Page 34 of Layne Closure Ahead

After a sigh of resignation that she was going to avoid answering his question, he responded to her. “We need to talk. I will come pick you up.”

“I’m not at home.” She looked down at the ground and kicked an empty beer can across the alley.

“I know.” He always seemed to find his way to her, no matter where she was.

Feeling like she could push past the swell of emotions she had felt moments ago that had threatened to swallow her up whole, she moved away from the wall and walked towards the sidewalk.

“Of course you’d know that.” Not hiding the lack of shock in her voice. “Meet me right outside the 50th Street Station.” It wasn’t too far from McGregor’s making it a convenient spot to have him meet her; only a block and a half away.

During that walk she was able to mentally string herself together, desperately hoping it would stay that way. When she got to the end of the block where the subway station entrance was, she immediately recognized Joey straddling his black sports bike patiently waiting for her.

One boot-clad foot pushed the kickstand down before he got off his ride and walked over to her. He was wearing a dark pair of jeans that hugged over his broad thighs and his black leather jacket that always mixed in with his cologne in a delightful and intoxicating combination of scents.

Despite her efforts to keep a mask over her feelings, what he saw when he looked at her prompted him to pull her into his chest and wrap his arms around her without hesitation. His arms squeezed around her firmly, encasing her in his warmth.

Layne wanted to push him away so she didn’t lose herself to something she wasn’t sure she could shut down once it started. Despite wrangling with the side of her that wanted to maintain a strong front, her hands squeezed onto him tighter and she buried her face into his chest a little more.

All the pieces she had just tried gluing back together inside of her were starting to show indications of faltering. A shudder shook her upper body as a quiet sob broke through. Layne had tried to stop it before it came out, but his embrace provided a sense of safety more than any security system ever could. Another sob soon followed and her body lightly trembled against him. The tension could be felt all over her body as it fought against this breakdown that was currently taking its toll on her.

His hands worked gentle rubs along her back to try and erase whatever torment she was suffering. Joey’s hard exterior managed to provide her with a soft landing spot for the emotions that were at war inside of her.

With people passing them by and going about their lives, Joey stood there holding her for as long as she needed at that moment. He was going to try to soak up anything and everything that was weighing down on her by physical touch alone.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Joey had the sense not to ask her any questions before they arrived back at his place.

His unit hadn’t changed much since the last time she had been there. It still had the same minimalist decor representative of how little time he spent in the quaint apartment. There were no photographs or anything else that made it feel personal. It was clear that if he had to up and move, it wouldn’t take long to pack it all up.

The bottle of whiskey was set down on the center island of the kitchen in front of her at her request.

Layne sat there on a kitchen stool her head held in her hands with her fingers tucked into her hair. When she finally looked up, she saw his puppy-like brown hues locked on her and filled with concern.

“Stop staring at me like I’m a wounded animal.” She hated it when her emotions got the best of her, except for anger. She was more than happy to embrace that one any day of the week.

Her hand reached out, pulled the bottle closer to her, and removed the cork. Taking a swig straight from the bottle she let out a sigh as the smooth burn traveled down her throat.

Joey came around from the other side of the island and pulled out a seat for himself. Perching on the stool, he turned to face her.

“What did you want to talk about?” Her eyes drifted over the label of the whiskey bottle to avoid any more looks of pity in her direction. Angel’s Envy. The bottle had an outlined design of feathery wings down the backside of the clear glass container.

His hands reached over and grabbed her legs, pulling her so the stool swiveled to rotate her to face him.

“Last night.” His hands remained latched onto her legs.

Her eyes reluctantly looked over at him. “The part where you left two bodies in Eric’s house or the part where you railed into me on the hood of your car?”

From the draw of his deep breath, it was clear he was summoning as much patience as he could. “Layne, I get there is a lot of fucked up shit going on. You gave me your word last night that you weren’t going to run from this, from us.”

“I’m still here, aren’t I?” It sounded bratty, even to herself. “You told me you just needed to get into Eric’s house to go poke around and look for information. You dropping bodies was not part of the plan. Do you realize how stupid that was? If Eric knew that it was you or that I had any knowledge of what was going on, I’d be six feet in the ground by now or worse.”

Her temper was beginning to roll and it felt better to embrace it than some of the other feelings trying to resurface. Layne lifted the bottle of amber liquid and before she was able to bring it to her mouth again, Joey’s hand grabbed her wrist and stopped her.

“First off, I didn’t have a choice.” He pulled the whiskey from her grasp and set it to the side out of her reach. “Second, he’s not going to lay a hand on you.”

She gave a short laugh of disbelief at how delusional Joey was to think he was going to step in and be able to protect her. That may have been the case a year ago, but it sure as hell wasn’t the same world she was living in now. “Good luck with that.”

He perked a brow at her. Before he could comment, she continued her thoughts, “In case you missed the memo, we’re going to tie the knot so that Liam and I aren’t executed in a horrible and grotesque display of fucked up dominance across the city’s factions. Eric’s ready to charge full steam ahead on this little agreement we have. He was at my house this morning, fucking around with my security system all in the name of ensuring my safety.”

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