I wasn't a stranger to the mystery that was Syn SinClaire. He was infamous in all the realms for him and his father's antics. I had heard stories about him and I had no intentions of getting to know him on any other level besides an acquaintance...if that. My parents had even advised me to stay away from him while I stayed in the palace, but here I was, alone in a garden, with one of the most dangerous men in the world.

I didn't plan on listening to him. At all. But the thundering of his voice made me follow his instructions without any hesitation. I refused to die tonight because I couldn't sit on a damn bench.

I sat across from him and crossed my knees, pulling my jacket tighter around me. The way he was looking at me made me feel exposed, as if the two layers of clothing I was wearing weren't there. Nobody had ever looked at me the way he did. He just met me and looked at me like he wanted to destroy me. What did I do wrong?

I tried to look at him and see what he was thinking, but he was unreadable. At least to me. His emotionless face remained trained on mine, and it didn't falter once. After a long moment of silence, I decided to speak up, "Why am I sitting?"

"Because I told you to," he said smoothly. His deep voice made me squirm in my seat, and I immediately felt guilty. Syn was no doubt the most attractive man I had ever seen, but he was a horrible person.

Everyone knew this.

At my job, every few days dozens of reports about him would arrive at my desk. Ninety-nine percent of the time, they would read: "Syn SinClaire Murders Ten Angels At Heaven's Gates" or "The Son of Lucifer Flips Off God". It was ridiculous, but it made it all the more terrifying to be here in front of him. Would I become one of those headlines that I wrote about?

Intimidated by his presence, I kept my eyes anywhere but on him. From my peripheral, I could see him lean forward on the bench, and I swallowed a breath when a gentle breeze of his cologne filled the air around me. You smell amazing.

"Do I?" His finger reached to me and he tapped on my exposed knee, sending shot of electricity through my body. I recoiled from his touch and he raised his brow at my sudden movements, yet made no comment on it.

"Umm..." I started as I cleared my now dry throat. Did I say that out loud? Uncrossing my right knee from my left one, I moved away from his touch. I then crossed my knee over my other as subtly as I could, and he tapped his finger against his bottom lip. His tongue peaked out of his mouth against his finger, and I tried my best not to look at him although my curiosity was piqued.

"Why are you not looking at me?" He asked. I shrugged in response. I would have spoken, but my mind wasn't formulating any sentences at the moment.

Truthfully I didn't know why I wasn't looking at him, but every time his eye caught mine I felt like my breath was being seized from my lungs. And now sitting here alone with him, what I was feeling inside was just amplified. His aura was dark and suffocating.

"Your mouth is quite beautiful, and it'd be a shame if nothing of substance came out of it," He said. "Answer my question."

"Do you want me to look at you?" I asked. His gaze was lingering on my lips and I sucked them in out of nervousness. As if I'd disturbed his study of me, his eyes clicked back to mine.

He took a long drag of his cigarette as he reached his fingers gently to my bottom lip. The pad of his thumb guided my lips out, and as his finger strayed on my lower lip, our eyes connected. My breath caught at the full sight of his eyes; a trait that the stories seemed to have left out, but before I could look any longer, he blew a cloud of smoke in my face and dropped his hand. I held my breath and waved my hand in my face to clear the air and he sat back in his seat, mildly amused by my efforts.

What an asshole.

"No. I do not want you to look at me," He said.

"Then drop it." I snapped. I don't know where my sudden attitude came from, but I immediately regretted it.

Uncomfortable silence filled the air and I no longer heard the inhale of his smoking. I forced myself to look at him, and I found him still looking at me. His eyes raked my entire body from my head to my toes, and he tapped his fingers rhythmically against the armrest of the bench.

Why did I wear this dress?

It was a good length and didn't show off anything I didn't want anyone to see, but it felt see-through right now. I pulled the hem of my dress down hoping to cover more of my thighs, but it didn't change my comfort level.

We sat there in silence. Him looking at me, and me looking anywhere else, a pussy habit of mine that was only coming out with him. He could probably tell that I was terrified of him. A man like him would enjoy something like that, wouldn't they? Men who preyed on people's fears...he was one of those and quite frankly I was tired of those types. I'd had my fair share of them, and I absolutely refused to be "prey" again.

Queen, you have been through worse than him. What can he do to you? I thought to myself.

I repeated it enough times in my head to muster up enough strength to look directly at him. His emerald eyes bore into mine, and I wanted to look away again, but I didn't. I held his gaze for a few moments before rolling my eyes and standing up.

"Where are you going?"

"For a walk," I said. The garden was surrounded by a colorfully lit wooded area with a trail and I wanted to explore.

"Okay, I will come," he announced as he stood up. He threw his cigarette on the ground and stepped on it, putting it out. I flinched at the movement, imagining the people that encountered him as the cigarette. Things he would use until he had no use for them, and then crush them, extinguishing their flame for his own personal satisfaction.

As I thought about it, I didn't want to go alone with him into the woods with such a person. I would go on my own another time, but I needed space from him. ASAP.

"Actually, I'm going back inside," I said as I turned. My heel went into a crack in the stone trail and I lost my footing.

Before I met my doom and possibly the most embarrassing moment of my life, a strong arm wrapped around my waist, and I felt a hard body behind mine. I steadied myself and stood up straight, turning around to face the man I knew had caught me.

Syn looked down at me, and I wanted to disappear. I looked into his eyes for a moment, my gaze then lowering to his lips. In contrast to his hard demeanor, they looked soft... They were full and pink, I even wondered if they would feel as soft against mine as I believed they would.

I shook my head of my insane thoughts and tried to move away from his grasp, but I couldn't. He held his arm firmly around my waist and raised his brow at me as he looked down. My chest was pressing up against him, and if we remained this close for any longer, I wasn't sure what would happen. I wondered if he felt as I was feeling. Probably not.

As if on cue with the questions in my mind, he immediately let go of me, and removed his eyes from mine. I took a deep breath and relished in the much-needed space. "Thanks for...catching me," I said in a hushed voice.

"It won't happen again. Be careful." He turned around and walked alone into the woods. I had a sudden feeling that his words had nothing to do with me falling, and more to do with him. I sighed and shook my head at the thought. Don't read into it...

I turned around to head back inside and bumped into another hard body. I looked up to see Xavier grinning down at me, and I laughed. A wave of relief coursed through me, and I relaxed. I met him today, but he was funny and seemed like a sweet person.

"What were you two up to?" He teased.

I shook my head and ran my hands down my face.

"That bad?"

"That bad."

He chuckled at me and shook his head. "I promise he's not as bad as he seems."

I shrugged and softly kicked a tiny rock on the floor. "How do you know?"

"He's my best friend," he said.

My eyes widened in shock. "No way."

"Yes, way. For fifteen years now."

I couldn't believe the words coming out of his mouth. How could someone like Syn SinClaire be friends with someone as nice as Xavier? It made me wonder if Xavier also had skeletons in his closet. Did I need to keep my distance from him as well?

I looked at Xavier and could tell he was at least physically different from Syn. His wavy brown hair was styled on his head, where Syn had black hair that looked like he ran his hand through his hair often. Xavier had brown eyes and a welcoming smile, while Syn had green eyes that warned passerbyers to fuck off. The only thing they had in common visually was their build. They were both large and muscular, but Syn still had a decent few inches over him.

"H- how?" I asked after I thought about it more. It was unfathomable to me how long they had been friends.

Xavier let out a hearty laugh at my shock, and I prepared for him to tell me it was a joke. "I don't know. We met, and it was love at first sight." We both burst out into a fit of laughter and sat down on the bench together. "In all seriousness though, we've been friends forever."

After a few moments of sunset gazing, Xavier turned to me. That was another difference I noted. Xavier looking at me made me want to laugh, but Syn's eyes on me had the opposite effect.

"I think he likes you," he said.

I stared at him stunned and scoffed, shaking my head in disbelief. "He doesn't, I think he actually wants to kill me."

"Maybe it's both," he said with a small laugh and I shoved him causing him to laugh even harder. "Speak of the devil's son," Xavier said with a smile as he looked over me. I turned to see where his eyes were, and I saw Syn walking back in our direction.

My smile dropped, and I looked down at my fingers. My calm mood became anxious with every step he took towards us. "Syn, join us."

Please don't.

Xavier gasped when Syn sat on the bench across from us, and he laid his hand over his chest dramatically. "You listened to me twice today, Syn. It's not my birthday, is it?"

Syn rolled his eyes at Xavier and threw his head back in frustration, making my eyes fall to a small scar lying on his sculpted jaw. "Shut up." At his voice, I tore my eyes away from him and looked at Xavier who gave me a strange glance before looking back at Syn and making some joke.

I laughed softly at their interaction, and Xavier rambled to Syn about his day. As Xavier ranted Syn remained quiet with a bored look on his face. You would think he wasn't even paying attention if it weren't for his occasional in-depth replies.

I smiled at their dynamic. Their friendship started making sense the more I watched them interact. Xavier loved talking to Syn and Syn seemed content not speaking at all. It was an odd relationship, but it seemed perfect for them.

"Queen, join our conversation," Xavier said as he smiled at me.

I hoped he didn't notice my staring at them, but they both probably did.

"What are you guys talking about?" I asked.

"Relationships," he announced as a sly grin appeared on his face.

"You are having a conversation about relationships?" I asked in confusion.

Syn scoffed. "No, we-"

"Yup. Are you in one?" I glanced at Syn and he curled his eyebrow at me in silent question, not seeming to care that Xavier cut him off.

"Umm, it's complicated," I said.

Xavier nodded slowly, swinging his head in Syn's direction, giving him a look I couldn't decipher, but Syn replied to him with an eye roll before looking at the dark forest. "Complicated," he muttered with a nod.

"Can I have your number, Queen?" Xavier asked as he took out his phone and held it out to me. "For emergency purposes."

"Okay," I muttered, taking his phone and typing in my digits.

"Syn, would you like her number as well?" Xavier said as he glanced at him.

"I would not."

I wouldn't have given it to you anyways, I thought as I rolled my eyes and stood up, passing Xavier his phone back. "Genesis offered to show me around the palace, so I'm going to go...do that." I pointed towards the pathway leading toward the palace.

"Have fun," Xavier chirped. I smiled at him, not bothering to turn to Syn before pivoting on my heel and heading straight back inside.

New rule: No walking off alone again.