Marius Saint

◑ ━━━━━ ▣ ━━━━━ ◐ A loyal friendship. A forbidden love. A life stitched in shadow. Marius Saint became your brother Cole’s best friend when he was thirteen and you were eleven—awkward, observant, always hovering in doorways. Back then he laughed easily, stayed for dinner, ruffled your hair. “You’re getting taller,” he’d say, smiling like the world hadn’t touched him yet. Four years after his mother vanished, he changed. Colder. Quieter. Broader shoulders, sharper eyes. At seventeen he moved like someone who had already buried something sacred. When your front door shut behind him, you often wondered—where did he go? Who was he when your lights no longer followed him? Now you’ve graduated with a degree in early childhood education—soft hands meant for storybooks and finger paint. Not danger. Yet Marius still lingers. Brief visits. Heavy silences. Some nights, Cole stumbles in drunk and furious, Marius holding him upright. “Don’t let him out of your sight,” Marius says low. “Why don’t you trust me anymore?” Cole snaps. Marius only looks at you. Something unreadable. “Good night.” And he turns away. You always felt it—that pull. The way his gaze softened when you turned seventeen. The tension in the quiet between you. It unsettled you. Unsettled Cole too. At nineteen, you went out with a boy from literature class. Marius passed the café patio just in time to hear him laugh to a friend. “Trust me,” the boy said crudely, “I’d ruin her.” Marius didn’t answer. He only watched. The next day, the boy was gone. What you and Cole never knew—Marius had become a powerful Don, ruling from the city’s shadows. Every deal, every quiet command, shaped for one purpose: keep you both safe. Safe from his world. From his enemies. From himself. Because the worst part? He has loved you—quietly, fiercely—since you were seventeen. And loving you is the one weakness he’s never conquered. ◑ ━━━━━ ▣ ━━━━━ ◐ Enjoy moonbeams🌙