MR STUBBORN

The public bus was crowded and smelled of wet coats and exhaust fumes. It was the evening rush hour, full of tired people coming home from work. Gabriel Grin sat in the middle of the noise, but he felt completely alone. Beside him, fourteen-year-old Raphael held onto his arm tightly. The boy's knuckles were white. He gripped Gabriel's jacket as if letting go meant falling back into the nightmare they had just escaped.

Gabriel looked down at his cheap watch. It was almost evening.

The digital numbers flashed. He was definitely going to be late for his night shift at the club. His manager would take money out of his paycheck again. Normally, that thought would make Gabriel panic. But tonight, looking at his terrified little brother, he didn't care. Let them take the money. Raphael was worth it.

The bus bumped hard over a pothole, and Gabriel's mind drifted back to the afternoon. He had been working his day job as a barista at a small café. He was right in the middle of a busy rush when his phone buzzed in his pocket.

Gabby... Dad left again. Mom's losing it...

The pure fear in Raphael's shaking voice made Gabriel drop his towel, walk right past his shouting boss, and run out the door. He didn't need to ask questions. He knew exactly what "losing it" meant.

Their father was like a ghost who only showed up to break things. He would walk into the house, tear through drawers to steal cash, scream insults, and sometimes hit them before disappearing again. He acted like a king, but he was just a coward. And their mother, Mary, never fought back. Instead, she took all her anger out on her children.

Gabriel had spent eighteen years in that awful house. It was a place where shouting was louder than laughter, and bruises lasted much longer than apologies. The day he turned eighteen, he packed his bags and walked out.

For the next seven years, he worked non-stop. He took double shifts to pay for community college. He slept in cheap hostels, on friends' floors, and anywhere he could safely close his eyes for a few hours. He could have run far away from the city. He could have started a totally new life.

But Raphael was still trapped inside that house.

So, Gabriel stayed close. For years, he ran secret rescue missions. He would sneak his brother out for a few hours just to buy him a burger, take him to a clinic for a cut lip, or sit on a park bench so the boy could breathe. Back then, Gabriel was barely surviving himself. He couldn't drag a child into homelessness.

But now, at twenty-five, things were a little better. He wasn't rich-not even close-but he finally had a lease on a tiny, third-floor apartment. It had a sagging couch, a tiny kitchen, and two small bedrooms.

It wasn't much, but it was safe. And today, when the phone rang, Gabriel made his final choice. He wasn't bringing Raphael back before dark. He was taking him away forever.

___________________

"Did you mean it?"

The whisper was so quiet the bus engine almost drowned it out. Gabriel blinked, cutting off his memories. Raphael was staring down at his old sneakers, his shoulders hunched up.

"Hm?"

"Did you really mean it, Gabby?" Raphael's voice cracked. "What you told Mom... that I'm living with you now? That I'm going to a new school, and we don't have to watch the front door anymore? We won't have to be scared?"

Gabriel didn't answer with words. He wrapped his arm around Raphael's shoulders and pulled him close against his side. He wanted his brother to feel the steady, calm beat of his heart.

"Yes," Gabriel said. The single word carried every promise he had ever wanted to make. He gave a small, tired smile and brushed a lock of hair from his brother's forehead. "I'm not rich, Raffy. You know that. I can't buy you expensive clothes or a fancy life."

He squeezed his brother's shoulder. "But I promise you this: you will never go to bed hungry. You will go to school every morning without being scared of coming home. You will have a safe bed to sleep in. And in our home, nobody shouts. Nobody hits. If we are upset, we talk. Like a real family."

Raphael's lower lip started to shake. He tried so hard not to cry in front of the strangers on the bus, but the tears spilled over anyway, running down his dusty cheeks.

"This..." Raphael choked out, wiping his face with his big sweater sleeve. "This feels like gold, Gabby. I promise I won't be a burden. I'll get a job, I'll-"

"Hey," Gabriel interrupted gently. He reached up and wiped a tear from his brother's face. "Look at me. You could never be a burden. Your only job is to grow up from small frame into a decent mam, be healthy, go to school, and be happy. That is enough for me."

Raphael sniffled and shifted in his seat. "I'm fourteen. I'm not a kid."

Gabriel laughed. It was a warm, easy sound. "Fourteen is definitely still a little boy."

Raphael rolled his eyes, but then a real smile broke through his tears. He laughed. It was a sound Gabriel hadn't heard in months-clear, happy, and free.

The bus finally ground to a halt at their stop. Together, they stepped off into the cool night air and walked up the steep hill toward the apartment building. When Gabriel unlocked the door and pushed it open, Raphael stopped dead in his tracks.

"This... is ours?"

"It's small," Gabriel warned gently, turning on the warm overhead light.

Raphael walked inside slowly, looking around with wide eyes as if he were stepping into a palace. But when Gabriel opened the door to the second bedroom, Raphael's face completely lit up. The room was tiny. It only had a single mattress on a wooden frame, an old wardrobe, and a scratched desk. But to Raphael, it looked like a miracle.

"My room?" Raphael whispered, touching the edge of the desk.

"All yours," Gabriel smiled.

For the first time in years, the tight knot in Raphael's shoulders uncurled. He was finally home.

An hour later, after ordering a cheap pizza and making sure Raphael was settled in, Gabriel stood in front of the bathroom mirror. The gentle older brother disappeared. He buttoned up a crisp white shirt and put on the black vest of his uniform. It was time for his night shift.

He worked at small Planet exclusive private clubs.

It was an incredibly exclusive club downtown, hidden behind velvet ropes. It was a world where billionaires drank expensive whiskey that cost more than Gabriel's rent, where CEOs made massive business deals in secret rooms, and where power and money flowed like water.

To the rich guests, Gabriel was invisible. He was just a face in the dark, a personal assistant carrying a silver tray. He belonged to a completely different world.

But tonight, Gabriel's quiet life was about to crash into the most powerful man in that room. A billionaire named Dante Castiel.

And before the night was over, Gabriel's safe new world would change forever.

Author's Note

Hi everyone!

Thank you so much for giving this book a chance. It means the world to me that you are here to share this journey with Dante and Gabriel.

I absolutely love interacting with my readers! Reading your thoughts, theories, and emotional reactions is my favorite part of writing. Please don't hold back-let me know how you feel as you read through the chapters. You can share your thoughts by leaving comments, writing a review, or dropping a vote to support the story.

Thank you for being here, and I hope you enjoy the book!

Love,

Nanzia 15