He thought love meant holding on—tight enough that she wouldn’t slip away. That if he wrapped his arms around her heart, she’d be safe. He didn’t know that love isn’t a prison, nor a breath taken through another… It’s a space—open, gentle—where you’re free to belong without being owned.

He was a mafia leader. Narcissistic. Powerful. A man who didn’t lose. Except her.

She was the only thing he couldn’t keep without breaking. The more he loved her, the more he crushed her. The closer he pulled her, the more she suffocated.

She wasn’t afraid of him— She was afraid for him. Afraid of the day she’d have to pay for loving him… by saving herself.

And in the end, she did.

She left. Freed her heart from his hands the way you release a dove from your palm. And now, all he has left is silence— A memory wrapped in regret, And messages he never sent.

He speaks to her as if she still listens. Tells her the truths too late to save them. He didn’t love her the way she needed. He loved her the way darkness loves light— With awe, And the urge to consume it.