Page 19 of Between Passion and Revenge: Part Two

A body moves in the other apartment, and I take a step back.

“What would you do if you saw her again?” he asks softly.

My brain stalls; my synapses spasm at the thought.

I don’t have to ask him who “her” is.

“The fuck kind of question is that, Axel?” I whirl on him.

“Obviously, the Universe is trying to tell you something. Why else would the only condo I could find on such short notice berightacross the street from hers? And facing her apartment, no less?”

I gape at him.What?

“Are you trying to tell me that…her apartment is right across the way from mine?”

Axel nods, smiling and rocking back and forth with his hands in his pockets.

A sick draw toward the telescope has my fingers twitching with the need to go to the viewfinder and watchhermove.

Watch herbe.

Absolutely fucking not, Sandoval.

Bubbling anger and pain cause me to lash out at my friend.

“You wanna call this universal design, or is it more like you’re fucking with me? You don’t want to mess with me about her, Axel,” I grind out. Axel sighs, and I step away from the window—and the telescope—as if it were diseased.

Axel gives me a strange look, and I can tell he wants to say more, but then a loud beep comes from the main entrance.

After the front door opens and shuts, Axel mutters, “Here we go.”

I snap my mouth closed and turn around right as Riale makes an appearance at the doorway. He’s silent, looking from me to Axel to the telescope behind the two of us. His eyes narrow, shooting a lethal look at Axel.

“Storm, you should stay in the Gold Coast house,” Riale grinds out, and I’m taken aback by the venom in his tone.

“Uh, last time I checked, you ain’t my damn Daddy. The fuck?” I say, stepping to him.

Riale looks past me.

“Axel,really?” he barks.

Axel feigns an innocent look.

“What did I do?” he chimes in.

“You knowexactlywhat you did. Putting him across from the building is one thing, but then you got him a goddamn telescope? Are you trying to send him off the deep end?” Riale shouts by the end of his monologue, and I crack my head from side to side.

“It’s funny,” Axel says in a pointedly unfunny tone. “You areso damnconcerned about Storm keeping it together, and yet, here you are?—”

“Shut the fuck up, Axel,” Riale hisses, but Axel jumps into his face.

“Or what, nigga? What you gon’ do?” Axel’s voice is lethal, low, and I hate the fact that I’m standing here in the background. Enough of this.

“You both need to chill the fuck out,” I command, stepping between both men. Riale rolls his eyes and clicks his tongue, leaving the bedroom completely, and Axel looks after his retreating back before chuckling and saying, “Bitch-ass nigga” under his breath.

“Talk,” I say to Axel, lifting a finger and pointing him in the direction of the living room. Riale sits with a pensive look, staring out at the skyline when I enter, Axel close behind me.

“You.” I point to Axel. “Sit.” I point to the empty spot on the opposite end of the couch from Riale.