Page 68 of Seizing Control: Part One

Smoothing down my trousers, I pat down my hair and straighten my collar as the Blackards SMC reaches us. Micah Kennedy—or Diablo as he’s better known—sweeps me into a bear hug. He lifts me up and down, squeezing me tight, then presses a kiss to the top of my head. He’s a man monster, the only person to rival Slash’s height, although he’s built more like Zeke, so feet dangle uselessly in the air while he greets me, “Little Cherub... wish it was under better circumstances, but it’s still fuckin’ good to see you.”

“You’re a sweet talker, Diablo... I bet you tell all the girls that.”

My comment is met with a scathing scoff. I glance past him, over his beefy shoulder to meet a pair of violet eyes that shine with loathing and disagreement. “He’s an ogre. A big one—with a chip on its shoulder and a stick up its arse.”

Behind me, Toker cracks up laughing. “Looks like she’s got your number, brother.” Once I’m lowered to the ground by Diablo, my cousin slings an arm over my shoulder and holds his other hand out to the woman with tulip tattoos. “And who might you be, pretty lady?”

“She’s one of my fighters,” Diablo grinds out at the same time as Zeke’s new friend says, “I’m Gabbi.”

“Well, Gabbi,” Toker emphasises her name as he weighs me down with his heavy arm when I try to step away from her. They shake hands while he tells Gabbi, “It’s lovely to meet you. Although, I am wonderin’ why you’ve come all this way on the back of this dickhead’s bike if he’s such an ogre?”

“It wasn’t by choice,” Gabbi grumbles. A prickle of awareness runs over my scalp as I look between the pretty brunette and a scowling Diablo. “But it was worth it to finally put a face to the person I’ve heard so much about.”

Realising that she’s talking to me, I reluctantly return her wide grin with a tight smile of my own. “Lovely to meet you.”

“Venom said you were beautiful, but he didn’t manage to adequately describe exactly how stunning you are.” Next to me, my cousin snickers. As the truth of the situation starts to dawn, the tension that’s held me hostage since I first saw the posts on All-seeing Skye’s profile begins to dissipate. Another look at Diablo’s dark expression confirms the truth that Toker apparently already knew, then Gabbi reasserts it with her next statement. “His kindness was a welcome reprieve from the bullshit that’s been thrown my way since I started training at Blackards.”

“That’s right.” Toker snaps his fingers next to my ear. I viciously scrape the spiky heel of my Louboutin down his jean-clad calf. He hisses, before flicking my lobe. “You won a bet with Diablo—forced him to take on a girl fighter when he morally objects to it.”

I grit my teeth to avoid whimpering from the sting in my ear. Gabbi nods vigorously, the satisfaction on her face as enchanting as her pleasure at one-upping the hard man who never backs down. Her chest piece catches my eye, perfectly displayed in the tight sports bra she’s wearing in lieu of an actual top.

The purple tulips make me second guess myself.

Why would Zeke get a matching tattoo with her if he didn’t have feelings for her?

“Do you like them?” Gabbi asks when she notices my scrutiny. “I was beyond honoured that Venom allowed me to tattoo one on him.” She steps forward to seize hold of my forearm. Pulling my limb straight, either oblivious to my reluctance or too strong to notice it, she pushes my sleeve up and touches the spot where the purple tulip marks Zeke’s skin. “It was the first tattoo I inked on someone other than myself... and it meant the world to me to share something so special with him while he was struggling.”

“So spe-cial?” My voice cracks. I start to shake. Toker’s constricting arm around my shoulders morphs from a way to keep me from running into a side hug, and Nadia pats the middle of my back. “What exactly is special about it?”

“In my culture, a purple tulip represents rebirth.” Sorrow flashes in Gabbi’s gaze, and a lump wedges in my throat. She seems to truly understand the pain her statement invokes on a level that not many people can. “It’s a way of remembering loss, of commemorating what could’ve been. After the harm that was done to you, with the life that was cruelly stolen, he wanted it as a way to show that he regretted leaving you to battle through everything alone... that’s why he—” My mind completes the end of her explanation before she can say it, but the words still stab me straight in the heart. “—had me tattoo it on the skin he’d kept bare for the names of your children.”

“Wow.” Nadia steps in front of me as my knees buckle. She shields me from sight as I battle through the confusion, hurt, and devastation that’s making my head spin. While Toker silently coaxes me through the impending panic attack, my best friend talks a mile a minute to camouflage my meltdown. “I’ve never heard that before... now I knew that purple had something to do with royalty and white tulips symbolise apology and forgiveness, but...’

The whooshing in my ears deafens me.

My vision tunnels into a pinprick.

“Breathe, Cherub,” Toker murmurs. I try to focus my unseeing eyes on him. His face, so much like my brothers wavers as my eyesight warps and swirls. “In and out, lil cuz. That’s all ya gotta do... just breathe in and out.”

Determined not to make an idiot of myself, I do my best to follow Toker’s instructions. While I battle through six months’ worth of regret and misunderstanding, Nadia does what she does best. She takes the heat off me by making herself the centre of attention. All of the Blackards and their women crowd around her, enthralled, as she tells some convoluted and outrageous story.

“Are you okay?” Gabbi asks. She’s the only person to have noticed my struggle, other than my cousin and my best friend. Taking hold of my hand, she strokes my knuckles with her thumb. “I hope I didn’t misstep—I was just excited to meet you, and I wanted to share how honoured I felt that Venom trusted me with a tattoo that meant so much to him.”

“I’m... fine.” My voice is croaky due to my dry mouth, and the wry laugh I let out is hollow and raspy. “I thought you and Zeke were...”

When I trail off, Gabbi finishes my sentence, “Fucking each other.”

I place my other hand over hers. “Yeah.”

“It’s fine. The entire gym thought that for a while, but?—”

“You’re in love with Diablo.”

“It’s that obvious, hey?”

This time when I laugh the sound is full and genuine. “Only to someone who’s been in your position before.”

“Oh, that’s right, the infamous kiss when you were fifteen,” Gabbi says with a giggle.

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