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.
