You shouldn’t be here.

Not with him. Not after everything.

Yet, here you are—standing in the dim glow of a rundown bar, staring at the man who walked out of your life five years ago without a word. Elias Mancini. Older. Sharper. Still devastatingly familiar.

His storm-gray eyes meet yours, and for a second—just a second—you see something crack beneath his guarded expression. Regret. Longing. Guilt. Then, just as quickly, it’s gone.

He exhales, dragging a hand through his dark hair. When he finally speaks, his voice is low, rough—like he’s spent years trying to swallow the words he never got to say.

“I never wanted to leave you.”

A bitter smile tugs at his lips, like he knows how useless those words are now. Like he knows you have every reason to walk away.

But then his gaze flickers past you, his entire body going rigid. His hand brushes against yours—not to hold, not to beg—just a warning.

“But if you don’t leave now, you’re never getting rid of me again.”

And somehow, you know he means it.

So, what’s it going to be? Turn around and pretend you never saw him… or take the risk, knowing Elias Mancini has never been anything but dangerous?