Page 56 of Between Passion and Revenge: Part Two
“Goddamn it, Shae?—”
“Andfuck you, Storm Sandoval!” she shouts, and right now, she looks wild. Her eyes wide, her jaw trembling along with her clenched fists. She’s heated, pissed, and I’ve driven her to this point.
Then, before her rage can overtake her senses, she sucks in a slow breath as if breathing through a straw, holds it, then releases the air.
“I’m not stopping it. I’m gonna…” She seems to search for her next words. “I’m gonna buy Keystone and fix it.”
She infuses her tone with calm, punctuating her words with a nod.
“Thank you for your advice, but it’s unwarranted. Especially coming from you,” she finishes.
I gape at her.
“What the hell? Explain how you think you’ll make that work,” I reply, because I need complete knowledge of whatever screwed up plan she’s got in her head to play Xena Warrior Princess, because over my dead body.
“The plan is: I buy Keystone because one, if I don’t buy it, someone worse will. Two, I have a shit-ton of money wrapped up in this deal, like, most of my business. And three, and yes, most importantly, I can’t stand by and let such evil things happen. Not if I can do something to stop it.”
She glares at me, her jaw tight with defiance, but that fire in her eyes? They hold the same spark I saw back when we weren’t enemies.
“It’s a nice idea, Sw—Shae,” I say, correcting myself even though I don’t want to. She scowls at the ceiling like it might save her. “But here’s the problem. You aren’t one to play dirty, and the only way to get out of the underworld isthroughthe underworld.”
She gives me a look as dry as the Sahara.
“What do you mean, ‘I’m not one to play dirty?’ A reminder: you don’t know who I am, Storm Sandoval.”
I hum, narrowing my eyes at her. There’s no way I couldn’t know Shae if I tried.
“Okay, Ms. River North, Ms.I’m-a-PK.Even if I didn’t know you, Idoknow you don’t possess the connections or spiritual ability to be nefarious, and that’s the only way you’re going to be able to move this shit off you and stopanything—at least, without alerting the SEC, FTC, FBI, and fuck knows what other alphabet agencies. But they’ll just throw your Black ass under the prison, so…” I throw my hands in the air in a shrug.
“Okay, so what is it you want to do now?” she asks on a gravelly sigh. Her shoulders drop, and she seems so much smaller than her already short stature.
“What doIwant to do?” I can’t help the grin that comes to my face, and she scowls even harder.
“AboutKeystone,” she presses. “If I step back, what will you do?”
I look her up and down, drinking her in.
“I’ll handle it,” I say.
Her shoulders go up, and she folds her arms tighter across her chest.
“I’m just trying to protect you,” I add.
My voice goes low on the last, and the statement hangs in the air like smoke. But then she sucks in a sharp breath as if waking up from a daydream.
“You’re gonna protect me? I can protect myself. I’vebeenprotecting myself,” she grates out.
Taking one step closer, then another, she says, “I don’t need you. Ever.”
This close, her citrus scent paired with something darker, something new, has me all fucked up in the head. So, when her knee comes flying up toward my junk, I narrowly avoid her neutering me by grabbing her by the inside of her knee.
In a smooth move, I bring my other arm to her clavicle, causing her to flip on her side like a cartwheel.
Stunned, it takes a moment for her to understand what the fuck just happened and how I managed to press her back to the wall I previously leaned against.
“You can protect yourself, huh?”
“Get the fuck off me,” she spits, pushing her weight against where I have her pinned. I press her even more firmly against the wall.
