When I woke up for the second time that morning, I was alone and the bed was cold once again. But this time I didn't panic because the scent of gently sizzling bacon was wafting in through my open bedroom door, and my stomach rumbled in agreement at the thought of hot food. I quickly got out of my soft bed and sauntered my way over to the kitchen in nothing but my boxers. 

Carmen was standing over the oven as she continued to cook, wearing one of my large t-shirts that she must have found in my wardrobe and nothing else. Her head turned towards me as I walked in and she blushed vividly, taking in my bare form as I wrapped my arms around her and gave her a long, possessive kiss. 

"Good morning," I whispered to her huskily, my face mere inches away from hers. "How are you feeling?" 

"Tired," she confessed, biting her bottom lip before smiling up at me. "You're very...insatiable." 

I smirked and nodded. "You were just as bad." 

She gasped. "I'm not the one waltzing around almost naked." 

"Only because you nick my clothes," I teased her, causing her to flush and avoid my gaze.

"They're just more comfortable," she mumbled to herself, stepping out of my hold and going back to the bacon.

As she turned her back I wrapped my arms around her midriff and held her body snugly to mine. "Your cooking smells delicious." 

"Is that why you're being so touchy?" She said, letting out a laugh.

"Hmm," I swept her beautiful dark hair to the side, biting her now exposed neck softly as I felt myself become aroused once again. "Maybe." 

She stiffened and there was a moment of silence between us, before suddenly she turned around in my arms with an expression of stern amusement. "I'm trying to make breakfast and you're distracting me. Either help or back away." 

I laughed out loud and threw my hands in the air as I stepped backwards. "Yes ma'am." 

She smiled at me before turning her attention back to the bacon, which was ready to eat by now, and made two sandwiches for us. I found myself feeling more and more domestic as I took two empty glasses and filled them up with apple juice, setting them on the table. 

I sat myself down in the dining room as she walked over with the plates. I patted my knee as an indicator for her to cuddle on my lap, but instead she stuck her tongue out at me, handing over my plate and choosing another seat. I raised my eyebrows up at her and she laughed, my expression of slight annoyance obviously comical to her. 

I took one bite of the sandwich and found myself pleasantly surprised by her cooking. "This is good." 

"I'm glad you like it," she said, a hint of pride tinting her voice, before digging into her own meal. We ate in silence as per usual and I glanced towards the clock on the kitchen wall, seeing that it was already eleven. I was meeting Spence at one and I had to drive because it would look too suspicious if I just magically appeared in front of him.

And that meant my time with Carmen was limited. 

But that was okay. I was already treading in dangerous waters concerning her right now. I claimed her as mine last night and I had no wish to revoke that, but it didn't make things easy for me. I would have to lie extremely well to both my demonic co-workers and Carmen herself, keeping my identity of a cold, unfeeling demon alive and hidden at the same time. The stakes were high and I was in danger of losing everything. I wasn't sure what I expected to gain from my relationship with Carmen because I knew things like that didn't last forever for men- scratch that- demons like me. And yet logic wasn't important to me at the moment. I was being impulsive. I wanted something more. 

But was it really worth it?

I didn't want to answer that question, so I left it hanging in the air above me instead of accepting its noose. 

When we'd both finished our bacon I collected our plates and dunked the plates into the sink. I sat back down and took Carmen's face in my hands, giving her a quick kiss on the lips before drawing back slightly to get her full attention. 

"Thank you for the bacon," my voice was barely louder than a whisper but I was certain she could hear every word. "There's somewhere I've gotta go today, so I need to leave by twelve. I'll drop you off on the way." 

"Of course, that's fine," she said, before a frown suddenly appeared on her beautiful, fresh face. "Be careful." 

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. "Why do you say that?" 

"I'm not sure," she admitted, glancing down and avoiding my questioning gaze. "I just get the feeling that you're the type of man who needs to be reminded of caution." 

"I had a really good time last night," Carmen unexpectedly started, as I parked my Audi in front of her apartment structure. It wasn't the nicest looking building I had ever seen: the cream coloured paint was slowly fading and peeling away on the outside walls, and the ten-storey block had some grubby windows that showed an obvious lack of care, but at least the neighbourhood didn't look too rundown and dangerous. I didn't like the thought of Carmen living close to harm, and even this area of moderate wealth didn't settle well with me.

But I doubted we would ever reach the stage of moving in together. It was foolish to be that hopeful already. 

"So did I," I undid my seat-belt and leaned over to land my lips softly onto hers. Melancholy bloomed deep inside my chest as I sensed an unspoken goodbye being said between us, like this was ending before it had really began. 

"Take care of yourself," I ordered sternly, my face still mere inches away from hers. "I don't want you going out alone and unprotected at night, and make sure you keep your doors locked." 

She seemed to be deeply drowned in the blues herself, as she pulled her expression into a semblance of a sad smile. "Goodbye, Roman." 

She opened the passenger door and left without another word, walking determinedly towards her apartment building, pausing only once after taking her key out of her pocket. She turned her head and looked at me for what seemed like the last time; her beautiful, dark hair flowing downwards and framing her delicate face; those big emerald eyes flashing at me with an emotion that I couldn't quite place. But then her gaze dropped, and with her back facing me she opened the door to her complex. 

And she was gone. 

I didn't stay a second longer. I couldn't risk the temptation to follow her back inside. I had a job to do. I quickly reversed out of the complex parking, and drove away from the small side roads towards the nearest motorway: my destination was Bel Air. 

It was of no surprise to me that some of the mafia's property was located in this particular rich suburb. The long years of my life had taught me that using other people was usually the fastest road to wealth. Dirty money didn't make you rich after life, however: the Creator hated riches obtained from the suffering of others and therefore he didn't reward it. And I couldn't blame Him. The stories I'd heard from people like Spence about getting undeserved money wasn't pretty or respectable. If they didn't make a change in their lives soon, I knew exactly where they would wind up and I was almost certain they knew too. 

I turned the radio on in the car as I reached the motorway, the meaningless music giving me space in my brain to think. There was something in the back of my mind that was nagging me and I knew that I had to address it. My conscience was knocking it's scarred knuckles against my door, and as soon as I felt the guilt stream in I knew I had opened up for it. I was doing something very wrong. And there was no excuse for it. 

Carmen was innocent and had nothing to do with my shady life whatsoever. So why was I dragging her towards it? I'd got what I wanted- the sex was pretty damn good- but for some reason I was expecting a relationship out of this girl, and that was messed up in itself. Dating me wouldn't be easy: she could never know what I did, where I went and when I was coming back to her. She would forever live in frustrating anxiety for the rest of her life, doubting her trust in me each time I walked out of the door. We could be intimate but only to a certain extent: how could she relate or understand the demonic desire swirling inside of me? And what would happen if I lost my temper in the night time with her? I shuddered to think what my demonic half could do to her in the flashes of his destructive rage. She simply wasn't safe with me. 

And on the demon front, what the hell would my co-workers say if they found about her? She could become a target, a chink in my powerful armour. If they wanted her, they would get to her one way or another. And that was if we lasted beyond all of the other problems we were bound to encounter along the way. This relationship was doomed from the beginning, and now that I was away from Carmen's seductive presence I could see the logical thing to do. 

Ending things wouldn't be easy after the nice time we had spent together, but I knew I had to do it. I could see no other alternative. And that was okay: all good things came to a conclusion eventually. 

I hadn't realised, but my undisturbed thinking had made the time of the journey go quicker than I'd expected, and suddenly I found myself surrounded by the opulent scenery of white pillars and palm trees. As I travelled down Sunset Boulevard towards my destination, I found the excessive amount of nature and beauty refreshing compared to the city of metal I took residence in. 

I turned off the main road pretty sharply to a remote, sparsely populated street. There were a couple of luxury houses along the way but I knew they couldn't even compare to the deceitful beauty of dirty money. Five minutes later I had arrived at the place most Los Angeles mafia men considered home. 

And what a home it was! The mansion was beautiful: white marble covered a wide, three-storey monster of a house that was surrounded by an abundant amount of greenery, swimming pools and fountains. Various men smoking premium cigarettes were hanging around with promiscuous woman standing next to flashy cars. Spence was no exception. He was talking to two brunettes wearing nothing but bikinis right next to his Rolls-Royce, a prize possession of his, as I pulled up in the driveway. All eyes turned to me at my approach and when I stopped the car and got out, a few men started walking towards me with Spence at their tails. 

"Roman!" Louie, one of the guys who had been part of the mafia for roughly ten years now, greeted me with a man hug, slapping me on the back affectionately. "How you doin' mate? I haven't seen ya' in a while." 

"I've been good mate, how about you?" 

I caught up with some of the other guys for about ten minutes before I could finally get to Spence, who didn't look any different from the last time I saw him. His average-sized, six foot build seemed to be in good form, his blonde hair was styled up in a quiff like normal, and his pearly-white teeth were shining from his usual grin.  He looked pretty happy even though he had to leave his lady-friends behind to talk to me. 

I was about to start a conversation with my long-time friend- everyone had dispersed around me and had gone back to what they were doing before- when the hairs on the back of my neck suddenly stood up. 

Out of the corner of my eye I saw the trimmed hedge behind us rustle unnaturally, but by then it was too late.

The sound of a gunshot; the whistling of a bullet; pain; chaos. 

The serenity of Bel Air had suddenly been destroyed. And I was right in the middle of it.