by Mia Knight
“Lyla, are you okay?” Aunt Isabel asked.
“Yes.”
Aunt Isabel hugged her tight. Lyla felt tears fill her eyes, but refused to let them fall. Aunt Isabel pulled back and braced her hands on Lyla’s shoulders. Lyla hoped she didn’t look as lost as she felt.
“You’ve been through so much, honey,” Aunt Isabel said quietly. “We all have.”
Lyla nodded and blinked rapidly.
“Trust Gavin to take care of it,” she advised.
Lyla gave her a shaky smile. “I’ll try.”
“That’s my girl.”
The front door burst open and Carmen rushed in with her shoes in hand, hair a mess. She skidded to a stop when she saw Lyla and her mother.
“Why the fuck aren’t you answering your phone?” Carmen shouted.
Lyla pulled her phone out of her pocket and saw that it had a blank screen. “Oh, it’s dead.”
Carmen pressed a hand against her chest and sagged against the back of the couch. “You bitch. I hate you.”
Lyla hugged her cousin who dropped her shoes and held on tight. Beau butted his head against Carmen in welcome. Carmen pet him, but didn’t release Lyla.
“Where’s Gavin?” Carmen asked in a muffled voice.
“In the basement.”
“What? Why?”
Lyla moved her eyes to Aunt Isabel who was watching the news. Carmen gave Lyla a tight squeeze before she released her.
“We were at a restaurant and they had the news on. I got in touch with Alice and Janice, but neither of them knew what happened to you and I...” Carmen blinked back tears. “I fucking hate this. Every time I leave you alone, shit goes down.” She lowered her voice. “Was there a shooting?”
“Yes.” Lyla picked up Nora and cuddled her baby close before remembering that she was covered in only God knew what. “I’m going to give Nora a bath.”
Aunt Isabel nodded. “We’ll be here if you need us.”
Carmen collapsed on the couch and cuddled against her mother who pulled her close. She was glad Aunt Isabel was here, but wished she could cuddle up to her own mother.
Lyla paused in the doorway of the master suite and walked on tiptoes to the bed. She reached beneath the nightstand and quietly pulled the gun from its hiding place. She methodically checked the room with Nora on her hip and relaxed when she found that they were alone. She attended the event to restore her faith in humanity. All she had gained was another healthy dose of paranoia and fear.
Lyla bathed with Nora and then settled on the bed to breastfeed. God, she had nearly been gunned down again. Would this ever stop? Lyla saw her dead phone on the nightstand. She balanced Nora as she plugged it in to charge. The screen flickered to life. A series of beeps, rings and chirps sounded. Lyla thumbed through her phone and saw several texts from Janice, Alice and Carmen. She listened to two frantic voicemails from Carmen and deleted one from her mother before she could hear the first word.
The bedroom door opened. She reached for her gun, only to stop short when she saw Carmen who changed out of her tailored dress. Face bare of makeup and dressed in yoga pants, Carmen crawled on the bed and sat cross-legged in front of Lyla.
“Spill,” Carmen demanded.
“Where’s Aunt Isabel?”
“She went home. She got out of this life and didn’t want to be around for whatever happens next.”
“She’s a smart woman,” Lyla said.
“The news obviously doesn’t know what the fuck went down.”
Lyla draped Nora on her shoulder to burp her. “After you left with Kody, the hospital director gave Gavin and I a tour of the new wing. When we were about to leave, the elevator was filled with gangbangers. Gavin started blasting away and pulled the fire alarm when he realized there were more of them than he thought. Gavin killed a drug lord this morning and then came to the hospital event. Those guys were his men.”
Carmen made a rolling motion with her hand. “Go on.”
“They were gunning for Gavin so Blade got me out of there. In the parking garage, we got jumped. Jonathan was there.”
“Who?”
Lyla clenched her teeth. “Jonathan, my ex.”
Carmen frowned. “What was he doing there?”
“He wanted to talk to me.”
Carmen held up a hand. “Oh hell no! You talked to him?”
“He followed us to the parking garage and nearly got shot. I drove him to a hotel when I found out he was staying in a Pyre Casino. I told him to forget he ever knew me. He was worried about me. He said he could help me disappear and what’s when Gavin showed up.”
Carmen’s mouth dropped open. Nora burped and Lyla set her daughter in her lap.
“Gavin tried to kill him. I stopped him.”
Carmen’s mouth stayed open.
“Blade sedated Gavin because he...” Lyla swallowed hard as she remembered the murderous expression on Gavin’s face. “He was out of control. He slammed his knife into the wall this close to my face.” Lyla held up a hand to show her and shivered.
Carmen put both hands over her face and groaned. “Shit, Lyla.”
“Yeah.”
She dropped her hands. “You have to let that guy go.”
“I have.”
She leaned forward. “No. I mean let him go, as in, let Gavin do what he’s gonna do.”
“What?”
“Lyla, Gavin’s a psycho.”
“No, he isn’t,” she said hastily.
Carmen gave her a put upon look. Lyla remembered the look on his face as he approached Jonathan and sighed.
“He’s... not normal.”
“He’s fucking unhinged, okay? Jesus, you’re acting like Gavin’s a pussycat. He isn’t. He’s a straight up killer and he’ll do whatever it takes to get what he wants, comprende?”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because you don’t get who Gavin is. He’s going to kill your little ex and he’s going to make him suffer.”
“Jonathan didn’t do anything wrong!” she said for what felt like the tenth time.
“In your eyes. Gavin won’t let you feel an iota of affection for any other man. Gavin’s the most possessive psycho I know and that’s saying something!”
“Carmen, he can’t kill Jonathan.”
“He will.”
“I won’t let him,” Lyla said fiercely.
Carmen stared at her for a pregnant moment and then sighed. “There she is.”
“Who?”
“My cousin from California.”
“What?”
“You can take the girl from the beaches, but you can’t take the idealism out of the woman.”
“Idealism? You think trying to save an innocent man is idealistic?”
“It’s unrealistic when your husband is Gavin Pyre. This guy isn’t innocent. He showed up at this event. Why? Because he wants you. That makes him guilty as fuck and that’s why Gavin’s going to take him out. If your ex knew who Gavin was, he should have stayed away.”
“He thought I was in danger. He was worried about me.”
Carmen made the sound of a buzzer when you answered wrong on a game show. “Two strikes. Now he’s out.”
Lyla glared at her cousin. This is why she needed to get out of the house. Carmen and Blade believed it was perfectly acceptable for Gavin to kill anyone he wanted. “Gavin can let him live.”
“He can?”
“After what happened, I can guarantee I’ll never see Jonathan again.”
Carmen shook her head. “You don’t get it. Gavin won’t let you have split loyalties.”
There it was again. Loyalties. “I am loyal to Gavin. Jealousy and possessiveness aren’t justifications for committing murder!”
“Lyla, you live in the underworld! Gavin doesn’t need justifications, he just needs cause. He’s blown guys heads off for not responding fast enough to a question. Having you defend another man made him lose his motherfucking mind! Can’t you see that?”
“You being with another man in a hotel room doesn’t sound small.”
“It wasn’t like that!”
Carmen rolled her eyes. “How the hell could you get yourself in so much trouble in so little time?”
Lyla threw up her hands. “I’ve been with only two men in my life and I have to stop one from killing the other. My life is fucked up.”
“That’s your fault. You chose Gavin knowing what kind of man he is.”
She wanted to argue, but decided it was a moot point. “One of the cholos killed the hospital director. Was that on the news?”
Carmen sobered. “No.”
Her head throbbed so she stretched out on the bed. Beau jumped up, circled twice and settled with his eyes on her.
“How’d it go with Kody?” she asked, desperate for mundane conversation.
“He asked me to go to Europe with him.”
Panic flooded her. She didn’t want to be alone, but Carmen deserved to have a life. “What did you say?”
“I told him I’d think about it.” Carmen gave her a discerning look. “But you know I’m not looking for commitment.”
Lyla tried to hide her relief. “I know.”
“And how can I even think about going when you’re neck deep in this shit?”
Lyla rubbed her face against the pillow and cuddled Nora close. “It’s a mess.”
“When is Gavin going to wake up?”
“In two or three hours.”
“And what are you going to do?”
“Make him promise not to touch Jonathan.”
Carmen stared at her. “You can’t be serious.”
“What else can I do?”
“Let Gavin do what he’s gonna do and hope it’s over quickly.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Lyla, Gavin grew up in the underworld. He doesn’t have morals.”
“I can’t let him kill Jonathan.”
Carmen sighed. “Let me take Nora and let you catch some z’s.”
“Are you sure?” Lyla asked as her eyes closed.
“Yeah. You’re going to need your strength to face Gavin after he’s been sedated.”
Carmen bounced Nora on her hip as she walked to the door. “Your mama’s crazy, baby girl. This world isn’t for the faint of heart. Did I tell you about the time I watched my dad blow this guy’s brains out? I think I was seven.”
“Carmen!” Lyla groaned.
“Nora needs to know these things.”
“At four months?”
“The earlier the better. Her dad’s Gavin fucking Pyre. She’s going to know how to shoot a gun before she’s eight years old.”
Lyla burrowed into the covers and moaned when her phone rang, but after a quick look at the screen she answered, “Hey, Alice.”
“Oh my God! Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Are you?”
“Yes. Did you leave before the shooting?”
“During. Blade got me out.”
“And he’s okay as well?”
“Yes.”
Alice let out a breath. “Janice and I have been worried sick. It’s madness here.”
“Has anyone been hurt?” she asked, clutching the phone, waiting for the inevitable discovery of the hospital director.
“I’m not sure. We’re still trying to account for everyone. I wanted to make sure you were okay. Your phone was off earlier.”
“I know. My battery died. I’m sorry.” She hesitated. “Is there anything I can do?”
“No. You coming today was great. I just hate that something like this had to ruin it. I have to go. Thanks for everything you did. It meant a lot to me.”
Before Lyla could respond, Alice hung up. Lyla dropped her face on the comforter. If she hadn’t come, none of this would’ve happened.
CHAPTER TEN
Lyla
“Lyla.”
A hand shook her shoulder. Lyla grunted and blinked at Blade.
“What?” She felt as if she had been drugged. Her mind was suspended in no man’s land.
“Gavin’s awake.”
That brought her back to reality with an unpleasant jolt. Images of the director covered in blood, the cholos and Gavin swinging a knife at her slid through her mind in rapid succession. Lyla sat up and grabbed the lapels of her robe, which were gaping open. Blade was too busy typing on his phone to notice.
“How long has he been up?” Lyla asked.
“Half an hour.”
“He’s been up that long and you only woke me up now?” She scooted off the bed and headed to the closet.
“He stopped trying to break down the door ten minutes ago.”
“He tried to break down an iron door?”
“Yeah. He nearly fucking did it. You calling him The Hulk isn’t far off the mark. I’m seen him do crazy shit when he wants to.”
“Is he asking for me?”
“He hasn’t said a thing since he woke up.”
Lyla grabbed the first set of clothes she got her hands on—a pair of sweat pants and a shirt with a big heart on the front. Blade headed to the door the moment she emerged from the closet.
“Wait. I want to know what’s going on,” she said.
“With what?”
Lyla stared at him. “The hospital incident.”
“What about it?”
Was he being deliberately obtuse? “The hospital director was killed. You’re not going to be able to cover that up, are you?”
“The cops suspect gang activity, but it’s hard for them to get confirmation since the surveillance cameras were damaged. We took care of our bodies, left the gang members there and made it look like they turned on each other.” Blade jerked his head at the door. “Come. Let’s get you to Gavin.”
Lyla’s hands became damp with sweat as she followed him. It had been a while since she had to handle an out of control Gavin and she wasn’t sure she was up to the challenge.
“I’ll be watching on the surveillance camera in case you need help,” Blade said when they reached the basement.
Lyla glared at him. “You’re making me more nervous.”
“Just prepping you, Dorothy.”
“Asshole,” she muttered.
When she didn’t reach for the handle Blade leaned against the wall and put his hands in his pockets.
“Do you really think he’d kill me?” she whispered.
“No,” Blade said. “Hurt you, yes. You’re his weak spot, his Achilles' heel. No matter how you look at it, you chose another man over Gavin today. After taking care of business at the hospital, he tracked you to the hotel and found you with another man who offered to make you disappear. Of course Gavin's going to kill him. Then you made matters worse by touching him and pleading for his life. Gavin won't share you.”
“I'm not asking him to!”
Blade shrugged. “Gavin has his own set of rules. You live in his world, you live by them. Period.”
Lyla grit her teeth. He was her husband and she should be able to talk to him. She could make him understand, right?
“The longer you make him wait, the worse it will be,” Blade said.
“You’re the one who drugged him!”
“You weren’t in any state to handle him.”
“I know,” she muttered. “Thanks.” But now she had to deal with Gavin’s wrath, which she could only imagine was worse than it had been in the hotel. Lyla stared at the door and made no move to open it.
“I’ll come with you,” Blade decided.
She couldn’t hide her relief. “Okay.”
Lyla eased the heavy door open and glimpsed the dented side of it before she stepped onto the landing. She peered down the stairs, but couldn’t see the rest of the room from this angle. Her heart pounded in her ears as she waited for Gavin to appear, but he didn’t. Fuck.
Lyla started down. She felt as if she were walking to her doom rather than to talk to her husband. Of course, in most American households, husbands weren’t sedated or locked in basements to stop them from going on killing sprees. She allowed Gavin to go back into the underworld to destroy Sadist, not kill anyone he felt like. They had so much bigger problems than her ex who was in love with a woman who didn’t exist.
Halfway down the steps she saw Gavin in front of the cot. He stood on the outskirt of the circle of fluorescent lights. His eyes were a burning copper that didn’t bode well for her. He looked as if he had been shipwrecked. His shirt was unbuttoned and splattered with blood and his slacks were shredded at the knee, probably from trying to break the door down. Lyla made it to the bottom and stopped with her hand on the rail.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
Gavin didn’t move or speak. She was dimly aware of Blade standing behind her. On the surface Gavin looked composed, but the air crackled with his energy, which was dark and vicious.
“Changed loyalties, have you, Blade?” Gavin asked.
“My loyalty is to both of you. I did what I thought was best.”
“If you hadn’t already bled for her, I’d shoot you.” A muscle ticked in Gavin’s jaw. “Get the fuck out of here, Blade, and turn off the cameras.”
Lyla stiffened and turned to see Blade assessing Gavin closely. Blade caught her nervous glance, nodded and then left. Lyla listened to the sound of him climbing the stairs and flinched when she heard the door shut, locking her in the basement with her husband.
“Did you come here to plead for his life?” Gavin asked.
“Yes.”
“Don’t bother.” Gavin prowled in the shadows. “Why were you with him in the hotel room?”
“He got caught in the crossfire when we were ambushed in the parking garage. I couldn’t leave him there so I dropped him off at the hotel.”
“You promised not to talk to him.” His unemotional voice made her skin prickle with alarm.
“I didn’t know he was going to be there.”
“You saw him before the attack, didn’t you?”
Her heart sank. “Yes.”
“What did he want?”
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