Slavvy's POV
I couldn't believe my carelessness. How could I have forgotten that I had enemies plotting revenge against me?
I wasn't angry because I'd risked my own life — no, I'd been raised for that. My father made sure of it. Pain, betrayal, survival those were lessons drilled into my veins long before I could spell the word mercy.
But this time… this time, I'd put her life in danger.
Testimony.
That thought alone made my blood run cold.
If they had known about her, if they had touched her I wouldn't have forgiven myself. I wouldn't have forgiven the world. I would've burned every city, ripped apart every family, just to make them pay.
My phone vibrated in my hand, dragging me back to reality.
"Haze?" I said, my voice sharper than I intended.
"Ace and Zack already took care of it," he replied, calm as always.
"That's good," I said, my tone low and controlled. "But I want you to find more information about them. Where are they from? Who are their families? I won't spare any of them."
"Calm down, dude. Their families have nothing to do with this. You're overreacting," Haze said, too lightly for my liking.
Anger flared in my chest. "What are you, on their side? You know they almost killed"
I stopped. My tongue froze.
"Almost killed who?" Haze pressed.
"Nothing. Nobody," I snapped. "Just do what I'm telling you and stop asking me stupid questions."
"Fine, man. But you owe me big time, jerk," he said before hanging up.
Silence filled the car. The kind that gnawed at your insides.
I looked over at Testimony, sleeping soundly. My shirt draped over her like silk, her soft breathing steady against the chaos in my mind. For the first time in years, my heart didn't feel like a block of stone.
Her presence… she was peace in the middle of my storm.
She looked breathtaking. And that scared me more than any gun ever could.
What was this girl doing to me?
I used to pride myself on being cold. Detached. The son of a mafia king who feared nothing not death, not pain, not love.
But now?
One smile from her, and I felt like I could crumble. One laugh, and I forgot how to breathe.
It made me regret ever letting her in. Because I knew someday, my darkness would reach her. It always did.
And when it did, I'd destroy her. Not because I wanted to… but because that's what monsters like me did to the light.
Still, in that moment, all I wanted was to hold her close, to protect her from the world I came from. Even if it cost me everything.
Even if it cost me my life.
I took a slow breath, letting my gaze trace her face. Her delicate lashes fluttered in her sleep, her lips slightly parted. Her brown, innocent eyes when open could undo every wall I had ever built.
Her beauty wasn't loud. It was soft. And it tore me apart.
Her eyes fluttered open, pulling me from my thoughts. "What time is it?" she asked, her voice still heavy with sleep.
"Half past ten," I replied quietly.
"I'm definitely getting killed by my parents today," she mumbled, trying to smile.
"Not when I'm still here," I reassured her, forcing a smile of my own.
She looked at me, and for a second, I saw trust in her eyes. It burned. "Can I at least call my dad? He must be worried sick," she said, her voice pleading.
I unlocked my phone for her. A photo of her flashed on the screen her smile frozen in light.
She was the first person I'd ever saved on my phone.
Not even my mother had that place.
She dialed quickly.
"Dad?" she said softly.
I watched her the way her face shifted from calm to tense in seconds.
"I'm fine, Dad. I'm okay and alive—" she said, her voice trembling. Then she froze.
"No, Dad, I'm not kidnapped. I'm absolutely fine," she continued, forcing out the words before ending the call.
Then, suddenly — blood.
It slid down from her nose, slow at first, then faster.
"What the?! Testimony! Are you okay?!"
My voice broke. She didn't answer. Her head tilted slightly, her eyes losing focus.
Panic clawed up my throat. I grabbed her — her body was cold — and I drove like hell. Every red light blurred into streaks of color. Every second felt like an eternity.
Cape Town Private Hospital came into view, and I didn't even wait for the car to stop. I tore the door open, lifting her in my arms.
"HELP! HELP! SHE'S NOT BREATHING! PLEASE HELP!" My voice echoed through the lobby.
Nurses rushed over, their shoes squeaking against the polished floor.
"Natasha, wheelchair now! Take her to the ICU, now!"
They disappeared behind white double doors, and I was left in the corridor frozen, useless.
"Sir, I need you to stay outside while we examine her, okay?" the nurse said softly.
"Stay calm?" I repeated, my voice shaking. "You're telling me to stay calm while the woman I love is in the ICU?"
"Sir, please, calm down—"
"Then go check her up and stop talking to me!" I roared, my voice echoing down the sterile hallway.
My hands trembled. The world felt like it was spinning too fast.
This was my fault. All of it.
If I hadn't taken her to that store…
If I'd made her drink that damn hangover cure…
She wouldn't be here.
Fifteen minutes crawled by like years. Every tick of the clock stabbed through my skull.
When the doctor finally came out, I rushed to him. "Is she okay? Is she fine? What happened to her?"
The doctor sighed, his face grim. "I'm sorry, but her cancer is getting worse, sir. She only has eleven months maybe less. The trauma caused her brain to briefly shut down, but she's awake now."
And then he left.
Cancer.
The word hit like a bullet to the heart.
I fell to my knees, my hands shaking violently. My chest tightened until I couldn't breathe.
No. No, this can't be true.
I stumbled toward her room. The sight of her hooked up to machines, her fragile body fighting for every breath shattered me.
I couldn't move. Couldn't think. The only thing I could do was cry something I hadn't done since I was ten years old.
"I'm sorry," I whispered. My voice cracked. "I shouldn't have come into your life. I shouldn't have told you what I was. But you… you stayed. You stayed, even when you shouldn't have."
I took her hand and pressed my lips to it, my tears staining her skin.
"You know," I said quietly, my voice shaking, "I once read a book called Love at First Sight. I thought it was complete rubbish. How could anyone fall in love in just twenty-four hours?"
I smiled bitterly. "But I fell for you the second you walked through that door. And I hate it."
My throat burned as I confessed, "I even slept with Sky. Not because I wanted her. But because I wanted to forget you. I stayed away from you for a week, hoping the feeling would fade. But it didn't. It just got worse."
I looked at her again. She was still, her chest rising and falling weakly.
And in that moment, I knew I'd give everything. My money, my empire, my life all of it, if it meant seeing her smile again.
I brushed a tear from her cheek and whispered,
"I swear on everything I have, Testimony… I'll find a way to save you. Even if I have to destroy the world to do it."