Rafael

The night had settled heavily over the city, a thick blanket of darkness punctuated only by the soft glow of streetlights and the occasional glimmer of passing cars. My office was quiet now, the noise of deals and decisions momentarily silenced. I leaned back in my chair, my gaze drifting out to the view of the cityscape sprawling before me. It was a sight I had seen a thousand times before, but tonight, it offered no comfort.

Camille was on my mind again.

I had tried—God, I had tried—to push her from my thoughts, to reassert control over the parts of me that were slowly unraveling under her influence. She was a distraction, a complication I didn’t need, especially not now. The world I lived in, the one I had meticulously crafted through power and fear, didn’t have room for softness. It didn’t have room for someone like her.

But the truth gnawed at me relentlessly. The more I watched her, the more I was pulled in by something deeper than desire, something far more dangerous. It was like a slow burn in my chest, an ache that refused to be ignored. Camille wasn’t just a fleeting interest anymore; she was becoming an obsession, and that terrified me more than anything.

Still, I couldn’t allow it. I couldn’t allow her to disrupt the balance I had worked so hard to maintain. In my world, vulnerability was a death sentence. Love, if that’s what this was starting to resemble, was a weakness—a fatal flaw. And I couldn’t afford to be weak. Not now, not ever.

But denial was easier said than done.

The conflict within the syndicate had been brewing for weeks. Territory disputes, betrayals, and power struggles. It was the kind of turmoil that should have commanded my full attention, the kind of chaos I thrived on. But now, it all seemed peripheral, a background noise to the storm brewing inside me.

Marco had been updating me on the situation—an alliance with a rival family was starting to fray, threats had been made, and moves were being calculated. My men were on edge, tensions high, waiting for my decision on how to proceed. But even as Marco spoke, all I could think about was the last time I had seen Camille, the way her eyes lit up when she smiled, the way her hands moved with such precision during surgery, saving a life as easily as others might breathe.

I was losing focus, and that was a dangerous thing for a man in my position.

“Rafael,” Marco’s voice broke through my thoughts, a sharp reminder of the reality I was avoiding. “We need to make a move. The Vasquez family won’t wait much longer. They’re testing our boundaries.”

I looked at him, forcing myself back into the present. “I know,” I replied, my voice colder than I felt. “We’ll deal with it. Set up a meeting with their leaders. I want to see who’s behind this play for power.”

Marco nodded, but there was hesitation in his eyes. “There’s something else,” he said cautiously. “Word is getting out about your… involvement with the doctor. Some are questioning whether she’s becoming a distraction.”

My jaw tightened at his words. It was exactly what I had been trying to avoid—letting my personal life bleed into my business. But it was too late now. Camille was already a part of this, even if she didn’t realize it.

“She’s not a distraction,” I said, the lie falling easily from my lips. “She’s nothing more than a passing interest.”

Marco didn’t argue, but the doubt lingered in his expression. He knew me too well to believe that lie completely, but he also knew better than to push the subject further. “I’ll handle the arrangements,” he said before leaving the room, closing the door softly behind him.

Alone again, I exhaled slowly, running a hand through my hair. Nothing more than a passing interest—I wanted to believe that. I wanted to convince myself that Camille meant nothing, that she was just another fleeting indulgence. But I couldn’t. The truth was harder to escape with each passing day.

I found myself wondering what she was doing now. Was she still at the hospital, saving lives and walking through her world with that effortless grace? Or was she at home, curled up with one of the books I had sent her, her brow furrowed in concentration as she lost herself in its pages?

It was maddening, this pull she had over me. Every time I tried to shake her from my mind, she came back stronger, her presence like a shadow that followed me everywhere. I had been with many women before—women who knew the rules of my world, who accepted the boundaries I set without question. But Camille was different. She wasn’t part of this life, and that was precisely what made her so dangerous.

I couldn’t let her in. I couldn’t let myself fall for her, no matter how much I wanted to.

The days blurred together as I tried to navigate the growing tensions within the syndicate, but my thoughts continued to drift back to her, no matter how hard I fought it. I found myself checking on her more frequently, sending Marco to make sure she was safe, that no harm had come her way. Part of me wanted to blame it on practicality—after all, she had saved my life. Protecting her was just another way of protecting my own interests.

But deep down, I knew it was more than that.

One evening, after another long day of meetings and negotiations, I found myself standing outside her apartment building. I didn’t know why I had come, didn’t know what I was hoping to accomplish by being here. But there I was, watching the soft light in her window, wondering what it would be like to be on the other side of that door. To step into her world, if only for a moment.

But I couldn’t.

I couldn’t let myself get any closer. Not now, when everything was on the line. There were too many risks, too many variables I couldn’t control. And if there was one thing I had learned in this life, it was that control was everything.

I took a step back, turning my gaze away from her window. I had to be stronger than this. Camille was a weakness, and weaknesses had no place in my world. Love, if that’s what this was, had no place in my world.

But as I walked away, a part of me couldn’t help but wonder how much longer I could keep denying it.

The next day, the chaos within the syndicate only worsened. Vasquez was making moves, testing our boundaries, and my men were growing restless. It should have been my sole focus—keeping the balance of power, maintaining control. But every time I tried to concentrate, every time I sat in a meeting or made a decision, my thoughts drifted back to her.

I couldn’t shake the image of her hands, so steady and sure, saving that boy’s life in the operating room. It had been… mesmerizing. And that was the problem. Camille was more than just a distraction; she was starting to mean something. And in my world, that was the most dangerous thing of all.

I had to stop this. I had to stop feeling this. But I couldn’t. I could still smell the antiseptic of the hospital, could still see the determination in her eyes as she worked, oblivious to the fact that I was watching her.

She didn’t know. She couldn’t know what she was doing to me. If she did, if she saw the way she unraveled me, she would run. And she should.

Later that night, I sat alone in my office, the weight of the world pressing down on my shoulders. The Vasquez situation was spiraling, and my men were growing impatient, but none of it seemed to matter. None of it could drown out the storm inside me.

I poured myself a drink, the burn of the whiskey doing nothing to numb the ache that had taken root in my chest. This was weakness, plain and simple. And weakness had no place in my life. It had no place in the world I had built.

But no matter how many times I told myself that, no matter how many times I tried to bury these feelings, they kept coming back. Stronger. More insistent.

Camille had gotten under my skin in a way that no one ever had. She was different, and that terrified me.

I couldn’t afford to love her. I couldn’t afford to feel anything for her. But the more I tried to push her away, the more she consumed me.

And I knew, deep down, that there would come a time when I wouldn’t be able to deny it anymore. When I wouldn’t be able to fight it.

But for now, I had to.

For both of our sakes.

Because love, in my world, wasn’t just dangerous.

It was lethal.