Page 131 of Between Passion and Revenge: Part Two

There are other banks.

But like I told Storm all those days ago in my office, I can’t unilaterally make a decision for Orisun.

I’m sitting here with my hands tied.

I blow out a breath, tilting my face toward the breeze.

Storm wants to be in Tempest and Raiden’s lives, and he has no intention ofnothaving them around or not living together as a family.

The thing hehasn’tmade clear? Why. Co-parenting is a reasonable path and, truly, should be theonlypath we take. But Storm’s decided differently, and I have no idea what to do with that.

“Ugh, why am I like this?” I groan out loud, slinging my head back and closing my eyes.

“Uh, excuse me,” a deep voice says, and I crack an eye open, jumping up a bit. One man’s familiar—Riale—but the other I’ve seen but haven’t spoken to.

“Oh, hey. What’s up?” I ask, trying to get my racing heart under control. Riale and the man share a brief look, and the stranger reaches out a hand.

“I’m Axel,” he says with a slick smile. A black headband holds his locs away from his face, and the medium-sized strands hang loose past his shoulders.

I can’t even lie, the man looks like Omarion, and my mind and body don’t know what to do with that information.

I shake his hand.

“Shae Rivers,” I reply, and he snorts before covering his mouth with a hand. My eyes narrow as I examine him.

“You all right there, chief?” I ask slowly. Axel shakes his head.

“Yeah, I’m cool. But we know who you are, silly goose. You gonna eat that?” I lift both eyebrows, shaking my head as he not only sits down in Tempest’s vacant chair, but reaches onto my plate and takes a piece of bacon.

“Um…” I look at Riale, who sighs and also takes a seat.

“Yes, he’s always like this,” he says.

“It’s true,” Axel adds while chewing, and I nod and accept the strange.

There’s more silence, and I realize they’re not just here to make small talk.

“So, Shae, how do you like the property?” Axel says, and it’s so awkward coming from his mouth, I almost laugh in his face.

“Yeah, no, we’re not doing that,” I say, actually allowing myself one chuckle. “Not that I don’t mind being friendly, but it’s clear you want something so…what do you want?” I pick up the water goblet and take a sip, letting a half-melted ice cube run over my tongue while I wait them out.

Axel squints like he’s trying to figure out a math equation, and Riale looks at me with an assessing gaze.

“I like that you’re straight to the point,” Riale says, his voice gruff. “Here’s the situation: We need your help with Storm.”

I narrow my eyes, trying to read through any bullshit.

“It depends on what it is. I’m listening,” I reply. I push aside the fact that I can’t convince Storm of a damn thing. I couldn’t even convince him not to marry us without my explicit consent.

Still, I want to know what they’re up to. It has to be important if they’re coming to me about it.

“What do you know about Storm’s uncle, Lakeland?” Axel asks, sitting forward and staring me down while reaching for a slice of sourdough without looking at his hand.

“His uncle? Not much. He’s told me essentially that he’s not a good guy and is involved in some shady shit.” To say the least.

Axel nods and chews before looking at the half-eaten slice and saying, “This needs butter. Irish butter.”

“Anyway,” Riale grinds out. “That’s correct, but it’s not the sum of his crimes.”