Page 73 of Seizing Control: Part One

Maybe Alex was right?

I am a jezebel.

It’s the only explanation for my predicament.

Loving two men isn’t normal.

Different but equal isn’t a thing... surely?

My chin dips toward my chest as I’m drained of energy and willpower.

Running away seems the smartest choice.

Yet I don’t have anywhere else to go.

My friends are spread far and wide, all-over Australia, across multiple continents, and in half a dozen countries. They could keep me off the Maddison clan’s radar for a while. Long enough to free Zeke from prison, take out my father, and find a way to save the club that doesn’t involve allying with the Trinity.

The same problem will arise the moment I resurfaced.

Zeke and Slash?

Zeke or Slash...

One impossible choice.

A choice I won’t make.

“Have you made a decision?” Crystal asks as she slips into the room, then quietly closes the door behind herself. Clad in my bra and panties, I wrap my arms around my midsection, holding myself together as the actual meaning of her question finally invades my addled head. “There’s no need to hide from me, I see straight through you, mo ulaidh bheag.”

“I know.” The mattress sways when she takes a seat next to me. Crystal’s perfume fills my nose, and I take comfort in her familiarity. “Just throwing myself a small pity party.”

“As is your right.” She pats my knee. Leaning lightly against me, Crystal sighs. “The wedding will be the easy part. The ritual is harsh, and the covenants are very strict. I know how big your heart is, and I know the stakes, however I can’t in good conscience tell you to go through with this if it’s not something that you want. We can find another way... I can ask my brother to?—”

“What I don’t want is to be in love.”

“Oh, my sweet child.” Chuckling low, Crystal bumps my upper arm with her shoulder. “No one who has truly given their heart away wants to be in love. Love is the scariest thing on earth. It spins you out of control—takes over your life. Changes everything you know about yourself. Hell, child, love can destroy you if you let it.”

“Why do you want me to marry Slash?” The question has been bugging me since she told Angelis that coming back from the dead was worth it because she gets me as her daughter. “It doesn’t make sense... I’ve been infatuated with Zeke since I was fifteen—we’ve been coupled up since I was eighteen. You know how Carter—Slash—feels about being second best. This can’t be what you really want for him. He doesn’t deserve to be a consolation prize.”

Crystal’s plump face crinkles and her eyes sparkle with mischief. “Cherub... he’s wanted you for longer than he’s ready to admit. I’ve watched those boys fight over you your entire life—” A serious cast enters her gaze. “—How’s this? You tell me that you love my son less than you love Venom, and I’ll do everything in my power to stop this wedding from going ahead.”

“Crystal,” I plead. Dropping to my knees in front of her, I take hold of both of her hands. “Please. You know I can’t give you that... but I’m begging you. Help me. I can’t be their destruction—I can’t be the reason they end up in pieces.”

“I can’t.” After tugging one hand free, she cups the side of my face. “This was inevitable.”

“No, it wasn’t.”

“It was. They’ve been headed for this battle for a decade, at least.”

“I won’t choose. I can’t.”

A pleased smile lifts her lips.

I vibrate with adrenaline as the hope of a solution surges within me.

Crystal presses a kiss to my hairline. “Good.”

When she simply extricates herself from my clutches and stands, I fall back onto my arse. From the floor, I peer up at her with pleading eyes. She regards me with complete calm, unmoved by my distress. We stare at each other, one of us placid, the other increasingly frantic, for a drawn-out moment.

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