I was drawn to darkness, and he was the abyss. Safe. It's a liar's word. No one is ever truly safe. Control is how I survived. I lived my life by two principles: order and excellence. My moral compass steered me out of the backwoods of Tennessee and towards the woman I was destined to become, but not without gathering a few skeletons along the way. Eventually, I found success, but my restless, relentless nature still left me feeling unsatisfied. Then I met a ghost of a man, an enigma. He wanted me submissive. I wanted to know him. At first, I was convinced Daniello was a figment of my imagination, a beautiful and dangerous apparition with an animalistic hunger and insatiable thirst. He threatened my need for order, and in his absence, I became more haunted by my past. My love for him made me flesh and bone-vulnerable. I was finally a woman with something to lose and would do anything to keep it. But when my past caught up with my present, it became clear that control was a farce, and safe would forever remain an illusion.