Page 12 of Crime Lord’s Captive

Lyla walked into the bathroom and stared at the blood and mascara smeared over her face. Her lip was swollen and seeping blood in a steady stream down her chin. Her arms ached where he grabbed her and her neck began to darken with bruises. With shaking hands, she wet a washcloth and wiped her face.

The bedroom door slammed open. Gavin appeared in the bathroom doorway. He leaned on the doorjamb and watched her with brooding eyes. Lyla clutched the washcloth between shaking hands and waited for more punishment.

“You kill yourself, I’ll make your family wish they were dead, you got me?” he asked.

Lyla gave a jerky nod.

“Hurry up,” he snapped.

Lyla nodded again and finished wiping away the mascara. There was no chance of concealing her ravaged lip and she had no idea what other things lay in wait for her. She didn’t bother to reapply mascara. She turned to Gavin, head bowed. He snatched her hand in his. She swallowed hard to keep her breakfast down. Gavin grabbed the cell phone she had yet to touch and slapped it in her hand.

“You keep this on you at all times,” he said.

He led her downstairs and pulled her out of the house. His men, no less than fifteen were waiting for them. The men lounged on the steps and around the large fountain in the middle of the drive. Lyla dropped her head to conceal her swollen lip as Gavin opened the passenger door of his silver BMW. Lyla buckled herself in, clutched the phone between her hands and stared straight ahead. Gavin spoke to Blade for several minutes before he climbed into the driver’s seat. Lyla leaned against the passenger door in an effort to gain more breathing room. The small space made her feel claustrophobic. Gavin sped off his property towards automatic gates that opened at his approach. Neither of them said a word. When Lyla couldn’t stand it a second longer, she rolled down her window and took a deep breath to stop herself from vomiting in the expensive car. Gavin didn’t object as he navigated the freeways.

The Strip didn’t look as alluring in the daytime as it did at night. The Strip was Gavin’s playground. She wanted to stay as far from it and Gavin as possible. She wanted to believe this was a nightmare she would wake from. When Gavin drove up to her parent’s house, of its own accord, her hand reached for the door. She was out of the vehicle before it stopped. Lyla ran to her family house and raised her fist to beat on the door, but it opened before she could. Lyla saw her mother, burst into tears and embraced her. Lyla buried her face in her mother’s shoulder and cried silent sobs.

“You’re home,” Mom whispered in her hair.

Lyla shook her head, but didn’t have the restraint to stop crying and actually talk. Her mother smelled of garlic and sesame oil. It stirred up bittersweet memories. Lyla held her tight, wishing she was a child again when everything was simple.

“Mrs. Dalton.”

Gavin’s voice broke through her hysteria. Lyla stiffened in her mother’s arms. Would Gavin beat her in front of her mother or slap her mother around to punish her further?

“Gavin, thank you for bringing my daughter home,” Mom said, voice choked with emotion.

“No problem,” Gavin said. “How’s your husband?”

So her father was here, being tended by her mother. That was good news, but how dare Gavin ask about her father’s health as if he wasn’t responsible for his state? Lyla wanted to scream.

“I finished stitching him up a minute ago,” Mom said pleasantly and patted Lyla on the back as if she were a newborn.

“I brought Lyla by to reconnect. You don’t mind if I leave her here while I go to work?” Gavin asked.

“Of course not! I’m glad to have my baby back.”

“Good. I need to speak to her before I go.”

“Of course,” her mother said and loosened her hold, but Lyla wouldn’t release her. “Lyla? Gavin needs a quick chat.”

She didn’t want to lose touch with her mother even for a moment. A large hand touched the small of her back and she stiffened. Remembering the strength in that hand as it wrapped around her throat, she released her mother and whirled to face Gavin.

“Leave us,” Gavin said without looking at her mother.

“I’ll be in the kitchen, Lyla,” Mom said.

Her footsteps faded. Lyla was left facing Gavin alone in the foyer of her parent’s humble home.

“You don’t touch my mother,” Lyla said. She wasn’t sure where this burst of defiance was coming from when she felt so emotionally and physically battered, but she knew one thing. She would die before he lay a finger on her mom. She gave up her future for her father. She would give her life for her mother.

“There’s no reason to hurt your mother,” Gavin said.

But there was reason to hurther?

“I have to go to work.”

Lyla nodded. Good. She needed time away from him to think.

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