by Mia Knight
“Why the fuck didn’t Blade take you to the hospital?”
Gavin looked murderous. Things were spinning out of control, as usual. Lyla splayed a hand on his chest, which was hard as a rock.
“Gavin, I’m fine.”
“Will you stop saying that? People don’t pass out if they’re fine. And you were walking a Pit bull that could have mauled—”
“Gavin!” Lyla braced her hands on his shoulders. “Nothing happened.”
“Something sure as fuck did happen. You lied to me,” he growled.
“But I’m fine now.” Lyla jumped with her hands in the air. “See? I’m fine.”
“But you fainted.”
“I didn’t eat. I was stupid and it’s not Blade’s fault. He tried to tell you, but I took his phone. I’m sorry.”
“You realize you hold my sanity in your hands?” Amber eyes probed hers. “Take care, baby girl.”
“I will,” she said and leaned into him. She didn’t want to tell him about the baby when he was pissed off. She needed to calm him down. God, he would be an absolute pain in the ass when he found out she was pregnant.
“You’re not allowed to walk any dog heavier than ten pounds,” Gavin snapped.
Lyla sighed. “I’m telling you, this Pit bull was adorable. When I passed out, he stayed right by my side.”
Gavin ran a hand down his face.
“What, Gavin?”
“He could have killed you!”
“Don’t be dramatic,” she chided as she sat on his lap, one arm draped over his neck. “I know how to deal with beasts.” She wagged her eyebrows at him, but he wasn’t amused.
His hand squeezed her hip. “Lyla, I don’t know how to tell you this.”
“What?”
A muscle ticked in his jaw and the arm wrapped around her waist flexed. “Nothing can happen to you.”
She softened. “Nothing will.”
His hand went to her chest and unerringly found the stab wound inches from her heart. “I’ve had too many close calls. I want to chain you to the bed with a twenty-four hour guard, but you won’t let me and you need to live your life. I get that and I’m trying and...” He turned her so she straddled his lap and lay his head on her chest. “You’re making this damn hard.”
Lyla ran her hands through his hair. “I’m fine.”
“You have to be.”
“We’re gonna make it.”
He tipped his head back. When Lyla brushed kisses over his face, he closed his eyes, clearly reveling in her love. Lyla wondered if this was how Manny had been with his wife. They stayed like that for long minutes, just holding one another. Slowly, his tension eased. Their meal was forgotten as they took comfort in one another. Lyla stared into his relaxed face and knew it was time.
“I have something for you,” Lyla said.
“What?” he asked without opening his eyes.
“Keep your eyes closed. Let me get it.”
Gavin’s arms loosened and she scooted off his lap. Her heartbeat began to speed up as she stared at Gavin cast in candlelight. He was devilishly handsome. He hadn’t lost an ounce of the muscle he gained in jail. He was completely relaxed right now. She loved him—always had and always would. He owned her, heart and soul. It went both ways. His need and vulnerability where she was concerned was obvious not only to her, but everyone else.
Carmen wanted Lyla to announce her pregnancy with rose petals, balloons or a new lingerie set. That wasn’t them. The big society wedding never happened and that was fine with Lyla. So much of Gavin’s life was in the spotlight. These moments were special and poignant. In Lyla’s eyes, the simper the better. Carmen conceded reluctantly. Lyla took a deep breath and placed the gift bag on his lap. He opened his eyes and looked at the bag and then her.
“What’s this?”
She could feel the tears crawling up her throat. She waved a hand. “Just look inside.”
Gavin sat up, peered into the bag and pulled out the small outfit. He frowned and when he held it up with both hands the onesie unfolded, showing the message on the front. Gavin didn’t react for a moment and then he erupted from his seat. Any semblance of relaxation vanished. The air crackled around him with manic energy.
“Are you pregnant?”
Lyla nodded and pulled the positive pregnancy test from her pocket and held it out to him. “I took two. They’re both positive.”
Gavin took the pregnancy test and looked from the white stick to the onesie and back again. The ecstatic look on his face was too much for her. Tears trickled down her cheeks. He tossed everything on the table and hauled her into his arms.
“Thank God. Thank you, thank you,” he said into her hair.
“You’re happy?” she mumbled into his chest.
“This is the best day of my life.” Gavin tilted her chin up and raked her face with assessing eyes. “Are you happy?”
“I’m scared,” she whispered.
“And happy?”
“Yes.”
He closed his eyes, but not before she saw a glimmer of wet. He kissed her, his tongue caressing and claiming before he released her. Lyla stared as he backed up and punched his fist in the air.
“I’m going to be a dad!”
He rushed towards the front door and opened it. Lyla caught a glimpse of Blade’s alarmed expression before Gavin shouted the news for his whole security team to hear. Blade smiled and clapped Gavin on the back. There was a round of congratulations before Gavin came back inside and rushed towards her. He unbuttoned her shirt and splayed his hands over her slightly rounded stomach.
“Okay, tell me everything,” Gavin ordered.
Lyla told him about her sensitive stomach and how Carmen tricked her into taking the pregnancy test. Gavin laughed uproariously.
“Thank God for Carmen,” he said. “So you don’t know how far along, nothing?”
“No, I have an appointment tomorrow.” Carmen recommended her gynecologist.
“I’m coming.”
“Yes, I want you there.” She was terrified. How did single mothers do this? She would demand that Gavin be there every step of the way.
“Nora’s coming,” Gavin said, running his hands over her scarred abdomen.
“We don’t know if it’s a girl,” Lyla said.
“Then we keep trying until I get my little girl.” Gavin caught her up in his arms. “Holy shit, I’m happy.”
He carried her to the couch and set her on the cushions before he dragged off her shorts and underwear and then his own pants. His cock lay flat against his belly, he was so turned on. He crouched over her, rubbing his dick against her entrance as he kissed her breathless. His hands moved over her, rough and possessive.
“I can’t wait,” he muttered as he slid inside of her. He shuddered and looked down at her like the warrior he was. “You belong to me, Lyla Pyre.”
“Every inch,” she reassured him.
“Every breath.” He brushed his thumb over her bottom lip, “Every moan.” He slid out so only the tip of him was inside of her and then thrust back in, slow and easy. She caught her breath and he grinned. “Every smile. Mine.”
“And I own you,” Lyla declared, wrapping her legs around his waist, forcing him deeper. “You’re going to be with me every step of the way. I’m not doing this alone.”
“I’m going to be there for everything.” He ran his hands down her sides. “You’re going to be beautiful pregnant. I know it.”
Lyla grimaced. “From what I read today, it’s not going to be pretty.”
“I’m game, baby.”
“I want a dog,” Lyla blurted.
Gavin paused. “What?”
“If we have kids, I want a dog. I’ve always wanted one, but my dad wouldn’t let me.”
“Then get one,” Gavin said carelessly and leaned down to taste her neck. “God, you smell good.”
Lyla felt a frisson of excitement and arched her back.
“You’re asking for it,” he growled.
Gavin’s eyes went blind with animal lust. He sat up and forced her legs to unwind from around him. He draped her thighs over his shoulders and fucked her hard. Lyla dug her nails into the cushion beneath her as pleasure ripped through her. Gavin powered into her with short, hard thrusts that shoved her towards climax.
“Come on, baby girl, I want to feel you come.”
A wicked finger applied pressure to her clit and she came with a scream.
“I want my men to hear you,” Gavin said as he kept up his rhythm. “Who owns you, Lyla?”
“You do,” she panted.
“Yes.” Gavin pulled out and wrapped a fist around his cock as he came on her belly. “You’re mine.”
“I know.”
“And this baby binds you to me,” he said, massaging his semen into her skin. “You’ll never be able to escape me now.”
“You have to be the most primitive man on the planet,” Lyla said.
“Most men are like me but they suffocate their beast beneath a layer of politeness and civility. I don’t bother.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Gavin
Lyla was trying to kill him. Gavin paced his office and tried to resist the urge to go home and spank his wife’s rebellious ass. She adopted that fucking Pit bull! She had no fear or sense of self-preservation. Blade reassured him that the Pit bull acted like a cocker spaniel around his wife, following her everywhere and not showing any signs of aggression, but hell! For the past month she went to the dog shelter three times a week. She never mentioned the Pit bull so he assumed she listened to him and walked Chihuahuas or some other yappy dog she could easily control. Instead, his wife befriended the most aggressive breed in the shelter. Should he be surprised? Against all the odds, she was with him, a fucking murderer and he worshipped the ground she walked on. If she decided to shine her light on anything, it would blossom like he had. She had been drawn to this dog from the start. He wouldn’t be able to banish it without his wife raising hell. Fuck! Didn’t she understand how much she meant to him?
Gavin slammed his fist against the glass wall of his office and glared out at the red mountains surrounding Las Vegas. Since Lyla announced her pregnancy, he’d become a fucking savage. He was overprotective, oversexed and overbearing. Carmen informed him that he was acting like a psycho. The beast he usually kept chained in the deep recesses of his mind prowled on the surface, waiting for something to happen. He was ecstatic about Lyla and the baby. He’d never been so fucking happy in his life, but he was so vulnerable. Everyone knew how he felt about his wife. He couldn’t hide it and didn’t want to. He was waiting for another attack and couldn’t stand the suspense. He’d done too much shit in the underworld for those fuckers to allow him to live a happy, ordinary life. The men that lived in the underworld lived shit lives where paranoia and a lack of empathy kept them alive. They wouldn’t let him get away scot-free.
Lyla was four months pregnant and he could barely contain himself. This weekend was the gender party. He was ninety-nine percent certain that the baby was a girl. He prayed every night that Nora would be here soon. Having a girl would be confirmation from God that he was forgiven for his sins. Nora would be his absolution, his redemption. Until then, he was a condemned man.
In jail, he contemplated suicide. Pyre Casinos would’ve continued without him and Lyla would move on. Everyone connected to him was in danger and he deserved to die for the shit he’d allowed to happen to people under his protection. A wave of exhaustion forced him into uneasy sleep. That night, he dreamed of Nora. Since then, he focused on getting Lyla back and trying to heal wounds that would never leave either of them. The feel of Nora’s little arms going around him was something he had to experience in this lifetime.
Gavin boxed in the ring everyday and ate as much as an athlete training for the Olympics. He made sure Lyla went to the gun range and that he practiced as well. He trained for an attack that would come. And when it came, he would hit back so hard, no one would dare touch what was his. Those bastards weren’t allowed to touch something so pure and beautiful. Lyla and the baby were his to protect and he would do so with his dying breath. Whatever it cost to keep Lyla and the baby, he would pay.
There was a cursory knock on his door before Marcus entered. He had a stack of papers in his hand and he was on the phone. Gavin turned to glare at him as Marcus finished the call.
“Something wrong?” Marcus asked.
“My wife adopted a Pit bull,” Gavin growled.
Marcus grinned. “From the shelter?”
Know-it-all bastard. “Yes.”
Marcus shrugged. “Your wife isn’t stupid. She knows what she’s doing.”
“I know that,” Gavin spat. “What do you want?”
“Are you inviting me to the baby gender party?”
“How the fuck do you know all this shit?”
“I have my sources,” Marcus said. “So, what? Am I invited?”
“You want to go to a baby gender party?”
“It’s your baby gender party, not some stranger’s. Plus, I love your wife—”
“No.”
Marcus never failed to push his buttons. Gavin didn’t care that there was no sexual attraction between Lyla and Marcus. He didn’t like the way Marcus made her laugh or that she allowed him to put a brotherly arm around her. Marcus honestly enjoyed Lyla, but Gavin couldn’t stand it, not when he was so on edge. Hearing Marcus say he loved his wife, even jokingly, made Gavin’s blood pressure rise.
“Fine. I think she’s a goddess,” Marcus amended.
Gavin crossed his arms. “Not even that.”
“God, you’re a possessive son of a bitch.”
“Yes, I am.” He wouldn’t apologize for it. Lyla was his.
“Whatever, man. What do you bring to a baby gender party?”
“How the hell do I know?”
“Do you want a boy or girl?”
“Girl.”
Marcus blinked. “Why? So you can beat the crap out of any man who tries to date her?”
Gavin’s stomach clenched. He had been so focused on the image of a little girl that he never considered what would happen when she grew up. Dating? Fuck no.
“Since you want a girl, I’m going Team Boy.” Marcus waved the papers. “I need your signature, big guy.”
Gavin forced himself to sit when he wanted to pummel someone. “What is it?”
“Contract renewals and my research on building another tower.” Marcus set the stack down with a flourish.
Marcus wanted to build another tower that would cater to homeowners. Gavin didn’t want to cater to anyone, but Marcus was convinced that it would be a great investment for high rollers.
“I’ll read your report, but I’m not making any promises,” Gavin said as he signed the contracts after a cursory glance.
Vinny had been more laid-back. Marcus wasn’t born into the role and he was hungry to keep Pyre Casinos at the forefront. He collected business contacts as if they were going out of style and wanted to be involved in everything from housekeeping standards to the safety of pole dancers in the clubs. Gavin didn’t mind since he had no interest in the small details. Marcus excelled at everything he touched and was on top of everything, including his boss. Gavin had no idea how Marcus had time to monitor his activities when his schedule was jam-packed. Nosy, young bastard. On the other hand, Gavin admired Marcus for his fearlessness in business. Marcus had done more to advance Pyre Casinos than Gavin had in the past five years. After he took over the position of crime lord it became Vinny’s job to run Pyre Casinos smoothly.
“When are you going to the boxing ring on Monday?” Marcus asked.
He shouldn’t be surprised that Marcus knew that he boxed everyday. His secretary kept a two-hour window open everyday so he could train. If no one was available to train in the ring, he went to the gym.
“I have a lot of meetings in the afternoon so I’ll work out at ten. Why?”
“I think I’ll join you.”
Gavin hid a wolfish grin. Getting Marcus in the ring might be fun. “I’m looking forward to it. Now, get out of my office.”
“See you at the party tomorrow. What time does it start?”
“Noon. Do you know where I live?”
“Of course.”
Gavin glared as Marcus snatched the signed papers and exited with a spring in his step. Promoting Marcus was one of the best decisions he ever made, but the damn kid was getting on his nerves. Gavin paced as he read Marcus’s proposal and snorted in disgust before he tossed it on his desk. He logged onto his computer and ignored Marcus’s email asking if he read the proposal yet. Gavin would let him sweat. The proposal was reasonable, ambitious and brilliant. He wouldn’t tell Marcus that. No, he would let the young bastard quake in his shoes and make him think it was a no go. There were investors waiting for his go ahead, but he would make them wait.
Gavin made some phone calls and walked through the casino with his head of security. He greeted a high roller who’d occupied the presidential suite for a month and dropped a cool half million daily before he had drinks with an old business acquaintance named Harmon who straddled the line between legal and illegal.
“Still no word on the identity of the new crime lord,” Harmon said as he sipped Scotch.
“How can that be?” Gavin resisted the urge to smash the delicate crystal glass. “Since when are there such loyal fucks in the underworld?”
“You know there’s only one thing that keeps people quiet.”
Fear.
“Whoever he is, he’s hidden himself behind many people and names.”
“I want to know who he is. I don’t care what it costs,” Gavin said. He wouldn’t rest until the man who murdered his father and Vinny was dead. The specter that haunted his every waking moment would die. He couldn’t live in the same world with that monster lurking in the shadows. Gavin made it his goal that this fucker would suffer. He wouldn’t give up until the specter’s blood coated his hands.
Gavin went back to his office, dissatisfaction eating at his gut. Whoever this guy was, he had everyone by the balls. Why? Was he a dirty cop, politician or richer than him? Unease made him short tempered and clipped during the rest of his meetings. When he couldn’t take the confines of his office a second longer, he left the casino. On impulse, he requested the escort of a branch of his security that used to deal with the underworld. When he drove out of the casino, he looked in his rearview mirror and saw five SUVs filled with his most lethal men. He couldn’t twiddle his thumbs any longer. There was one man who had always been hungry for power and Gavin knew where he worked.
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