Most people would consider a three day getaway as a holiday, but my venture to the mafia was anything but. Even though I slept for a day after my body finally found a bed, I was still bone tired. I'd also woken up to the realisation that I'd left behind one of my beloved cars in a battleground with a load of gun-loving killers, so I wasn't in the best of moods. And to top it all off I'd been stuck in this taxi for hours because the manor we'd escaped to was ages away, and Victor had told the driver to make sure I got home, meaning I couldn't shift without arousing suspicion. 

But the sun was sinking rapidly now, and for once I felt welcoming towards the change within that was coming along soon. The dense shadow of the night had the ability to hide one's own emotions from themselves, and at times that was completely necessary. Selfishly necessary. 

I did have a few jobs to do once I got home, but I knew that I was feeling far too lazy to complete them. I needed to call Dev up and tell him what had happened, as well as booking that trip to Italy which I had a feeling would end up as a futile venture. But I didn't particularly mind: I was looking for information in a sunny, beautiful Mediterranean country when usually my work place was literally the definition of suffering. It would be a very nice change of scenery.  

My thoughts of escaping to a warm paradise all but ended when the sun finally breathed its last and darkness descended around the sanctuary that was my taxi. The stress inside me disappeared in an instant and suddenly I could feel nothing but the building sense of frustration within. 

I'd had a crappy past couple of days and thinking about it just made me angry. I shouldn't have been as vulnerable as I was when we were attacked: I had so many powers at my disposal, it wasn't like I just had flimsy human blood running through my veins. But then again maybe that was why I had seemed to become weaker recently. Maybe my abundant amount of time spent on Earth had actually affected me. 

Ha! I almost laughed out loud at my own thoughts. I must have been really tired to come up with that crud. I supposed the only logical reason other than tiredness for this self-doubt was perhaps the fear of becoming vulnerable again. But in my demonic form I wouldn't allow that to happen: the emptiness of the night left no space for weakness. 

However there was space for anger, and I needed something to dowse the fire, to take me away from the pits of frustration within. No one made me feel vulnerable. No one made me fear for the loss of my power and glory through such a human weakness like death. No one had enough control over my life for that to happen.

And yet it had happened. Mrs Darcy Robbins was becoming an exception to everything I had learned so far in this life, or maybe she was just an example of how blind I had become to my surroundings. I guess comfort came at a price. I should've been able to see through her facade from day one. 

Do I want liquor? Hmm...no, it would just intensify my anger until I was too drunk to walk. Weed? Maybe. But I didn't fancy going down to Luogo Del Diavolo right now. It was a place to come after success, not the failure that was these past few days, and I wasn't in the mood to socialise anyway. Stronger stuff didn't seem like much of an option either: I didn't want to trip and lose control again.

The bright lights of L.A whirled past me as I stared out through my window onto the open road, recognising that there were no straight paths in my life. Even when I wasn't working my illusion of freedom was merely a bleak cycle of anger, drugs and sleep. I could sympathise with my human half at times like this: power wasn't always what it was cracked up to be. I was still looking for something to break me out of the repetitiveness of my life.

We came to a sudden stop for the first time in a while, encountering a traffic light after hours of seemingly never-ending motorways. I looked around to see if I actually recognised our whereabouts, and I did. Very clearly remembered them. Because I had been here three days ago. 

This was the junction that led to Carmen's apartment. 

"Turn right here," I ordered the driver, unable to resist the temptation of being so close to something so intoxicating. She was the only drug I needed right now. 

The traffic light turned green and the car swerved to the right, obeying my lust-fuelled demand. I directed the driver towards her house but my attention span was limited, lost in the sudden excitement and anticipation of seeing her. 

My phone had died yesterday so I couldn't call her. I just had to hope she was in, but she should've been on a Monday night. If she was working late I was screwed. 

"Wait here," I told the driver as he stopped near the complex. I got out and started making my way towards her building that, on approaching, helped to prove my earlier thoughts of this neighbourhood being unsafe. I could already hear a man almost yelling at someone right near her door. 

As I came closer I saw that the argument was between an averagely-built guy who was roughly five foot ten and a woman who was a few inches smaller than him. There was nothing remarkable about the angry man but the girl he was arguing with had me quickening my pace with a sudden urgency. There was something disturbingly familiar about the contrast of her dark hair and ivory skin. 

And it looked like my rapid pace proved necessary. I could have recognised her from miles away. What the hell had she got herself into? And who the hell was this man shouting down at her? 

"Carmen?" I yelled out, my voice impatiently tense as I got close enough to talk to her. 

The voices stopped suddenly and both heads turned to me. I ignored the angry brown gaze from the mousy, pleasingly plain face of the man and focused on the beautiful emerald one, which was filled with a mixture of shock and relief.

"Roman?" She still looked surprised but a small smile graced her face upon closer inspection. "What are you doing here?" 

I was about to answer her when I was suddenly rudely interrupted by the piece of shit she was arguing with. "Who the fuck is this?" 

I ignored him for a moment as I reached Carmen, tugged her into my arms and laid a claim on her lips for the benefit of this random idiot who I didn't like the look of. I drew away and wrapped a possessive arm around her, facing the man who I knew I was going to have a problem with if he didn't shut up.

"I'm her boyfriend," I said coldly, holding his gaze with mine. "Who would like to know why some random guy is shouting at my girl at this time of night." 

"She's not yours," he hissed at me, his eyes bulging out of his sockets. "She's mine." 

"No I'm not!" Carmen piped up for me, coldly glaring at the guy. "You had your chance and you ruined it! So get out of my life!" 

"It's not my fault you're too much of a slut to give me a second chance!" 

Carmen's eyes widened and there was a heavy moment of silence as shock suddenly turned to anger, and soon after the quiet was broken by a feminine, quivering gasp. A red haze filled my gaze and nanoseconds later I had wrapped my hand around the fucker's throat, lifting him in the air to choke him and end his sorry shitty life. He'd pay for disrespecting someone I cared about. 

He gargled and rasped for air but I denied him any, the hazy red around me becoming a lustful frenzy that almost blocked out my senses to my surroundings. But a voice penetrated through my dark desires: a beautiful, sweet, shaky voice that was yelling at me, accompanied with a small force that was trying to tug my arm down. 

"Roman! No!" 

The haze cleared and I let out a growl of frustration, throwing his body to the ground where he immediately gasped for air, crawling away from me in a pathetic attempt to escape. 

I turned around to face Carmen, furious that she had stopped me from killing the bastard; but the fear in her eyes immediately softened my gaze and I paused for a second, taking a deep breath to try and calm myself down for her. 

"Why did you stop me?" I asked her through gritted teeth, looking towards the cowardly man who was still lying in a crumpled heap on the floor. 

"He's not worth it. There's no point in letting him get to you." 

I turned to her, not liking the dejected tone of her voice, to see her staring down at the floor with a defeated expression on her face. 

My anger quickly turned into concern and I wrapped an arm around her, pulling her closer to me. "Who is he Carmen?" 

She glanced up at me, and for a second I saw a fleeting glimpse of pain within those emerald orbs of hers, as if she was allowing herself a moment to show me a piece of who she really was. And then it was gone. Just like that. A mere illusion in the dark of the night. 

"Someone who used to be in my life and isn't anymore, and it's just as simple as that. But I'm not going to let him ruin my night," and then she gave me a big smile, and suddenly I couldn't help but grin like a dumbstruck fool. "I'm really glad you came. I missed you: you haven't been answering your phone." 

"Yeah...my phone ran out of battery a couple of days ago, and I didn't have the time to charge it. I'm glad you were in tonight, I really wanted to see you and I had no way of knowing if you were home. It's a shame though," I paused, turning to the man that I had nearly killed with a glare of distaste. "That it was almost ruined." 

She rolled her eyes. "I need to call him a taxi. He's not exactly sober." 

I tried hard not to grit my teeth. "He can use mine which is just down the road if I can stay the night." 

Her cheeks blazed, and the rosy shade was so delicious that I found my precious self-control slipping by the moment. I couldn't wait to spend the night. 

"Of c...course you can," she stuttered, nervously glancing at the floor as I mentally chuckled at her antics. "I'll give you the keys and you can let yourself in, while I take him to his car." 

I didn't like the fact that she was helping him, but I kept my mouth shut as she handed me the keys and walked over to the bastard who was now managing to stand. I watched her talk to him quickly with narrowed eyes, trying to discern who this guy really was to her, before they started to walk towards my taxi. 

With their backs turned I couldn't help but frown. It seemed like it wasn't just me who was keeping secrets, and through the confusion that was tonight one thing in particular shined clear: Miss Carmen Summer had more mystery surrounding her then I had originally thought, and uncovering that wasn't going to be easy. 

I just had to hope that she wasn't as closed up as I was.