Page 2 of Recaptured by the Crime Lord

Lyla didn't answer. Gavin reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue diamond engagement ring. Lyla felt as if she has been doused in ice water. She had a vivid recollection of slipping it off her finger in the hospital room and hearing it roll across the floor. She never thought she would see it again. Seeing the ring after all this time felt like a slap in the face. Lyla shoved against his chest and tried to get away. Gavin didn’t allow her to throw a tantrum. He used his considerable strength to restrain her and leaned down so their faces were less than an inch apart.

“You don't want me to hurt your cousin,” he said.

“What is wrong with you?” This was a nightmare. Gavin couldn’t be here in Montana with her old engagement ring, threatening Carmen’s life.

“Do you want me to hurt your cousin?” Gavin asked.

“No!”

“Then do as I say.”

Gavin growled when she clenched her hand into a fist. He forced her hand to unfurl and despite her attempts to evade, slipped the ring on her finger. Gavin clasped their hands together and turned to the man with the Bible.

“Begin,” Gavin ordered.

The stranger avoided Lyla’s gaze as he began to speak.

“We are gathered here today to witness the union of Gavin Pyre and Lyla Dalton.”

“No!” Lyla shouted as her knees buckled.

Gavin wrapped an arm around her waist and hauled her against him. When Carmen opened her mouth to protest, Blade clucked his tongue to discourage her and pressed the gun against her temple.

“Lyla, don't do this. He can't make you,” Carmen shouted.

“Keep going,” Gavin barked at the pastor who was clearly terrified. He leaned close and whispered in her ear, “You want Carmen to come out of this alive, you agree to everything he says.”

“How can you threaten Carmen? She lost her husband!” Lyla glared up at him. “You remember Vinny?”

Gavin's implacable expression didn’t soften. “Twice now Carmen’s taken you from me. I should kill her for all the time wasted between you and I.”

“Carmen has nothing to do with our relationship and you wouldn’t hurt her.”

“Want to put it to the test?”

No, she didn’t want to test him. Gavin didn’t bluff and the bone-crushing grip suggested he wasn’t in a teasing mood. “Why are you doing this?”

“Gavin Pyre, in taking Lyla Dalton to be your wife, do you promise to honor, love and cherish her in sickness and in health, in poverty and in wealth, in hardship and in blessing, until death do you part?” the pastor asked in a quavering voice.

“I do,” Gavin said without looking away from Lyla.

“And Lyla Dalton, in taking Gavin Pyre to be your husband,” the pastor continued.

Lyla shook her head. Gavin clasped her face between his hands to stop the motion.

“We've wasted too much time,” he said.

Her eyes burned with tears. “Every night I hear your father screaming. I can't get it out of my head. I won’t go back to that life.”

“You have no choice. You gave yourself to me. There's no out for either of us. You're going to have to live with me and I with you.”

“I made my choice,” she said gesturing around her at the cabin. “I choose to live without you.”

“Not acceptable,” he bit out.

“Lyla Dalton, do you take Gavin Pyre to be your husband?” the pastor asked tentatively, clearly dreading her answer.

Gavin gripped the back of her neck. “Say yes.”

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