Page 40 of Between Passion and Revenge: Part Two
But I’m the one who’s pissed, because when my eyes land on Storm’s face, the asshole wears asmile.
TEN
STORM
Riale and Axel idle outside the Orisun office, so when I waltz out a few minutes after Shae high tails it the fuck out of her building, I slide into the backseat without her noticing me on the street behind her.
“So… I take it that went well,” Axel drawls, slouching in the passenger seat of the blacked-out SUV with his phone set on loud as he plays Temple Run.
My eyes track her movements. She looks around like a lost kitten, even though I know my Shae today is a lioness. I know it can’t just be the news about Keystone that’s sending her.
It’s me. My sudden reappearance in her life has her going for a spin.
And I feel so damn conflicted about that.
“Did you leave the note? Did you get anything from the assistant?” I ask, and Axel grins.
“Yes, I left your sappy ass note in her office,” Axel says. “As for the assistant, she’s so damn uptight, I’m not sure a team of surgeons could get that stick out of her ass.”
I roll my eyes. I don’t care about her assistant’s personality. I care about what she knows—about the Keystone deal and about Shae.
“Are you gonna share your next steps with the class?” Axel asks, hissing when his character dies with a descending note from the phone.
I rub my bottom lip as Shae spins on the sidewalk, and then, with her face pointed to the sky, she inhales deeply and exhales the same.
Then, she walks.
“Follow her,” I tell Riale, not taking my eyes off my girl.
Riale doesn’t say a word; he puts the car in drive and keeps a reasonable distance away from Shae as she ambles down toward Wells Street.
When she stops outside a bakery, I get a flash of us cooking in her kitchen, and the memory makes my chest ache.
Eight years….
For some reason, I thought it would be easy to talk to her, like stepping back into a worn shoe. Maybe it’s because of how much I love her and how much love we have for each other.
Or…had?
But there’s so much hurt there.
That much is clear.
“What new information do we have on this Keystone deal?” I direct this question to Axel, and he takes a second to respond. He taps on the screen with the tip of his tongue stuck between his lips, all his attention on the figure on his phone.
“Aw, shit! I wasthis closeto hitting a new high score,” he grinds out, frowning. In a move so quick I almost miss it, Riale snatches the phone from Axel’s grip, slamming it into the storage attached to the driver's door.
“He asked you a fucking question. Pay attention,” Riale snaps.
Axel gives him an annoyed look, popping his mouth open before saying, “You know what? I could fuck you all the way up, but you’re obviously on the rag or some shit, so I’mma let it slide.”
“Axel!” I shout. Clearing my throat and lowering my tone, I add, “Keystone. News. What do we have now?”
I give Axel a look, and he sighs before reaching into the space around his feet and pulling out a government-grade Lenovo. While he taps at the screen, I look back at Shae in time to see her move inside the store.
Something about the thought of her around confections makes me want to smile. It’s a gentle choice for a woman with such sharp edges now.
“The meeting is still on. It’ll be at the law offices of Smith, Adnan, and Spain, which happens to be two blocksthat way.”He tips his chin up toward the windshield, pointing west.
