Page 4 of Layne Closure Ahead

“I hate to burst your bubble, but I don’t do business with people who come in and poach my employees and destroy my property.”

Eric switched the short-statured glass into his other hand as he moved away from the threat of her current weapon of choice. “You’ll have to forgive me, but I had to see for myself what I was potentially getting into. You didn’t disappoint. Actually, I am rather impressed. The stories about you hardly do you any justice.”

Growing tired of the banter, she contemplated just disposing of him entirely, but that’s when he gave a click of his tongue and shook his head.

“Ah, if I were you, I wouldn’t want to try and take my life just yet. You will want to hear what I’m going to lay out on the bargaining table.”

She blinked a few times in surprise at how easily he just read her. “Then, make your point of why you’re here and make it quickly, I don’t have all damn day for this bullshit.”

Resting one hand on the edge of the bar and leaning against it, he smiled as though he had been waiting for this very moment to answer her. “A merger. You and I. We combine our efforts and organizations, and it creates an unstoppable alliance. Right now, the O’Reilly business operations are struggling and are on the brink of collapse. After the passing of your father, which by the way you do have my deepest condolences, things have not been smooth sailing, have they? Your brother, Liam, is proving to be rather incapable of navigating the stressors of leadership and is leaving it all on your shoulders.”

“We are getting by just fine, but thanks for the concern.” Immediately she was on the defensive as he began to verbally offend the way she and Liam had been handling things. Sure, it wasn’t perfect, but Layne was working on coming up with ways to improve operations while Liam got his shit together.

Another sip of the whiskey had him licking the flavor from his lips. “Ah, ah, ah. Are you being honest with yourself, Layne? Don’t you even know what I can offer you?”

She rolled her eyes, figuring he was going to try and tell her whether she wanted to know or not.

Taking her lack of protest as permission to proceed he continued, “After Michael Franzetti did his vanishing act, I’ve been picking up pieces here and there and turning lumps of coal into diamonds. With the right training and mindset, I have been able to salvage a handful of Franzetti’s little worker bees. Not to mention my growing collection of assets. If you and I were to unite, I could promise you a world where you would never have to worry about cleaning up others’ messes. Including your brother’s.”

Gradually she was lowering her bat as her arm got tired of being at full tension while listening to him pitch himself. “Yeah, no thanks. Now, get the fuck out.”

Leaving his partially drunk glass of whiskey behind, he came up to her. “I’m not looking for an answer right now. All I’m asking is to keep this conversation going. That’s all. I want to help you salvage what’s left of your father’s legacy and turn it into something greater. He’d want that, wouldn’t he?”

“Don’t talk like you knew him.” Her jaw tensed as she thought about how her dad might be rolling over in his grave seeing the state of affairs everything was in right now.

Eric slowly reached out to hold her chin gently with his thumb and forefinger. “I’m not looking to be the villain in your story. I’m just trying to help us both get what we want.”

Layne jerked her face away from his subtle intimate touch. “What’s in it for you?”

His lips curved into a proud smile. “What a smart girl you are. I don’t have the history and clout with some of the other major top dogs across the city to pull enough weight to successfully execute my vision for my home base of operations here. The O’Reilly name is well known. If everyone knows we are working hand-in-hand, it would make both of our lives much easier. If I had your support, I could provide for an extraordinarily comfortable existence in whichever way you would prefer it.”

“Let me get this straight, you want me to help you by using my connections to get you in the door with other contacts while you iron out the wrinkles in the way we are currently doing things?” It sounded far too simple to Layne. Easy ways out just didn’t fall from the sky.

He grinned. “Something like that.”

“Something like that, or just like that?” She knew the devil was in the details.

Eric put on the same smile that all the politicians used to pitch their false promises. “Let’s make a deal here, huh? We can discuss the details further, but in the meantime let’s see if this could be a happy little alliance, hm? You can still be the force that you’ve always been while fulfilling your father’s final wishes to settle down with a man to provide for you, and your family’s business will get the support and direction it requires to thrive.”

It all sounded far too good to be true, except the settling down part. When anyone approaches you with a deal out of the blue, the chances of them being a snake oil salesman are almost always a certainty. “I’ll think about it.”

“That’s all I ask. As a peace offering and show of good faith, I will send my crew here to clean up the mess. Things will be back to fully operational by tomorrow evening.”

“If they’re not, I will personally ensure that you will be wishing you were in his shoes.” She warned as she motioned at the dead guy behind her.

He chuckled, despite she had made it quite clear she was being serious. “My little harpy, I promise you that there will be no such need.”

Eric’s hand reached out to stroke the side of her cheek in an affectionate gesture. Layne snatched his wrist tightly, preventing him from touching her face again. Her emerald eyes were full of nothing but cold and emptiness.

He gave a sharp tug on his hand causing Layne to stumble forward two steps closer to him. He ran his tongue over his lips before displaying a smirk across his mouth. “One day, you’ll be begging for the soft touch of my hand.”

Disgusted by the look in his eyes as he watched her, Layne released his wrist and backed away. “That’s one bet I wouldn’t make if I were you.”

He gave a casual shrug and walked over to the two front doors, pulling one open to make his exit. Eric paused before he fully passed through it, he looked back over his shoulder at Layne. “The odds are better than you think.”

He left Layne there alone in the disastrous-looking Brass Mirror.

Looking across the room at her reflection in one of the few remaining intact mirrors, a person was standing there that she didn’t even recognize. Layne took hold of her bat and unleashed the bottled-up fury inside of her, taking it out on anything in her path.

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