Page 3 of Crime Lord’s Captive

“Blade will bring you to me,” Gavin said.

“Gavin, I can’t—”

“You want your father to live?”

She couldn’t speak so she nodded.

Gavin lowered the gun and walked towards whoever held his phone. Gavin’s face filled the screen. Her breath seized. The force of his personality reached through the phone and grabbed her by the throat.

“Didn’t you miss me even a little bit, Lyla?”

She wanted to hurl the phone to make him disappear. Gavin’s voice was soft and seductive as if he wasn’t blackmailing her and hadn’t just held a gun to her father’s head! She glared at him mutinously and his expression darkened.

“Blade tells me your boyfriend is out of town. Count yourself lucky or you would have come home to a bloody surprise.” Before she could react he continued in a much calmer tone.“Go with Blade. Don’t give him any trouble. Come to me, Lyla, and I'll let your father live.”

The screen went blank and her legs gave out. She crumpled to the kitchen floor, hyperventilating.

“We don’t have time for this,” Blade said impatiently and hauled her up. “The jet is waiting and so is Gavin.”

“J-jet?” she wheezed, mind whirling.

“Pack what you need. You have ten minutes,” Blade said shortly.

Her life just turned upside down and he was giving her ten minutes? She ran to the bedroom and slammed the door. Three years she’d been on the run. Three years she planned every step only to end up caught. In a matter of minutes Gavin crushed the normal life she built for herself into tiny pieces. She wanted to believe that Gavin was lying about her father stealing half a million, but she knew better. Her father was a gambling addict, always had been. Gavin didn't make idle threats. He would kill her father if she didn’t go to him.

Blade pounded on the bedroom door. “Five minutes.”

She wanted to curse, cry and rage, but she didn’t have the time for such a luxury. Blade was here to carry out Gavin’s wishes and he would do whatever it took to see it through. She snatched a handful of clothes off the hangers and shoved them in a duffel before she grabbed a piece of notebook paper and began to write. She didn’t need a crystal ball to know that she would never see Jonathan again.

Jonathan,

I will never forget what you’ve done for me. You’re an amazing man. I’m sorry for leaving like this. I hope you find a woman worthy of you.

Morgan

The pen shook in her hand. She stared at the name she scrawled. She had been Morgan for three years. A new identity hadn’t been enough to stay hidden. She didn’t tell Jonathan that she was on the run from Gavin Pyre. Morgan had a fictional background that didn’t include a former relationship with the crime lord of Sin City.

“Open the door or I’ll break it down,” Blade ordered.

Lyla unlocked the door and barely avoided being hit when it slammed open and Blade charged in. He saw the note immediately. He read it, sneered and tossed it on the bed.

“You’re lucky it’s me that came instead of Gavin,” Blade said.

Lyla said nothing as he grabbed her duffel.

“Anything else?” he asked.

She lifted her chin. “Is it true? Dad stole half a million?”

“Your dad’s always been a dumb shit,” Blade said and towed her towards the front door.

She dragged her feet to buy time, terrified to leave the safety of the apartment and the life she built for herself.“But half a million?”

“He’s a greedy fuck.”

She managed to wrench out of his hold and stood in the middle of the apartment, wringing her hands. “What does Gavin want with me?”

Blade surveyed her coldly. “What do you think?”

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