"Honey, someone set me up, and I would never willingly betray you by sleeping with another woman.""Get out of here, because I never want to see you again."Victor Hale jolted awake with his heart pounding against his ribs, tormented once again by the same recurring nightmare that had been dragging him back to that painful moment night after night.He opened his eyes and found himself in a cramped, damp room that reeked of sour decay. Rain dripped steadily through the ceiling, each drop landing with a hollow plunk. A little girl with braided pigtails stood nearby, clutching a mop in one hand and a plastic bucket in the other."Oh, Daddy, you're awake?" The girl turned, her whole face lighting up with surprise and delight."Nell?" Victor's voice came out hoarse, disbelieving."Daddy, get up quick so I can change your sheets!" A small boy spoke up from the other side of the bed.The two children might have been cut from the same mold. The boy was already moving to pull away the plastic

Victor Hale smirked, eyes narrowing to slits. "Whether I'm talking nonsense or not, Bruno, you know the truth. You've got your eye on that piece of land your boss acquired, don't you?"The memory was crystal clear in Victor's mind. Bruno Kade and Roxy had worked together from the inside and outside to siphon off assets. When it all came out, Bruno had been hacked to death with machetes, and Roxy had been torn apart alive by a mastiff.Bruno's brow furrowed. The land deal was known only to a tight inner circle, and every one of them was tight-lipped about it. Yet this kid had just laid bare his innermost thoughts with disturbing accuracy."Who the hell are you?" Bruno demanded."Just an ordinary guy," Victor replied, clapping a hand on Bruno's shoulder and lowering his voice. He glanced toward the doorway. "But I've got a knack for mind reading and fortune-telling. Here's some advice: tone it down. Your boss is already watching you."Bruno spun around. Sure enough, someone was lurking

"The hell are you looking at?"Faced with Victor Hale's naked humiliation, Bruno Kade felt rage surge through his chest. He clenched his fists and charged forward, fury propelling every step.Victor didn't spare the murderous Bruno a single glance. His gaze remained fixed on Roxy Delane, cold and unyielding, as though she were the only person in the room worth his attention.Roxy had been working the underworld since she was fourteen or fifteen. Victor's demand infuriated her just as much as it did Bruno, but she could not afford to cross him, not now, not with what was at stake."Bruno!"Bruno's fist was already raised, poised to strike. He wished he'd been born deaf so he could've ignored her and let the punch fly. But he hadn't, and he couldn't.Roxy didn't blush at Victor's nakedness. Instead, she stepped forward, closing the distance between them. With each step, her eyes sharpened, taking on a dangerous glint that could cut through steel."What exactly do you want?"Victor stood

After the taxi driver had helped him carry things upstairs earlier, Victor Hale gave him an extra fifty dollars when settling the fare.For ordinary working folks, a simple thank you was usually reward enough for lending a hand. But the cold, hard cash of fifty actual dollars pressed into his palm made the driver break into a grin that showed two rows of yellowed teeth. He turned and handed over a business card with obvious pleasure."If you ever need me again, just give me a call.""Will do."Watching the driver's cheerful back as he walked away, Victor felt a rush of emotion. Today had been nothing short of surreal. He'd nearly died at Bruno Kade's hands, and now he found himself moved almost to tears by the simple kindness of strangers.Stepping into the extended-stay apartment, Victor took in the clean, modern space with its two bedrooms and living area. His first thought went to his two children. He'd once bought his wife and kids a place even bigger than this, and the urge to ca

It had been a long time since Victor Hale had driven. Too long, if he counted the months properly.With his new car now in hand, he took it for a spin around Fairhaven, letting the engine hum beneath him as the city lights blurred past. The leather seat felt foreign, the steering wheel almost unfamiliar in his grip, but the motion itself brought back a sense of control he'd forgotten existed.Eventually, he found himself slowing down near a residential complex. He pulled over and cut the engine, staring at the entrance.Dexter Marsh lived here. His old classmate from college, his business partner from the startup days. Dexter still wasn't married, still lived with his parents in one of these modest apartments.Victor tightened his grip on the wheel. After the company went under, everything had fallen apart. His wife and children gone, his spirit shattered, he'd collapsed into himself and disappeared from the world. And while Victor had drowned himself in bottles and self-pity, Dexter