Page 35 of Seizing Control: Part One

Even as I acknowledge that to myself, I can’t choose between them.

The moon could eclipse the sun.

Mercury might retrograde.

Stars discover perfect alignment.

I still wouldn’t be able to pick one over the other.

My vicious ex-fiancé.

His loyal best friend.

Perfectly balanced duality.

My undoing.

When we turn into the industrial estate at the Fremantle port, Isaiah pulls ahead of me to warn the prospects to open the gates. I pull into the compound and slam on my brakes at the sight that greets me. Two Harleys. Both black. One gloss. One matte.

They are parked next to each other for the first time in six months.

After gathering my few remaining functioning brain cells, I pull into my spot.

Right in the middle of the two.

The place where I’ve spent my entire life...

5

VENOM

The atmosphere in the main building changes the second Lily arrives. Her presence energises everyone. A boost of excitement that only her sweet affection and sassy disposition creates. Feeling like an interloper, I drop back into the shadows at the chapel entrance so she can’t see me. It gives me the opportunity to feast on her beauty and grace while I observe her interact with the family that I took away from her when I lost my temper and trashed the main building.

At the time, isolating her made sense. The Shamrocks were putting my sweet thing in danger. Being connected to us made her a target for the Maddison clan. They got too close for comfort the night of the Apologies to Medusa concert when Slash dropped the ball and allowed his dick to lead him astray.

In the heat of the moment, I’d laid down a decree.

Banished metukà shelì from the compound.

Exiled her from the only family she knows.

My decision came from a place of fear.

Terror. Dread. Panic at the idea of a world without her.

After hearing her side of the story last night, I’m man enough to admit that I fucked up. At this point, my list of failures is longer than my catalogue of victories. Everything I’ve done has been for her, yet it hasn’t been enough.

Every way I turn, I let her down again.

Every choice I make leads to another regret.

“I swear, I’m going to murder him,” my woman spits as she stomps inside the bar. She makes a turn, looking for someone. When she spies Slash, her fury dies a little and she beelines for him. “Do you have any idea why my father has summoned me?”

The big man stows his weapon in his shoulder holster and sheds the irritation he’s feeling at Brutus’ arrival in a blacked-out SUV that looks suspiciously like Joseph Kingsley’s. At the sight of my woman’s perfect legs and arse being hugged by her tight skirt, my cock decides to remind me that it’s been six months since he’s felt anything other than my hand.

Lily stretches to her full height and wraps her arms around my best friend’s neck. My gaze catalogues her curves. Perfect as ever, my need to reclaim her reaches fever pitch. When Slash circles Lily’s waist with his hands, tugging her against him as he gives her a tight hug, I step forward. Grinding my teeth, I am determined to remind my best friend where the line between friend and foe lies since he appears to have forgotten during my enforced absence.

“Venom,” Cassius cautions from his seat inside the chapel. His biting tone makes my step falter. We spent a couple hours last night with the Blackards ironing out our plan, double checking everything with Cub and Hunter. It’s proven harder than expected to get Diablo on board with the curveball we were thrown by my father. I’m at the end of my tether with Dad’s never-ending delays, impatient to get this coup over and done with so I can reclaim my woman publicly, even though I haven’t even broached that subject with Slash, Toker, and the rest of my faction yet. “If you turn Brutus’ attention to her prematurely, I’ll put a bullet in ya myself. My niece is off-limits to you until our vermin problem has been laid to rest, and even then, I wouldn’t be expectin’ a soldier’s homecomin’ from her.”

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