Page 91 of Once A Crime Lord

“I’m not going to leave you here if you’re not comfortable.”

She wasn’t ‘comfortable’ with any of this, but they had no choice.

“I need you all to stay calm. My instinct says you should be safe here. I need to get to a phone to call Gavin. He needs to know where we are. We could have gone to any safe house. This is one of the oldest.” He glanced back at the house. “I would take Pat with me, but he doesn’t have extra clothes, and I can’t afford to have him draw attention since he’s covered in blood. Can you handle him?”

“Yes. Carmen will stay too.”

“I’ll take Beau, so he won’t distract you if your dad acts up.”

Blade whistled, and Beau came out on the front porch. When Blade opened the car, Beau hopped into the passenger seat. She fetched the bag of ammo she brought along and slung it over one shoulder. She and Blade faced one another.

“Thanks for getting us out of there,” she said.

“It’s my job to keep you safe.”

She went with her gut and wrapped her arms around him. Life was too fucking short. She was exhausted, terrified, and hovered on the verge of despair. Blade was one of her people, and she wanted him to know that. He didn’t hug her back. That didn’t stop her from giving him a hard squeeze before she drew away.

“Tell Gavin that I’m going to kick his ass when I see him again.” She would do worse than that if she survived.

Blade glanced at the bag slung over her shoulder. “Are you sure you can handle Pat?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Blade got into the car. She caught a glimpse of Beau’s doggy face as they drove away. Blade was indestructible like Gavin and her biggest defense... and he was leaving them to contact Gavin. She took her phone for granted. She also took Gavin for granted and now... Now everything was up in the air. She had no idea if her mother was dead or alive, the fate of the guards at her home, or what horrors the sunrise would bring. Her life had become a series of tragedies and trials. Where was her happily ever after?

“Lyla?”

She turned to see her father on the steps.

“Where’s Blade?”

“He went into the city to contact Gavin.”

“He left us here?” he shouted.

She tightened her hold on the bag of bullets. She wasn’t in the mood for her father’s belligerent attitude, which returned as soon as Blade left. Her father’s face went purple with rage. After looking into the masked eyes of a killer and facing certain death numerous times, her father’s tantrums were a walk in the park. She eyed him objectively as he huffed and puffed as if he had the ability to turn into the Hulk.

“Where is your husband?” he demanded as if he had every right to know.

She walked up the steps and had every intention of ignoring him until he jerked her to a halt.

“Where is he?”

She wrenched her arm out of his grasp. “Don’t touch me.”

“So, he’s back to his old tricks, huh?” He sneered. “He gets you pregnant and then takes off and lets you deal with his mess?”

“You don’t know anything about my life. Shut up and stay put.”

She walked into the house. Carmen was trying to entertain Nora who was awake and extremely fussy.

“Blade went into the city to call Gavin,” she reported as she sat on the bed and took Nora to breastfeed again.

Carmen stretched out with her head pillowed on her arm. “Smart.”

“So, it’s just us for now.”

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