Page 18 of Once A Crime Lord

“Holy shit, Lyla. You’re baiting him. I hope you can take the heat,” Carmen said.

She wasn’t trying to bait him. The last huge fight they had was when he forced her to marry him. To date, she had never won a fight, but she was too pissed off to care.

“Are you doing this purposely so he’ll punish you?” Carmen drawled.

She glared at her cousin.

“Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.”

Blade and the rest of her guards stopped just outside the lobby. She listened with half an ear as Blade told the driver to bring the SUV around. She took the time to scan the milling crowd.

“Do you see him?” Carmen asked in a low undertone.

Was she that obvious? “No.”

“Was he good in bed?”

After being dominated by Gavin in her teens, Jonathan’s gentle lovemaking made her feel cherished and empowered. He let her lead, and their time together had been filled with affection and laughter. She couldn’t begin to compare fucking Gavin to making love with Jonathan. The experiences couldn’t be more different.

Carmen clearly picked up on her reticence because she tried to make it easier.

“Fine. Rate him on a scale of one through five.”

“Four.”

“Really? Impressive.”

“He was...” She fumbled for words. “He was great. If you met him—”

Carmen gripped her arm. “You know that’s not an option, right?”

Her words were an echo of Blade’s. She bristled and looked pointedly down at Nora. “I know that.”

“Okay. Because you sound like you’re thinking... I don’t know.”

“I wasn’t expecting to see him, and then he was justthere. It was like seeing Manny again.” She waved her hands. “It’s the shock. Seeing him reminded me of my other life.”

“Let’s go,” Blade interrupted.

They walked outside. Blade placed Nora in her car seat. He fumbled with the buckles and swore fluidly under his breath. When Lyla offered to help, he gave her a look that made her sit back with a shrug. Nora chattered excitedly and touched his face when Blade leaned forward to examine the tiny mechanisms. He froze, gave Nora a reproving glare that made no impact on the baby, and checked the straps before he slammed the door.

As the SUV left The Strip behind, she let out a long breath. God, she felt as if she’d spent all day away from home instead of a couple of hours. She forgot how fast life moved. For four months, she’d taken a time-out to learn how to be a mother and refine her fighting skills, so she could act accordingly in case of an emergency. One day out of the house and her equilibrium disappeared and she became emotionally shipwrecked.

She glanced at her cousin who had gotten all dolled up for today. “Sorry we didn’t stay out long.”

Carmen shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. Today was a bust for me too.”

“Where did you go?”

“I gambled a bit, won a thousand dollars, and got hit on a lot.”

“And?”

“Nothing.”

“So why was today a bust?”

Carmen didn’t reply and her intuition pinged.

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