Page 69 of Between Passion and Revenge: Part Two
“You gonna pull your gun on me?” Riale says, his voice frigid.
My eyes flick down to where the Glock straps to his upper thigh over his tactical pants, and I also note he’s not reaching for his gun.
“Say some stupid shit again, Riale. I dare you.”
I deliver the words with ice in my veins because Riale knows better than to talk stupid about Shae Olivya Rivers.
I lower the gun but don’t put it away.
Another long moment of silence. Axel steals the rolling chair away from Riale’s vicinity and begins swaying in it from side to side, moving the seat from facing left to right.
“I would never betray you, Storm. My goal has been to keep you safe and keep you alive,” Riale says. “You’re like a brother to me, but you know that shit already.”
“Do I?” I ask.
“Yes,” Riale snaps, his voice hard. “You do.”
I call on all my instincts to assess him, to try to read through the bullshit.
We don’t have time for this. Shae is in danger.
“Tell me. Now,” I say through gritted teeth. The vein in my forehead starts to pulse, and goddamn it, I want to start shooting shit.
Riale and Axel share a look, and Axel rolls away a foot with his hands held up.
“This ain’t about me. You made this decision. Remember that,” Axel says to Riale. I shift, my grip tightening on the piece.
“All right,” Riale says, then sucks in a hard breath. “Shae is in France right now. Her family is over there on vacation.”
What the fuck is he talking about? And why didn’t he tell me that Shae was leaving the country?
“She’s out of the country?” I practically scream. “And you didn’ttellme?” I move on autopilot, heading to the forward hall closet to grab my go-bag.
“Wait, that’s the thing, Storm. Shit—I fuckin’ hate this emotional ass shit!”
I pause with my hand on the closet doorknob, looking at him over my shoulder.
“What?” I grind out.
Riale, looking uncomfortable, rubs the back of his neck before folding his arms across his chest, widening his stance.
“She’s in France for the week. With her mother.”
A pause.
“And her kids.”
I blink.
“Twins.”
The statement lands in the room like an atom bomb, shocking and splintering me on impact.
“What?” I say, trying to wrap my head around his statement. Trying tobreathearound his statement. I shake my head.
“Shae has two kids. Boy and girl twins,” Riale says. My hands start to shake.
“Why didn’t you—” I start.
