Page 24 of Recaptured by the Crime Lord

“For what?” Lyla asked, already knowing but wanting to hear whatever bullshit answer he came up with this time.

“The bills are going up,” he said lamely.

“Maybe you should downsize and move into an apartment,” Lyla suggested.

Pat’s eyes flicked to her ring. “You’re swimming in money and can’t give your father a couple extra thousand? You worthless whore.”

Gavin lunged, but Lyla stepped in front of him so he couldn’t get at her father. Gavin tried to push her to the side, but she clung to him and he stopped.

“You just lost your allowance,” she said and Gavin froze.

“What?” her father shouted.

“You stole half a million and gambled it away. Then, Gavin gives you an allowance to survive and you’re still not satisfied. You insult me and treat me like I’m nothing. Well, from now on, we are nothing. You never acted like a father, so my duty is done. Find a way to get a job and survive. If mom needs a place to stay, she has one. You, no. I’m done.”

Lyla pushed against Gavin and he went willingly as they walked away from her father. Of course, their argument attracted some attention, but once she made eye contact, people turned away and resumed talking.

“I’m your father!” Pat shouted.

Lyla closed her eyes at her father’s furious bellow. He was a glutton for punishment. Gavin’s body was tight against hers. She knew he wanted to pummel her father, or worse. Lyla took a deep breath and turned back to her father who was red in the face and dripping with sweat as if he ran a marathon.

“You are not my father. My father was murdered nearly two years ago,” Lyla said loud enough for everyone to hear.

Gavin’s arm around her flexed.

“Manny Pyre?” her father scoffed. “He got what he deserved.”

Lyla wasn’t aware that she moved. One moment she was staring at him with a good ten feet between them and the next she was in his face. Her fist flashed out and collided with her dad’s mouth. He stumbled back and fell to the ground, cursing. Lyla stood over him with her fists clenched, shaking like crazy.

“Don’t you ever talk about Manny like that!” she raged.

“Did you fuck father and son?” her father jeered.

Lyla dropped on top of her father, used one hand to grab a fistful of his shirt and used the other to belt him across the face. There was a sickening crack as his nose broke and blood dribbled down his face.

“Both of them are better men than you will ever be. They would do anything for me. What have youeverdone except cause me grief? You care about no one but yourself,” Lyla screamed and drew her fist back again. Before she could land the hit, she was lifted off her father. Even as Gavin carried her away she kicked and caught Pat on the temple. “If Ieverhear you talk about my family again, you better hope I’m not armed, you son of a bitch! You’re lucky I didn’t let them finish you off, you worthless piece of crap!”

Lyla cursed as Gavin walked through the house. She didn’t stop shouting until she was tossed into the back of an SUV and pinned to the seat.

“Holy fuck!” Gavin tucked his head under her chin and began to laugh.

“That was amazing,” Blade said as the SUV pulled away from the curb.

“Why did you stop me?” Lyla screamed and bucked beneath Gavin, bloodlust clouding all rational thought. “I sacrificedeverythingfor him! I could rip him apart. Why didn’t you kill him when you had the chance? If I ever see him again I—Why the fuck are you laughing?”

“Oh, baby, that just made my day,” Gavin said breathlessly and raised his head. He had a broad grin on his face and his eyes were shining with delight. “I enjoyed beating his ass, but watching you do it was ten times better. Then you jumped on him and kept going.”

He leaned down to kiss her. Rage morphed into something carnal as his tongue slipped into her mouth. Lyla’s fingers dug into the back of his suit and her legs wrapped around him. Gavin sensed the change. The kiss became deeper and more seductive. His tongue stroked hers while one of his hands began to knead her breast. Lyla bit his lip and wrenched her mouth away.

Lyla looked towards the front of the car where Blade and the guard in the shotgun seat had the radio blasting and stared straight ahead. Gavin gripped her chin and turned her face back to him.

“You want me?” he asked in a low, growly voice that made her instantly wet. When she hesitated, his hold tightened fractionally. “Do you?”

“Have I ever stopped?” she snapped angrily.

Gavin was selfish and possessed a code that would make most people cringe, but he loved her. She was so fucking tired of feeling dead inside, of wondering what her fate was. She was tired of being a means to an end. The way Gavin looked at her, as if she meant everything in the world beckoned her out of the darkness and into the light. No matter how much she wanted to suppress her emotions, they were at full mast right now.

Gavin folded one of the seats down. She stared, bemused, as he crawled into the back of the SUV and beckoned. His eyes were blind with need. He didn’t give a fuck and at the moment, neither did she. Lyla crawled into the back and he flipped the seat up. He dragged her beneath him and ran his hand up her thigh before slipping his fingers beneath her underwear. Lyla let her legs fall open. He hissed when his fingers slipped easily into her. She was soaked. She wasn’t sure if it was the adrenaline or because it was Gavin. Maybe it was the funeral. Death pressed in around them. She needed affirmation that she was alive and that someone would care if she were gone.

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