Page 83 of Runaway Hearts: Seduced by Danger

Kai sighs heavily as he stares out the window, collecting his thoughts. “I met her at a country bar. We drank and played pool. It was nice to feel like an ordinary man for a few days. But she bolted as soon as she found out who I was.”

“Oh. You’re taking a break from your life before returning to marry a supermodel and take the reins of a filthy empire.” I state the fact calmly, but my soul trembles inside me.

Don’t leave me.

“I don’t want to control the Kwunarus,” he mutters. “Being the Seventh is all I know, but Six’s ambition has led us to expand beyond our capacity. Now we’re seeing cracks in our structure for the first time in generations. My training taught me to hurt, not to negotiate, which doesn’t help my role in the family business.”

“You have quite a reputation...” I trail off.

“Yes, but power or money doesn’t mean shit if I have no one to share it with,” he says with a pained expression. “I might be delusional, but if a woman could fall for Six, I figured I’d find someone someday. I guess I’m a dreamer.” He pauses, taking a deep breath.

He believed his parents’ love would guide him to find his own.

Kai closes his eyes and rubs his face. “But the more I embrace my role, the more that dream slips away.”

“You’re a soft light in a very dark universe.”

When I think he’s done, more words fly out of his mouth until he’s pouring his heart out. Every experience that shaped him. I keep my eyes on the road. There’s so much darkness with only some vague glimmers of light.

After sharing all his gruesome experiences involving killing, dismembering, torturing, and drug use, all I see is his need for a brighter future.

The man yearning for love and acceptance despite his past.

Just like I do.

My brain connects dots in my mind, so far apart from each other that I doubt my sanity. Again. But if this adventure taught me one thing: trust my instincts. “Is that why you sent me your picture?” I ask, surprising even myself. “Because you wanted me to bolt before getting in too deep?”

Kai takes a shuddering breath. “I guess I’d like to be normal.” He snorts. “As normal as I could be.”

I relate to that.

My mouth opens before I get a real chance to think about it. “Let me help you.”

We’re two lost souls adrift in a tempestuous sea, each seeking refuge from our own personal storms.

“Help me what?” he snaps.

Leave that monstrous life behind.

But unlike me, his empire won’t dump him to fuck other women, and he can’t flee. His empire will consume him until he becomes only the Seventh Hiroshi, the most ruthless Kwunaru in a hundred years, bound by his genetics to lead a criminal kingdom.

“What happens if you leave?” I ask.

Kai lets out a ridiculous snicker. “I die.”

And if he tries to kill them first, he’ll die even faster. If he escapes, they’ll surely send people after him, and he’ll be on the run for the rest of his life.

On the run…

“Do you have any friends?” I ask.

“No. Just henchmen who are overpaid. No brothers or cousins.”

My heart twists at the thought of him being so alone.

You have me.

Those words burn in my mind, and I fight the urge to voice them.

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