“My life was completely different from yours. My parents were cold to each other and even colder to me. The greatest joy in their life was my brother, David. They ignored me mostly, while they treated him like a prince. I was born with allergies and my parents hated that I was so unwell most of the time while I was growing up. I was an embarrassment to them, a weakling. I grew up with a succession of nannies, unloved and unattended by my parents. My brother was a pathetic snob, who reveled in my parent’s attention and treated me with disdain all my life. He was a mean and cruel boy who grew up to be a domineering, self-serving arrogant prick. Suffice it to say that with this background, I grew up rebellious and quite wild.”

Aaliya’s fingers tighten around mine. I stare at our joined hands. “I’d do anything to annoy them and I did several crazy things. Extreme sports, endless partying, drinking, women, you name it, I did it all. And they hated me more for it. You see, my wild escapades made me a media darling and that stole the attention from their precious David. Fuck! It was fun to infuriate them,” I reminisce, smiling at my notorious past.

Aaliya punches my shoulder. “And that is why you became the Devil Lord? Just to annoy them? With not a single care to your own well-being?”

I erase the worry lines from her forehead with my fingers. “I’m fine. Nothing happened to me, Aaliya.”

I kiss the side of her neck, playfully.

“So foolish!” She moves away from me, her lips pouting and then pursing in anger. “How could you risk your life so many times like that? I hate your family already. If your father and brother were alive, I would give them a piece of my mind.”

I draw her back to me and rest my chin on her head.

“Well, you don’t need to worry about them. It’s just my mother now and she I can handle. Luckily for me, I was never dependent on their wealth. My aunt, Sylvie, left me a fortune so they could never control me. I found a way to fully escape them once I started the business with Gabe. They resented my success. Resented the fact I’d never bow down to David, the future Duke. And look what fate did? I became the Duke instead of him. It’s ironical and still unbelievable at times.”

Aaliya turns to face me. “Why did you leave it all behind?”

I think back, pushing my mind to remember something. But as usual, my head starts to hurt when I put too much pressure on my brain. So, I quit that futile exercise. Immediately, the pressure on my brain dissipates.