Page 102 of Once A Crime Lord

There was no getting around it. This was her fault. Because of her connection to Gavin, her parents had been dragged into the underworld with her. She would have paid any price to save her mother from this.

The only sound in the room was the heart monitor, which increased her anxiety. Any moment now, she expected to hear her mother’s heart flatline. She trembled with the need to retaliate, to lash out at someone. She felt as if she were balancing on the edge of a cliff. A gust of wind could tip her into a black hole from which she’d never emerge. She felt this way when Manny was murdered—helpless, horrified, and enraged. A scream built in her throat. The doctor said they had to ‘work’ on her mother as if she was a car they had to put together.

“Lyla.”

She lifted her head as Gavin walked into the room. He looked as slick and untouched as always. In comparison, she felt as if she had been skinned alive—raw, violated, and vicious. She stood and backed away as he approached.

“Stay back,” she said hoarsely.

He didn’t stop.

“Don’t you dare touch me.” She pointed at her mother. “Look at her!”

His eyes flicked to the hospital bed. His expression hardened before it swung back to her.

“I’ll never forgive you for this,” she whispered.

When he reached for her, she knocked his hand away. That didn’t deter him.

“I don’t want you touching me!” She didn’t want anyone touching her, not when her soul felt so savaged. “You said you would protect us! I told you not to go, and youleft—”

He hauled her into his arms. She fought him as if he was Sadist. She completely lost it— scratching, biting, and screaming. Her breath whooshed out of her as he pinned her to the floor. Tears of grief and rage blinded her. She trusted him to take care of her, and he betrayed her.

“I hate you!” she screamed. “I’ll never forgive you!”

She was dimly aware of shouting medical staff and then Blade was there, shoving Gavin aside. She lurched up and latched onto her bodyguard. She was splintering into a million pieces. She couldn’t stop shaking, and she needed to hold onto someone who had never let her down.

“Lyla.”

Blade smoothed her hair back as he rose with her in his arms. He moved swiftly. She buried her face against his chest, screwed her eyes shut and tried to hold onto her violent emotions.

“Drug me,” she whispered.

His step faltered. “What?”

“Sedate me.”

“You sure?”

“Do it. I-I can’t take anymore.”

“Lyla.”

She clutched him like a child in desperate need of reassurance and comfort. She let out a stifled shriek as the tears came. The horror of the past seven hours barreled into her, leaving her devastated.

She felt a pinch in her neck as Blade injected her. A blessed numbness spread over her shattered soul, swept away her sorrow, and replaced it with nothingness.

She opened her eyes. She was flat on her back in a soft bed and didn’t have the strength to move her limbs. Every inch of her ached. She felt as if she had been run over by a truck. Her mind was a complete blank. There was no sense of time or space, and she wasn’t concerned. Sleep threatened to pull her back under. She closed her eyes and bent her foot in a mini stretch. The stab of pain caught her off guard. She shifted her legs, which scratched against the fine sheets like sandpaper and then it all came flooding back.

She shot up in bed and couldn’t stop her gut-wrenching scream. It didn’t take longer than ten seconds for a door to her right to burst open. Blade appeared in the doorway with his gun. She was home in the master suite she shared with Gavin. After the safehouse in the middle of the desert and the grisly warehouse, the rich cream colors and luxurious setting seemed all wrong.

“Is it safe?” she asked.

“Yes. They attacked the front gate and tossed an explosive on property, but they didn’t penetrate when they realized we escaped,” Blade said.

“How long have I been out?” She tried to throw back the duvet, but it seemed like an impossible feat at the moment.

“Six hours. You should sleep longer.”

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