Page 14 of Layne Closure Ahead

Stupidity generally wasn’t one of Layne’s top traits, and it would be stupid of her not to be skeptical of his motives. After following him to the bench, she continued to stand.

“Alright, let’s get personal then.” Her eyes reflected her consideration of the next move she needed to make in this game of dangerous and violent real-world chess. “Bleeding heart or not, this isn’t solely a business move for you. If it was, you’d be speaking with Liam. So, why me?”

Impressed with her assessment he nodded.

“All due respect, your brother isn’t cut of the same cloth as your father was. You on the other hand, very much are.”

Her expression shifted slightly indicating she didn’t quite believe him. “Says the man who hardly knows a thing about me.”

Eric grinned and leaned back against the bench, as he spread his arms along the backrest and he locked arctic blue eyes on her.

“I know enough. Besides, I know that an alliance between us would send a strong message to the other factions. Together, we could be a force to be reckoned with. Isn’t that the type of respect you deserve? Your father had it.”

Layne hated that he was laying out a game plan that was not only beneficial but made sense. She finally opted to take a seat next to him but was sure to leave a comfortable amount of space between the two of them. There was no sense in letting him get the wrong idea that she was particularly keen on this. She drank from her coffee cup as she let the entire concept of both a personal and business merger soak in.

“Just spit it out. What are the terms?” She stared straight ahead, her eyes focusing on the scenery of buildings jutting into the skyline.

His hand reached over and rested on top of her leg, just above the knee. “For starters, we could make it clear to the public eye that we will be working together very closely. Then, we can discuss how you’d like to tie the knot.”

His touch immediately snagged her attention and shook something up inside of her. When her head turned to look at him, he seemed to be positioned closer to her.

“Gee, you go all out on a proposal, don’t you?”

Eric’s hand slid up her leg gradually. “Are you saying ‘no’?”

She grazed her teeth across her bottom lip as she brought her face in closer to his.

“I’m saying you’re going to need a hell of a lot more than a two-minute elevator pitch and a cup of coffee to convince me to say ‘yes’.” Layne straightened up and pulled back from him. When she decided to stand back up to distance his touch on her leg, his hand grabbed hers to encourage her not to leave. His hold was firm but not painful.

“Give me a chance to show you how you can have everything you’ve ever wanted and more than you’ve dreamed of. But, let’s face it, you don’t have much time left to make up your mind.” He was pointing out what she had been trying to avoid thinking about. Time.

After her encounter with Liam yesterday, she had even less time than most people knew. The painful realization couldn’t be hidden from her eyes knowing she was running out of options and the train was running out of track.

Eric keenly picked up on it and stood up, releasing her hand, and running his hands over the yarn of her scarf draped around her neck. He wrapped his hands up in the material and used it to tug her in closer to him.

Looking up into the devilish charm of his face, she knew he was more aware of how precarious her position was than he was letting on.

His face neared hers while his silky tone offered unspoken promises. “We can take the world by storm, my little harpy.”

She wanted to choke on the air around her. Damn him. Damn her. Damn it all. Damn everything to hell.

“I will have an answer for you by the time I see you at the party at the end of the month.” That at least seemed like a decent amount of a delay for her to figure her shit out. Miracles happen all the time, right?

He whispered into her ear with a purr. “I look forward to it.” The softness of his lips left a light caress against the side of her face as he uttered his words to her. Layne’s heartbeat quickened and when she turned her head, his mouth was right there hovering over hers.

“If I were you, I wouldn’t disappoint me.” His hold released from her scarf, letting the ends fall back down into place before giving her a little more room to breathe.

Eric had insisted on escorting her back to her house after they had carried a lighter topic of conversation. He told her about the renovations on his house and the way he was getting to know some of the other faction heads planted across the city.

As they left the park, Eric took ahold of her hand and quickly crossed the street to avoid getting run over by typical New York drivers. Walking by various parked vehicles along the street, Layne failed to notice that they walked by a black sports bike with a helmet resting on the seat. A helmet with decals representing a skull-like smile across the front of it.

After arriving back on her front steps, Eric managed to sneak in a quick peck on her cheek before he went on his way. Something in the way he had looked at her before he left indicated there was far more to his interests than he was divulging to her.

Layne was left wondering whether tying herself to Eric was grabbing onto a lifeline or was it an anchor that was going to pull her down into the depths of the ocean? There was only going to be one way to find out.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Each day following her outing with Eric, a new bouquet of fresh stems was delivered to her house. Today’s delivery was a unique set of blossoms wrapped in black florist paper. It was a mixture of roses and lilies, but it was their coloring that made them so eye-catching.

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