Hartley hesitated for a moment, knowing that James was playing him. That was just how it was. It wasn't as if he didn't know how the game was played, he simply hadn't been around long enough to even have any way to make a move. It was beyond frustrating. "Can you tell me someone who won't hurt anyone?"

All he wanted was to still have a future. He didn't want to hurt his parents. He didn't want to risk anything like that. He simply wanted, as Axel had put it, to get his shit.