Lock You In My Heart

Lance stared at Gabrielle for a while. He could understand her uneasiness and fear completely.

He hadn’t told her the truth earlier, because he didn’t want her to be too scared.

The fact was that he had earned the wrath of a notorious gang in Thailand after ruining their business. As he had been in Antawood all this time, the gang didn’t dare to create trouble for him directly.

But now that he was in Thailand, he was their target. Although he came there in his private plane, he was being watched closely. And they had tracked him down in a short time.

Lance had planned to stay there for the night, but he changed his mind because of this unprecedented trouble that had risen.

“Gabrielle, listen to me carefully. Take these things with you. You’ll need them for self-defense. It’s not a bad idea for you to be prepared. Honestly, it’s in a mess here. One can’t afford a single mishap.” Lance didn’t tell her anything directly, but he loaded the gun with bullets.

“Lance, what are you talking about? Do you think I’m an idiot? There are countless tourists coming to Thailand every year. Not every one of them needs to wear bullet proof clothing, carry guns and knives to protect themselves. If you don’t tell me the truth, I won’t come with you tonight.” Gabrielle was not convinced by Lance’s words. She didn’t want to be confused and unaware of the things that were happening around them.

If she had known it would be so dangerous to come to Thailand with Lance, she would have stayed with Westley.

“Okay! I’ll tell you the truth. The thing is, I destroyed the big business of a gang in Thailand, accidentally. They have been waiting for an opportunity to take revenge. I hadn’t been in Thailand all this while, so they didn’t have the chance to do anything to me. And keeping it in mind, I came here on a private plane. I was sure that I’d be able to land unnoticed by their spies. But looks like they have found me. So I need to leave from here tonight.” Lance narrated everything in the briefest manner. Then, he put the gun in Gabrielle’s hand.

“Gabrielle, do you understand what I’m telling you? Now, try to take aim and shoot. Don’t worry. This gun has a silencer to it. There will be no sound made by it. Considering that you are using it for probably first time and the recoil is not very strong, don’t be nervous. Come on now. Shoot at the pillow.” Lance pointed at the pillow on the sofa and urged her to shoot at it. He had to equip her for her own sake.

Gabrielle took a deep breath, but her heartbeat kept racing. She had never expected that Lance would be in such grave trouble. He was being hunted down for a mistake he did.

Suddenly, a thought struck her. Could she leave Thailand alive?

“Lance, will we be able to go back home alive?” Gabrielle couldn’t help asking. Her hands were shaking with nervousness.

“Gabrielle, don’t be so scared. And don’t let such silly thoughts come into your mind.” Lance tried to stay strong but even he was worried and couldn’t deny that he too was worried about the same thing.

Why was he having such a thought? Although those people came looking for Lance, he knew he could get away from them. He had a way to deal with it. But having Gabrielle by his side, he was not so relaxed and certain.

It didn’t matter to him if he got hurt, but he didn’t want Gabrielle to get hurt in all this.

“Lance, I… I’m just worried!” she muttered. She felt uneasy to be caught in such a situation. And it was understandable for her to be so worried.

“Gabrielle, please don’t worry. I will solve everything. What you need to do now is to learn to shoot as soon as possible! Have a try. Focus, aim and pull the trigger. Don’t be afraid. I know you can do it!” Lance coaxed her. He wanted her to be able to use the gun.

Gabrielle calmed down slowly and tried to take steady breaths. She kept her eyes fixed on the pillow, trying to focus on it.

There was hardly anything else to do. Now that she had got a weapon in her hand, the only thing to do was to learn to use it well and protect herself. If there was an emergency and Lance was too distracted to protect her, she would be easily harmed. And if he tried to focus on her, he would be injured easily.

Gabrielle tried hard to calm down. She concentrated keenly on the pillo

w and shot.

There was no sound of gunshot, but she did feel a force push her a bit. She was surprised when she realized that she had hit her target!

“That’s good, Gabrielle. See, I told you that you can do it. Did you see it? You hit it. It’s great.” Lance applauded excitedly. He was glad her aiming ability was good.

“Lance, did I really do that? I can’t believe it myself.” Gabrielle was surprised at the accuracy of her shot.

She wondered if she was really born to do this!

see if you can do

only way for him to know for sure whether Gabrielle would be able to make it or

was related to life and

was not something you could

anything wrong, we’ll do it again. We’ll be ready to leave only after you’ve completely learnt,” Lance said with a

will try hard.” Gabrielle became serious now.

was no way to retreat. She had to accept it. The process of learning would be helpful not only for herself but also for Lance. She did not want to be

Let’s try two more times and make sure it can be finished.” Lance was doing all this to protect Gabrielle from danger which was lurking around them. There couldn’t be

operate the gun in a short time. So there

good at it too. Now remember, if you’re in any danger, just repeat what you’ve learned and done here. I believe you can do it!” Lance was really

praised, Gabrielle was a little happy. But it did

come out of this, isn’t it?” Lance realized that though Gabrielle was

promise you, Gabrielle, we’ll be fine. Just change your clothes. I’ll go out first. We’ll set out in two hours. You can have rest till then.”

to lie down on the bed. But as

her mind was, ‘Will I be able to go back home alive? Can I leave

she didn’t dare to call or send a

hours later, Lance knocked

We need to leave now!” Lance

was quite similar to

anxiety returned. The more worried she was, the more uneasy

inside and brought her backpack. She

you think Bryce

us here, will Bryce be safe

now, things could get complicated. And being seriously injured, Bryce wasn’t even in a condition to

in the depths of a dense forest on the border. People can’t find him easily. And that place doesn’t belong to this gang, so they can’t enter

thoughtful of you!” Gabrielle heaved a sigh of relief on knowing that Bryce was safe. She was really

as Gabrielle saw the shoe-sized gift box, she wanted

and followed Lance to Thailand. If she would accept his present, she’d feel even more

“Lance, I…”

I think this is going to be useful for you.” Lance was quick

look, even as she took the

I’m sorry I didn’t prepare a gift for

this is the best Christmas gift I can get.” Lance smiled. “And let’s go see Bryce after you get changed.”

up, eyes

say? Are you taking me to see Bryce after dinner?” ‘Hadn’t he decided to meet him tomorrow? Why the sudden change?’ Gabrielle suddenly

a perfectionist when it came to meetings and schedules. He wouldn’t move fixed dates just for something minor. There had to

today. So, eat up

The sooner she met Bryce, the sooner she could go back home

all

fine, Lance. A three or four-hour drive

solve the problem as fast as she could. After that, she’d go home and explain

tired, she was looking forward

food waiting.” Lance placed different kinds

reunion with Bryce,

Lance handed her