Page 64 of Seizing Control: Part One

My Lily.

“I’ve arranged for you to visit Hades in the infirmary.”

“’Preciate it.”

“We’re on the right track with this—Brutus isn’t goin’ to win.”

“Hope you’re right.”

“I am.”

The side hug Gabriel gives me is brief, but comforting. Still, my heart is thundering in my ears as I watch him leave me in this hellhole. I cradle my bruised knuckles in the opposite palm as the throbbing pain in them becomes noticeable. Gut churning, the adrenaline that has fuelled me so far deserts me as the reality that I’m stuck in here smacks me upside the head. Taking a step forward as I give into the urge to chase down my lawyer, the guards step in my way.

As Gabriel drops out of sight, I can’t help but examine the wreckage he leaves behind.

He might be confident in our victory, but I’m not. The stakes are too high. My right-hand man is now my enemy. Lily is still at risk, and her support system is dwindling with Sander and Everett injured, Nadia a loose cannon at best, and Slash more interested in getting in her pants than protecting her.

The quietest guard beckons me to follow him.

I move without argument. Dry mouthed and filled with dread, I subtly pat the weapon Gabriel left with me and steel myself for the noisy holding cell that will be my home as I wait for my arraignment.

As we approach the section I’m being housed in, I’m filled with newfound urgency.

I need to get back to Lily to remind her how much we love each other as soon as possible.

You see, I might be the stupid one, but I’m smart enough to know that Slash has already lost. He thinks he can undermine my position in her heart to claim her as his. He believes he can make her pick him over me. He thinks he can use logic and time to make her see that he’s the better man for her.

He’s wrong.

Lily will never choose between us.

And I’ll never ask her to.

I don’t have to.

She belongs to me.

Always has.

Always will.

10

LILY

“The Australasia, E.U., and Canadian orders have blessed the union as well so it’s full steam ahead for the weekend,” Hunter tells me. “Welcome to the family, sister.”

His lopsided smile, a mixture of happiness and apprehension, dims as I exclaim, “What? This weekend?”

My chest tightens as impending doom sets in.

The dining room we’re gathered in spins.

I feel an unseen apparition choking me.

Zeke’s plan is heading for me like an out-of-control freight train.

And I’m caught on the tracks while its brakes fail.

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