Page 175 of Between Passion and Revenge: Part Two

She shoots glares so lethal in my direction, it’s a wonder how I’m still sitting upright.

Luckily, there’s a broad expanse of polished wood between us, and the nine-person dining room table in the guest house I’ve plopped her in is an effective shield.

“Laura,” I start.

“I told you, it’sSkai.No one calls me Laura.” Her eyes flash again. “Not anymore.”

I tilt my chin down in acknowledgement.

“Skai, we brought you here to be safe,” I say. “I promise you’ll be free to do what you want as soon as we can get you sorted. You’re not a prisoner here.”

Where thefuckis the medical team?

“Youpromise? Fuck promises. I haven’t heard a promise that hasn’t been broken,” she says, her tightly curled red hair trembling around her face.

Laura—Skai—is undeniably Black given her paternity, but it’s also clear she’s mixed. Her mother was Irish or Scottish, so I guess Skai got her hair and eye color from that side of her parentage. Skai’s so fair she could barely pass as kin, but she has some Sandoval features to connect us despite her having freckles like Little Orphan Annie.

“You think you’re so big and bad, but you don’t know what you’re doing fucking with me,” she says, and I have to bite back a laugh. She’s young, and the profanity she lobs at me makes me think of one of theAlvin and the Chipmunkscursing me out.

It’s cute and funny, but I know if I letherknow that, she’s liable to kick me in the balls.

“Skai, why are you so upset? Can you explain it to me?” I try to look at her as if she were my daughter, if Tempest were in front of me, notgivingme a hard time, buthavinga hard time.

She curls her lip and folds her arms as she looks down at me.

“You think Lakeland was dangerous, but with what I know about him, you’re off track, mate,” she says, and I note she doesn’t call Lakeland “Dad.”

I lean back in the chair.

I’m supposed to be helping her, but with the way her face flushes down to her camisole-covered chest, I’m unsure about everything.

“All I want is to be let go and left the fuck alone,” she says, and for the first time, I see an edge of…not softness, and not quite vulnerability.

More like exhaustion.

“Skai,” I say softly, putting my palms flat on the table and moving slowly, almost like one would face a scared tiger. “I swear it on my children’s lives, I have no intention of hurting you. I know promises mean shit to you, but what means a lot to me is family.”

She looks at me for a long moment, her face morphing from one emotion to the next, when with the snap of a finger, her expression clears.

Completely blanks.

And then, she smiles and licks her lips. I rear my head back. What the fuck is happening here?

“How will I ever thank you, Storm?” she says, her voice low and gravelly. Leaning forward, she rests her breasts on the tabletop, causing the flesh to start to spill from her thin-strapped shirt.

“No ‘thank yous’ are necessary, especially with all things considered,” I say, looking away from my little cousin.

“Hmm,” she says, slipping into this very uncomfortable, clunky version of a femme fatale. “Well, if you change your mind, I’d love to show you my gratitude, Daddy.”

Oh, that’s fuckinggross.

I shoot to my feet, thoroughly skeeved out.

“Okay!” I shout, turning away from her and looking out into the hallway. “There are gonna be a few nurses staying with you here, and the doctor will be by every day, for the next little while, at least. Axel will be your main way of contacting me.” Suddenly, her contacting me feels like a really bad idea. “Or my…or mywife,Shae.”

There. Boundaries.

I look back at her after motioning for Axel to come here from his position down the hall.