by Mia Knight
They left shortly after hand in hand. Gavin drove with one hand on her thigh.
“I’m glad we told him in person,” she said.
“Yes,” Gavin agreed.
“And he’s going to walk me down the aisle.”
“Did you have doubts that he would?” Gavin glanced sideways at her. “You’re his daughter in every way but blood... thank God.”
“You never know. I’m just relieved that he didn’t mind.”
“I’ve never seen my dad react to anyone the way he does to you except my mother.” He stroked her thigh with his thumb. “You’re good for both of us.”
Lyla felt a pang in her chest, but said nothing. Gavin pulled up to Carmen’s mansion. She rushed out of the house, screaming and reaching for Lyla’s door handle before Gavin came to a stop. Carmen hauled Lyla out so she could see the ring.
“I’m so happy!” Carmen crowed, bouncing on her stilettos.
“I see that,” Gavin said dryly as he got out of the car.
Vinny came down the steps and gave Gavin a manly handshake and clap on the back before coming to Lyla. He wrapped her close and whispered in her ear, “He loves you, you know?”
Lyla pulled back and smiled up at him. “I know.”
Vinny nodded and kissed her before he looked at Gavin. “We’ll leave these two together, huh?”
Gavin leaned down to kiss her. She wasn’t prepared for the carnal kiss or the way his finger dug into her hips. When he pulled away, she searched his eyes.
“You okay?” she asked.
“Get whatever dress you want. Money’s no object.”
“I hear ya!” Carmen chirped.
“You feel okay?” he asked and she nodded. “You need anything, you call me.”
“Okay.”
“A month, Lyla. That’s all I’m willing to wait,” he warned.
“I’m not contesting it,” she said.
“Good.” He gave her a hard kiss before he looked at Carmen. “Take care of her.”
Carmen tossed her hair. “Of course.”
“Blade will shadow you,” Gavin said, gesturing to the SUV.
“Okay.”
“Don’t let your parents give you any shit,” he said in a more businesslike tone. “You don’t owe them anything.”
She nodded.
“Call me if you need anything.”
Another hard kiss and he walked to his car and ducked in while Vinny took the passenger seat. Carmen linked their arms together and led her to the gold convertible.
“I love seeing Gavin like this,” Carmen said.
“Like what?”
“Desperate.”
“Desperate?” Lyla echoed, offended. “He isn’t desperate.”
“Any man who gives his fiancé only a month before tying the knot is worried the woman will change her mind.”
“I won’t,” Lyla said.
Carmen gave her a sidelong look. “Good. Because you’d have to deal with Gavin and me.” Carmen pealed out of the driveway, forcing Blade’s tires to squeal as he tried to keep up. “So, we have an appointment with a legendary dressmaker. I talked to Armand and he recommended her. Do you know what type of dress you want?”
“White?”
Carmen gave her a disgusted look. “Girl, you’re lucky you have me.”
***
Lyla waved at Carmen before trudging wearily up the steps to Gavin’s home. She was numb with exhaustion. Wedding details swirled around her head. Between Carmen’s boundless enthusiasm and the no nonsense dressmaker, Lyla had no idea what she wanted. She tried on countless dresses until they all began to blur together. This was Vegas. The dressmaker went all out with her creations. When Lyla described what she pictured in her head—something traditional and simple, the dressmaker and Carmen wore identical appalled expressions. Tomorrow they had a follow-up appointment that Lyla was dreading. Lyla showered and dressed in the most comfortable pajamas she owned. She went downstairs, warmed up a meal and curled up on the couch to call Gavin.
“Are you sure you don’t want to elope?” she asked when he answered.
“No. Are you home?”
“Yes. Carmen dropped me off. I’m eating dinner and then going to bed. When are you coming home?”
“I’m not sure.”
“I went to see my parents. I told my mom that we’re engaged and that you’re going to take care of their bills.”
“You are. I couldn't care less.”
“I know, but the money is coming from you.”
“Lyla, it’s your money.”
“Okay, well, she didn’t like that Manny was going to walk me down the aisle but—”
“It isn’t up to her.”
“Yes, I know and I told her that,” Lyla soothed. “Everything’s fine. Are you all right?”
“Yes. Hearing from you made me feel better.” A pause and then, “Tell me you love me.”
“I love you.”
“Even though you know what I’m capable of?”
A chill trickled her spine. “Is something wrong?”
“No, I just need to hear you say it doesn’t matter.”
“I love you no matter what.” No response. “Come home to me, Gavin.”
“I will. Once I get this squared away, you won’t be able to get rid of me. Dream of me, baby.”
“I will.”
Lyla finished her meal and stared into space, thinking of the strange conversation and their upcoming wedding. It was clear that Gavin was pushing hard for the new crime lord. She wouldn’t be able to rest easy until he left the underworld completely. Lyla climbed into bed and stared up at the ceiling for a long time, thinking about how much her life changed in such a short time. Really, life was bizarre. She thought of Jonathan with a distant sense of regret and hoped he found a woman worthy of him. Now that she was back with Gavin, it was clear that what she gave Jonathan was a watered down version of affection in comparison.
Lyla didn’t like being in bed by herself. She cursed the fact that Gavin’s business kept him out at all hours of the night. Who was the new crime lord? What was Gavin doing tonight that made him uneasy enough to need reassurance from her? Lyla buried her face in the pillow and fisted her hands. Images of Pervert and his partner flashed into her mind and she cursed Gavin again. He should be with her not doing whatever it was that he was doing. A memory of Gavin covered in Pervert’s blood flashed in her mind and she relaxed slightly. Gavin would do whatever he had to and he would come back to her. Nothing would stop him.
***
“Lyla, wake up.”
A hard hand shook her awake. Lyla opened her eyes and saw Gavin standing beside the bed. She opened her mouth to ask what was going on when her eyes focused on something dark smeared on the side of his face, neck and suit. Lyla shot out of bed and reached for him as her mind registered that Gavin was covered in dried blood.
“What happened? You’re hurt!”
“It’s not my blood,” Gavin said tonelessly. “Get dressed.”
“What? Whose blood is it?”
“Vinny’s. He’s dead.”
Lyla went cold. “Dead?”
“Get dressed. We need to see Carmen.”
“Vinny’s dead?” she repeated and shook her head. “No, I just saw him!” This morning Vinny kissed her on the cheek and told her Gavin loved her.
“We don’t have time, Lyla. Carmen.”
“Carmen? Oh my God,” she whispered. How would Carmen react when she found out that her husband was dead?
“Get dressed, Lyla,” Gavin said. “Hurry.”
Lyla nodded and changed out of her pajamas, mind whirling. Vinny dead? She’d known Vinny for nearly a decade. She thought of him as her brother. Lyla braced her hand against the wall as the full impact of his loss slammed into her. Her eyes flooded with tears. Male voices shouted outside, reminding her that she didn’t have time to grieve. She had to get to Carmen.
Lyla grabbed a clean shirt for Gavin and rushed back into the bedroom to
find it empty. Lyla ran downstairs and saw Gavin on the phone, rapping out orders in Spanish. When he saw her, he slammed the front door open and gestured her outside. There were men and cars everywhere. Guns were displayed openly. There was a buzz of fury among the men that made her feel as if she walked into a war zone. Blade beckoned her to a SUV. She slid into the back seat, shaking hands clasped on her lap. Gavin got in beside her and continued to talk into his phone in an icy, precise tone that was too calm.
When he hung up, he shrugged off his stained suit jacket and then the shirt beneath. Gavin reached for a water bottle and wiped his cheek and neck. Lyla smelled the stench of blood and her stomach lurched. He slipped into the clean shirt. She couldn’t stand the suspense any longer.
“What happened?” she asked.
“Introduced Vinny to our contact a week ago. When Vinny went to meet him today, the contact decided to test him. Vinny wasn’t expecting it. He was shot three times in the chest. Five of my men died.”
Lyla covered her mouth, unable to comprehend what he was saying. “The contact decided to test Vinny? Why?”
“They’re like wild dogs. They sensed that he wasn’t strong enough.” Gavin’s voice began to shred as his emotions came through. “I rushed down there, but he was already dead. The contact took the shipment, the money, everything. I never should have let him go alone.” Gavin slammed his fist into the back of the seat and the guard in the passenger seat rocked forward from the blow. “Fuck!”
Something clicked in her brain. “You were making Vinny the crime lord?” Lyla asked in numb horror.
“He wanted it. The money, the power...” Gavin shook his head. “I thought I could train him, teach him the ropes. I—”
As Gavin’s voice faded, Lyla reached out and placed a hand on his thigh. His body was tight and coiled, ready to strike. Lyla resisted the urge to draw away. This was Gavin. He wouldn’t hurt her. He didn’t acknowledge her touch, but he didn’t push her away. Lyla fought back tears. Vinny wasn’t strong enough to take on men like Pervert and his partner. Vinny was cheerful, easygoing and didn’t possess the instincts of a predator like Gavin who had been trained from birth to lead.
When they pulled up to Carmen’s home, Lyla couldn’t move. How could she tell her cousin that her husband was dead? Did Carmen know that Vinny agreed to take Gavin’s place in the underworld?
Gavin grasped Lyla’s hand and pulled her out of the SUV. Security at the door nodded to Gavin and backed down as he rang the doorbell. Lyla’s heart pounded as they heard footsteps and Carmen opened the door. She clearly hadn’t gone to sleep despite the early morning hour. Her inquiring look shifted when she saw Gavin standing there. Her eyes locked on his face and then Carmen backed up, shaking her head wildly.
Gavin reached for her. “I’m sorry, Carmen—”
“No!” Carmen screamed. “No! Don’t say it.”
“I’ll find who did this and—”
Carmen leapt forward and beat her fists against Gavin’s chest. “You promised me, Gavin!”
The shrill scream chilled Lyla to the bone. She hauled her cousin backward just as Carmen hit Gavin across the face. Fear gave Lyla the strength she needed to haul Carmen away. Carmen was out of control. She ripped herself out of Lyla’s hold and grabbed the closest thing to her—a priceless vase and hurled it at the wall. Rainbow shards rained down around Carmen, but she didn’t pause. Lyla watched with her hands over her mouth as Carmen systematically destroyed priceless pieces of art, even beating a metal statue with an iron poker until it was a misshapen blob.
“Blade,” Gavin bit out.
Blade walked forward cautiously with something in his hand.
“What is that?” Lyla asked.
“A sedative,” Gavin said a moment before Blade stuck a needle into Carmen’s neck.
“No!” Lyla shouted.
Carmen whirled and tried to hit Blade with the poker. Blade effortlessly disarmed Carmen who hit the ground hard. Lyla knelt beside her cousin who was breathing hard, eyes dilated with shock and grief.
“He can’t be gone,” Carmen whispered, tears leaking out of the sides of her eyes. “I can’t live without him.”
Lyla stroked her hair back from her face. “I’m so sorry.”
Carmen’s eyes fluttered shut. Blade took Carmen from her. Lyla led the way upstairs to Carmen’s room and turned the covers back. Blade gently set Carmen on the bed. Lyla glared at him.
“You carry sedatives on you?” Lyla asked.
“I’m always prepared,” he said and walked out of the room.
Lyla wet a washcloth and wiped Carmen’s tear streaked face before she climbed into bed with her. Lyla hugged her cousin who trembled uncontrollably. Carmen buried her face against Lyla’s chest and let out a keening sound that ripped her heart to shreds. Lyla murmured soothingly into Carmen’s hair as her cousin clutched at her. Vinny was the closest thing Gavin had to a brother and best friend. They had been raised together. Her heart pounded with dread and fear. What would Gavin do?
When Carmen went unconscious and the shaking stopped, Lyla went downstairs and found Gavin on the phone. Carmen’s inconsolable rage and grief left Lyla feeling raw and terrified for Gavin. She wrapped her arms around herself and waited for him to get off the phone. Lyla could taste violence in the air and it turned her stomach. The sun rose, revealing the destruction Carmen wrought in her museum-like home.
“How is she?” Gavin asked when he turned to her.
She was relieved to see that Carmen’s slap hadn’t left a mark on him. “Not good.”
Gavin nodded. “I’m going to get them. I’ll avenge Vinny.”
Lyla had a vivid image of Gavin over Pervert’s body—savage and devoid of all humanity. She reached for him. “Gavin.”
He stepped away from her. She stilled with her hands suspended in midair. His eyes were a burning copper that revealed nothing. Gavin was morphing into the man she ran from, the man she didn’t want him to be.
“This won’t stop,” she said.
“It will once I make them pay. They’ll beg for death before I give it to them.”
“Gavin, when does it end?”
“When they end.”
Lyla licked dry lips. “You’re supposed to be letting this go, not going deeper into it.”
“My cousin died,” he said quietly.
“Yes.”
“It’s my fault he’s dead.”
She shook her head. “No, Gavin.”
“He wasn’t cold enough to blow their heads off for insulting him. He was too soft. I fucking knew that but I was so desperate to be with you that I allowed you to cloud my better judgement.”
Lyla accepted the blame and the verbal blow. Vinny’s death was on her as well. “So, you’re saying you’re the only one that can do this?”
Gavin said nothing. He didn’t have to. He was going to keep the crime lord mantle and turn back into the monster he had to be. Lyla’s eyes filled with tears.
“So we’re back to where we started,” she whispered, heart splintering.
“You want more people to die?” he hissed.
“What if it’s you next?” she shot back. “What if it’s someone else you love?”
“I won’t give them the chance.”
“Gavin, please, don’t do this,” she pleaded.
“No.”
“Gavin—”
“They’ll pay. They all will.”
Lyla reached for him and once more, he avoided her. “What are you doing?”
He stared at her, a mixture of need and rage spiking across his features before he turned away from her. “I don’t have time for you. I have to fix this fuck up.”
“By killing more people.”
He stopped, turned. “By doing what I have to.”
Lyla swallowed hard. “So you’re not going to let go of the business?”
“And have someone else die in my place? No.”
Lyla felt a slashing pain in her chest. “You promised, Gavin
.”
“What do you expect me to do?”
“Let it go. Vinny’s death should convince you that it’s not worth it.”
“Grow up, Lyla. If I ignore this, they’ll never stop.”
“They kidnapped me and now they killed Vinny. Someone’s gunning for you, Gavin! Can’t you see that?” she shouted, losing control. Seeing Carmen’s breakdown felt like a preview of what she would be like if Gavin died.
“Let them come,” he hissed.
“I love you!” Tears filled her eyes and spilled over. “You said nothing else matters but us.”
“Look where that’s brought us!” he roared.
The force of his shout made her take a step back. She clasped her shaking hands together. “So you’re breaking your promise to me.” He was ten feet away but it might as well have been miles. There was no trace of softness in him, no trace of the man she agreed to marry.
“I have to.” With that, he walked out the door.
Lyla heard the screech of tires and the murmur of male voices outside. She wanted to rage and scream. Instead, she found a broom and dustpan and began to clean with silent tears slipping down her face. She mourned for Vinny, the only brother she’d ever known and partner for her cousin and Gavin, the people she loved the most. What now?
The front door opened to admit two people. Lyla dropped the broom and ran towards them. A burly man wrapped her close.
“Lyla,” he murmured and she began to sob, the events of the past hours overwhelming her.
“Where is she?” Aunt Isabel, Carmen’s mother asked.
Lyla pulled it together and took a deep breath. “She’s upstairs. They had to sedate her.” Lyla gestured to the ruined paintings, statues and shattered glass.
Aunt Isabel gasped and put her hand over her heart. “My poor girl.”
“S-she’s devastated,” Lyla said and wrapped her arms around herself. She spent most of her time at Aunt Isabel and Uncle Louie’s house as a teenager. They treated her like a second daughter.
“Did Gavin get the fuckers?” Uncle Louie demanded.
He was a sweet man, which made it easy to forget that he had been Manny’s enforcer once upon a time.
“I-I don’t know,” Lyla said.