Writing a Morally Gray Character Who Deserves Love

Why we can’t stop falling for dangerous, broken men who still want to be chosen

When I started writing the main hero of The Code We Break, I thought I was creating your standard emotionally constipated, hot, dangerous guy. You know the type. Brooding. Sharp. A lone wolf. A little bit terrifying in the best way. The kind of man who walks into a room and owns it without trying, who could end you with a look but would rather ruin you emotionally first, followed by your panties.

I thought I was in control of him.

I wasn’t.

The more I wrote, the more he started showing me who he really was. Not just the untouchable archetype. Not the effortlessly cool alpha. He’s someone rawer, harder to look at directly, and even harder to let go of.

Let me tell you about the walking red flag that is Maddox, and read until the end to see why we can’t get enough of dangerous men in our fiction.

He’s Dangerous Because the World Was

He didn’t become dangerous for fun or out of boredom. He became dangerous because the world around him demanded it. He learned early that being vulnerable meant being hurt, and that safety didn’t come for free. So he adapted, he made himself into something unbreakable, because being soft in his world meant not surviving.

Every calculated move, every skill, every threat he carries in his presence is the product of necessity. He was never allowed to be anything less.

He’s Independent Because He Had No One

That self-sufficiency everyone mistakes for confidence is, at its core, loneliness. It’s the kind of independence born from abandonment, from betrayal, from years of internalizing the belief that people leave and trust is a weakness. He doesn’t rely on anyone, not because he doesn’t want to, but because he learned not to expect anyone to stay.

Even when he wants to trust, when he feels the urge to reach out, something inside him pulls back. Love is a risk he was never taught how to take safely. The people who were supposed to protect and love him unconditionally were his first and biggest disappointment. No wonder he looked for guidance in all the wrong places after that.

He’s Hot As A Freshly Discharged Weapon

Yes, he’s attractive. Everyone notices. They always have. It’s not the blessing you may think; it became another way the world tried to use him. People wanted the exterior. They wanted access. They took what they liked and left behind what they didn’t understand.

He learned to use his looks to survive, as a tool, as armor, as misdirection. But desire is not the same as intimacy. He’s used to being wanted, not cared for. He knows how to seduce but not how to be seen.

So, when someone touches him with care and interacts with him without expecting to take, it disorients him. He doesn’t know how to handle gentleness that doesn’t demand something in return.

He’s the Island That Finally Erupted

He is the island that stood still too long, used and mined and ignored, until it erupted with fire. He’s not cruel by nature but a product of his environment. He’s protective. He guards what little of himself is left, and when someone gets too close, when something threatens to break through his defenses, the explosion is inevitable.

This is what happens when you push someone who never learned how to ask for help and gave up on anyone offering. He explodes not out of malice, but out of fear.

He will hurt before he can get hurt. If someone hurts the few people he cares about… oh, boy. I don’t envy them.

The Fantasy of Being the Exception

This is where the wish fulfillment begins.

We love these characters because they are impossible for everyone but one person. We love the idea of being the exception. The one who gets let in. The one who matters when no one else ever has.

In real life, I lived by He’s Just Not That Into You. The book. The movie. Both. I read it after breakups like it was a recovery manual. I gave it to friends every time one of them got ghosted, strung along, or found themselves in a situationship where the guy wanted everything but accountability.

I would tell them what I told myself. If he wanted to, he would. If you're confused, it’s because his actions show you how little he cares.

That’s real life. That’s harsh. That’s necessary.

But in fiction? We get to be the one he wants. We get to be the exception to the rule. Not because we fixed him or changed him or became his emotional support fairy, but because we’re the one who sees the broken parts and don’t flinch.

The fantasy isn’t about turning the monster into a prince. It’s about being the only one who gets to see the monster put down the knife and say, “Just you.”

He’s still dangerous and difficult. Absolutely dark... but for her, he’s something else entirely. He doesn’t change who he is. He chooses who he shows it to.

And we all crave to be that choice.

Why I Keep Writing Men Like This

I keep coming back to these characters because they carry the kind of ache that doesn’t go away. They are the product of survival, of pain, of everything they were forced to become, and they still reach for love.

They don’t ask to be saved. They don’t beg to be forgiven, but if someone chooses them, really chooses them, they will give everything.

I write them because they are powerful, messy, and not easy to root for. When they finally let someone in, when they soften just enough to say “I got you,” it hits deeper than any love confession ever could.

Because they aren’t lovable by default.
They choose to love, and that choice is everything.

What can you expect from The Code We Break?

Scandal meets The Bourne Identity in this spicy, high-stakes suspense romance.

She’s brilliant, guarded, and carrying too much on her shoulders.

He’s a ghost with too many secrets and a habit of lying to stay alive.

They weren’t supposed to fall for each other.

But now she’s in danger, and he’ll burn everything to keep her breathing.

🖤 morally gray hacker energy

🖤 one bed, one lie, one ruined heart

🖤 trauma-bonded but make it sexy

This isn’t your soft romance.

It’s betrayal, desire, and finding the one person who sees your mess... and stays.

Your Turn

Have you ever loved a character like this? The one who keeps everyone at a distance but still aches to be seen? The one who doesn’t know how to ask for love but gives it fiercely when it’s finally real?

Tell me. Drop your favorites in the comments. Let me know which fictional disaster broke you in the best way.

Vivien and Maddox are coming… and they’re not here to play nice.

P.S.: Keep yourself warm this October with something dangerous, emotionally unhinged, and morally questionable.

No, not your ex.
This book.

Preorder the ebook now and claim your front-row seat to the spicy disaster that is this suspense romance. It’s ok, there is a happy ending, I’m not a psycho! ;)

Nicky xox