Summary:

Five years ago, Ilya and Shane were building something fragile, pieced together from long days, small comforts, and a future they believed they still had time for. Until it ended. Now Ilya has climbed the ranks of the mafia, commands a region of his own, and knows better than to show weakness in rooms full of dangerous men. Then someone else walks in, with Shane at his side. He is polished, untouchable, and no longer Ilya’s. Shane says he left because it didn’t work out. Ilya knows he’s lying. Or: A mafia reunion fic about old debts, quiet sacrifices, dangerous men, and a love that endures, even when there is nowhere left for it to be safe.