Page 41 of Incoming Layne Shift

There was a moment while she sat there that she wondered if this was how she could envision a random weeknight with both of them. Something as mundane as lounging on the couch together, simply enjoying one another’s presence without worrying about what was going on outside their little world. It was a bittersweet fantasy, something that she wasn’t sure would become a reality given all the risks they all took on the daily.

It took a few sips of the mahogany-colored liquor before Gage finally eased into the topic at hand. “You already know about our relationship with Rosie, but I don’t think we’ve been clear about the details of what happened.”

Layne sank back against Joey’s chest, his arms squeezing around her like she was his security blanket to clutch onto.

Gage continued to talk, trying to keep his voice even as all the memories of the past came to the forefront of his mind. “She wasn’t just beaten, but the men who took her chained her to a pole and treated her like they were breeding a fighting dog.” He strained to get the words out loud enough.

His fingers ran through his hair at the difficulty in revealing what had been the most painful twenty-four hours of his life. “The medical reports said she had trace amounts of pentobarbital in her system—the same drug they use to euthanize animals. Between that and the beatings, she never had a chance of waking up.”

Joey nuzzled his face into the back of Layne’s neck, inhaling deeply the scent of her soap still clinging to her skin. He quietly chimed in, “They sent pictures of what they did to her.”

She sat there not realizing how tightly she was holding onto her untouched glass of bourbon. It was clear that what had happened to Rosie ended up deeply scarring both of them. Her heart ached that they both had to endure such a horrific nightmare. It pissed her off that anyone had so viciously not only inflicted this pain on them but had accomplished it by taking it out on an innocent soul in the process.

Raising his glass to quickly consume the rest of his drink, Gage looked over at them. “I know Russ had his hand in it. I don’t know how, but my gut is telling me that fucker knows something at a minimum.”

If all of this was true, it made Russ an even bigger target on her list than he already was. She tried to sort out everything she knew about Russ’s business affairs, his interest in keeping her from coming into her own power base, and what she had learned from several other criminal underlords throughout the city.

“Joey said that all of this was all over a bad business deal? Who was it with?” She hoped maybe that would lead them to get answers if Russell was involved or not.

Joey tensed at her back, not giving her much comfort in whatever answer she was about to get. “I know what you’re thinking, Layne. That maybe we can use them as leverage, but it’s a dead end.”

She looked back over her shoulder at him. “Tell me who.” Her voice lowered slightly with the weight of her demand on her tongue. Dread filled her chest, making her question if she truly wanted to know the answer.

Recalling how they had agreed to tell her all the details they hadn’t yet revealed he held himself to his word. “Eric Ellis.”

Her eyes damn near fell out of her head. “What?!” She pulled her feet out of Gage’s lap and shifted around to stare at Joey in disbelief. “Why wouldn’t you tell me that?!”

After placing his glass on a side table, Joey’s hands rubbed over her arms. “Because it doesn’t matter. He’s gone and there’s not much to learn from a rotting corpse, Layne.” Not to mention he hated bringing up the asshole’s name.

Gage sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “I asked him not to. When Joey told me about your experience with him, it was clear the history I had with Eric had nothing to do with your encounters. At the time when this all happened, Eric was still working the small deals in Jersey City, nothing like the type of shit he got into by the time he moved here.”

She frowned, still not liking that they both had kept this from her even with her best interests at heart. “So, why do you think Russ is involved if the deal was with Eric?” Layne looked over at Gage hoping he would fill in the gap.

He answered, “Eric had already left the state and he didn’t have the manpower, he had to contract it out to somebody.”

She considered his response and thought it through. “So, you think that he had Russ doing his dirty work for him?”

Gage nodded.

She sat there thinking over everything she had learned about Eric. Were there any ties to Russell that would support Gage’s theory?

Her mind drifted back to the audio recording where the pervy Andrew Correlli had been speaking with Eric.

“Good. Now, make sure that you go make good on our arrangement and go make friends with Russell for me.”

Eric hadn’t just been playing Layne, but he had been playing Andrew and Russell both. It could have all started with hiring Russell to take the hit on Rosie years earlier on Eric’s behalf. Then, in a play to manipulate Layne, Eric sends Andrew as the pawn to a known associate—Russ Spencer. If Layne had lashed out at Russ, there would have been no skin off Eric’s back at the end of the day. Instead, he had her dispose of the middleman linking these two assholes together.

The fucking manipulative bastard was juggling backstabbing everybody and anybody. Even from the goddamn grave, he was still fucking with her life.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Joey knocked on Rebecca’s door with one hand tucked in the front pocket of his jeans before dropping the other down to slide it in the other. Layne was stuck getting all her hired hands to dig into more information surrounding Russell and his connections. How deep had Eric’s influence sunk into the dark underworld of New York’s criminal organizations?

The door swung open and Rebecca gave a welcoming smile. “Hey, you made it just in time, I just got back.” She had been out watching the children for the family she nannied for while the parents had a brunch date together. Layne had always said that punctuality had always been Joey’s thing. She wasn’t kidding. Rebecca stepped back, opening the door wider to let him step inside her apartment.

“Thanks. You said you had some stuff for Layne to look at for the wedding?” He shut the door behind him. His eyes surveyed the inside of her apartment that she always managed to keep clutter-free, except for all the various wedding-related items she held onto for Layne.

Rebecca nodded as she walked over to a stack of boxes she kept in the corner of her quaint living room. Each box was meticulously labeled and organized. Samples, favors, flowers, music selections, brochures, and color swatches. “Yeah, she still needs to decide whether she wants the Kelly Green or the Hunter Green for the chair sashes.”

---