Hazel in the Demon's Den

Will hadn't anticipated the direction their conversation had gone but he couldn't exactly say he was upset by it. His place in Hazel's heart was unshakable, which was a relief to hear.

He had suspected as much already. She had been about to marry Lawson thinking he was him and she had called for him in her sleep on their wedding night. Still, it was nice having it confirmed.

The hard part was not immediately telling her the truth. It had been on the tip of his tongue the moment she said she would ask him what kept them apart so long if they ever met again. That had to mean she wasn't too mad at him, right?

Telling her now would mean he had to have an explanation for where he was, why he didn't immediately tell her when they met, and how he happened to find her. Will didn't have one ready off the top of his head and he didn't want her to know the whole truth.

Hazel would be more than a little put out to discover he had planned for her former fiancé to cheat on her. Or that he was busy leading a life of crime so they would have funds to travel like they always wanted to.

No, he couldn't tell her. Not until he thought of an adequate lie. Too bad though. This had been an otherwise perfect opening to tell her who he really was.

Considering her devotion to someone she thought was dead, she would probably be thrilled to discover the truth. There was no way she would try to divorce him once she knew who he was. He just needed to figure out what to say.

"Can you give me some time to process this?" Hazel requested, shaking him out of his thoughts. She had taken so long to respond that he nearly forgot what he had asked her.

"I guess so," Will said slowly. "How much time are we talking about though?"

"I'm not sure…"

He frowned. That wouldn't do. It was already hard enough keeping his distance when he wanted nothing more than to be plastered to her side permanently. Acting like he didn't know her had gotten progressively more difficult the past couple of weeks.

He knew her better than anyone. Every shift in her expression. What she did when she was stressed or tired or scared. He had been watching her from a distance waiting for his chance for months before he actually spoke to her again in Las Vegas.

It hadn't been easy working remotely. Will had to travel back and forth between Utah and California several times a month to see to certain things personally. But he had to know her habits if he was going to make his plan work.

"Take all the time you need," he found himself saying even though it was the last thing he wanted.

Hazel thought he was a nice person. He had to keep up his nice and understanding persona around her. She could never know how possessive he truly was.

It had taken all of his willpower not to handle Lawson himself but he needed to stay with Hazel or she would be suspicious. How dare that man touch her with his filthy hands knowing that she would have never been with him if he hadn't lied!

Every kiss, every touch…they were all supposed to be his. Hazel loved him, not Billy Lawson. She said so herself.

Maybe the next time Will went to San Francisco on business he could pay Lawson a little visit and finish what his men started. It would certainly make him feel better. Besides, he hadn't vented his frustration on anyone in a while. Beating up a scumbag would feel good.

Hazel smiled at him gratefully before finally managing to free herself and flee the room. She was only able to because Will let her, of course. If he wanted to he could snap her tiny body in half like a twig.

"You won't always have a weapon on you," Alfonzo used to say all the time. "You have to be able to take down someone twice your size with your bare hands."

This was a reference to his height. Men in California tended to be on the tall side for some reason, especially those in crime. Will was a shrimp by comparison and he knew it.

Unfortunately, all of the workouts in the world couldn't make him taller. He had cursed that fact more times than he could count. It wasn't fair. Charlie had been 6'4". This was all the hospital's fault for stunting his growth.

At least he had always been strong. It was part of what got him branded as dangerous when he first went into the mental hospital. He had protested quite vehemently when they brought him in, knocking out four orderlies as he tried to escape.

What finally made him stop his rampage was getting a glimpse of his nameless angel wandering down the hall like a ghost. Will was brought in during the middle of the night so no one else was around. He froze in his tracks, wondering what on earth she was doing there, which allowed security to lock him down.

Knowing that the orderlies couldn't handle him if he truly wanted to escape, Will was prohibited from ever going to yard time. He was furious because that would be the only time he was able to see his angel.

He went on an even bigger rampage after hearing that and ended up in isolation for a week, further cementing the idea that he was dangerous in the minds of the staff. He got his 'diagnosis' shortly afterwards.

It took three years of being on his best behavior for them to loosen security enough for him to sneak out. He knew Hazel was getting out somehow because he saw her run outside as he was being taken out of isolation one night. He tried his best but he wasn't perfect; people in the hospital could be terribly annoying.

If Will hadn't lost his temper so many times, he would have been able to meet Hazel officially much sooner. That didn't matter now though; he still met her in the end.

She would come around eventually. He only needed to wait a little longer. Goodness knows he was used to waiting.