Chapter 56

Hunter never expected me to call Soren. After getting slapped by his father, he couldn't say a single word. Soren rushed over to me, looking mortified. "Max, I'm really sorry about this. You helped me so much last time. That deal would have bankrupted me if you hadn't reminded me of it. I've been trying to figure out how to pay you back ever since. But I never thought my son would cause you trouble." He carried himself like the kind of man who'd built his reputation with his fists and kept it with his word. When the Levine family's cargo business ran into trouble, nobody in all of Brinestone dared to deal with Soren. I used the Layton family's dock access to help him ship his goods out and also found him buyers. Without that, the shipment would've bankrupted him. That was why he'd been looking for a way to return the favor. But I wasn't naive. I knew exactly how much that favor was worth, so I wasn't about to cash it in over something petty. With his son coming at me like that, S