by Mia Knight
Lyla jerked in his hold. Uncle Louie died? It was another shock on top of too many. Carmen staggered back, clearly stunned.
“He had a heart attack. You’ll stay with your mom. I sold your house with Vinny and put a freeze on what’s left of your money so you don't do anything stupid. You need money for something, you need to go through me,” Gavin said in a clipped voice.
“That's my money!” Carmen shouted.
“Not anymore.” In contrast, Gavin's voice was whisper quiet and way more effective. “You've shown that you're reckless and thoughtless. Until I'm satisfied, you won't have access to your money or Lyla.”
“You smug bastard! You have no idea what you did to her,” Carmen said as she flushed with rage. “Have you seen her scars? Have you heard her screaming at night? Were you there to hold her when she cried? Do you know what happened the day your father died? No, you don’t. I wish I didn't know, but I do. You broke your promise and left her alone in a hospital bed when she needed you. You went off to chase those bastards so I took your place. She asked me to get her out, so I did. You think she would have been safe with your expensive security detail?” Carmen sneered. “If she was so safe your father would still be alive and she wouldn't be scarred for life.”
Lyla felt his body go rigid a moment before his fist flashed out. Blade deflected Gavin’s punch before it connected with Carmen’s face. The air around them went electric as Gavin went apeshit and launched himself at Carmen. Guards went flying and blood sprayed the luxurious carpet as Gavin’s security team tried to restrain him. Flight attendants screamed and ran off the jet. Lyla caught a glimpse of Gavin's face, contorted with blind rage. It made her hands clammy with fear. It took nearly ten minutes for his men to pin him down. Lyla couldn't see him, buried as he was beneath a pile of men. Blade knelt on the ground to talk sense into him.
When Gavin resurfaced everyone watched him like a ticking bomb. Although his expression was impassive, no one trusted his control. Several men stood in front of Carmen, hands on their weapons. Gavin’s eyes fixed on Lyla and he moved towards her. Lyla backed up, but there was nowhere to run. Gavin caught her up in his arms, walked to the back of the jet and locked them in a private room. Even as he dumped her on the bed and came down on top of her, she heard the engine rev. Gavin tucked his head under her chin and settled his body on hers.
“Get off of me!” Lyla shouted and pounded his shoulders, but he didn’t budge. “You could've killed her.”
No response from Gavin.
“You’re out of control.”
“Going to jail will do that to you,” he said, lips moving against her skin as he spoke.
Lyla hesitated before she asked, “How long were you in?”
“A year. I've been out six months, looking for you.”
“You didn't have to. I'm fine,” she said.
“So what Carmen said isn't true?”
Lyla didn’t respond. She heard the low murmur of voices on the other side of the door, but no one interrupted them as the jet gained speed and lifted off. Gavin showed no signs of moving so she blocked him out and stared at the ceiling. It took nearly half an hour for Lyla’s brain to process everything that happened, but two points stood out amongst the rest. She was now married to Gavin Pyre and she was going back to Las Vegas.
CHAPTER TWO
Gavin
Gavin crossed the clearing. He couldn’t believe they were in Montana. If he weren’t grasping at straws, he would have thought the tip that brought them here was a mistake. It never occurred to him that Carmen would be able to live in an RV. She was high maintenance, materialistic and the furthest thing from a girl scout. Lyla, on the other hand, he could imagine on the road. She wanted a simple life and this was as simple as it got.
The tip paid off. Carmen was here, but where was Lyla? Carmen claimed Lyla had gone to town, but he didn’t believe her. Carmen took Lyla from him not once but twice. He barely refrained from snapping her neck. He spent sleepless nights in jail being tortured by visions of Lyla being murdered in one hundred different ways. Where was she?
He was halfway across the clearing when he felt a tingle along the back of his neck. Gavin turned, looked past the ranks of men and saw a slight figure in jeans and a long sleeve shirt. She wore a trucker’s hat low over her face, but that didn’t disguise the exquisite face, generous mouth and ice blue eyes. Even across the distance he sensed her panic. He opened his mouth to call out to her, but didn’t bother when she turned and ran.
Gavin shoved through his men and took off after her. Adrenaline shot through his system. He had been looking for her for six months. He wasn’t about to let her out of his sight. She was fast, but he was faster. She kept to the trail, which made it easier for him. He gained on her, eyes never leaving the golden ponytail streaming behind her like a cape.
When he was close enough, he lunged and wrapped his arms around her. He took the brunt of the fall before he rolled and pinned her beneath him. He wanted to see her face and look into her eyes, but Lyla was fighting him like a wild animal.
“Stop, Lyla!” he said, which made no impact whatsoever.
Her eyes were blind with panic and fear. He saw a flash of silver and knocked the gun out of her hand. At least Carmen had the brains to teach her how to use a gun. He rested his weight on her abdomen and pinned her hands over her head. The impact she had on his senses was devastating. He couldn’t decide whether to strangle or make love to her. She was thinner than he remembered and the sheer terror in her eyes gutted him.
“Stop it,” he hissed.
He was close to losing it. If they stayed out here any longer, he would bury himself in her to make sure this wasn’t a dream. He rose and hauled her up with him, keeping his eyes averted and started back towards the cabin. Lyla twisted out of his hold and began to dodge through the trees. Fear made him move faster than he had in his life. He swung her around and wasn't quick enough to avoid the blow. The force of the punch surprised him. It jerked his head to the side and made him realize how much she changed. Lyla didn't do violence and now... The woman looking back at him had nothing to lose. She was capable of anything.
“I hate you!” she shouted as she struggled. “Why are you here?”
“Because you are.” The last time he saw her in the hospital, he’d been a prick. Worse than a prick, but that couldn’t be helped. He’d been working day and night to find the culprit who murdered his father and tried to kill her. He couldn’t afford to sit by her hospital bed while the cops were breathing down his neck. The way she looked at him that day haunted him. He would make it up to her, but first he had other things to see to.
He marched her back to the cabin, pushing her at a merciless pace; his need to bind her to him a drum beat in his blood. He was acting crazy and didn't care. Lyla was alive and he wouldn't let go until she was legally his. When they entered the cabin, Gavin was grimly satisfied to find Blade holding Carmen at gunpoint. Lyla stopped in her tracks. He was glad she grasped the situation so quickly.
“What the fuck are you doing, Blade?” Lyla asked and tried to go to Carmen the traitor.
“How’s it going?” Blade asked.
“I'm assuming Carmen is the one who helped you escape the first time,” Gavin said and didn't wait for an answer. “I've been searching for you two for six months. If it wasn't for your beauty, you probably would have gone unnoticed and untraceable forever.” Even as the trucker who tipped them off went into great detail about Carmen and Lyla’s attributes, he wanted to kill the man. He allowed the trucker to live with the memory of them since he would never lay eyes on them again.
He caught a whiff of Lyla's scent. He shook his head to keep himself focused. He would indulge later. Now, they had shit to settle. He gestured to the pastor and mentally braced himself as he looked down at Lyla. “I'm assuming you don't want anything to happen to Carmen.”
Ice blue eyes widened. “What are you talking about?”
“You care for your cousin, right?”
Gavin pulled out her engagement ring, the only thing she left behind in the hospital room. He saw recognition and rage rip across her face before she fought him. Gavin had to use considerable strength to subdue her. He could feel the combined distress of both women, but he couldn’t back down. Not now.
“You don't want me to hurt your cousin,” he said.
“What is wrong with you?”
She looked at him as if he was a monster and even as that sent a shaft of pain through his chest, he continued with his plan. “Do you want me to hurt your cousin?”
“No!”
“Then do as I say.”
Gavin had to make sure not to hurt her as he slid the ring on her finger. When he succeeded, he clasped their hands together and ignored her twitching fingers. He ordered the pastor to get on with it and caught Lyla when her legs gave out when she realized what was happening. He held her close and fought the urge to tell the pastor to hurry the fuck up. He wanted to strangle Carmen when she said Lyla had a choice. Lyla didn’t have a choice. Neither of them did, they just didn’t know it yet. When Lyla said Vinny’s name, guilt clawed at him.
The pastor prompted him for those two words that would bind Lyla to him. He didn’t hesitate. “I do.”
The predator in him lunged to the surface when Lyla refused to take him as her husband with a shake of her head.
“We've wasted too much time,” he said and felt his insides twist when her eyes filled with tears.
“Every night I hear your father screaming. I can't get it out of my head. I won’t go back to that life.”
He had to beat back the murderous haze. He focused on her for all he was worth. He couldn't lose it, not when he was so close to his goal. “You have no choice. You gave yourself to me. There's no out for either of us. You're going to have to live with me and I with you.”
“I made my choice. I choose to live without you.”
“Not acceptable.” Didn't she understand that?
“Lyla Dalton, do you take Gavin Pyre to be your husband?” the pastor asked.
All he needed was two words. She would give them to him. He gripped the back of her neck. “Say yes.”
“No—” she began and he lost it.
He covered her mouth with his and swept his tongue into her mouth, reclaiming her. Lyla’s nails dug into his chest, but he didn’t release her. She tasted the same—sweet with a hint of rebellion. When he pulled back, he was pleased to see that her lips were swollen and she looked stunned.
“Say yes and I won't punish Carmen for taking you from me.”
“How can you punish her?”
“No one comes between us.” Didn’t she know that? Not that fucking IT guy she met in Maine, not Carmen, not her parents. No one.
“You let business come between us.”
“Say yes.”
“Clearly, she doesn't want him,” Carmen said.
His temper roared to life. If he weren’t holding onto Lyla, he would have put his hands on her worthless cousin.
“Blade,” he bit out and noted Lyla’s panic. If he was a decent human being, he wouldn’t take away her free will, wouldn’t blackmail her into marrying him. He wasn’t a decent human being. “Say yes or you won't see her again.”
“What’s wrong with you?” she whispered.
He wanted her fucking agreement. If he brought her asshole father he could have filled him bullets, which would make Lyla agree faster and satisfy his bloodthirsty mood.
“Say it now, god dammit,” Gavin said through clenched teeth, dimly aware of Blade shoving Carmen towards the door with a gun to her temple.
“Yes, I do,” Lyla said.
Gavin gave her the pen to sign the marriage license and slid his father’s wedding ring onto his finger. That’s where it would stay until the day he died, just like his father. In the back of the SUV, he tried to calm himself with the knowledge that she was here and legally bound to him. The savage creature inside of him bared its teeth when Lyla ran to Carmen once they boarded the jet. He twisted his hand in the back of Lyla’s shirt and pulled her against him.
“You have some nerve,” Carmen began, hands on hips. “You have no idea what she's been through because of you!”
“I'll let you live out of respect for Vinny,” he said, hoping she would shut the fuck up so he could keep himself under control. “You must've been grief stricken and temporarily insane to remove Lyla from my protective custody to go driving around the United States with my father’s killer on the loose. Don’t mistake my leniency towards you for forgiveness. I'm sending you to your mother. Your father passed two months ago.”
He should have felt bad for revealing that her father died in such an abrupt matter, but he didn’t. His killer instinct urged him to eradicate anyone that got between him and Lyla. Every word out of Carmen’s mouth fanned the icy rage in his belly. The only thing that kept him sane was the feel of Lyla’s body pressed against his.
“You smug bastard! You have no idea what damage you did to her. Have you seen her scars? Have you heard her screaming at night? Were you there to hold her when she cried? Do you know what happened the day your father died? No, you haven’t. I wish I didn't know, but I do. You broke your promise and left her alone in a hospital bed when she needed you. You went off to chase those bastards so I took your place. She asked me to get her out, so I did. You think she would have been safe with your expensive security detail? If she was so safe your father would still be alive and she wouldn't be scarred for life.”
Gavin could still hear the echo of gunfire as he stepped into his father’s mansion that day. There were men everywhere. His eyes swept the room for his father and Lyla and landed on two bodies on the floor covered in blood. Neither moved. Even while his mind refused to believe, he knew the truth. The memory fired his blood, triggering every aggressive instinct in him. Annihilating the masked men who weren’t fast enough to escape his wrath did nothing to assuage his need for blood. Nothing would until the man who murdered his father and Vinny stopped breathing. They couldn’t exist on the same planet.
Gavin wasn’t aware that he moved until the smell of fresh blood stung the air. The feel of his fists connecting with flesh made him hungry for more. It wasn’t until he was buried beneath a mountain of sweaty men that he could think rationally. Fuck. He went for Carmen and his men had to step in. Lyla wouldn’t forgive this.
“Get the fuck off me,” he ordered.
No one moved until Blade reinforced the order. Everyone knew he was off his rocker. Fuck. He rose and searched the jet for his wife. She was covered in dirt, milk pale and staring at him as if he was the devil incarnate. Maybe he was, but she was stuck with him. He ignored his throbbing fists, hauled her into his arms and walked into the room in the back of the jet. Lyla gasped when he dumped her on the bed and splayed his revved up body over hers.
Gavin absorbed the feel of her. She was alive and trembling. It took him less than an hour to destroy the life she built for herself. He rehearsed what he would say when he found her again—apologies, threats and promises. His carefully crafted speeches didn’t pass his lips. He forgot that she made him feel like a fucking caveman. He wanted to control, devour and possess. Lyla Dalton was his.
He tried to eradicate the lethal fury pumping through him. He could have broken Carmen’s jaw or worse. He wrapped himself around Lyla, wanting to be absorbed by her. Carmen’s accusations butchered his already mangled conscience. He wasn’t completely sane. Had he ever been? Maybe not. Witnessing what those savages did to his father and Lyla, he wasn’t sure he ever would be. The need to hunt, to kill was a compulsion he couldn’t get rid of. He lay on top of Lyla, hoping her presence would calm him the fuck down. He inhaled the scent of her skin—soap, the outdoors and fear. He had things to say to her. He should cradle her on his lap and beg for forgiveness, but he couldn’t move or speak. His mind and body couldn’t accept she was here after another disappearing act. Never again. She would never get away from him again. He would make sure of it this time. He fucked up too many times to count, but he wouldn’t let her give up on him. If there was a woman in the world who could save him, it was the one he just made his wife.
Gavin’s hands moved up and down her sides, getting her accustomed to his touch. He heard the hitch in her breath and ignored her struggles to get free. He couldn’t look into her eyes, not after seeing his own reflection. He would remake himself, be the man his father and Lyla believed he could be. He would do whatever it took to make her happy, but right now, he couldn’t do anything but let his flesh imprint on hers and soak her in.
“Get off of me! You could've killed her.”
He could have. It didn’t even register in his mind that he was going to strike her—he just reacted without thinking.
“You’re out of control.”
“Going to jail will do that to you.” Being caged when he should have been hunting for the new crime lord drove him insane. Not knowing where Lyla was caused him to use the walls of his cell as a punching bag.
“How long were you in?”
“A year. I've been out six months, looking for you.”
“You didn't have to. I'm fine.”
Fine after being stabbed and watching his father be tortured to death? There were shadows in her eyes that would never fade. “So what Carmen said isn't true?”
“Gavin let me up.”
“I need this.” How could he tell her that her presence was the only thing keeping him in one piece?
“I can’t do this, Gavin.”
“You can.” She had to.
“You can’t just show up and take over,” she said and slapped his shoulders.
He didn’t bother to contradict her since that’s exactly what he did and would continue to do without mercy. At eighteen, she claimed him. It didn’t matter what happened in the intervening years. What was left of his soul craved her. She loved him once. She would again.
-->