Page 110 of Runaway Hearts: Seduced by Danger

“And that would be Rory?” I drag the words out with uncertainty.

“Yes…” His head jerks, lips pursed as if he’s trying to spit something that tastes awful. “Fuck.” His shoulders tense while his fingers curl into fists. “Rory has things I need.” A furious rumble travels through his chest. “Things we need to get a new ID and disappear. It also means... we have a limited amount of time to…” Kai gives a blank stare before him. “To…”

To what?

“To vanish,” his voice drops to a murmur. He pulls back, leaning against the car seat, eyes shut as if the world’s weight rests on his shoulders. His words hang heavy between us, like the final grains of sand slipping through an hourglass.

“We need to get to Rory before Six does,” I state, hoping he’ll confirm.

He looks furious. “Yes.” Or is it scared? “I must tell Rory about you, and we need new IDs done before the first wave of bounty hunters catch him.”

“The first wave?” That sounds ominous… and exciting. I give Kai a bright smile.

“First, it’ll be hired bounty hunters. They usually get half the job done, but they kind of pave the way for Yuzu’s team. If Yuzu isn’t successful, I’m the one who gets the job done, but that happened only two times in the last eight years.” He works a worried swallow.

I breathe out. “What?”

“If I wanted to eliminate Six or myself… I’d get the Adashi twins.” He scoffs and then chuckles. “But they’re dead.”

“The Adashi twins for the kill. It sounds so…” Cool. Dangerous. Efficient. An unwanted giggle bubbles beneath my sternum and grows until I burst out laughing.

Kai wears a sexy smirk that lights up his entire frame. “Tell me their story, cutie.”

Ooh. I love this game.

“I mean, it’s easy. They were too good, so, your daddy eliminated them.”

Kai coughs and snorts. “Daddy?”

“Yes. The Adashi twins were trained in combat until they were emotionless killing machines. Attuned to each other like one soul. Their bloodthirst was unquenchable. No morals. Only the fury of being left for dead in a dumpster as newborns.”

Our psychotic stare hook onto each other, a bloodcurdling smile on our lips.

Kai squints and chuckles. “They were left on our doorstep when they were one. I was three.”

“You grew up with them,” I whisper to myself, sadness tugging at my heartstrings for another loss of his.

“I spent ten years training with them, from five to fifteen. But then, they became too unstable and sadistic for combat training. Believe me, cutie pie, having those two chase us today would be—”

“A nightmare,” I finish.

Kai’s eyes darken, and he looks away momentarily as if reliving some distant horror. “More like a massacre waiting to happen.” When he turns back to me, his expression is serious. “Enough about the twins. Our focus is Rory now. We need to get to him before anyone else does. The red truck men were not discreet and easy to lose. Better ones are coming. They won’t be that much of a problem. But then there’s Yuzu.”

“Isn’t that some fruit?”

He titters. “Yes, but the man is nowhere as sweet. Yuzu and his team are relentless; they won’t hesitate to break down doors or take lives to get to us.”

The weight of his words sinks in, yet the thrill of danger ignites something primal within me.

Kai reaches over, gripping my hand. “You like it, huh?” I don’t see his smirk, but I feel it.

I squeeze his fingers. “What if I do?” The rush gets my blood pumping.

“Wild cutie pie.” He kisses my knuckles. “It’s about to get wilder.”

Bring it.

I take a deep breath, trying to process everything, my mind spinning with the tension in his voice. “So, where is Rory?”

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