"The Von Heims are merciless—they'll kill me!"
"Calm down."
She spoke down to him, her tone cold and impersonal.
"Didn't you hear? I'm here to protect you."
Although she uttered those words with some semblance of authority, Victor knew—without a shred of doubt—that they were a blatant lie.
If one were to sum up everything she had actually told him since their unfortunate association began, the message became quite clear: an attack that came after he had delivered the goods wouldn't implicate him.
He would, in theory, be spared. But if the strike happened before then—if anything occurred prematurely—it would immediately mark him as an accomplice. A collaborator.
Something they had previously claimed—so confidently—wasn't going to happen.
Victor clenched his fists, jaw tight, his nails digging faint crescents into his palms as he stared at the woman in front of him.
