Page 125 of Seizing Control: Part Two

“Slash said.” Trailing off, Lily licks her lips. I swallow as the sight of her teeth sinking into her bottom lip invokes my craving to taste her. “Slash said you had a DNA test completed and the twins are biologically yours.”

“Yes.”

“I wish you hadn’t done that.”

My emotions are carefully hidden as I ask, “Why?”

“You told me that it didn’t matter.”

After pinning Slash with a judgemental look, I tell her, “That was before he tried to kill himself.”

Part of me expects Lily to be surprised to discover how weak Slash is.

I should’ve known better.

Metukà shelì is a smart woman.

She probably smoked out his cowardice within hours of his return.

“Lazarus... he said... you’re being.... that was...”

“An accurate take,” her husband offers when Lily stutters in the wake of my directness. He pulls a face at me over the top of her head, clearly mocking me, even as his voice doesn’t betray his sarcasm. “But I’m not a threat to the children.”

“I won’t let you be.”

He shrugs like my challenge doesn’t affect him.

His choice to move closer to his wife makes a lie of his feigned nonchalance.

Slash is feeling the pressure, and I’m unsure if he’s going to withstand it or buckle under the weight. The only thing I do know is that I’ll do everything in my power to stop the fallout from getting anywhere near Lily and our children if he does collapse again.

The moment my rival’s fingers curl around Lily’s shoulder, I touch her bottom lip to gently remind her that she’s at risk of puncturing the skin. As the head nurse, who had been silently observing our discussion until now, steps forward to take centre stage, I exchange a look with Slash.

He acknowledges my annoyance with a slight head nod and an overly toothy grin.

“You need to sign in and wash up,” the NICU manager tells us in a soothing voice. “Then I can take you to meet your babies.”

Slash is the first to head toward the basin. I stay with Lily, nonplussed over his behaviour since I already organised how things will go down as we finally meet our twins. While he was sulking at home after my sweet thing threw us out of her room, I was walking the hospital corridors, making friends, and doing my best to stack circumstances in my favour.

From the sink, Slash smirks. “Are the three of us allowed in at the same time?”

There are signs on almost every flat surface proclaiming two visitors at a time so it’s clear that his question is facetious. Once again, his game is clear to me. Play the nice guy to Lily while niggling me at every opportunity. He thinks he can goad me into acting like a jackarse so my sweet thing will be forced to banish me for bad behaviour.

A year ago, his plan would’ve worked.

Venom was a loose cannon.

He hasn’t grasped that I am no longer Venom.

I’m Lazarus Abaddon, and he is patient... and four steps ahead of the giant dumbarse.

After Lily has completed mine and her sections of the sign-in sheet, I add my signature, then I smile at unit manager I met with earlier this morning. When she beams back at me, I direct my grin at Slash. “Normally the protocol is for two people at a time, however, I explained our unique situation and Deborah—” Another smile for the helpful NUM. “—was happy to make an exception for us.”

The apprehension that had filled Lily’s eyes after Slash’s question is replaced with delight, and she grins at me. “Thank you.”

“Any time.” I cup her nape for the barest second. “Anything to make things easier for you, metukà shelì.”

Deborah melts as she looks between us. Deciding that she’s Team Lazarus, the nurse I bribed with the promise of upgraded equipment while she was clocking on for her shift this morning, shoots a warm look my way as I assist Lily to scrub her hands. “Your husband was so earnest... so caring. How could I deny his heartfelt request.”

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