Heer
The morning after the battle felt surreal. The mansion was eerily quiet, as though the earth itself was holding its breath, waiting for the next eruption. The walls, which had once echoed with the sound of laughter and conversations, now felt hollow. The smell of smoke still clung to the air, and the scent of blood lingered in the corners of my mind.
But there was a strange stillness in the air—one that made my heart race even more than the chaos had. After all the fighting, the explosions, the screaming, this silence felt like the calm before something even worse. I couldn't shake the feeling that this wasn't over. Not by a long shot.
Carlos had barely spoken after the battle. He'd been in and out of meetings, giving orders, making decisions that I knew were weighing heavily on him. The powerful mafia boss, the one who had built an empire from the ground up, was now more like a man struggling to keep it from falling apart. But he had never let me see his vulnerability before. Now, it was all I could see.
I was sitting at the large dining table, nursing a cup of tea, when Carlos walked into the room. His face was grim, his eyes hard. I had seen him angry, determined, and even desperate—but never quite like this. He looked like a man on the edge.
"Carlos," I said softly, setting down my cup. "How are you?"
He didn't respond immediately. His gaze was distant, as though he was lost in thought, and the silence stretched between us, thick and uncomfortable.
"I'm fine," he said after a moment, but I could hear the lie in his voice.
I stood up and walked toward him, my heart aching for him. "No, you're not. You're carrying too much, Carlos. And I don't want you to do it alone."
He turned to me, his expression softening for a brief second before it hardened again. "This isn't your fight, Heer. I've dragged you into a world you shouldn't be in. A world where you're a target because of me."
"That's not true," I said, my voice steady. "This is our fight. I'm here because I love you. I don't care about the danger. I don't care about the enemies. I only care about you. About us."
His eyes locked onto mine, and I could see the battle raging inside of him. He wanted to push me away, to protect me, but deep down, I knew he didn't want to. He was just scared—scared of what would happen if he allowed himself to need someone. Scared of losing the one person who had become his anchor in the storm.
"I've lost so much, Heer," he whispered, his voice breaking. "I've built this empire with blood, with betrayal, with death. I don't know how to protect you from it. I don't know how to protect myself."
I stepped closer, closing the distance between us. "You don't have to protect me, Carlos. We protect each other. That's how it works now."
He took a deep breath and pulled me into his arms, holding me tightly. I could feel the weight of his emotions pressing against me, the hardness of his chest as he exhaled, trying to let go of the tension.
"You've already given me everything, Heer," he murmured. "You don't know what that means to me. You don't know how much you've saved me."
"I'm not going anywhere," I said firmly, holding onto him just as tightly. "No matter what happens next, I'm here. With you."
We stayed like that for a while, not speaking, just existing in the moment. For once, there was no danger, no mafia business, no enemies. Just the two of us, holding on to each other like we were the only things that mattered in the world.
Carlos
I didn't deserve her. I didn't deserve the way she loved me—so freely, so completely. I had spent my life in darkness, building an empire of blood and lies, and yet here she was, standing by me, offering me something pure and real. She had no idea what she was getting herself into, but that didn't matter. I would make sure she was safe. I would protect her, no matter the cost.
But there was still so much at stake. The enemies I had dealt with before were nothing compared to the ones I was facing now. They were coming for me, and they were going to stop at nothing to tear me down. And this time, they wouldn't just go after me. They would go after Heer.
The thought of losing her—the thought of seeing her hurt because of me—was unbearable. It was the one thing that terrified me more than anything else.
"I'll never let anything happen to you," I whispered, my voice low and raw.
She lifted her head, looking up at me with those deep, brown eyes that always seemed to see right through me. "I trust you, Carlos. But you don't have to do this alone."
I looked at her, my heart pounding in my chest. She trusted me. Even after everything that had happened, after everything I had put her through, she still trusted me.
That trust was the one thing I wasn't willing to lose.
Heer
I could feel the weight of his words as he spoke. The fear that had always been there, hidden beneath the surface, was starting to bleed through. He was afraid. Afraid of losing me, afraid of the world he had built, afraid of the consequences of his actions.
But I wasn't going anywhere. I was his, heart and soul. And no matter what happened, I would stand by him. We would face this world together.
"I'll fight with you, Carlos," I said, my voice unwavering. "Whatever comes, we'll face it. Together."
His eyes softened, and I could see the relief in them. The weight he had been carrying, the burden of responsibility, seemed to lighten just a little bit.
"I don't know what I'd do without you," he said, his voice full of emotion. "You're everything to me, Heer."
I smiled, a soft, reassuring smile. "You'll never have to find out."
Carlos
I had always been alone in this world. But now, for the first time in my life, I wasn't. Heer was with me. And with her, I knew I could survive whatever came next.
But the storm wasn't over. It was just beginning.