The Beginning.

I knew from the moment I saw him that he would break my heart and change me forever. At the time, I was only ten years old. As a child, I had no way of knowing how devastating Hael Wilder’s love would be and how its ripples would change my world forever. Eight years later, there was no way back for me after surrendering to passion as wild as a hurricane. But that didn’t stop me from trying. Welcome to my beautiful nightmare.

Five years earlier.

The beats drilled their way into my body, flowing through my limbs like electricity at a power plant, and even without the roars from the crowd, I knew I had him. Blood and sweat coated the concrete as Daniel’s breathing grew laboured, his chest heaving as he looked at me through the one eye not swollen by my fists. The beats from someone’s bass kit in their car recharged me the same way a shot of adrenaline would to a junkie, and I couldn’t help the cruel smirk twisting my mouth.

“When I fucking tell you to avoid Ariana, I mean avoid her, are we clear?”

Daniel nodded, admitting defeat and conceding the win, ending our “conversation.”  I looked at his crew, permitting them to collect their leader from the ground at my feet. My second tossed a cloth in my direction, grinning as I wiped the blood off my hands.

“Jesus Hael,” Max drawled, holding my jacket out to me as I shrugged it on, “that was brutal, even for you.”

I growled, feeling the adrenaline still flowing through my system, and deep down I knew Max was right, but Ariana was mine. I claimed her when we were ten, and I've been cracking the skulls of every knucklehead daring to glance at her for the past eight years. The sooner these jocks understood that the easier life would be.

I’m in no rush to go home. It was barely six in the evening, and fuck knows, there was no one at the house to make me feel wanted anyway. Dear old Dad was spending 8-10 years behind bars for murder, and Mum got way too cosy with the alcohol a few years back, wrapping our car into a power pole on her way home, leaving me to fend for myself. As far as I’m concerned, I’m better off without them.

I slowed my roll as we drew level with my car, the one possession I owned that I gave a damn about. She was a beauty, an old charger I spent every cent I earned on, every chance I could get. No one knew the depth of obsession I had for my neighbour, but something in my cynical soul urged me to claim every inch of her, and Ariana could feel it too. Every time our gazes locked, her cheeks would turn a dusky pink, and I'd always feel like I was falling into the fathomless depths of her eyes. I happily drowned in them for as long as she could stand my gaze on her, but sadly, it was never long enough. It didn’t help that we came from polar opposite backgrounds. Even though Ariana lived with her dad, it was a completely different life to mine, and I got a front-row seat from my bedroom growing up to see how a real dad treats their child.

The bedtime stories, the hot drinks with cookies before bed, I witnessed it all from the darkness of my bedroom, if you could call the crawlspace in our attic a place fit for a child. Sometimes I could even fool myself into thinking those stories were meant for me too.

“Hael? What the fuck, man, where is your head at? This is the second time you’ve zoned out on me.” Max sounded pissed, but I just shrugged, opening the driver's door and sliding behind the wheel. It’s not in my nature to apologise; I’m the alpha in my crew, and being at the top means showing no weakness.

“Are you getting in, or did you want to bust my balls some more, Max?”

Grumbling under his breath, he jogged around to the passenger side, shutting the door in time to hear me start my beauty up. She roared to life like a lioness announcing her presence, and we couldn’t help sharing that male side-eye, grinning like a pair of twits as I rumbled out of the parking lot.

Max and I cruised through the quiet streets of Devil's Playground, a section of town where only the most serious of players and criminals hung out. The lack of streetlights and police made it a haven for the underbelly, and coincidentally, it was also where the place that made the best coffee and baked goods called home. Diana’s was a small diner in the heart of the playground. From the outward appearance of corrugated iron on the entrance walls, security at the door, and tacky neon sign glowing overhead, a passerby could be forgiven for thinking it was a strip joint, but the regulars knew what a gem the place was, and there was an unspoken code of honour, where the diner was protected against the crime around it.

Shaun, the hulking gentleman at the door, grunted as I pulled into the parking lot, and I cheerfully flipped him the bird, grinning at his death stare as he watched me park my baby.

He didn’t say a word as I drew near, but I noticed all the things he tried to hide as his body language gave him up. That’s why I lead my crew. I have a way with people, and the ability to interpret body language made me useful to the higher-ups.

Shaun ducked low, charging like a bear, thinking to catch me off guard. Silly prick, he never learns. I stepped to the side at the last second, and he missed me completely. Unfortunately, Max wasn’t as lucky, and from the commotion and swearing behind me, it was all I could do to hide a grin as I turned back.

“Damn, Shaun, you almost had me this time.”

The black eyes staring back at me from the ground held real fury in their depths, which changed to disbelief as a size 11 boot made contact with the side of his head.

“Fuck you, Shaun, you fucking inbred.” Max spat out, climbing to his feet and dusting himself off in disgust, “ Next time I’m getting out first, “ He warned me, poking his finger at the offending lump on the ground, “That's the third time this week that idiot has charged me.”

Thomas, the other security guy, ambled over, as he had the previous times, slowly helping Shaun to his feet. “Good evening, Mr. Wilder,” He greeted me with respect, then he turned to

Max, “Did you have to knock him out dickbreath? He’s the size of a fucking minivan, and now I have to babysit him for the rest of the damn night.”

Max snorted, “Good to see you too, big brother. Hope you and Ma haven’t missed me too much.”

Thomas rolled his eyes, finally reaching the entrance with his burden. “C’mon, Max, you go to juvie so regularly that Ma doesn’t even ask about you anymore.”

“I can’t argue with that, Tommy boy, but I’ll be home tonight, got school tomorrow, and someone has to keep this fool from getting into trouble.” Yes, I am the fool he’s referring to. 

This town has many facets, and my family is what you would call a founding member of the criminal element. Thomas and Maxwell Grant came from founding members too, but of lower standing than dear old Dad. Their family has been our security detail for generations.

“Is he in?” I asked, nodding to the door, and Thomas confirmed that he was so Max and I opened the door and hurried inside.