WITH EVERY BREATH I TAKE

STRANGER DANGER

The handsome stranger met her eyes and smirked.

A slow, dangerous smirk. The kind that said, ‘I know exactly what you’re thinking’.

The kind that whispered, I will haunt you for the rest of your days until I consume all of you. Your soul, your peace with every breath I take.

Every little piece of you will revolve around me.

Because you’re marked.

And you’re mine.

“Oooh my God, you like what you see, eh?” Julie teased.

“No, no, it’s just weird.”

“Weird how?”

“I feel like this guy is stalking me.”

“What?!” Julie exclaimed.

“You know, the other day when I went to the beach? I saw him… and we talked,” Celeste said, blushing.

“Ooooh! You didn’t just talk, did you?”

“We did! I mean, we just talked, okay, he kissed me, and I kissed him back. But then I ran.”

“So, you’re telling me you kissed an incredibly handsome guy and didn’t tell me?! I’m heartbroken.”

“I wanted to! I just didn’t know how,” Celeste admitted.

“This is how! But never mind, spill it,” Julie said, excited.

“There’s really nothing more to tell. It’s just weird that he’s here. Or maybe I’m imagining things. Maybe it’s not even him… maybe he just looks like him. I didn’t see him that well.”

But deep down, Celeste knew it was him.

“Julie, let’s stop talking about me,” Celeste said softly. “Tell me about this Nicklaus guy, how is it, really?”

Julie looked out the window, silent for a moment.

“You know marriage is a big decision,” Celeste added gently. “Do you love him?”

Julie turned her gaze back, eyes sharp. “You don’t even believe in love, and yet you’re asking me if I love him?”

Celeste didn’t respond right away.

Julie sighed, her voice softer now. “Celeste… where I was raised, love isn’t something I get to choose. It’s about alliances. Business. Marriage contracts. You know this.”

Celeste’s heart sank as she listened.

“The only thing I’m grateful for,” Julie continued, “is that my parents let me chase my dreams. Modeling, fashion, independence… they allowed that. But when it comes to marriage, Nicklaus doesn’t care about what I do. He just wants the connection. The name. The power.”

Celeste leaned closer. “I know. But I guess I hoped that with your career thriving, your freedom, you’d meet someone and fall in love. Just like we dreamed when we were young.”

Julie gave a tired smile. “Other parents might be open to love. Mine? Not so much. Especially not when it comes to Don families. They marry their own. Keep it in the circle. Love has nothing to do with it.”

Silence fell between them, heavy and real.

Celeste reached for her hand. “Still… I hope you find it anyway. Even if it’s not allowed.”

Julie squeezed her hand back, but her eyes were distant like someone who had already learned how to live without hope.

“It’s just…” Julie paused, her voice barely above a whisper. “I don’t want to have high hopes about finding love. I wish Nicklaus would see me as a woman, not just some business alliance. But hoping for that... it only sets me up to be more heartbroken if he never does.

She looked away, swallowing the lump in her throat.

“Sometimes it’s easier not to wish for more.”

With the silence that followed, Celeste drifted into her own thoughts, her gaze fixed on nothing.

It couldn’t be a coincidence. Him on the same plane? At that exact moment, she couldn't stop thinking about him.

Her chest tightened.

Was it fate or something else entirely?

The memory of his eyes, dark, intense, knowing, lingered like a whisper in her mind. That smirk wasn’t just recognition. It was a message.

“You can’t escape me.”

And for reasons she couldn’t explain, the thought didn’t scare her. It thrilled her. Terrified her. Consumed her. She wasn’t ready for whatever this was, but whatever it was, it had already begun. Something told her there was no going back.

And she knew she couldn’t run away from him because he would always find her.