Lock You In My Heart

Chapter 450

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. Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

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!

“Now Gabrielle, load the gun with the bullet again. Let me see if you can do it.” Lance handed a bullet to Gabrielle and asked her to load the gun again.

This was the only way for him to know for sure whether Gabrielle would be able to make it or not.

After all, it was related to life and death.

And death was not something you could make fun of.

“Gabrielle, do it again. I’ll keep an eye on it. If there’s anything wrong, we’ll do it again. We’ll be ready to leave only after you’ve completely learnt,” Lance said with a serious tone and expression.

“Lance, I will try hard.” Gabrielle became serious now. She had to be careful and protect herself.

She realized that now she had come to a point from where there 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 a burden on him.

“Well, I believe you can do it. 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 any mistake.

Gabrielle was proving to be really good at it. She could operate the gun in a short time. So there was no need for Lance to be worried.

“Gabrielle, that’s impressive. You’ve learned it very fast and you’re 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 glad by Gabrielle’s ability to learn it so quickly.

On being praised, Gabrielle was a little happy. But it did not last too long. Suddenly her face became serious again.

“Lance, we’ll do this, right? We’ll really be able to come out of this, isn’t it?” Lance realized that though Gabrielle was rising to the occasion, it was normal for her to be so worried.

“I 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.” Saying that, Lance left quickly.

After changing her clothes, Gabrielle decided to lie down on the bed. But as time passed, she felt more and more restless.

The thought whirling in her mind was, ‘Will I be able to go back home alive? Can I leave Thailand safely?’

Though it did strike her a few times, she didn’t dare to call or send a message to Westley.

Two hours later, Lance knocked the door of Gabrielle’s room.

“Gabrielle! Are you ready? The car is here. We need to leave now!” Lance called out to her.

When Gabrielle got up and opened the door, she saw that Lance was also dressed in a camouflaging dress. It was quite similar to what he had given her. The way he had geared himself, it looked like it was very unsafe for them to go out tonight.

One glance at him and her anxiety returned. The more worried she was, the more uneasy she felt.

“Okay, Lance! Let’s go downstairs. I’m ready.” Gabrielle went inside and brought her backpack. She started to follow Lance and they moved downstairs.

“Lance, do you think Bryce is safe there?”

‘If it is not safe for us here, will Bryce be safe in such a place?’ Gabrielle wondered.

If Gabrielle and Lance went to look for Bryce now, things could get complicated. And being seriously injured, Bryce wasn’t even in a condition to protect himself.

“Don’t worry about him. He’s safe 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 the area.” Lance had already pondered long on it and had selected a safe place for Bryce. He wasn’t going to leave Bryce in danger.

“Well, that’s good! That is really thoughtful of you!” Gabrielle heaved a sigh of relief on knowing that Bryce was safe. She was really glad that Lance was so concerned and considerate about Bryce’s safety.

As soon as Gabrielle saw the shoe-sized gift box, she wanted to refuse.

Gabrielle had already stood Westley up and followed Lance to Thailand. If she would accept his present, she’d feel even more guilty for disobeying her husband.

“Lance, I…”

“Just think about it first. You can open it later when you’re alone and see for yourself. I think this is going to be useful for you.” Lance was quick to cut Gabrielle off because he knew she would probably refuse him.

Gabrielle gave him a hesitant look, even as she took the box from him.

“T-Thanks… I’m sorry I didn’t prepare a gift for you.” Gabrielle apologized.

“Well, you’re having dinner with me now. I think this is the best Christmas gift I can get.” Lance smiled. “And let’s go see Bryce after you get changed.” “Huh?”

Gabrielle looked up, eyes wide.

“Lance, what did you say? Are you taking me to see Bryce after dinner?” ‘Hadn’t he decided to meet him tomorrow? Why the sudden change?’ Gabrielle suddenly felt uneasy.

She knew Lance was a perfectionist when it came to meetings and schedules. He wouldn’t move fixed dates just for something minor. There had to be a big emergency.

“Aren’t you eager to see him? You’ve been in a good mood this whole time, so I figured we can go meet him today. So, eat up because we’ll be on the road for more than three hours.” Lance instructed. “I’m afraid you’d be tired on the way.”

Gabrielle heaved a sigh of relief. The sooner she met Bryce, the sooner she could go back home and apologize to Westley.

It was all in her favor.

“I’ll be fine, Lance. A three or four-hour drive isn’t going to hurt.” Gabrielle assured him.

She would meet Bryce and solve the problem as fast as she could. After that, she’d go home and explain everything to Westley.

Rather than feeling tired, she was looking forward to it.

“Alright, but let’s not keep the food waiting.” Lance placed different kinds of dishes on Gabrielle’s plate.

Anticipating her reunion with Bryce, she worked up an appetite.

After dinner, Lance handed her a black bag.

“There are clothes and shoes in here. Go get dressed, and don’t forget to unwrap my gift.” Lance looked at her expectantly.

Even he couldn’t control what kind of situation warranted the sudden change in their plans. In such a short time, all Lance could do was prepare tighter security and strengthen his defense. Protecting Gabrielle was the most important thing to him.

“Lance, what’s wrong? Why are you being so serious?” Gabrielle was a bit naive, but she could sense something was wrong. It felt like they were running away from something.

Did they offend anyone?

Lance ruefully smiled at her question. He knew she had always been smart and sensitive.

It seemed like he was making things obvious. No wonder Gabrielle tho

ught something was off.

“Everything’s fine, Gabrielle. I just want you to be comfortable in your clothes. You know how it’s like in Southeast Asia.” Lance patted her head.

Hearing his words made Gabrielle relieved a little bit.

“Alright, then, I’ll go get changed.” Pushing the doubts away, she went back to her room with the bag in hand.

When she opened it, she found a set of camouflage clothing, a bulletproof vest, military boots and a mask… It was a complete get-up for a special operative.

Gabrielle was frozen in shock, the uneasiness she felt earlier creeping back. She only hoped to see Bryce again, but what was all of this?

Tensed, she opened the gift box. At first glance, it looked like a normal set of jewelry, but as she picked a piece up, she found out the truth. She knew by then that it was a mini tracker.

She carefully removed the middle compartment and saw a small silver pistol with twenty special bullets.

Gabrielle was speechless. The situation was quite clear now.

It was not only for self-defense, but a definitive fight was brewing.

How could Gabrielle know anything about shooting a gun? Lance overestimated her.

Gabrielle hurriedly stuffed all the things back inside the box and thought to ask Lance about the whole situation. She didn’t expect this could be dangerous.

‘Did Lance bring me here to see Bryce? Or did he have another motive?’

When she opened the door, Lance was standing outside curiously playing with a sharp Swiss Army knife.

“…Lance, what…” Gabrielle was taken aback by what she’d seen.

“I was supposed to give this to you.” Lance said.

“Wait, I have a question. What are we doing here exactly? Why did you prepare all these things for me? Why would I need such things just to meet Bryce? This is insane!” Gabrielle roughly shoved the box into his stomach.

Lance swiftly caught the box in his hands and pulled Gabrielle into her room.

“Gabrielle, listen. The jewelry is equipped with a satellite tracker. No matter where you are, I will always find you. There’s also a satellite phone. It’s important that you keep it with you at all times.” As Lance spoke, he took out the gun. “And most of all, I’ll have to teach you how to shoot.”

Time was running out, so he had to teach Gabrielle quickly. Having a gun always came in handy in dangerous situations.

They had about two hours and that was hopefully enough.

“Lance, you’re not answering my questions! Please stop scaring me. Let’s go back. I don’t want to see Bryce anymore.” Fear had taken over Gabrielle. She was at a loss what to do.

She only came to Thailand for the chance to see Bryce again, but who knew things would turn out this way? ‘Who’s the enemy? Why do I have to fight?’ Gabrielle had never felt so terrified in her whole life.