01 - The Devil You Know

Emma was an expert on men like Killian Jones, with their dark good looks, roguish charm, and...legal problems. She had spent most of her adolescence dating them, and most of her adulthood tracking the scumbags down and dragging their sorry asses back to jail. (God, there were times when she really loved her job.) She was smart enough—experienced enough—to know that Hook couldn't be trusted. But something in her was drawn to him, all the same. An orphan can always recognize another orphan, and staring back at her from behind Hook's sea green eyes was an empty ache as familiar as her own reflection in the mirror.

Hook was an expert when it came to puzzles, and women were his favorite kind. Most men considered them strange, wayward creatures, as contrary as cats, but that was what he liked about them; they were predictable in their unpredictable-ness. All it took was the right approach, and you could have them eating out of your hands.

Given time and opportunity, he could have gained the queen's trust, the warrior's respect, and the princess's admiration. Events would have unfolded gradually, beautifully, like all the best stories, and he would have enjoyed every minute of that slow seduction.

Except that they didn't. Emma Swan had looked him dead in the eye and known him for a liar. He still didn't know how she had done that. But he was looking forward to finding out.