A sense of wonder struck Hallie Athanas as she glanced out of her window and had her first glimpse of Claymore: cloudy skies, sunlight bright enough to make her squint, and unlike Miami or Tokyo – there wasn’t a single skyscraper in sight.

As she followed the other passengers out of the plane, she quickly snapped a couple of photos with her Leica DSLR – it wasn’t every day one found a functional, single-runway airport like Claymore’s, and she could already envision how exquisite it would look as a vintage-y postcard, post-Photoshop.

Both departure and arrival halls were housed in the same floor, and the airport building in itself wasn’t like what she was used to either. There were no queues, no immigration windows, and there wasn’t even any rush to get to the baggage carousel first. There wasn’t even glass and steel melding to form a structure of impersonal architectural perfection; instead, Hallie’s and the others had been directed to a picturesque, modest-sized building with gabled roofs, rows of symmetrical windows, and tall white columns.

The whole place was like a scene straight out of Gone with the Wind, and a whimsical part of her was just waiting to hear Clark Gable say, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” When one of the airport’s smiling staff offered her a drink, she had to control the urge to try speaking with a Southern accent as she thanked the other woman.

Maybe, she thought to herself, this will work out after all.

It had been two years, anyway. And besides, Claymore was more her dream come true. Yuri and the rest of the Afxisi had only made the unprecedented decision of relocating here to provide their growing families a safe place to live in. For Hallie, however, Claymore was so much more. Unlike the others, she had never felt any passionate connection for her Greek homeland. She might have Greek blood running through her veins, but she had always felt she was American at heart. More specifically, she had always wished she had been born half-Southern belle, half-adventurous pioneer – and as fate would have it, that was exactly what Claymore was.

South meets West in small-town haven, Hallie mused as she loaded the cart with her luggage. That was the guys’ working slogan for now, and she liked it a lot.

Outside the airport, she parked her luggage-laden cart in one corner before texting her older brother. I’m here. She almost typed ‘for better or for worse’ as a joke but changed her mind at the last minute. There was always a chance Kalli would read her message, and as adorable as her sister-in-law was, there was also no denying that the younger woman wasn’t exactly good at keeping secrets.

About a minute passed before a big, black truck came barreling down to a smooth stop in front of her, and her lips twitched. Oh, how things had changed! It used to be that Yuri and the other guys were big bad bikers, but a flurry of marriages and babies had changed all that. In one of their weekly FaceTime chats, MJ had shared how the bikes had been repurposed for Sunday morning drives and all sports cars had been sold off.

“They only drive SUVs or pick-ups now,” MJ had gone on to share. And before Hallie could even ask, the other girl had added very innocently, “Andreus, too.”

The memory made Hallie grimace. Hearing his name just once had been enough to make her hastily say goodbye and end the call, not wanting to hear any other news about him.

But you’re not going to do that again, are you?

If there was one thing that two years of running away and licking her wounds in Tokyo had taught her, then it was ---

Chikushou!

The man driving the truck had finally stepped out of his vehicle, and it was not Yuri.

Chikushou, she thought again, this time with rising panic. The term loosely translated to ‘shit’ or ‘dammit’ in English, and the word aptly described how she was feeling, with the way her heartbeat was so madly racing at the sight of Andreus Economou.

The urge to run away and book a flight back to Dallas consumed her, and Hallie unconsciously tightened her grip on the cart’s handlebar until her knuckles turned white.

What was he doing here? Wasn’t he supposed to be in Miami? What was she going to do now?

Tall, dark, and handsome, with jet-black hair and a rugged, sinewy build made a hundred times sexier by the black leather jacket he had over his V-necked shirt and jeans – in a nutshell, unbearably masculine and jaw-dropping gorgeous.

But even so!

Claymore, Texas – as was the rest of the Lone Star state – didn’t exactly have leather-friendly weather even in spring. The people around them should be laughing at his getup right now – so why weren’t they?

She wanted to groan in despair at the very unfairness of it, and she probably would have if she weren’t so used to it. Andreus had always been the rule breaker among them. He was the baddest of the baddest, the kind you would never take home for Mama to meet. But instead of all those things scaring women away, it only did the opposite, attracting them like moths to fire.

And she of all people should know, Hallie thought with an inner wince, since she had been one of them.

And still was, too.

An airport officer blocked his way just as he turned towards her, and Hallie almost felt weak with relief as the other man started talking to Andreus about some local rule regarding airport pick-ups and drop-offs. Bless you, stranger. The man had unknowingly bought her a few extra seconds to think things through, and so she was going to do that.

She would…think.

Moments passed.

Nothing.

Panic struck her, and she quickly lifted her iPhone to her ear and turned her back on Andreus as if she was about to take a call. In reality, however…

“Hey Siri.”

“Go ahead,” a robotic voice answered right away.

“Can you tell me how to act in front of a sort of ex-boyfriend?”

After a few seconds, Siri answered, “OK. I found something on the web for 'can you tell me how to act in front of a sort of ex-boyfriend’. Take a look."

Hallie quickly lowered her phone and almost groaned at Siri’s search results.

How To Make Your Ex-Boyfriend Jealous?

Ha!

Andreus? Jealous?

Ha!

“You’re no help, Siri!”

“That is subject to opinion.”

Cheeky robot!

She saw Andreus shaking hands with the officer, and anxiety gripped her chest. “Hey, Siri?”

“How can I help?”

She spoke in a rush and was grateful when Siri proved more helpful the second time around. Oh, thank God! At least now, she would know what to do if –

“Sorry I kept you waiting.”

The gravelly, all-too-familiar voice interrupting her thoughts almost made her jump, and Hallie was momentarily reduced into dumbstruck silence at finding Andreus already standing right in front of her. Ebony eyes captured hers then, followed by a lethally sexy smile that had her clutching the cart’s handlebar again like it was a squeeze toy for stress. It seemed like he was waiting for her to say something back, but what? Her mind was a complete blank. Or rather, it was except for what Siri had told her.

“I’m planning to put up a social networking site for chickens,” Hallie blurted out, and as Andreus’ eyebrows shot up in surprise, she doggedly forged on with the punchline, saying, “I’m just not sure it will help me make hens meet.”

Silence, long enough to make her fidget, and then Andreus murmured with a polite smile, “That’s funny.”

She smiled back weakly even as she wailed in her mind, We’re so not friends anymore, Siri! Your joke is a total fail!

---

It was almost five in the morning when Andreus came back to the club’s headquarters through the back door, teeth clenched with pain and one hand pressed hard against the side of his body. One of the assholes he had been up against had gotten lucky with his pocketknife, and while a mere flesh wound wouldn’t kill him, it still hurt like hell.

The hallway leading to the kitchen was empty; none of the volunteers – college girls who had joined the club hoping to be one of the bikers’ favored groupies – were up yet, which was good. The fewer the witnesses, the better –

Footsteps behind him made Andreus freeze, the sound followed by a soft, uncertain voice. “Andreus?”

Fuck.

16-year-old Hallie Athanas stood at the foot of the steps, her lovely face registering concern as soon as he turned around and she saw the cut on his lip. Her gaze quickly swept down, and a tiny gasp came out at the sight of his bloodstained shirt.

“You’re bleeding,” she said dumbly.

“No kidding.” Andreus’ tone was derisive, and his gaze contemptuous, bordering on rudeness even. All of it, however, was a ruse. He had long stopped caring about what other people thought of him, but somehow…

She was not other people.

She was…special.

The first day he saw her, Helios and Kellion had asked Andreus to accompany them to the airport so he could be the first one to meet Yuri Athanas. He’d make up the last of the club’s roster of officers, 20-year-old Helios Andreadis had explained. They were just waiting for the boy to graduate from high school, and after that Yuri would claim his position as the club’s secretary.

Andreus had simply shrugged, determined to withhold his judgment until he met the boy himself. Yuri, like the other two, had never had a taste of the rough life like he did, and although he had never had any problems with Helios or Kellion, the club’s president and vice-president respectively, Andreus wasn’t that big of an idiot to think the two men were the norm rather than the exception.

As someone whose cynicism came naturally, a part of Andreus had already prepared himself for the possibility that he and the younger man might not exactly get along. He had read up on Yuri prior to the boy’s arrival, and the latter had sounded too damn perfect to be real. A Greek billionaire’s son, Yuri was constantly lauded in society pages for his endless string of accomplishments. Academic honors, sports trophies, humanitarian awards – anything that could be accomplished, Yuri Athanas already had under his belt.

And when Andreus had found out the guy would be bringing his sister with him, his mood had only grown dourer. No doubt, Yuri’s little sister would be just as perfect, a spoiled little prima donna who would probably take one look at Andreus and think his poor-as-hell ass wasn’t even fit to be within a mile’s radius of her.

By the time Yuri and Hallie had stepped out of their plane – privately owned by their father, naturally – Andreus had a cold, inscrutable mask over his face. For Helios and Kellion’s sake, he was prepared to give the Athanas siblings a chance – and that was it. If these strangers thought he would immediately bend backwards to please them simply because he didn’t have an unblemished past like they did –

Both of them could go to hell.

But as things turned out, Andreus – between the three of them – had been the one who ended up in hell instead.

Yuri had been the first to offer his hand as he introduced himself, leaving Andreus no choice but to grudgingly return the gesture. The boy’s manners were simply too polished, and while this would usually put Andreus on guard, the calm, straightforward way in which Yuri met his gaze was not something to disregard.

In Andreus’ world, the ability to look into another person’s eye was a mark of strength, something that only people who had withstood an inordinate amount of pain could possess – and the boy, surprising as it was, had it.

Even now, Andreus couldn’t forget the way his heart had thundered against his chest at his first sight of her. Silky black hair held back by a pink band, brilliant blue eyes fringed with lashes, and then there was her dress – a delicate, dreamy concoction of silk, with gauzy sleeves, a tight bodice, and a wispy skirt that fell mid-calf – which only a princess could’ve worn to a ball.

But somehow, 16-year-old Hallie Athanas had made it damn work as a runway outfit.

“Hi.” Her voice had been soft but cheerful, like sunlight caressing his ear.

And when her blue eyes had lifted to his ---

Andreus realized he was done for.

“Andreus?” Shock had finally faded from her system, and adrenaline kicked in, spurring her into action. She approached the older boy with caution, but not because she was afraid of him – even though she knew she should be. Andreus, a few months shy of turning eighteen, might be barely older than her, but the kind of life he had led made it seem like they had centuries of difference between them.

When she had pleaded Yuri to tell her more about Andreus, her older brother had been surprisingly and frustratingly vague. Even so, what he had told her was enough – a childhood in which only the toughest survived, resulting into a mile-long record as a juvenile delinquent and his eventual descent to drug addiction.

All in all, someone who should frighten the wits out of her – but she just wasn’t.

If anything, it always seemed the other way around to her, and she had no idea why that was so.

Andreus found himself wondering if rapid blood loss was making him see things. Was Hallie actually walking towards him? Did she not see that he was dripping blood all over the hallway? Did she not realize what kind of man he was – what kind of man he had always been and always would be?

“What do you think you’re doing?” Andreus growled.

“We need to take you to the doctor---”

“No.”

The refusal threw her off, and Hallie mentally fumbled for another alternative. “Then…we’ll have a doctor come---”

“I can deal with this myself,” he cut her off brusquely.

“But---”

“If you want to do me a favor – just forget you’ve seen anything and go back to bed like a good little kid.” Andreus turned his back right after, jaw clenching at the way her eyes had darkened with hurt at his words. Possibly, he had been ruder than he should have been, ruder than she deserved, but it was better this way.

He turned towards the kitchen and almost cursed in shock when she suddenly appeared next to him. What the fuck?

Hallie lifted her chin in stubborn defiance. “If you don’t want to let a doctor help you, then let me patch you up.”

The steely softness of her voice was a surprise, and Andreus found himself following her lead out of sheer curiosity. Inside the kitchen, Hallie pointed to one of the chairs, saying rather imperiously, “Sit.”

“Yes, ma’am.” His tone was sarcastic, but the words only seemed to fly over her head. He watched her bend down to open one of the under cabinets, and his brows shot up when he saw her pull out a first-aid kit. “How did you know that was there?” Andreus demanded.

“I made it my business to,” was the nonchalant reply, which of course wasn’t any reply at all – and he had a feeling the damn girl knew it, too.

Hallie fought hard against reacting to Andreus’ intense scrutiny as she opened the box and started taking out the supplies she needed. It was almost as if he was just waiting for her – hoping even – to make a mistake.

Taking a seat across him, she gestured to his wound, saying almost apologetically, “This will likely hurt.”

Andreus would’ve rolled his eyes if he hadn’t been in so much pain. “It’s already hurting like hell,” he gritted out. “A little more pain won’t make any difference at this point.”

He expected her to answer back with some kind of sassy retort, but she didn’t, and this surprised him. In the weeks she had been staying at the club, one thing he noticed was how deceptive her feminine appearance was. He had seen the way she matched wits with her brother and the other officers of Afxisi, the way she had not let the other bikers intimidate her simply because they were bigger and badder.

So what made him different, Andreus wondered grimly. Why wasn’t she talking back? Was it because he was injured – or was it because she pitied him for the most obvious reasons?

The last thought made his fists clench, and he had to physically struggle against the urge to shove her away as she started to bend close. Silky locks fell forward, and when she had to repeatedly push them away, he said gruffly, “Let me.”

Andreus’ fingers brushed against her sensitive nape as he reached to hold her hair back, and it was all Hallie could do not to shiver and gasp. She had led a very sheltered life, partly by choice and partly because Greek society was well aware of how overprotective Yuri was towards her. As a result, her experience with men was vastly limited. She had never held hands with a boy before, and no boy had certainly ever managed to get close enough to touch her neck.

Only Andreus had…and somehow, for whatever reason, she was glad it was so.

A humorless smile carved into his lips when he saw her cheeks turn rosy at the mere graze of his fingers. Innocent, he thought. Too damn innocent for someone like him, but somehow…he just couldn’t make himself stay away.

Hallie couldn’t keep her fingers from trembling as she slowly lifted his shirt up. Part of it was because she didn’t want to accidentally cause him more pain. The other reason, however, was much simpler. Sillier, too, and one that had her stupid heart racing insanely fast as inch by inch Andreus’ washboard abs came into view.

I’m so sorry, God.

Obsessing over how sexy Andreus Economou was while he was bleeding had to be a sin, and her guilt just kept growing and growing even as she tried to be as efficient as she could in cleaning and bandaging his wound.

“You really are okay with this, aren’t you?”

The gruffness of his voice wasn’t enough to hide his bemusement, and hearing it helped Hallie regain a bit of control over her shamefully-raging hormones.

“Yes–” She glanced up briefly to smile at him. “I really am okay with this.”

“Why?”

She thought of speaking the truth – which was how she had started getting the strangest, most frightening looks from someone she had trusted and loved all her life. But if she said that, it would just make things more real – and she didn’t want that.

Not just yet, Hallie thought. Even if it was stupid and she was only delaying the inevitable, she just wanted…to pretend a little longer.

And so instead of answering Andreus, she simply changed the subject, asking, “How did you get stabbed?”

“Five against one.”

It was a vastly arrogant thing to say, but she knew it was true – just as she knew that he had only said it to scare her off. Without looking up, she murmured, “It’s not going to work.”

Andreus frowned down at her bent head. “What won’t?”

“What you’re trying to do,” Hallie answered as she worked on wrapping the last inch of bandage around his waist.

Andreus was starting to feel irritated. “Which is?”

“Acting like the big bad wolf so I’d run away before you eat me alive.”

Ah.

When Hallie pulled away to look at her handiwork, her gaze inadvertently clashed with his, and she suddenly found herself the subject of his lazy appraisal.

Oh no.

Her heart had gone into overdrive again. Maybe it was only her inexperience talking, but there was just something about the way Andreus looked at a girl that made her so deliciously…possessed. The heat in his eyes was primitive, bold and nearly feral in the way it claimed every trembling, innocent inch of her.

Andreus’ fists clenched and unclenched at the way her big, blue eyes returned his gaze without hesitation.

Too young, he tried to tell himself. She was too young for him. Too innocent. Too good.

Hell, he himself was too young for this. While Afxisi was fast building its name in underground racing, it would be a while before things started doing well and he’d have money of his own. Until then – he was nothing. He had nothing. So how the fucking hell could a man with nothing be with a girl who had everything?

Right now, there was only one honorable way out of this, and that was to make her hate him. He would have to act like an asshole even though just one look from her made him want to do better. Be better. One look, and she had him dreaming like an idiot, for things that could never be.

Knowing he was about to hurt her made it an effort to meet her gaze, but he forced himself to do so anyway. It was for her sake anyway, and while Andreus hadn’t known it then, those words would eventually become something he’d live by for the rest of his life.

Anything that was for her sake…he would do.

“Hallie---”

Her eyes went wide again. “That’s the first time you called me by my name,” she whispered.

Was it? Andreus didn’t really know, and even if it were, it wouldn’t matter. Not after what he had to say next. But just as he started to speak again, he saw the way a sweet, shy smile slowly blossomed on her lips just as she said softly, “I like it.”

FUCK.

“Can you say it again?”

FUCK.

“Please?”

FUCK.

He was so goddamn fucked, Andreus thought even as he heard himself say, “Hallie.”