Page 116 of Seizing Control: Part Two

For me.

For my babies.

So, while, I’ll never be unnecessarily vindictive, and I wouldn’t dream of keeping my children’s fathers—confirmed by science or otherwise—away from them, it doesn’t mean Slash and Lazarus can have open slather with us either. My new home will be a sanctuary from drama.

I’ll make sure of it.

Just like I’ll ensure that they take adequate precautions.

They need to quit the duplicity they love so much. Put us first. Keep us safe without treating me like a child. Maintain an open dialogue where the three of us are equals with equal say. Act like fathers, not prideful rivals. Be the men they’ve promised me, instead of treacherous frauds.

It’s no longer their way or the highway.

It’s been that way for far too long.

It’s my way or the highway from now on.

For as long as it takes them to prove that their promise of a truce is going to endure.

For as long as it takes for me to fully trust them again...

22

LAZARUS

“What the fuck is this?” Slash stomps over to his back fence, or at least, where his back fence used to stand. The machinery cuts off at the sight of his temper tantrum. He throws his hands in the air, breathing like a raging bull as he takes in the machinery I’ve hired to excavate the retaining wall so I can get the two backyards levelled out into one before Lily is released from hospital. “You’ve destroyed my bloody fence.”

It brings me immense enjoyment to see him losing his shit while I stay calm.

The tables have turned, and my sweet thing’s husband isn’t coping well.

He has been in a mood since she tossed us out of her hospital room.

I’m not happy about it, but I understand.

Lily needs exactly what she asked for—time and space.

From me. From Slash. From the brutalities of our way of life.

My woman is an anarchist at heart, but right now, her focus is on Garrett and the twins. That means we have to be patient and reliable, put in consistent effort, with actions instead of words that we continue to follow through on even in hard times. If her husband can’t manage something so simple, then that’s on him. I’m not going to screw my chances with Lily over Slash’s inability to control himself.

I might’ve pushed for the truce.

That was mainly for my sweet thing’s benefit.

Seeing him slumped in the bathroom, bleeding from the head, was a wakeup call. I realised that I still care about him, but I won’t lose a wink of sleep if he fails to prove worthy of Lily. He’s Garrett’s dad, and that will never change. Slash will be in my life for as long as he continues to show up for his son.

I’m cognisant that doesn’t secure his place in my woman’s heart.

I’ll share her if I must.

Having her to myself would still be the optimal outcome.

“Answer me.” Slash shoves me in the chest with both hands. I take a step backward as I glance around to doublecheck who’s watching him unravel. His parents are witnessing another Carter Hudson meltdown, and so are of the Shamrocks’ hierarchy and my bodyguard. “Why the hell have you pulled my fuckin’ fence down?”

With a shrug, I reply with deliberate calm, “A fence is unnecessary considering our children will be moving between the two homes.”

When my sweet thing went looking for a new home, in the wake of Slash’s brutality, it was fortuitous for me. Through a proxy, also known as Nadia Appleton, I allowed Lily to purchase the house I’d already bought for her. Coming after Layla’s warning that I couldn’t make metukà shelì’s decisions for her if I wanted her to trust me, it felt like the perfect compromise.

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