The Revenge by Tijan

A look flashed over Peter’s face, his features hardening a second before he blinked and it cleared.

I frowned, seeing it.

“Okay.” He coughed, clearing his throat. “I’ll—um—I’ll have a word with Marie and then give Payton a call. I’m sure she would love to come and spend more time with her favorite niece and nephew.”

Seraphina giggled. “Dad. You’re silly.”

He chuckled, softening. “Only for you, cupcake.”

“Thanks, Dad.” She wrapped her arms tight around him, squeezing. “Thanks, pound cake.”

Another chuckle as he watched her leave the office. She never looked toward my corner, and I was glad. She had an easier bounce to her step, and if she saw me, I knew that lightness would evaporate. I would need to dedicate quality time to Seraphina to find out the reason why I made her uneasy, and she was the most reserved of the Francis children. Handling Sera- phina was like moving a delicate diamond found in nature. You saw the gem there, the beauty of it, but you needed to be gentle in washing away the dirt that it grew from.

Once the door closed, Peter let out an audible breath, leaning back in his chair. “Fuck.”

I picked up my paper, feeling a bit tight in the throat myself. “Yeah.”

He groaned, sitting up. “I could use a drink. Want one?”

“No, I’m good.”

He poured some whiskey in a glass and shook his head, right before taking a drink. “Quinn doesn’t deserve her children’s love, that’s for damned sure.”

“But she has it.”

“Yeah,” he bit out. “She does have that, doesn’t she?” His eyes narrowed, focusing on me. “What’s up with you and Seraphina? You didn’t want her to know you were here.”

“I don’t know.” I spoke the truth. “That’ll take time and a gentle hand to find out what’s going on there, but she gets tense with me. I didn’t want her to do that this time.”

His eyes never moved from me. “And you’re going to take the time to get to the bottom of that? I don’t like having my little girl feeling a weird way about you.”

I scowled at him. “Of course, I will. You think I enjoy it?”

He relaxed, swirling his drink around in its glass. “I know your concentration is pulled in a few other directions, but Seraphina’s always loved you and looked up to you. I wouldn’t want anything to get in there and put a permanent wedge between you two.”

My scowl faded to a frown. “I can’t help but wonder if it’s something with Quinn?”

He grunted. “Damn that woman. The trial starts soon, too.” He finished the rest of his glass and poured himself a second, taking it back to his desk and sitting down. “I’m going to have to talk to Marie. She’ll have to learn how to coexist with having Payton here.”

Wait.

“Payton’s the reason Marie was sent on a vacation before?”

He nodded, wincing before setting his whiskey on his desk and turning to his computer screen. “It was Marie. She threw a fit that Payton was here, but I needed Payton here. Ser and Cyclone love their aunt. I figured it was better to have her here when Quinn was just arrested. Marie came back when I sent Payton away, which was for Bailey’s sake. I know she looks so much like her sister, but everyone’s going to have to deal with it all. Payton’s a good woman. Bailey and Marie will both see that.”

His eyes locked on mine. “Right?” That word came out as an ominous warning.

I shook my head. “Calm down, old man. You have no arguments about Payton from me. I’ve been around the woman and know she’s nothing like her sister.”

“You’re right about that.” He grimaced, leaning back in his chair. A haunted expression came over him. “Sometimes I think I did wrong in choosing Quinn. But I can’t think like that, because I got Seraphina—” He cut himself off.

Then he just sighed. “Life is sometimes just a bitch, isn’t it?”

I didn’t answer. I didn’t think Peter was talking to me.





FIFTEEN

Bailey


“It’s been three weeks. That’s a reasonable amount of time for me to give you space.”

I was back at school. Correction: I’d been back at school for the last three weeks, but I was currently in the library. My computer was set up. My textbooks next to me. I had one ethics paper to write on cyber laws, and one cup of coffee to last me through half of it. I’d been on my phone, texting Matt to bring caffeine reinforcements, when Hoda approached my table in a huff.

Melissa was with me, and both of us looked up at Hoda’s arrival.

She said her piece, dropped her backpack on the floor, and slumped into the chair across from me.

We were at our own table, set between the bookshelves to help with some privacy, but it wasn’t lasting. Students walked past each aisle on the regular, though I did pick all the way up on the eighth floor. I was bound and determined to finish this paper before heading home.

I had plans.

Like helping Seraphina with her latest school project and prying all the details about her new boy crush. I wanted to help Cyclone. Apparently his computer club was into AI enough where I was getting alarmed. They were talking about robots and the ramifications of how much they actually resembled conversations like the Terminator movies. And then after that, Kash was back from traveling abroad. When I asked where he was flying to, he only said Greece. That made me think of Victoria, and I knew Matt had talked about some party at Naveah this weekend. I had plans to skip it, but I wanted to scope out the lay of the land before Kash got home.