Page 70 of Between Passion and Revenge: Part Two

“Youtoldme not to! I’ve been sitting on this information for eight fuckin’ years, man. Eight! And I’d thought you’d let her go and we could move on, but now we gotta unpack this shit.”

Fire burns up my chest, engulfing my head in flames as I compute the timeframe.

Eight. Years. That means….

“My girl had two babies by me…and you thought I wouldn’t want to know?” The words are venomous, strained, and there isn’t a flash of surprise in his expression when I rush up on him.

Instead, he anticipates my punch to the face before I deliver it. I swing on him again, taking a cheap shot to his side. The lightest touch of satisfaction lands when he groans and drops to the floor.

After a deep breath, he says, “That’s exactly the thing, bruh. They ain’t yours.”

I lurch to a halt, a hand going to my chest as if I’d been shot through the heart. It kinda fucking feels like it. Sucking in a breath, I stand tall, looking down at Riale as he jumps to a crouch and stands as if I didn’t just bruise his kidney.

In this moment, I’m a man possessed, rage and confusion choking me out.

“Don’t even try to insinuate she was with someone else.”

Riale wipes at his nose, looking at the streak of blood on his hand after he does so.

“She didn’t put anybody on the birth certificate. If they were yours, wouldn’t she have run to get that Sandoval money? You were sitting on a shitton of money, everything your parents left you. You think she’d choose to do the single mom thing rather than have you take care of her? Think about it. If she didn’t think you were the father, why the fuck would I drag your emotional ass through that drama again?”

I whirl around, launching a lamp next to the front entrance into the wall.

“That wasn’t your call to make!” I shout.

“It’s what youaskedme to do!” he roars. “Fuck!”

The words land between us, and not even Axel moves. Riale takes a deep breath.

“If you want to blame someone, blame yourself,” he hisses.

There’s immediate silence following Riale’s statement, and I look from the man who I thought was my best friend to Axel, who sits frozen in the chair.

“Did you know this shit, too?” I ask him. Axel grimaces.

“I wasn’t looking because I knew Riale was on it,” he says, glancing at Riale. “But when this Keystone shit started to get hot and her name came across my screens….”

He lifts his hands and shrugs in awhat-can-you-dogesture.

I take that in, take in the fact that Shae has children…my children.

A deep, elemental feeling settles in my gut, vibrating my whole body. I turn to Riale.

I pause. “They’re mine. I know they’re mine.”

There’s more silence.

“I guess it’s possible,” he says, but doubt is written all over his face.

I’ll be the judge of that.

“Axel, where is she staying?” I ask, still staring at Riale.

You should blame yourself.

I fucking hate that he’s right. My brain, my body, mysoulknows those kids are mine. What are their names? What do they look like? What are they into?

I missed so much. Eight goddamn years.