Page 5 of Incoming Layne Shift

Joey swallowed down the memory, keeping it safely tucked away. Clearing his throat, he shook away the unsteadiness of his voice. “She died from the injuries she sustained. The doctors said it had been injuries consistent with what you would find in third-world countries where captives are beaten and assaulted within an inch of their lives, but never to the point of death. Merely, an ongoing lifetime of torture at the hands of monsters.”

She wrinkled her forehead in sympathy, unable to imagine what the poor girl had gone through. “I’m so sorry.” Layne knew those words could never ease the pain, but despite Joey’s attempt to keep his emotions detached, even she could see how Rosie’s death made a lasting impact on him.

He shook his head. “If Gage had been smarter and stopped to think about his actions, it would have never happened. He knew better, but he continued to be reckless anyway. That part of him will never change, Layne.”

“This is all your fault, motherfucker!” Gage shouted back in Joey’s face. “You were the one that inserted yourself into Rosie and I’s relationship. Then, when push comes to shove, you just let them walk out of there with her!”

One of Joey’s hands pushed against Gage’s shoulder. “My fault?! You decided to play stupid fuckin’ games with the wrong people! I did what I could, but I couldn’t help get her back if I was a goddamn corpse! I don’t recall your unconscious ass being much help either.” The sharpness of his words cut through the air.

Gage half-laughed in disbelief. “I would have died for her. I loved her, and you only wanted to fuck her.”

Even ten years later those wounds still wept.

CHAPTER THREE

Last night had been draining on multiple levels, and this afternoon wasn’t shaping up to be much better.

“I think it’s better if you’re not here.” Layne looked at Joey as they both stood there in the office located on the first floor of the home they shared. On the exterior, she may have looked confident and at ease, but internally, her apprehension was coiled tightly with her nerves fraying.

He squeezed her shoulders, seeing straight past the multiple walls she had raised up all around her. With a nod he agreed, not liking it, but she needed to hold her ground on this. “Feel free to pop one in his ass if he gets too far out of line.” It’s what Joey would like to do to Liam regardless of being given a reason or not.

A smile cracked at the corner of her mouth. Joey grinned seeing a glimpse of one of the things that made his life worth living—Layne’s happiness. His thumb and finger took her by the chin and drew her lips into a drawn-out kiss. It was a brief stint in his own personal heaven.

She could feel herself beginning to lose her control over the tough exterior she had spent all morning building up as his mouth took over hers. Layne had come to terms that Joey was capable of getting past all her defenses with so much as a damn look. However, today she couldn’t afford to have her vulnerabilities on display like a highway billboard.

As much as she didn’t want to end the affectionate moment, she eased her face away from his. “Get the hell out of here before I end up a puddle on the floor.”

He smirked at her and whispered in her ear. “I will have you begging to be a puddle later.”

Layne’s cheeks flushed slightly with heat at the thought and she smacked her hand against his chest. “Go already!” Her teeth pressed into her bottom lip trying to suppress her smile.

Joey finally listened to her and left O’Reilly Manor to go take care of some business matters of his own. Word had gotten around that his masked alter ego might have had a hand in disposing of one very disliked mayor who had just stepped down from his position. Contracts were rolling in left and right, providing a steady stream of income.

Liam arrived twenty minutes later. He walked into the office they had been sharing ever since Layne had moved into their father’s house after hers was burned down by that dipshit ex-husband of hers, Eric Ellis.

A pair of designer sunglasses remained over his eyes to protect his hungover ass from being blinded by life itself. He had a coffee in his hand as he looked around at the rather empty space. “Where is everybody?”

Layne sat in the chair behind the desk, the blue envelope from her dad she had discovered months ago in her hands. “I told everyone the meeting was canceled today.”

Her brother walked over to the desk and a brow lifted above the top rim of his shades. “Why are you in my chair?” He set the paper coffee cup down on the desk. “And, you what?” His voice was still hoarse from the drunken binge he had engaged in yesterday at the strip club.

“I told everyone we weren’t meeting today.” Thanks to more financial stability and a few trusted associates, Layne had managed to get the O’Reilly family’s business dealings back on track. There was still a lot of work to be done, but at least they were slowly rebuilding their workforce again.

“Why the fuck did I come down here then?!” He yelled at her and then winced as his escalated volume prompted a harder pulse of his headache.

Ignoring his attitude, “Because you and I need to talk, Liam.” She stared at him without giving away how apprehensive she was about this entire encounter. “It was driving me insane that you haven’t been able to access our primary account.”

He groaned in annoyance about this bullshit being brought up again. “For fucks sake, Layne. I will get to taking care of it when I get to it. I have a bunch of shit on my plate right now.”

She shook her head and pulled her phone out, dialing the banking institution’s number and placing it on speakerphone so he could hear for himself. After a few prompts, a female representative came on the line.

“Thank you for calling Sandy Island Financials. How may I help you today?”

Layne sat back in the chair and motioned for Liam to go ahead and get this taken care of.

He rolled his eyes and placed his hands on the desk. “Yeah, I can’t access my damn account. Something is fucked up on your end of the system, this is the fifth time I’ve called.”

She quietly scoffed and shook her head; it was more like the second time he had called.