Page 154 of Runaway Hearts: Seduced by Danger

“Just some connections I have, you know,” Victor replies.

“No, I don’t!” I yell, frustrated and confused at being dragged into this mess without any knowledge or consent.

“I have my ways,” Victor tries to explain himself.

“Of course you do,” I mutter sarcastically.

A deep exhale from Victor fills the speakers with static noise. “I pulled some strings and called in a few favors. I have access to black market resources, Marianne. Making people disappear used to be my specialty, and I was damn good at it,” he finally reveals.

“Victor Salem, master of criminal security,” Kai adds mockingly. “But you got my mom killed.” This time, he’s serious. “Didn’t you?”

“She… Leila didn’t want to risk Six being angry at you, Seven. She and her lover took all the heat from his anger... I didn’t fuck up. Leila decided not to go through, but Six already knew.”

“She sacrificed herself for me?”

“Yes,” Victor confirms.

A real mom.

“And I was buried alive in a swamp for my involvement,” Victor continues. “I got out and started drinking… because I felt guilty… but now, I’ll fix it all. I just need you to participate, Seven.”

Somehow, I can imagine Victor digging his way out with his bare hands.

“Am I not supposed to have an account?” Kai asks quickly.

“Oh, Seven… Only if you play your cards right.”

“Pop-pop, why? I mean, what the fuck?” This whole situation has gone too far. “Care to explain all this criminal talk to the non-criminal woman in the car, Victor?”

“Seven has to make a trade,” Victor says nonchalantly.

“A trade?” I shout into the phone. “Extorsion!” My brow furrows as I sigh heavily. “You’re the one who fucked his mom’s escape, and now, you want him to give you something in exchange for his life? Pop-pop, that’s not okay!” We’re far from the “I scratch your back, you scratch mine” kind of deal.

Kai rubs his cheek. “He wants information on the Kwunaru empire,” he says as if it’s so clear. “To take it down.”

“Are you a cop?” I ask, and damn, I don’t want Victor to be a cop.

But Victor laughs. “Of course not. More like a rebel.”

“Then, what kind of information do you need?” I ask him, my eyes wide.

Victor’s voice rumbles through the line so murky I don’t recognize him. “Names, places, dates...”

A deadly silence follows, and I realize Pop-pop wants Kai to give up everything he knows.

Well, fuck.

“I’m listening,” the evil made-up grandpa says.

“We need time to think about it,” Kai finally says.

Victor laughs. “You don’t have a lot of time, Seven.”

“Fuck off, Victor!” I scream.

“Jeez, Seven, what did you do to my sweet Marianne?”

“Things we don’t talk about with a man your age,” Kai boasts.

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