Page 166 of Seizing Control: Part Two

Sera circles her arm around my shoulders and leads me out of the foyer.

We pass Layla in the wide hallway.

She lifts her head from the laptop she’s working on to smile at me. “Love your work.”

“Thanks.” I regard the black-haired woman with new eyes. Her tip off was the only thing standing between an attempt on Lazarus’ life. “How did you know she was texting with the Cerulli’s?”

Layla frowns. “It’s my job to know.”

“Your job?”

“As the Adjudicator’s consigliere...” she drawls in a tone that makes me feel stupid. “My job is to see his blind spots. I warned Laz that Gabbi was goin’ to become an issue, but he wouldn’t listen. As a boss, he’s a stubborn one... even if he sees sense eventually.”

I screw up my nose. “Lazarus is your boss?”

“Of course,” Layla replies with a shrug. My confusion grows as I realise that I’m missing important details here. It’s like we’re having two different conversations. “After Gabriel’s games backfired and Hades was killed, he had to step up early.”

“Lazarus... my Lazarus... is the Adjudicator?”

“Yes... that’s why he was in Catalonia for a week.” When my frown deepens, she elaborates. “That’s where he was flying in from when you called him on the bracelet.”

Without thinking, I run my fingers over the charms that adorn the tennis bracelet I wear every day. Layla peers at me with expectation in her gaze as she observes me with an air of clinical interest. Her perusal makes me uneasy, and that’s my final clue that I need to play cool with the enigmatic woman who is dropping little nuggets of information, left, right, and centre.

My man’s consigliere.

It’s literally her job to be circumspect.

A fact that only ratchets up my suspicions to a higher level.

“Can you do me a favour?” When Layla nods, I forge on. “Don’t tell Lazarus that I know about Hades...” Sorrow fills my chest at the idea of my first love’s father being dead. He suffered for so long, yet I can’t reconcile the existence of a world without him in it. “Or Gabriel’s issues or that he’s the Adjudicator now. I want to give him the opportunity to tell me himself.”

I swear the shorter woman is disappointed by my calm response. As quickly as that thought enters my head, I dismiss it because she smiles wide and nods like she agrees wholeheartedly with my sentiment. Her expression is open, filled with satisfaction and a tinge of acceptance, when she closes her laptop and tucks it under her left arm.

“I like you, Lily.” She takes hold of hand and shakes it. “You are gonna make a kickarse intelligence officer.”

“What?”

“An intelligence officer,” she repeats. When I stare at her, Layla’s smile morphs into a smirk and she lets go of my fingers. “Don’t worry about it now... you’re on maternity leave for the next few months anyway. Right now, your focus should be on your babies, getting fighting fit, and ensuring you tame those men of yours before they make things harder than they need to be... for all of us.”

“Layla—I... you...”

With her comment hanging in the air, the strange woman walks off without responding to my stammering. Open mouthed, more confused than by the answers I received, I stand next to Sera and watch her until she drops out of sight. The door separating the foyer from the rest of the house closes behind her with a heavy swish.

“Keep an eye on that one,” Sera warns me. She chucks me under the chin. “Close your mouth, you’ll catch flies.”

“Oh, shut up,” I chide her with a laugh. “As if you were any better... she confounded you just as much as she confused me.”

“Pfft. I was ready to take her out with my misericords.” Brandishing her blades like a ninja, Sera pretends to parry an invisible opponent. “I had your back.”

“Speaking of my back.” Bracing my hands against my hips, I wince. “I need to sit down.”

“Head to the nursery.” She recaps her drumsticks and wedges them back in her hair. Shooing me forward, Sera says, “I’ll round up the others and we’ll duck back to Slash’s to grab the rest of your things. The last thing we need to do is give those two an excuse to drop over unannounced.”

“That’s unnecessary.” Nadia pops her head out of one of the rooms I’ve yet to explore. “The prospects have been carting everything in through the back for the past hour.” Her gaze lowers to my chest. “Nurse Deborah said Ezra can try the boob if you’re up for it today.”

“Really?”

My best friend crosses her eyes and pokes her tongue. “Nah, I said that to be funny.”

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