Page 145 of Runaway Hearts: Seduced by Danger

Kai’s eyes flicker, the veneer of calm cracking. “Rory said,” he says slowly. “He told me where to go and what to say.”

My heart pounds in my chest like a war drum. “Rory guided you to me?” My voice is barely above a whisper but loaded with accusation. The room closes in.

Kai nods, a grimace stretching across his features. “I didn’t know who you were at first,” he admits, his eyes more shadowed than before. “But Rory, or Victor... Whatever name he’s going by—he gave me clues, told me where to find you, but never explained why or how.”

But every story needs a plot thread, and this is his. We just need to find what links it all together.

A painful whisper breaks out of Kai’s lips. “Marianne, he knew my mother.”

I understand the need for answers.“Didn’t you think it was weird that Rory pushed a man like you toward me?”

“Well, Rory knew a blue Civic was on its way to British Columbia. But that’s what I asked him: to find me a transport to the West Coast.” Kai’s mouth twists while he thinks. “I found your uncle’s place on my own. It was easy with the call you had with Corey about the sewage repair and the pipe bur—”

“Oh!” I scream, my mouth frozen in the motion. That’s how he found me at my uncle’s house. I had a phone call with Corey the day before I dropped him off to go there. And we talked about a burst pipe and street names...Oh. “You sly dog.” I take a step back, my pulse pounding in my ears. “And you didn’t tell me? Even after everything we’ve been through?”

Kai’s shoulders slump, guilt etched on his face as he hangs his head in shame. “I didn’t want to scare you away back then,” he admits softly. “I was really starting to like you.”

Sucker punch.

That’s cute. But he lied to me.

My initial surge of emotion quickly fades, replaced by a sense of danger. Kai’s admission is endearing and concerning. How could I have not seen his true intentions before?

He was truly shopping for a runaway bride.

Kai steps forward, hand extended as if to bridge the emotional chasm that’s formed between us. “Marianne, I love you. I’m sorry I kept you in the dark.”

Double sucker punch.

His words hang in the air, suspended by a fragile thread of sincerity that I’m not sure is real or imagined.

“Are you mad at me?” Kai asks.

I move to the window and look out into the darkness. The rain has started again, tapping on the glass like tiny, impatient fingers.

“Yeah. I am,” I answer, unsure of my emotions. “I’m mad at you, but I’m furious at Rory. And scared. He used me.” Played me like a piece in a giant board game.

Kai’s eyes soften, pleading silently for understanding.

If Rory and Victor are one and the same, then I’m beyond confused as to why Pop-pop put me in this situation. I can see Victor being an ex-criminal.

It fits.

But somehow, I can’t grasp what his angle would be to put me in contact with a man like Hiroshi Kwunaru the freaking Seventh.

Now Kai Kiken, named by yours truly.

His eyes widen, and he takes another step toward me, his hand trembling as it reaches for mine. I pull back, not ready to let him off the hook.

Maybe the documents Rory left for Kai hold answers.

I gather half of the papers and push them in Kai’s hand. “You check on these to find something useful.” But when he comes to sit on the bed, I say, “On the sofa,” with a firm tone. “I’ll be on the bed.”

He frowns, his lower lips dipping, making his pout so fucking alluring.

Ultrasexygerous.

His eyes dart to the pile of documents, then back to me. He swallows hard, reluctantly moving to the sofa. The gentle rain taps on the windows, mixing with the papers rustling in his grip.

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