Page 46 of Seizing Control: Part Two

“Okay.” I turn off the television. Shoving her off my shoulder, I sit up straighter and link my fingers together under my belly. “Whatever drugs you’re on, Nads, you need to get Hunter to test them. They’re making you hallucinate.”

“He spoke to me,” she reiterates. Surging to her feet, my best friend slams her hands on her hips and glares down at me. “Told me his name is Lazarus… apparently he’s Venom’s long-lost cousin.” The sneer in her voice could peel paint. “I’m not stupid, and I can keep my mouth shut. All you’ve gotta do is tell me the truth.”

“Nads.”

“Don’t Nads me, Lilianna!”

“Please.” I exhale slowly, clutching my belly tighter as my stomach starts to erupt like popcorn in the microwave. When I feel tears start to well in my eyes, I catch my bottom lip between my teeth. Grimacing, I plead, “Don’t press the issue…”

My best friend’s expression sobers up and she lowers to her knees in front of me. “I’m not trying to upset you… it’s just.” She hesitates, dropping her gaze to my belly when I contort my torso as another series of flutters ripple through me. “You needa look out for yourself. He’s hurt you so many times before.”

“I know—” Breaking off abruptly, I sit fully upright. After untying my robe, I run my palms over the swell of my stomach. “Holy hell.” I grab her hand and place it down on the spot where I felt the little jabs. “Can you feel that?”

“Fuck. Is that the baby?”

Eyes wide, I nod. “I think so.”

In silence, we keep both of our hands on my belly and wait with bated breath for something to happen. It takes a little while, but I recognise the popping sensation again, then a flurry of twitches starts up again. I hold my breath, willing it to continue, biting back tears of joy as my pregnancy quickly becomes more real to me than ever.

This is my baby.

Moving inside me.

“Jesus Christ,” Nadia exclaims when the flutters keep going. “You’re having an acrobat.

“Seems like it.”

In unison, we laugh.

When the movements die down, Nadia palms my face and makes me look her dead in the eye. “Promise me you’ll take things slow with him? Make him earn his way back into your life?”

“I promise.”

She climbs back onto the couch cushion she abandoned, then pulls me in for a tight hug. “So, Lazarus? Four days dead, then Jesus brought him back… what kind of biblical shit is that?”

“The good kind.” Deciding that it’s pointless to keep denying the truth when it seems like Lazarus has already given her a plausible cover story, I confess. “He’s been coming over every night for almost two weeks. Garrett loves him.”

“Only Venom could come back to life and make a kid that isn’t his fall for him.” Her arm tightens and her shoulders shake when she tries to suppress her humour. “I taught him how to make the little man’s bottle.”

I shoot her a scandalised look. “Seriously?”

“Seriously.” Nadia laughs. “He was so bloody clueless… I had to take pity on him.”

Since it never crossed my mind to ask how he learnt how to make Garrett’s bottle, I feel a bit silly. This new version of my first love has proven so earnest and capable that I barely think to consider the learning curve he must be navigating. He’s absorbing so much—from cutting edge technology to security systems to martial arts—then I dump an entire child and impending fatherhood in his lap. It’s amazing how many new skills he’s acquired since Zeke died.

The bruises from his training are evident.

It’s the internal damage that worries me.

He has always had laser focus once he’s fixated on something.

Still, it has to come at a cost.

Nothing in life is free.

“I think he’s wrapped up with Gabriel.”

“Shit.” Nadia’s opinion of my boss remains at an all-time low. “It makes sense, but. Gabriel. Lazarus. Moses.” Her mention of Apollo’s legal given name sends a shiver up my spine. “Isaiah. There’s an entire theological theme at play.”

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