Page 40 of Incoming Layne Shift

Layne squeezed into the backseat behind Joey who slid in after her to take his seat at the wheel and start up the engine.

Scooting over to the center seat so she could look at both of them, she primarily focused on Gage who was already sitting in the front passenger seat. “What the fuck was that?!” She shouted at him.

Gage was shaking his head, seething as the anger rolled off of him in waves. His fist punched the dash several times. His other hand yanked down his mask as he glared at Joey. “He fucking had a hand in it! You’re just going to let him walk away?! That motherfucker deserves a one-way ticket straight to hell!”

Joey removed his mask, tossing it down forcefully into the cupholder between the front seats. His hands rubbed over his face trying to think past Gage’s yelling in his ear.

She did her best to get Gage to bring it down a notch as she leaned forward and reached a hand out to touch his cheek and turn him to look at her. Layne wasn’t sure what the hell had Gage ready to go on a goddamn bender, but she needed to find out.

It took a lot of coaxing from her to get him to take his eyes off Joey while his breathing remained heavy from the aggression flexing all over his body. “You need to calm down.” Her words were stern.

Dropping his hands down onto the wheel, Joey put the Challenger in drive and began to head back to O’Reilly Manor. “Layne, put your seatbelt on.” His eyes glanced back at her in the rearview. He wasn’t driving particularly aggressively, but hell if he wasn’t going to make sure that she was safely secured in the event of an unforeseen accident. As far as Joey was concerned, Layne was the most precious piece of cargo in the vehicle.

Ignoring him, she kept her eyes on Gage as the softness of her fingers stroked over the coarse hairs of his short and dark blonde beard. “Gage, look?—”

In unison, both De Lucas cut off her words while shooting demanding looks at her. “Put it on!” It seemed that Gage also had a vested interest in her safety.

She sighed and sat back in the seat, dropping her hand away from Gage’s face. After she drew the belt across her body, latching it in, she wanted nothing more than to stick her tongue out at them both childishly.

Keeping his eyes on the road, Joey finally gathered enough of his thoughts. “We don’t know it was Russell.”

“The fuck we don’t. Who the hell makes that type of comparison except someone who has first-hand knowledge of some incredibly dark shit?” Gage sat back in his seat trying his best not to assault the dashboard again. “Did you see the smug look on his face?”

“He always has a smug look on his face, it’s a permanent affliction.” She chimed in from the backseat. “The two of you need to fill me in on what the hell is going on.” If Russ was potentially involved in something more than conspiring against her becoming a force to be reckoned with in this city, she needed to factor that into her next move.

She was met with silence.

“Oh, for fucks sake. Pull over.”

When Joey didn’t immediately make a move to pull the car off the road, she slammed her hand on the back of his seat giving it a good jostle. “I SAID PULL THE FUCK OVER!”

Her temper and intolerance reached new peaks that must have surprised even Joey who didn’t hesitate to pull over to the side of the road. Layne released her seatbelt and cursed this godforsaken two-door vehicle. If she could have easily climbed out, she may have done just that and walked her ass the rest of the way home.

Instead, she leaned forward over the center console and looked at them both. “Both of you listen to me very clearly. I’m tired of the damn looks you keep giving one another while you decide to keep shit to yourselves. You both signed up for this, so I’m going to need you to respect that I have a business to run that requires me to have all the cards laid out in front of me. If you don’t want to do that, then I will get out of this damn car right now.”

With both sets of eyes staring back at her, shocked expressions plastered over their faces.

“Well? Are you going to fill me in or not?”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Gage’s hand adjusting himself in his pants clearly thinking about filling her up instead. Then, she glanced down at Joey, who hadn’t even bothered to hide his erection creating a tent between his legs.

Exasperated, she murmured, “Jesus, help me.” Layne was sure that trying to get through to both of them was going to require her to come up with more creative ways so their brains didn’t immediately drop into their dicks.

“I don’t think Jesus is your type,” Gage smirked. It was the first indication that his vengeful mood had simmered down a little. Joey stifled a laugh in response with his hand trying to subtly hide his grin at his brother’s comment. He didn’t want Layne murdering him in his car which was his pride and joy.

Sombering up a little, Gage turned more in his seat so he could fully face Layne. “You’re right, baby, but I’m not talking about it here. Let’s get home first, ‘cause I’m going to need a damn drink for this.” He leaned over and heatedly captured her mouth with his, trying to ease away her frustrations.

Joey’s hand reached over and eased her face away from Gage’s so he could also apologetically share a loving kiss with her. “Layney, we will share what we know, okay?” He didn’t want to jump to conclusions about Russ’s statements, but Gage’s instincts very well could have been on the right path this time.

She straightened herself up, still riled up from the way they had always been dancing around some giant elephant in the room while she was around. “Thank you.”

After getting settled back in her seat, safely belted in, Joey drove the rest of the way back to their home.

Once inside, they all got more comfortably dressed and gathered in the living room. Layne sat down on the sofa in a set of midnight blue shorts with a matching white and navy zip-up hoodie. Joey took a seat next to her, drawing her into his lap while he wore a pair of basketball shorts and nothing else.

Gage entered the room wearing a pair of grey sweats borrowed from Joey, and his tightly fitted black tank. The sweatpants were Layne’s favorite pair Joey owned, and seeing them on Gage, she could agree that they were without a doubt the world’s best sweatpants.

In Gage’s hands, he showed he came bearing gifts, three glasses each filled with bourbon poured over a large sphere-shaped piece of ice. He handed off a beverage to both Layne and Joey before easing himself down onto the sofa. His hand pulled Layne’s feet into his lap. Both men felt more at ease having a physical connection with her.

---