Page 122 of Seizing Control: Part Two

“Spent most of my teens moving around Europe,” I reply as I flick my fingers to distract her from my face. “Got a mongrel of an accent to show for it.”

The damage to my vocal cords caused by Brutus has left me with a flatter, more nasally tone that doesn’t sound completely Australian. I never thought I’d appreciate his murderous betrayal, but I do in this moment because it makes Gabbi pause. She starts to second guess herself as she accepts my hand.

For a moment, I believe I’m going to get away with this ruse, then she asks, “What side of the family are you from?”

In a rush, I rack my brains to try and remember how much I told her about my parents. A lot of my time in Sydney was spent drowning my sorrows, so I’m left to hedge my bets.

Drunken ramblings make it hard to formulate decent lies.

“Paternal.” My father’s death isn’t known outside the curia yet, so I fight to keep my voice steady as I explain, “Hades’ is my uncle.”

“Strange,” Gabbi observes in a faux pleasant voice. Squeezing my fingers too tight, she levers my arm up and down. “I swear Venom told me that Hades is an only child.”

Rallying fast, I lie through my tightly gritted teeth. “He was raised as one, but his dad was rather free with his affections... the sixties were a wild time.”

My grandfather is likely spinning in his grave as I denigrate his reputation to save my own bacon. The Miles men are known for falling hard for one woman and loving her even harder. My Pa was married to his childhood sweetheart until his death, and Dad obviously loved Scarlett enough to let her go, even after he got her pregnant with Everett only three months after Lily and Sander were born.

I can’t imagine how hard it was for him to watch her with Brutus for a decade afterward.

Actually, I can envision it since I’m caught in a similar situation with Lily and Slash...

“That’s convenient.” Gabbi’s grip tightens a second before she shoves me in the chest. I allow her to back me around the corner, away from Layla’s curious gaze. When the little fighter pops open my cufflink, I wrench my arm out of her grip, then push her away so she can’t use the tattoo on the inside of my forearm to confirm her suspicions. Hands on her hips, she glares up at me. “You can’t lie for shit, Venom.”

“Lie or not, some things need to be accepted at face value.”

Gabbi doesn’t bat an eyebrow in the face of my subtle acquiescence.

“Does Lily know?”

I incline my head.

“So, why Lazarus?”

Clearing my throat, my answer is terse. “Like I said, some things just need to be accepted at face value for the?—”

“In other words,” the short girl interjects. Unperturbed by my curtness, Gabbi continues. “This is club business—” She makes air quotes around the last two words with her fingers. “—so, the old ladies will be kept in the dark until the secrets and lies blow up in all our faces.”

“Something like that.”

“I hate this.” Gabbi’s annoyance flashes across her face. Returning her hands on her hips, she shakes her head wearily as she confesses, “Fight life is not what I expected. It’s hard... dangerous. Lonely.”

“Talk to me, little girl.” My use of the fight name Diablo listed her under in the local fight scene is deliberately provocative. Gabbi abhors sympathy, and she’ll normally lapse into snark to rebuff it. When she doesn’t, I pull her in for a hug and she comes willingly. Trailing closer, Layla narrows her eyes as she watches us. “What’s going on at home?”

“My mum... she’s... you know...”

I don’t push her for details.

It’s a convoluted situation that is almost unexplainable to anyone outside of it.

Gabbi’s mother is a nutcase. A raging alcoholic, the once successful woman has a gambling problem and regularly uses her daughters as collateral against her debts. As Venom, I tried to help, but the balance isn’t held by one of our allies, so my options were limited. It’s not our turf, and I couldn’t get them to accept my money in exchange for the girls freedom, even with Diablo as back-up.

The Black Shamrocks MC doesn’t have a chapter in the metropolitan area of New South Wales after the Blackards asked to be downgraded to a support club. It’s a frustrating situation that Slash needs to deal with as a matter of urgency. In all honesty, he should’ve fixed the problem while he was on the east coast. Instead, it’s clear he preferred to spend his time doing Gabriel’s bidding in order to secure my old boss’ cooperation in his monetary schemes.

The way he destroyed my plan to corner Brutus still angers me.

My to-do list would be closer to completion if it wasn’t for Slash.

“Zali’s hanging around with Jep.” Gabbi’s observation about her sister and Diablo’s best fighter is so far out of left field, I end up staring at her with my mouth open. It must be the right reaction because some of the angst leaves her face, and she exclaims, “I know... what is Jep thinking?”

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