Page 22 of Hardline Torque
“I can help,” Victor said once he was finished.“I can tap Directorate financials.Funnel their money into it.”
“We have the cash,” Tane said.
Victor shook his head.“Better to take it from the assholes who caused the damage.”
Tane nodded.“Agreed.”
“When I leave Hawaii for good,” he said quietly, “it’ll be nice to know the people here—the ones who were kind to me—will have somewhere safe.”
The temperature inside Tane dropped as Victor’s words tore his world apart.
Not anger.
Something colder.
The road back blurred past the windshield, headlights carving tunnels through the dark.The truck hummed, steady and mechanical, the silence inside it heavy enough to press against Tane’s ribs.
Victor shifted beside him, clearly sensing the change but unable to name it.He opened his mouth once, then closed it again, confusion tightening his features.
Niko sat in the back seat, eyes flicking between them in the rearview mirror.He adjusted his position, cleared his throat, then thought better of it.Whatever this was, he wanted no part of standing in the middle.
Tane kept his hands locked on the wheel, knuckles pale.Leaving.Victor had said it like a distant plan, a someday truth.To Tane, it landed like a warning bell.
They pulled into the compound and Tane cut the engine.The sudden quiet rang louder than gunfire.
He didn’t look at Victor as he spoke.“Go to the camper, I’ve got work to do.I’ll see you in the morning.”
Niko opened his mouth.
Tane shut him down with a look.
Victor grabbed Tane’s arm.“What did I do?Why are you angry?”
Tane stopped so abruptly Victor nearly collided with him.Slowly, deliberately, Tane turned.
“I’m not angry,” he said.His voice was flat, scraped clean of heat.“I’m disappointed.”
The word landed worse than a shout.
“That doesn’t help,” Victor snapped, frustration breaking through.“You don’t get to shut down and leave me guessing.Tell me what’s wrong.”
Tane laughed once, short and sharp, no humor in it.“You really don’t hear yourself, do you?”
Victor’s jaw tightened.“I hear plenty.I hear a man who kisses me one minute and freezes me out the next.”
“Because you talk about leaving like it’s nothing,” Tane shot back.“Like you’re already halfway out the fucking door.”
Victor’s eyes flashed.“You think I don’t know how this ends?I survive.I always have.That’s not betrayal—it’s realism.”
“Bullshit,” Tane snapped.“That’s fear dressed up as logic.”
Victor recoiled as if struck.“Careful.”
“Why?”Tane demanded.“Afraid I’ll see you too clearly?Afraid I’ll say what everyone else eventually does?”
Victor’s voice dropped, dangerous and raw.“You don’t know what you’re asking.You don’t know what staying costs.”
“And you don’t get to decide that for me,” Tane fired back.“Or for us.”
