZFisryK3k
Didn’t smile. Didn’t flinch.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDT3crj52Ci
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.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqGPLyn7Igb
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I was about to send security her way—until I saw what was on her screen.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxLJXjsOl7T
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Camera feeds.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxPSJWFXNN8
My feeds.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMNAnpiMF89
My damn security system.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLE2MqqzIXi
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I moved in slow, calm, calculated.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFWMptqnfD4
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.”16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlRCZnWCU5H
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She didn’t even blink.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2a8CfECy9V
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“Maybe if your encryption wasn’t trash, I’d have more respect,” she said, eyes still on the screen.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeIUbCicZlp
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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.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuaoirhMvr3
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She finally looked up. Eyes sharp. Cold. Beautiful in a way that was more threat than invitation.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMPJ0BVJYzb
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“You must be Saint,” she said.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDPBB56XIzC
Like she already knew everything about me.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8NnLuFsMsi
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I remember thinking: She talks too slick for someone who should be dead.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0gLt4m6Api
Then again, I like slick.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyhZkq2oqtB
And maybe part of me wanted to see how far she’d go.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkM16I8VtYl
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“And you are?”16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuPdXySyLvm
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“Nova.”16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrR6f2CMxsX
Just that. Like it was enough.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH15AWn74E1
And it was.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfvdId4rLyX
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She slid a flash drive across the bar.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnH3fG0d0VE
“You’ve got a rat in your house. I’ll let you guess who. First one’s free. Next time costs.”16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsFPZtqNZgg
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Then she got up. Walked out like the whole damn room didn’t freeze watching her pass.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpOGRU8vvWS
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I let her go.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCe7gsUco4f
Didn’t stop her. Didn’t chase.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeMJrqtGVrI
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But from that night on,16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡur4pS54nzT
I watched her.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1XNTp0TIws
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And every time her name came up,16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMwcVbRH0cw
every time her fingerprints showed up where they shouldn’t—16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFsm9260v5o
I felt it.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn5dXD9iouF
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A shift.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNj98SNIlEw
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Like something wild had just stepped into my world and refused to be caged.
