Love. How do you define it? I guess it’s up to the individual. Love can be a sweet gesture of flowers on your anniversary. Love can be a meal waiting at home after a long day at work. Love can be a gentle caress. Or the unspoken words in your lover’s eyes. Love isn’t a backhand, given because of a warm beer. Love isn’t wearing long-sleeves to hide bruises from the ladies at the supermarket. I thought I’d never experience love. Such emotion didn’t seem to fit with what I had—who I was. But he stepped in, and showed me his. He pulled me from the dark abyss I had lost myself to, and showed me the simple things which could bring such joy. Sun on my face. The smell of fresh coffee. Colours in the autumn leaves. All the little things. He shows me these things, but he doesn’t share in them. He knows happiness, but he doesn’t feel it. He will give love, but never accept it. He saved me. Now it’s my turn to return the favour …

When all you have left is choice, how do you ensure you make the right one? I thought that losing my family was the linchpin to my suffering; the thing which would forever hold my head under the dark waters of regret. But I was wrong … so wrong. What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, and what threatens us only serves to feed the beast. My boy is in trouble, and it’s time this father stood up for what he should have a long time ago. Only, after years of believing I deserved to spend my days alone, punishing myself for the mistakes I made, I’ve finally found the truth—her. When she needs me as much as my son, how will I decide which path to take? Will I be doomed to forever make the wrong choice? And will I, once again, lose everything I love and drown in my regret?

“There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home …” If only I could click my magic heels and get the hell out of here, but I’m not a girl, and I can’t. And besides, for me, miracles never happen. I’m crazy. Psychotic. One outburst short of snapping the thin grasp I have on reality. But who can blame me? We all cope in different ways. And her way is the most confronting of all. \ \ \* This isn't a love story ... or is it? There isn't a happily ever after ... or is there? You decide.

Loves comes in all shapes and forms, and sometimes it can be hard to distinguish which one you’re given. I run from my pain—that’s just what I do. It’s how I’ve managed to keep a handle on the shame and remorse at what I did the day my life changed. Has it changed me for the good, or for the worse—I can never be sure? Some days it’s one and most it’s the other. Now, each day is getting darker, ever since I met the woman who has the power to ease my ache and got a taste for what could be. Selfish? Maybe. Foolish? Definitely. But nothing can stop me until I prove to her she needs me just as much as it kills me to wake up one more day without her. I’ll do whatever it takes—even if I risk my life and my health fighting her psychotic and possessive old man to get her in my bed.

“Value the people who sacrifice their something for you ... because maybe that something was their everything.” - Unknown The brief was simple—infiltrate our rival’s crew and steal the info we needed. Easy, right? I thought so, too, until I met Ryan. A woman with the ability to change my view on everything: who I was, who I am now, and what I want to be remembered for when the reaper comes to collect. I’m a killer, a scapegoat for hire—the man who’ll take the fall for your immoral operation if you offer me the right price. I’ve made enemies along the way, and I’m forever watching my back. In a world as corrupt as mine, love and relationships remain an unobtainable target. So I act the fool, parade as the playboy, but all I really want is to belong to somebody. She made me think it could be her, that a woman so haunted by her past might actually need a man like me—somebody who can kill with his bare hands, a man who would sacrifice it all to see those he loved kept safe. That was, until she turned the table and risked it all to help me. When best-laid plans fall apart, and we’re both put to the test, will love or loyalty prevail?