Haiden Cross I watched her walk away and with every step she took, my heart went with her. Shit. That was the only word that seem to repeat in my head as my gaze refuse to rip away from her disappearing figure. This wasn't how I intended for her to keep her distance. I had this stupid speech in my head that I had been rehearsing from morning. And all of it went to shit. I had woken up tangled with her. In a weird way I enjoyed it so much that I pulled her closer to me. I had dug my nose in her hair and took a whiff of it like a fucking weirdo. It smelled of roses and sex. Her entire body smelled like roses and sex. I fucking loved it. God, I loved it. I loved it......... But I didn't deserve the pleasure of loving her. Someone good, someone perfect deserved her. I was far from that....... a lot more than you can imagine. I was a broken vessel. And I broke her. Fuck. I let her walk away because she should. She didn't deserve to be mixed up in my fucked up world. Bella was beautiful inside and out, anyone could see it. I saw it. I always saw it. I always saw her quick glances and the way she would peek behind her curtain to be the nosey person she always was. I fucking loved when she blushed when she thought she had been caught. And I always saw the person she really was behind all those masks. She didn't want to be known as the perfect girl everyone portrayed her to be. She wanted to be just, her. The girl who dances to Taylor Swift shake it off when her parents aren't home. The girl who pretends the hairbrush or remote is a mic. Or the girl whose hair stays a mess when she wasn't in the mood to fix it. That girl. She wanted to just be that girl. Yes, I admit over the years I did also have an eye on her too. She wasn't the only one who was nosey. I was just better at it.I cracked a smile, even though my chest weighed down on me. Then it disappears along with her figure. She deserves better. It was better she stay away from me from now on. I tried to reassure myself. But fuck it wasn't working. There was now a fucking burn in my chest that I couldn't un-knot. "There's a five-k bet on your head Cross. Whatever bullshit that's going on with that girl needs to be pushed at the back of your head. I need my cash so you better win this round." Snake warned. His words tugged me out of my head harshly and I was now faced with the bitter reality. This is why she should stay away. I was meddling in a dangerous world. One where I didn't want her to be involved in any way. She was safe without me. I tear my eyes away from where she disappeared, a little part of me hoped she'd come back but the other part pleaded for her to stay away. I should've never made love to her, now she runs deeper inside my veins, more than I thought. I turn to Snake, keeping my features cool and collected. "What girl? I said she was no one. She doesn't mean anything to me." She does. She does mean something to me. Snake's cruel eyes leveled with mine. " Good, wouldn't want to have the bitch pay your debts. Now go get my money." He nudges his head to the circle of men. I bit my tongue, wanting to lash out or at least give him a good sock in the mouth for calling her such a name. But I reigned in my anger and decided I'll let it out in the ring. Snake was a vile man. All of them here were. I suppose I would be considered one too. Drugs and fights ruled these streets. You couldn't live without the two. This was my only place to let out my frustrations. The fights. Drugs were never my thing. But it was only last week that everything changed. Charlotte got the perfect son she always wanted and seeing that all the money Dad left for my college fund paid off Charlotte's debts. I had nothing left. Paul took back the money he left for me for college too and gave it to his rightful son. I suppose I shouldn't be too angry about it. I wasn't his son to begin with so I didn't hold any claim to that money. At first, coming here was just to blow off some steam from what was happening at home. But then I started making good money. Those bucks rolled in like waves. Finally, college looked like a single step until I got knocked down my high horse and fell flat on my ass. My cockiness thrust me into a world of trouble where I betted I would win against one of Snake's men. That was a lot of money I betted. Money I didn't quite have yet. I screwed up. Snake's men played dirty. I lost and I ended up on the dirty ground with a huge amount of debt swallowing my entire body. They were the gang that ruled these streets and I was a dumbass to think that they would have ever played fair. I played right into his hands. I could visualize that fool sitting on his throne laughing down at me as I got consumed by debt while he swam with money. They were dangerous. He was dangerous. Snake knew how to go after those you care about to get to you. He would stoop the lowest of lows if it were to get a reaction from you. He was the dirtiest bastard to ever walk this earth. And he fucking knew it. I glared into his cold eyes and nodded stiffly. I have eighty-k left to give him. By then, I'd be a bloody pulp or in a body bag. The latter wasn't one I was hoping for, at least not yet. I turned around to walk to the roaring bodies, fisting my hands as I pictured my fist connecting with Snake's ugly face. As I neared, my ears automatically silenced the yells and the loud chattering. They parted for me, like the red sea. I was to face a guy I have never seen here before. He was taller than me, looked like he packed on some good pounds too. His nasty yellow teeth flashed me as he swung. I let him get that hit knowing I deserved it for hurting Bella. My head snapped to the side and the metallic tang of blood overflowed inside my mouth. I spit it out and started swinging. I let him get one hit, but I wasn't about to lose to him. I had a debt to pay.