Chapter 1
It had started on a street, in the rain; a couple arguing while getting into the back of a town car. The man was doing most of the talking, yelling, in fact. The words were not clear but he could tell the words were heated. He had met with the man earlier in the evening about a new business deal. The man's name was Ed Peletier, a notorious crime boss. He had decided on a meeting with Ed because of their history, because of his brothers' history. He was only in town for one night and was headed back to his hotel when he had started to witness the heated encounter. He didn't know what he should do, should he intervene, simply walk away, or stand here, like a creep, in the shadows and do nothing? He knew the man, but as he looked closer, he realized he had seen the woman before. When she turned as the man struck her across the face he saw her eyes, he could never forget those eyes.
He had been in an elevator the first time he saw those eyes; the first time he had seen her. She had looked upset that day and in deep thought. She was unaware that he was staring at her, memorizing every detail of her. She was visibly shaking and looking straight ahead, her posture unwavering. Her eyes never broke contact with the illuminated buttons of the elevator. He cleared his throat and went to speak to her and as he cleared his throat it caused her to drop everything she had been holding. He immediately leaned down to retrieve her items and as he looked up to return them to her arms his breath hitched, their eyes locked. He was now looking into the most intensely beautiful eyes he had ever seen. They were full of mystery, serenity, beauty, and under the surface were also full of pain.
A woman screaming brought him out of his trance. He looked at the couple and the man had hit her again and her eyes were now full of pain and emptiness. What was going on? What had happened? Why wasn't the driver helping her? Why wasn't he helping her? The man pushed her to the ground, reached into the taxi, pulled out her belongings and threw them on top of her. Her purse and all of its contents went spilling out onto the street, "find your own way home, you useless whore" and with that he got into the taxi as it sped away, splashing her in the process.
He stood there, frozen, as he watched Ed and his driver speed off into the night. The woman began crawling around on the ground, picking up her belongings, wiping angrily at her face to dry her tears. She suddenly paused and turned to look at him, directly into him. This was the second time their eyes had connected and he felt a jolt of electricity shoot through his body at the fiery determination he saw in her eyes. She wasn't giving up. He made the decision in that moment, he wasn't going to give up either. He left his darkened corner and ran across the street, ran to her. He opened his umbrella and reached his hand down, offering it to her; simply waiting. The indecisiveness that crossed her face and then sudden realization caused him to smirk. She realized this man was offering to help her, he wasn't going to hurt her. She reached up, placing her hand into his; their eyes still never leaving each other. As their hands intertwined they both felt a jolt but neither one acknowledged it but he was finally the first to speak
"I'm Daryl"
"…and I'm Carol"