Page 13 of Layne Closure Ahead

Layne ended up soaking part of his shove meant for Kristill, which was probably for the better considering she was likely less than one hundred pounds soaking wet. “Enough! What the fuck is wrong with you?!”

Kristill was still reeling from the strike, holding her face which had blossomed in a bright red glow.

If Liam wanted to throw another hit, he was going to have to go through Layne. While Kristill was not on Layne’s list of favorite people, she didn’t deserve to be Liam’s punching bag either. Fortunately, he decided to choose his battles wisely and left Layne unscathed for now.

Noticing that a couple of the guys that still worked for them were standing in the doorway to the office, staring dumbly at the scene unfolding, Layne got even more pissed off. Glaring at them she pointed at them and then Kristill. “What the fuck are you staring at? Get her out of here!”

She shook her head as the two men finally snapped into gear and escorted Kristill out of the office, and hopefully out of the house altogether.

Layne turned her head to look back at her brother. “Really? You’ve been blowing our money on that? Damnit, Li! I keep telling you we can’t keep doing this!”

He backed up and kicked over a wastebasket that was to the side of his desk sending it skittering across the floor into a bookshelf. “I don’t need you chastising me, Layne! Learn to stay in your damn place! I’ve got this handled!”

“Handled?! The only thing that I can see that you’ve got handled is dismantling this entire damn operation!” She scoffed that he could believe that anything they had going on in their lives was being handled.

“Do us both a favor, huh?” He came up to her, his face still flushed with enough red rage that it could have passed for a volcanic eruption. “Keep your damn mouth shut until I ask for your opinion. I’m tired of hearing you yapping at me every other day.”

She should have been the one to explode, but she bit her tongue as she heard him loud and clear. Shaking her head, she made her decision. “I told you if you didn’t salvage operations that I would, and you wouldn’t like the way I handle things. You’ve left me no choice, and that’s something you’re going to have to deal with. I’m not going to be held responsible for your inability to step up and be a damn man. The spoiled little brat who doesn’t get to play for free act is getting real fuckin’ old.”

Layne walked away from him. She knew what she needed to do. If she was going to survive in a world where the other big bad criminals fed on the weak, she had to strengthen her position. She couldn’t rely on Liam any longer. If her family name was ever going to command the respect it once had under Scott O’Reilly’s leadership, Layne was going to have to be the one to step up and make the hard sacrifices.

CHAPTER SIX

In a rare instance of waking up before her alarm wailed, Layne had been trying to fend off the headache nagging at the inside of her skull all night. The events that transpired the day before with Joey, Eric, and Liam had left her mind unable to turn itself off.

When she did finally get out of bed, she got ready for her outing with Eric. She stared at her clothes hanging up inside of her walk-in closet. Layne internally debated as to what she should wear to meet with a potential ally who appeared to have the hots for her. She couldn’t deny that at least he was a sight worth looking at in return.

After spending far too much thought on it, she opted for a pair of skin-tight jeans that flattered the shape of her legs and the curve of her ass. They had always been her favorite pair. Matching the jeans with a light blue sweater with a low-cut v-neck was a compromise between casual and flirty. Not to mention a little bit of warmth, given the shift into the crisp autumn air that was falling over the northeast.

Layne swept her hair up into a loose bun, only a few rogue strands falling away from the bundle of chestnut locks at the back of her head.

Once she was downstairs, while she was draping a black knit scarf around the back of her neck, the chime of the doorbell sounded. Unhooking her coat from a rack on the wall, she swiftly slid it on before answering the front door.

Standing there on the other side was her potential new business partner, Eric. His eyes lit up when he saw her, and he held out a cup of coffee for her. “A peace offering for springing this on you last minute yesterday.”

Trying not to let on that she appreciated the coffee too much, she managed to only give him a polite smile before accepting the steaming cup of joe. “Thanks.”

After locking up her house, they walked a few blocks over until they approached Central Park. People were casually walking along a paved path, some with their dogs, others with their strollers, and some training for their next big 5k.

Layne took a sip from her coffee noting that it had notes of nutmeg and vanilla in it, a satisfying combination with the richness of the dark roast. It was fancy, much like Eric, but still appreciated for its caffeine content.

She looked over at the man who was determined to find mutual ground with her. “Well, you have me here. What’s your proposal?”

Eric wasn’t dressed nearly as formally as he had been when they first met. He was wearing a navy pullover sweater with a lighter blue shirt underneath and a pair of khaki pants that fit his lower body perfectly.

He smirked as Layne cut right to the point. “I hoped for us to get to know each other on a more personal level before diving right into business discussions.”

Her eyebrows lifted briefly before she gave a partial laugh. “I don’t bring my personal life into my business if I can help it.” She walked off the path onto the lawn that had the beginnings of fallen leaves sprinkled indiscriminately across it. The blustery air carried nature’s little messengers of the season change to and fro.

He followed beside her. “Your life is your business, and soon you’re not going to have either if drastic changes aren’t made.”

She stopped and turned to face him, not appreciating the way he pointed out the seriousness of her situation. “Are you trying to intimidate me?”

He shook his head. “Not at all, but you know as well as I that the state of things will make you and everyone tied to you a weak and easy target. I don’t want to see that happen.”

Layne narrowed her eyes at him. “Why should you care?”

Eric leaned in and dropped the volume of his voice as though he was going to share highly confidential information. “Call me a bleeding heart.” He smiled at her before he walked to a bench set underneath a line of trees and motioned for her to take a seat beside him.

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