Page 12 of Seizing Control: Part Two

If they discover that a ruse has been enacted, they will kill him.

Our sacrifices, willing and otherwise, will be for nothing.

With every day that passes, doomsday approaches.

We have Gabriel to thank for averting a crisis during the guild’s first trek to Perth to check the status of my marriage was a mess. He pulled a rabbit out of a hat to save our skins when we failed to show up for the meeting. I was too busy taunting my husband into giving into his darkness to care about fluffing the Trinity’s ego, and Slash wasn’t in the headspace to deal with the reminder of his actions during the ritual.

Our luck can’t hold forever.

The truth almost always comes to light.

“Anna,” my best friend murmurs. Realising that I’m frozen in spot, I shake my head to clear it. After she follows me back into the bathroom, Nadia offers me a kind smile when our gazes meet in the mirror. “I know I shouldn’t push the point, but fuck me, you’ve gotta start sticking up for yourself.”

“I know.” She quirks her lips when I repeat the two words that have become my mantra recently. Inaction is my prop. A safety net. I can’t make things worse if I don’t do anything, and when I’ve been called on it, I’ve used Garrett as a shield from my problems. “It’s complicated.”

“You’re one of the smartest people I know... you can uncomplicate things.” As I open my mouth to protest, Nadia smile morphs into a narrow-eyed scowl. “I don’t wanna hear excuses. You are a mum now. That means it’s time for you to stand on your own two feet, and do what’s best for you and your babies, not what’s easiest for bloody Slash. If he can’t man up, then you walk away from him. It’s that simple.”

Nodding, I do my best to ignore the burning in my eyes.

Nadia is right.

I’m a mother.

My children come first; my heart second.

I know this because I have the best role models in the world.

My mum demonstrated this truth throughout her too-short life.

In her absence, Crystal continues to put her sons and her chosen children before her own safety and desires, modelling the same devotion and fortitude that I was raised to embrace as my due. My mother-in-law came back from the dead to save me. Left herself open to reprisals from old enemies. Her refusal to pacify Hunter while he self-sabotages after Zeke’s death is another example of her sacrifice. The way she’s chosen her grandson and me over Slash’s decree also proves how steadfast she is in her devotion to her family. The woman is a force of nature who went against her husband and his club to ensure that Garrett was welcomed into our family without a problem.

So, I bite down on my bottom lip to stop my chin from wobbling.

Crying fixes nothing.

It’s a lesson that should be cemented in my psyche by now.

I’ve shed more tears than any person rightfully should, and it hasn’t accomplished anything other than give me a headache and leave me with chronic dehydration.

“You’re right,” I admit to my best friend with a resigned sigh. She nods sagely, then winks as I taste the blood running from my bleeding lip. Rolling my eyes once again, this time to dissipate the heaviness of the situation, I finally verbalise the realisation I’ve been doing my best to evade since I gave Slash the okay to take time and space to sort himself out. “As much as I love this house, I need to move out of here... it’s time to lay down roots in a place that belongs to me and my babies.” When Nadia’s eyes widen with surprise rather than protest, I forge on. “Will you help me buy a home without anyone finding out?”

The true parameters around the word anyone are left unspoken. My best friend thinks I mean Slash and the Shamrocks, maybe even Crystal and Angelis, but I’m also worried about Zeke. He’s always been bossy and more than happy to employ underhanded tactics to get me to dance to his tune. The last thing I need is for him to play a role in the purchase of my new home.

I want it to be mine, free and clear of anyone else.

“I’ll have to sneak around...” Trailing off, Nadia appears to ponder my request. I hold my breath when she cocks her head to the side and stares off into the middle-distance. “It’ll take time.” As I fuss with my hair, dragging a brush through my long tresses, then securing the still-damp locks on top of my head with a scrunchie, my best friend says, “A lot of planning.” She laughs. “Some deviousness.” Another chuckle. This one is dark and filled with malevolence, and that’s when I know that she’s completely on board with my choice. “And a whole heap of schemin’...”

After working moisturiser into my face, I fix my attention of her again.

Her growing enthusiasm is infectious.

I smile, scanning her face as her eyes light up.

Nadia is in her element.

Tasked with one-upping the men with patches and big, swinging dicks who relish dictating our lives, she’s going to go balls to the wall to help me buy a home of my own and assert my independence from the husband who’s abandoned me and his son to lick his wounds on the east coast. Only time will tell if Slash decides to accept his ready-made family and the baby inside me. Whether my unborn child is biologically his or not, I can’t see any way we can avoid having my husband listed as their father. It’s the only option that keeps them safe from the Trinity.

It's also the start of a new fight now that I know Zeke is alive...

---