Page 210 of Seizing Control: Part One

As I climb out of bed, I try not to think through the implications of us being right. Even as I dress, then slide my feet into my boots and follow my brothers downstairs to the garage, I do my best to avoid the truth. I’ve refused to acknowledge the can of worms I opened prior to Zeke’s funeral because it’s too painful to contemplate.

Slash may have fathered two children this year.

Or none at all…

41

SLASH

“Prez.” Cub rouses me with a hard shake that tells me this isn’t his first attempt. I swat his hand away, a hiss of irritation escaping my mouth as I throw myself onto my side. It’s taken me hours to get to sleep, and I’m not ready to get up yet. Refusing to even look at him, I pull the sleeping bag tight around my shoulders and try to get comfortable. “Come on, you needa get up. Cherub’s sent the emergency code. I’ve got a call set up, ready to go.”

Eyes wide open, I sit bolt upright.

My neck concertinas when my head is caught by the netting at the top of my travel swag. Smacking at the canvas side, I take hold of the zip and rip it open in my rush. Hand out, I take the satellite phone from my Tech officer and hit the call button before I’ve fully emerged from my camp bed.

As I wait for the line to connect, the living nightmare that kept me from slumber returns with vengeance. All I can think about is my wife. The promise I made to never lie, keep secrets, or leave her again. The fear I saw in her when I unleashed my dark side. The fact that I’ve left her alone in Perth with Lazarus on the loose.

It’s a recipe for disaster.

The man is an unknown quantity. A loose cannon. He’s popped up regularly over the past few weeks. Never getting as close as he did the afternoon at the compound where he stood guard while I fucked my duchess like a savage and again when we scuffled in the empty warehouse.

Still, he continues to make his presence known.

Skulking around in the shadows.

Riddles regularly appear on my phone, puzzles that walk the line between idle threats and clues to Brutus’ next moves. We work together. One of us in the light, the other in the darkness, toward a common goal.

My wife’s safety.

At the same time, we head toward a collision that will see one of us become the ultimate loser. Exactly like he was when he existed as Venom, Lazarus is proving to be a help and a hindrance. He assists me in cleaning up the underworld, but every move he makes brings him another step closer to resurrection.

My biggest fear about leaving for this run wasn’t the threat still posed by the Maddison clan and my father-in-law. It was him. Lazarus Abaddon. His intentions toward my wife. The claim he continues to hold over her heart. The time-bomb that loudly ticks in my head as the seconds pass by on our way toward the inevitable showdown.

I’ve always known my time with Cherub was limited.

Was cognisant of the narrow window I had to claim her heart fully going into this ruse.

Not once did I imagine the level of contentment we’d find together. Knowing that it’s at risk, understanding that I could lose the life I’ve built with the woman of my dreams, was one thing. Experiencing it in real time is something else altogether.

We’re happy.

In love.

Looking forward to a future with unlimited possibilities.

In the three weeks since we exposed our dark sides to each other, as I embraced being a father again in all the ways that will count, my duchess and I have reached an unspoken agreement to let bygones be bygones. She still mourns her first love. I do as well in my own way. We pull together instead of apart. Cherub leans on me, and I pretend that I am coping with her grief because I can’t tell her the real truth.

The man she misses will be back.

And the choice she believes she avoided will need to be made.

“Slash?” My wife’s voice is tinny as she softly murmurs into the handset.

“Yeah, baby.”

“I—” Her intake of breath is harsh over the line. “I’m with Everett.”

Heart in my throat, I wait for the bad news I’ve been expecting for weeks. The middle Mayberry brother is teetering on the edge. His accidental overdose two weeks ago was a final cry for help before he took the ultimate action.

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