Page 15 of Seizing Control: Part One

Still, I fucked up when I touched her.

Put her at risk to satiate my hunger for her sweetness.

It was the one thing I promised I wouldn’t do.

Yet, I was too weak to walk away when she stumbled out onto the balcony.

Now, I’m left to pray to a God I don’t believe in that the best friend I treated like shit the last time I saw him is strong enough to keep her safe. The knowledge that Slash loves Lily like family is the sole boon I have in this brewing war. He’s moved her into his house. Taken my place in her life without question or judgement or time-limit. He might’ve fucked up a time or two, especially with his stupidity around the Maddison clan and his reluctance to ban Lily from the compound, but I know he’s done his best.

Thankfully, my return to Perth, ostensibly for Isaiah’s patchin-in ceremony on Saturday, is going to be permanent. Brutus doesn’t know that. No one outside my faction of the club does. We’re weeks away from having everything ready to safely remove the president’s patch from Brutus’ cut and put an end to his attempts to ally us with the Maddison clan.

I’ll be riding into Perth with the Blackards SMC at my back.

Diablo will take his rightful place in the family after thirty years in exile.

Slash can relinquish his vigil over Lily.

My sweet thing will be mine once again.

Sins atoned.

Mistakes forgiven.

Safety assured.

Hearts repaired.

As I stow my backpack in the side pannier, then throw my leg over the sapphire-blue motorcycle I had trucked over to Sydney for me to ride, I force every misgiving I possess out of my head. There is no room for mistakes or missteps. Everything is going to work out. It has to because I won’t last much longer without her—not with my sanity intact.

With that steadfast belief guiding me, I hit the engine button, rev the throttle on Lily’s Harley, kick up the stand, then roar out of the Blackards parking lot like the bats from hell are chasing me.

Five more days until I see her again.

Mere weeks before I reclaim her heart, body, and soul.

Control is within reach.

The end is in sight.

I’ll prove my worth.

Finally.

2

LILY

After popping the top strap of his shoulder holster, Wyatt straightens his cut, then holds the door open as we exit the restaurant where we just had dinner and drinks with three men who work at the same hospital as Nadia. When I pass by my younger brother, he softly touches my forearm. “Give me a sec, lil sis?”

“Sure.”

“Party pooper alert.” My drunk best friend snorts. She jokingly slaps Wyatt’s cheek before she leads our entourage out onto the sidewalk. “Baby-faced Wyatt’s becomin’ a mini-Venom… such a shame when you could’ve been so much more.”

“Ignore her,” I caution when my brother scowls. “She’s drunk and upset.”

“That was a decent excuse five years ago. Nowadays, she’s just a sloppy mess.”

“Wyatt!” I chide him in a hiss. The worried look I shoot Nadia’s way lessens when I see that she didn’t hear his comment. “Don’t be an arsehole.”

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