Page 140 of Seizing Control: Part One

Its bottom half is slightly askew, revealing a horrifying sight.

Black denim covering a calf.

A booted foot that’s obviously male.

The biker boot on display is the same brand as the one’s my wife is currently wearing.

A special order from the US.

Made by her then-fiancé a little over a year ago.

They are the only two people in the Shamrocks who wear that brand. An uncharacteristic splurge on Venom’s behalf considering how tight he usually is with his money. Except when it comes to his sweet thing. Nothing but the best is his motto for his Lily.

“She got the confirmation she wanted,” I tell Cub when he comes to see what I’m looking at. “But at what expense…”

“Be careful what you wish for, I guess.” The lanky redhead is breathing hard as he tries to speak. When I pin him with a questioning look, he tells me, “Brutus got away again.”

“Fuck me… how the hell did he manage that? There’s fifty of us and he’s wounded.”

“Mumma C only winged him—he could still walk.” I drag in a ragged breath as I pull my hair free of its hair tie and start to thread my fingers through the knots. After I’ve refastened my hair on the top of my head, I survey the carnage that’s invaded the cemetery. “Fuckin’ Brutus.”

“Pretty sure Charlie helped him.”

“Fuck’s sake.”

“Yeah.”

Cub’s understatement of the century hangs in the air like a noxious gas while I attempt to come to terms with Brutus’ second escape and the potential that Charlie isn’t as innocent as originally thought. My mother shot her lifelong friend to save her youngest son. My wife is drowning in the grief she has been fighting to deny for more almost three weeks. I barely have time to process that when cop sirens erupt in the distance for the second time today. This time, as they round up the Shamrocks, I’m included. They cuff us, one by one, then haul our arses over to the dozen paddy wagons that magically appeared without them making a call for backup.

There’s nothing suspicious about that at all…

The only silver lining is that they miss out on arresting my wife.

Her cousin was fast enough to bundle her into Nadia’s little hatchback with the other girls and send them on their way just as the cops were arriving. With a Trinity-connected rock star, three biker princesses, and my duchess’ wily best friend free to alert the Trinity and Gabriel to our predicament, I figure we won’t be locked up for long.

It’s a good thing, too, since I need to sit my wife down and have a hard talk with her.

Starting with her divorce request, covering the mistake she made in outing the question of paternity regarding Bebe’s baby to the Maddison clan, and ending with the truth about Venom’s death.

A few hours later, it turns out I was right about the speed with which we were processed.

However, I was wrong about wiping the slate clean with my wife.

Because she’s nowhere to be seen when I get home.

And no one will tell me where she’s gone.

26

LILY

Two days later

“Thank you so much.”

I hug Gabbi tight. The shorter woman squeezes me tight and shakes me from side to side. Her strength is beyond belief, and I’m not even talking about her physical might at this point. At seventeen-years-old, she has responsibilities that make my problems look trivial. An eight-year-old brother to raise, a sister barely eighteen months younger who sounds like a nightmare, an alcoholic mother with a gambling problem, and a father who has built a new life with his mistress, the fact that she is still standing gives me hope.

Her innate kindness.

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