The first time Cassius Ulysses Costas met Alice Paradis, she was in a string bikini and filling up a long line of boats that were there just to see her. She was eighteen and every man's wet dream.
Even his.
For the longest time, he went out of his way to stay as far away from her as he could get without actually taking his eyes off of her. For years, he was the better person. He played his hand close, and not a single person would know just how obsessed he was with her.
Then he goes to prison and comes out a man that couldn't care less about anyone or anything, least of all what someone thought of him and his actions. But not one second while he was behind bars did he forget about Alice.
He tries to stay away. For a few long months, he fights his every instinct to make her his. But, as if the universe is conspiring against him, Alice is thrown into his path time after time, instance after instance.
And his resolve is waning. Fast.
In one last ditch effort to stay away, he walks away, hoping making her mad enough will force her to do the work for him.
However, when Alice is attacked, it isn't Cassius's harsh words she remembers, but the way he makes her feel safe.
Soon, the very last thing he'll do is let her walk away. He did the right thing, and that didn't work out. Now, it's time for him to embrace the wrong.