Page 53 of Crime Lord’s Captive

Lyla went rigid. “There were two men.”

“He wasn’t at the warehouse when we went through last night.”

“He went to get cigarettes. He’s still out there.” Her voice was hoarse with fear.

“I’ll get him.”

Lyla heard the bloodthirsty eagerness in his voice and it distracted her from the memory of those dark, dead eyes of the captor who hadn’t touched her, but scared her just as much. “You’re going after him?”

“Him and everyone associated with them.”

The flat tone of his voice sent chills down her spine. Even though he allowed her touch, he wasn’t with her, he was planning murder and revenge. She splayed her hand over his heart. “So they kidnap me, you kill them and then what? When does it end?”

“It ends when they’re all dead.”

He still wouldn’t look at her, wouldn’t let her touch penetrate. Lyla let her hands drop from him. It always came back to this part of his life. Even while she was glad that Pervert was dead, Gavin paid a price. They both had. Interacting with people like her captors, it chipped away at Gavin’s soul and pulled him deeper into their world. She saw him in action, face dripping with blood with no trace of humanity in his eyes—just blind rage. Knowing the filth he dealt with, she couldn’t stomach it.

Lyla beat back the pain and asked, “When am I going back to your dad’s house?”

Gavin’s eyes snapped to her. “What?”

“I agreed to stay for a year, but I can’t be around you, not when you’re involved in this.”

Silence. She pushed against his chest, but he didn’t move.

“I told you I can’t live like this. They went for me because they think I mean something to you. They’ll come after me again. They’ll kill me next time. I can’t—”

“Baby—”

She shoved his hand away. “No, Gavin. I want out.”

Gavin’s hands moved to her hips, gripped. “Out?”

Lyla ignored the bite in his words. She had to put as much distance between herself and Gavin as possible. The bond between them was incredibly tight, especially after being kidnapped. She needed to break it off now while she could. She couldn’t reach him. No one could. He would go on a killing spree and she couldn’t talk him out of it.

“I think we both know I can’t...” She waved a hand at herself and then the house where she forced him to hibernate with her. “I can’t,” she repeated. “I’m better. Y-You helped, staying with me. I’m grateful—”

“Lyla—”

She shook her head and hated that she still had a store of tears in her. “I can’t be around you when you’re doing this shit. I can’t go through this again.” Her throat tightened. They left the warehouse covered in another person’s blood and she still hadn’t washed it all away in her mind. Gavin wouldn’t be satisfied with the death of the other captor. How many would he kill before the rage dissipated? Before he felt that justice had been served? How much would die and what toll would it take on his soul? Every kill pushed him further into the dark, further from emotion and anything normal. “You won’t give it up and I—”

“I give it up, you stay with me.”

Lyla wasn’t sure she heard him right. “What?”

His eyes bored into hers. “I let go of that side of the business, you stay with me. Permanently.”

Lyla was stunned speechless.

“That’s why you left me the first time, why you want to leave me now?”

Lyla shook her head to clear the buzzing in her ears. “You’d give it up?” She couldn’t keep the skepticism out of her tone.

“Yes.”

The man before her was a dangerous predator. The businessman was the civilized part of him. The savage side surfaced when he dealt with people like Pervert. There were two sides to Gavin’s nature—both lethal and both a part of him. How could he get rid of the darkness that was so inherently a part of him? Where would the aggression go? How could he let go of the need for revenge and let others handle it? Giving up control wasn’t part of his DNA.

“Tell me what you’re thinking,” he ordered.

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