Page 73 of Between Passion and Revenge: Part Two

Yennifertsks. “Don’t should on yourself, boo-boo.”

I look across the room to where they stand shoulder to shoulder, looking over a short barrier to the foliage below.

“I want to be more present.”

“You’re building a whole-ass empire, sis. You have, what? A hundred people working for you now?”

“Seventy-seven,” I reply.

A band of tension forms at the back of my skull.

“That’s a shit ton of people—and responsibility,” Yenn says.

“Yes,” I reply. “But those two heartbeats over there are my number one priority. Always.”

I look over to the twins, who are just beyond my field of vision.

“Tems, Rai, stay where I can see you,” I say, raising my voice to reach them over the somewhat crowded space.

“I know that, babe. Everyone knows that,” Yenn replies. When I don’t continue the conversation, she looks at me with concern.

“Youdoknow that, right? That everyone knows you love your kids?”

Maybe if I weren’t so sensitive, or maybe if I weren’t so thrown off-center by Storm, I could put on the mask. But the truth is, I love my work, and I love my kids…but the attention I’m able to devote to both is inequitable on most days.

And I want to do better for Tempest and Raiden. I just don’t know how.

Maybe if you stopped trying to be Superwoman….

“Yeah, I know, Yenn,” I reply, smiling weakly and looking away from my best friend.

I frown first, then my heart falls to my feet as I stand from the bench.

“Raiden? Tempest?” I yell, moving toward where I just saw them. When they’re not in the designated spot, I raise my voice, all kinds of terrible scenarios instantly running through my head.

“Raiden! Tempest!” I whirl around in a circle in time to see Yennifer jump up with a panicked look.

I spot the guards, shouting nonsense at them when I hear one of the twins call out for me.

“Mommy, over here!” Raiden shouts.

I turn, feeling dizzy….

…and that dizziness compounds when I see my seven-year-olds standing in front of a man crouched in front of them.

A man who stares wide-eyed at both their faces.

A man who, when he finally turns toward me, looks like he wants to incinerate me on the spot.

Their father.

SIXTEEN

STORM

Ithought I knew what rage was. After losing my parents, hating Lakeland, and dedicating the last near decade to the pursuit of revenge, I thought I understood what it felt like to suffer loss.

I was wrong.