Daria Winthrop led a quiet life, and a hollow existence before her friend Juliette takes her to a party and leaves her to fend for herself. Faced with death, she meets Ezekiel Crowley, her Knight in shining Armor, if shining armor was shady money, and threats to anyone who dares to hurt what he claims as his: Daria.
With Zeke at her side, she finally feels alive.
Until his demons come out.
The broken couple is torn apart, and Daria is shipped off to live with her estranged Auntie Sarah as Zeke faces jail time for domestic abuse.
Almost 2 years after they first met, Zeke and Daria are back in each others worlds. Can they be together again? Will Zeke learn from his mistakes or become the thing he swore to destroy? The only thing that could hurt the girl he loves too much for his own good.
Himself
~~"He leaned down to me, his hair falling in his eyes. It was longer than before. I liked it still. Pretty boy. I didn't realize what I was doing until I saw my hands touching his collar, peeking out of his sweater, up on my tippy toes. We were an inch apart, then less, then his lips were on mine, and I was his again. I pretended to be Toby's, and my own self for a while too, but I was only ever his. He knew it too, smiling into me, as he leaned further down, letting me slide my tongue into his mouth like I had a choice. He quickly took over my mouth with his, and I let a small sound escape me, as he scooped me up like nothing into his arms, and I let him hold me against him, my arms tight around his neck. We stopped, gasping for air, and I felt alive again. I was dead for a long time without him, only the crows Auntie Sarah said he communicated through to keep me company. I never believed that, but sometimes I wasn't so sure. the crows constantly coming down to visit me in the yard gardening while Auntie screamed at them to go away thought otherwise."~~
As Claire aims to leave her oppressive stepfamily behind, she befriends Zion. Will he be her ticket to freedom or a distraction in achieving her dreams?
*****
Claire Olsen has had a crush on Zion Petrakis since the first time she laid eyes on him, but he never noticed, instead only having eyes on the school's it girl, Maddie Jennings. Knowing she couldn't compete with Maddie, Claire hid her feelings for Zion, satisfied with admiring him from afar. However, when a series of events led Claire closer to Zion, her feelings for him grew from infatuation to love. And despite fighting hard to keep her feelings contained by distancing herself from Zion, he was determined to show her that he's earned a spot in her life.
[[word count: 100,000-150,000 words]]