Page 41 of Recaptured by the Crime Lord

“Actually, I wouldn’t love to go out,” Lyla said, shocking the hell out of Gavin. “What time should I be there? Are you going to pick me up?”

“Fuck that.” Gavin reached across the table to grab Marcus when a woman tapped him on the shoulder.

“Scoot in, will you? I need to talk to you both about press for Incognito,” Janice said.

Gavin scooted to the middle of the booth so he could yank Lyla away from Marcus and to his side. He clamped a hand on her thigh and glared at Marcus who gave him a puzzled look, as if he couldn’t figure out why he was so steamed.

“Have we met?” Janice asked Lyla.

“This is my wife,” Gavin said.

Janice’s mouth sagged. She looked Lyla over and beamed. “Are you coming to the opening of Incognito? Your face will photograph great and next to Gavin, you’ll look stunning! This will be great publicity.”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Marcus said. “She used to be Manny Pyre’s personal assistant, you know.”

“No, I didn’t,” Janice said and stopped the server to order herself a meal. “That’s fascinating.”

His staff was looking at Lyla as if she were Mother Teresa. Janice had a hell of a time trying to polish his tarnished image, not that he cared. Marcus did and it was obvious they wanted to use Lyla to make him do appearances and shit.

“I found you. Yay!” Alice, the Community Outreach Coordinator sat beside Janice. “Are you discussing what’s going to happen on Friday? I know we’re scheduled for a meeting tomorrow, but if we’re all here—Oh, hi. Sorry, have we met?”

“This is Lyla, Gavin’s wife,” Janice explained. “She used to work with Manny Pyre.”

“Is that right? You projects were you involved in?” Alice asked.

Gavin wanted to bang his head against the table. Everyone ignored him and focused on his wife. He should have expected this. With the way Lyla stayed out of the public eye and the rumors surrounding the day his father was killed, it was only natural they were curious about her. Add Lyla’s beauty, age and obvious intelligence and everyone was hooked on her. Gavin listened as Lyla outlined the projects she’d been involved in and noticed Janice and Alice exchange looks.

Lunch was served. Gavin firmly turned the conversation back to Janice’s plans for publicity at Incognito. He planned to head there the night of the opening to make sure all was well, but now it looked like he’d be there all night. Lyla listened attentively and even clarified some key points that made Janice blink in surprise.

“Are you looking for a job?” Marcus asked bluntly.

Lyla flushed. “Actually—”

“No,” Gavin snapped.

Lyla turned to him. “Excuse me?”

“You’re not getting a job.”

Lyla turned back to their fascinated audience. “I’ll get back to you on that.”

Gavin wanted to strangle Marcus who slapped his hand on the table and roared with laughter. This was all Marcus’s fault. Gavin wanted to haul Lyla out of the restaurant and cart her back to his office where he would show her who’s boss. Instead, he was forced to sit there and act as if his blood wasn’t boiling. Lyla seemed completely at ease, eating and chatting with his staff as if they were old friends.

“I’d like to help you with outreach,” Lyla said to Alice who looked excited until she glanced at Gavin’s face.

By the time lunch was over, Gavin could barely contain himself. Marcus kissed Lyla’s hand and took off at a trot, talking to his secretary on his phone as he went. Janice and Alice both shook Lyla’s hand and said they would see her on Friday before they took off.

“I’m taking her home,” Gavin said to Blade.

Lyla looked up as he clamped a hand on her waist. “What? Why?”

Gavin didn’t say a thing as he led her through the casino. They took the elevator down to the parking garage. Lyla gave him a strange look before she got into the Aston Martin. He revved the engine and liked the sound of the car’s squealing tires as he drove into traffic.

“Is there a reason you’re driving me home?” Lyla asked.

“We need to talk,” he said, flexing his hands on the wheel.

“About what?”

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