Page 90 of Making Choices

“With my dad.”

“How is he?”

Venom fidgets with his hair while his gaze remains locked on Cherub. “Much the same. Dyin’ of lung cancer when he wishes he was fit enough to stop his life’s work—this fuckin’ club—from fallin’ apart.”

My adrenaline spikes in the face of his pity party. The moment the van containing Cherub and Fret pulls away from the kerb and Nadia drops out of sight to head back to her car, I seize him in a headlock. Venom struggles. I flex my bicep until he makes a choking sound, then drag him, twisting and cursing, through the cemetery. Once I reach the men waiting for us, I toss him in the middle of the circle. He kicks up dust as he rolls onto his back, and I smirk down at him while I wait to see how he’s going to react.

“That was unnecessary.” My dad slaps me across the back of my head. He has Duke and Cass at his side as he approaches Venom. All three old timers should still be in hospital, but they’re too stubborn and set in their ways to heed the doctor’s advice. I exchange a loaded look with Hunter when our father holds out a hand to Venom to assist him back to his feet. “When I told my son to do whatever it takes to get you in front of us, I didn’t think he’d take it quite so literally.”

Brushing himself off once he’s back on his feet, Venom goads me. “Slash has always taken things to the extreme… guess intelligence isn’t always compatible with brawn.”

I know he’s looking for a reaction, but I decided yesterday that the last fuck I held for him died when he headed for the hills instead of returning to Cherub.

Happy to oblige his desire for a fight, I pounce on him. “I’m gonna fuckin’—”

Cub grabs hold of my waist and Hunter tries to help him halt me. Wyatt and Nate rush to protect Venom while Isaiah and the old timers watch the fracas. As soon as I realise that my ex-best friend is testing us to see who remains loyal to him, I quit struggling and cross my arms over my chest.

Unfortunately, in the mess, I forgot to factor in Sander. He’s been vehemently anti-me and pro-Venom since my feelings for his sister became common knowledge, so I expected him to make the same choice as his younger brothers.

Colour me surprised when he rounds on Venom to deliver a textbook straight hook to the face. “You fuckin’ left her. Alone. To deal with everything.”

Cocking his head to the side, Venom shrugs. “It’s better this way.”

“Better? It’s better?” Sander shoves Venom in the chest. Once. Twice. Each time Venom backs up but doesn’t fight back. “It must be better for you ‘cause it’s not better for Cherub. She’s fuckin’ hurtin’, and you’re off gallivantin’ all over the East Coast. I trusted you to look after her.”

“That’s the problem. I didn’t look after her. She got hurt on my watch.”

The residual guilt that I figure will haunt me forever stabs me in the chest. I do my best to observe the interplay between Venom and Sander with detachment, but it’s next to impossible. Blind Freddie can see that Venom’s still blaming himself for Alex’s attack and the loss of the baby.

“Zeke.” Hades’ halting interjection only drives that point home. “… it wasn’t—”

“If you tell me it wasn’t my fault one more time, I’m gonna punch a hole in your oxygen tank.”

Of course, Venom does what he does best and pushes his emotions aside to get to the crux of the issue. Mr. Fix-it is in control and his feelings won’t get a look in until he’s managed the impossible.

Only this situation is irreparable.

Dead babies cannot be revived, and broken trust cannot be restored.

Ask me how I know…

Deep inside, Ezekiel Miles has to be aware of that too.

Unfortunately, he’s all Venom right now. Furious. Manic. Uncaring. Happy to incinerate the world in his quest to resurrect the impossible.

Blocking out the rest of us, he specifically addresses my dad, “Look, you’re obviously the appointed spokesman here… why don’t you say what it is you needa say so we can all go our separate ways.”

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” my motormouth brother cuts in. Hunter rubs his hands together, presses a palm to his recently dislocated shoulder and rolls it to ease the pain that’s constantly niggling him. “Good old Venom. Always gotta be in control. The first to run into danger. The last to leave. It must be killing you to have had absolutely no say in the shit that went down with Alex?”

“I’m not here to be analysed.”

When I hear the detached tone he’s using, I zone out their discussion. Nothing’s going to be achieved here—he’s obviously determined to handle things himself and no amount of talking will change his mind. As far as Venom’s concerned, his relationship with Cherub is done—for now or for good is really the only question left. He has both eyes firmly fixed on taking his revenge against Brutus for betraying the club, and no one will get in the way of that.

Not even the woman he’s loved since the minute she was born.

Over the next few minutes, bits and pieces of the conversation, like Hunter poking at Venom’s patience and Cass making excuses for his younger brother, filter through. For the most part, I remain trapped in my own head, running the numbers, calculating the percentages, formulating the odds, as I consider attempting the impossible myself.

What would happen if I told Venom how I feel about Cherub and asked for his blessing to pursue her?

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