Page 10 of Seizing Control: Part One

Will I lose her when that happens?

“If you sneak away during the night, I’ll get Christian to track you down for me.” From the top of her blonde head and down to her toenails, every inch of Lilianna is filled with defiance. Her threat to use Carter’s younger brother’s bloodhound abilities is a good one. No one can outsmart that little genius when he decides he’s going to hunt you. Eight years old, and he’s already a bigger threat than the rest of us combined. “Then Sander and Ev will help me dismantle your Harley for parts. Do you hear what I’m saying, Ezekiel Asher Miles? No more running away. We’re your family. We love you. We’re not going anywhere.”

Swallowing down the lump that wedges in my throat at the vehemence in her voice, I quip, “You’re damn lucky you take after Scar and not your dad.” Her blue eyes narrow to slits and I smirk. “That pretty face is the only reason you get away with bein’ as demandin’ as you are.”

“I am not demanding.”

“You are. Bossy, too.” Seeing her hair-trigger temper start to flare, my smirk widens to a full-blown grin. “Jokes aside, you need to learn when to back down... that mouth of yours’ll gonna get you into more trouble than you can handle one day.”

“That’s hilarious coming from you.” Cherub drops her gaze to my busted knuckles, then she smiles. “I can say what I want ’cause I’ve got you to protect me.”

Her faith makes my chest tighten with affection.

My heart skips a beat as I realise that she’s sees me for who I am.

A man with a single-minded devotion to a sweet girl seven years his junior.

“Get under the covers,” I order in a terser tone than necessary to break the thrall she’s cast over me. After Cherub crawls onto her mattress, I tuck her in. Once her duvet is secured over her, I grab a blanket from the floor and lay down on the other side of the bed. Pulling it over me, I murmur, “Go to sleep, Cherub.”

She extends her arm across the space between us.

I let her link our fingers together.

“Don’t leave.”

“I won’t.”

“Promise?”

Nudging her little finger with mine, I reply, “Promise.”

My intention is to wait until she’s gone back to sleep to return to my previous position on the floor. That way I’m not technically breaking my promise to Scarlett or her daughter, although I know Cherub won’t see it that way in the morning. Still, it’ll help me walk the tightrope between appeasing everyone who thinks our connection is wrong and keeping her in my life for as long as possible.

After vowing that I’ll only take a moment of comfort in her presence, I close my eyes to rest them for a few moments. The next thing I know, Cherub’s bedroom door is being opened. Jolting awake in an instant, I reach my hand under my pillow to grip my gun, then tense as I realise that I’m still in her bed.

Fuck.

If this is Brutus, I’m dead.

Sure, there’s a blanket between us, but we’re holding hands, and my sweet girl has her face pressed to the crook of my neck. To an outsider, or someone with a point to prove like Cherub’s father, it’ll look like I’m doing something wrong. It won’t matter that I’d kill any man who tried to take advantage of her big heart for their own gratification.

My anxiety dies when I discover that our middle of the night visitors are my best friends.

“Fuckin’ told ya he’d end up here.” Carter’s murmured declaration is met with a low chuckle from Cherub’s only cousin. “Dunno why you wanted to head out to the farm again.”

“Brutus was home earlier today.” Benedict sniffs. “Figured Zeke’d continue avoiding the place for a while longer.”

“Mumma spoke to Dad,” Carter tells him. “He promised he’d talk Brutus into stayin’ the night at the compound, so the coast was clear... not that the pig needed much urgin’ after he went muff diving on the new cut slut.”

“Shut up,” Benedict retorts. “My lil cuz doesn’t needa know what her dad’s up to.”

“True.”

Finally quitting their whispered conversation, my two fellow prospects are as stealthy as a pair of drunken pelicans as they stumble deeper into Cherub’s bedroom. They strip off their cuts and kick off their boots. Once they’re down to their jeans and t-shirts like I am, Carter roughly nudges me in the upper arm.

“Know you’re awake.” He shoves me harder. “Move the fuck over.”

Grumbling under my breath, I shuffle onto my knees on the mattress, then carefully crawl over Cherub so she’s in the middle of us. She grumbles under her breath at the loss of my hand, then rolls onto her back in the centre of her king-sized sleigh bed. When I settle the covers around her again, she slaps at the mattress. Sensing her intentions, I thread my fingers with hers as I steal half of her pillow for my own head. Carter lays down next to her and Benedict spreads out across the foot of the bed.

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