Chapter 28
TWENTY-EIGHT
SHAE
T he kids are upset, especially Tempest. She still wants to go home—not to our condo, but to my mom’s house. Raiden sits at the table and picks at the breakfast made by Storm’s chef.
When I try to talk to either of them, they mumble and look at me with varying degrees of petulant expressions.
So, when a woman named Matilda materializes at our outdoor seating to introduce herself as the twins’ au pair, I’m okay with letting them go.
With the sound of Tempest interrogating Matilda fading as they move deeper into the house, I sit at the covered table and try to breathe.
What is it I know for a fact?
Thinking of the quick scroll through my work email, I know that I’m facing some serious corporate fuckery when I do finally return to the office.
Zane’s called the board meeting, bringing everyone together for a procedural vote.
I know what’s coming: he wants to push the Keystone deal forward. I want to pause.
Hell, I want to scrap the deal altogether at this point.
There are other banks.
But like I told Storm all those days ago in my office, I can’t unilaterally make a decision for Orisun.
I’m sitting here with my hands tied.
I blow out a breath, tilting my face toward the breeze.
Storm wants to be in Tempest and Raiden’s lives, and he has no intention of not having them around or not living together as a family.
The thing he hasn’t made clear? Why. Co-parenting is a reasonable path and, truly, should be the only path we take. But Storm’s decided differently, and I have no idea what to do with that.
“Ugh, why am I like this?” I groan out loud, slinging my head back and closing my eyes.
“Uh, excuse me,” a deep voice says, and I crack an eye open, jumping up a bit. One man’s familiar—Riale—but the other I’ve seen but haven’t spoken to.
“Oh, hey. What’s up?” I ask, trying to get my racing heart under control. Riale and the man share a brief look, and the stranger reaches out a hand.
“I’m Axel,” he says with a slick smile. A black headband holds his locs away from his face, and the medium-sized strands hang loose past his shoulders.
I can’t even lie, the man looks like Omarion, and my mind and body don’t know what to do with that information.
I shake his hand.
“Shae Rivers,” I reply, and he snorts before covering his mouth with a hand. My eyes narrow as I examine him.
“You all right there, chief?” I ask slowly. Axel shakes his head.
“Yeah, I’m cool. But we know who you are, silly goose. You gonna eat that?” I lift both eyebrows, shaking my head as he not only sits down in Tempest’s vacant chair, but reaches onto my plate and takes a piece of bacon.
“Um…” I look at Riale, who sighs and also takes a seat.
“Yes, he’s always like this,” he says.
“It’s true,” Axel adds while chewing, and I nod and accept the strange.
There’s more silence, and I realize they’re not just here to make small talk.
“So, Shae, how do you like the property?” Axel says, and it’s so awkward coming from his mouth, I almost laugh in his face.
“Yeah, no, we’re not doing that,” I say, actually allowing myself one chuckle. “Not that I don’t mind being friendly, but it’s clear you want something so…what do you want?” I pick up the water goblet and take a sip, letting a half-melted ice cube run over my tongue while I wait them out.
Axel squints like he’s trying to figure out a math equation, and Riale looks at me with an assessing gaze.
“I like that you’re straight to the point,” Riale says, his voice gruff. “Here’s the situation: We need your help with Storm.”
I narrow my eyes, trying to read through any bullshit.
“It depends on what it is. I’m listening,” I reply. I push aside the fact that I can’t convince Storm of a damn thing. I couldn’t even convince him not to marry us without my explicit consent.
Still, I want to know what they’re up to. It has to be important if they’re coming to me about it.
“What do you know about Storm’s uncle, Lakeland?” Axel asks, sitting forward and staring me down while reaching for a slice of sourdough without looking at his hand.
“His uncle? Not much. He’s told me essentially that he’s not a good guy and is involved in some shady shit.” To say the least.
Axel nods and chews before looking at the half-eaten slice and saying, “This needs butter. Irish butter.”
“ Anyway ,” Riale grinds out. “That’s correct, but it’s not the sum of his crimes.”
I twist my lips to the side. “Okay.”
There goes that headache again, coming in to remind me that things are fucked up to epic proportions.
“Yes,” Riale says. “We’ve spent the last eight years plotting to take Lakeland down, and we’ve always known it wouldn’t be as simple as putting him to sleep.”
I tick my head back, stuck on one part of his statement.
“What do you mean?” I blurt out, my chest suddenly feeling tight. Eight years….
“Lakeland killed Storm’s parents,” Riale says. My mouth drops open, tears springing to my eyes.
“What do you mean? They were in an accident,” I say, denial butting up to confusion in my brain. Losing both parents is earth-shattering enough. But Storm’s parents were…murdered?
“Oh, my God,” I say, looking at the half-empty plates and placing my hand on my chest.
“ Yoooo , you didn’t know that?” This comes from Axel, but I don’t look at him when he speaks.
“Stay with me,” Riale grinds out, as if he hasn’t just blown my entire world into pieces, because if Storm’s parents were not only murdered, but murdered by his uncle, maybe he was trying to….
No. The thought is too painful to consider, so I push it away. Because if what I’m thinking is true, it completely changes the game for everyone.
“What do you want from me?” I ask, my voice rough, but I try to infuse steel in my tone. In the distance, I hear Tempest’s loud shrieking laugh, and I want to hug them tight, but I also feel…shame.
What would it mean if Storm sent me away out of some misguided sense of protection? What if he sent me away because he was scared that I’d be next?
I can’t go down that path any further, because Riale says, “This is so much bigger than his uncle, Shae, but Storm’s decided that doesn’t matter anymore. Not now that he’s got you and the children.”
The way he says, “the children” gives me pause—it’s almost like he finds the word distasteful.
I have so many conflicting thoughts about Riale.
Which means I also find it difficult to trust what he’s telling me. I turn to Axel.
“Tell me the rest of it,” I say, cutting Riale off.
Axel grins as if he’s happy I’m snubbing Riale, but I ignore that.
“All right, here’s the situation. We believe that Lakeland is involved in an underground organization, which we’ve always known. But now, we have information that this shit goes deeper, more sinister than we ever imagined.”
“Like…?” I ask.
“Like some secret society, human sacrifice, blood ritual-type shit,” Riale adds. All I can do is stare at both of them.
“What do you want me to do? Convince Storm you all need to take down the Free Masons?”
Axel and Riale share a look.
“That’s exactly what you’re asking,” I reply, pushing back from the table.
“Shae,” Axel begins, but I cut him off.
“You want me to ask Storm to put everything on the line for everyone else, to put aside what he wants and needs and his own physical and psychological safety for ‘the greater good.’ Well, here’s my answer to that. Fuck no.” I stand, brushing imaginary crumbs off my skirt.
“What you’re asking me to do is to bend his will, to manipulate him. And I won’t do it,” I add. Axel looks confused, but Riale gives me a strange look. He’s clearly displeased, but there’s something else there, too.
“I think we read the situation between you and Storm wrong,” Axel says, and I lift an eyebrow.
“Seems like it,” I reply, picking up my cell phone from the tabletop.
“You love him,” Riale says, as if it’s a new development. And it’s not. Regardless of how much he’s hurt me and what hurt will come from being around him, coparenting with him, I’ll always love him.
Even though I hate this fact.
Shrugging, I push my hair over my shoulder.
“Talk later, boys,” I say and walk toward the garden.