Page 49 of Incoming Layne Shift

“But isn’t it? I could have said ‘no’ to all of this. I could have slammed the door shut in his face. It could have just been you and I against all five boroughs. Now?” Layne shook her head. “He shouldn’t have to be targeted and potentially end up like?—”

“Sean?” Joey finished her thought.

Layne hung her head and tried to swallow down the truths that clawed at the little bit of morality she had left. “Yeah.”

Joey tilted her head back up with a finger under her chin. “We all chose this—together. We will get through this together. You already know how I feel about you, and I can tell you that Gage’s feelings for you run just as deep. His stubborn ass may not know it, but I see it.”

She swallowed past the swell of a lump in her throat, still struggling with allowing her emotions to get the best of her. “I don’t want to see him or you get hurt because of me.”

“Layney,” he smiled and gave her several small kisses. “I wish you could see what I see right now.”

Layne wrinkled up her nose. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Chuckling, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and drew her into a tight hug. “Nothing you won’t figure out eventually.” Joey ran his hand over the top of her head, his fingers trailing along the length of her ponytail before kissing her forehead. “We need to get going if we’re going to make it back over to Hell’s Kitchen. God knows one of us is going to need to prevent Gage from lashing out at any fucker that looks remotely guilty.”

She nodded in agreement. There was no reason to have Gage dealing with this on his own. Just as she was dedicated to being at Joey’s side, Layne needed to make sure that Gage knew she wasn’t going anywhere. She was just as much his as she was Joey’s.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

When they pulled up to Cassidy’s Cave, the pathway to destruction was clear. Spray paint marred the exterior in senseless patterns and the spiderwebs of cracked glass adorned the exterior windows.Trash was strewn about the sidewalk right out front.

Layne wanted to believe the outside of the building was the worst of it, but realistically she knew that the inside had to be far worse. She spotted Gage’s Jeep already parked outside, indicating he was likely inside assessing what had transpired during the early morning hours.

She and Joey entered the strip club and the sight they were greeted with was far beyond even their wildest imaginations. The club wasn’t just vandalized, but it had been thoroughly wrecked. Holes were in the walls, shattered glass everywhere, and broken furniture—the whole nine yards.

This wasn’t just a small-time crime spree or random strike. Everything about the sight laid out before them screamed intentional and deeply personal like a fit of rage. Flashbacks of what she had seen at McGregor’s came rushing forth from her memory.

They weren’t the only ones to show up. The bar manager, Rory, was cleaning behind the bar and disposing of busted liquor bottles. A couple of dancers were sweeping off the stages of scattered trash and debris. Even the dressing rooms had been struck by the looks of it as Danielle carried out a handful of colorful pieces of lingerie and dropped them into a large trash can.

Joey’s hand came to the crook of her neck and squeezed affectionately to find comfort for them both. He stopped one of the girls on her way to take a bag of trash outside. “Where’s Gage?”

The redhead gestured towards his office. “He said he’d be in his office making phone calls.”

Layne didn’t wait to head that way, stepping over piles of busted electronics and trash strewn about. The door to Gage’s office was left partly ajar. Her hand slowly pushed it open wider so she could look inside. “Gage?”

His head shot up from its position on top of his desk. “Yeah, come in.” He shook off the emotions that came with seeing the business he had poured so much time and energy into in such a state of disrepair.

With a frown partly filled with sympathy, she looked over at him while noticing the signs of distress in how he pushed his eyebrows up into his forehead. “It looks like you have a few hands to help out around here at least.”

Gage nodded and looked at both her and Joey. “This place belongs to the girls just as much as it belongs to me. It gives them a home in a sense.” His fingers pinched at the bridge of his nose trying to rub the worst of his thoughts away.

Joey shook off his black leather jacket and draped it over one of the chairs. “Where do you want us to start?”

The offering of help gave Gage some relief and perhaps even a smidgen of hope that they could salvage this place. “Fuck, I don’t know. Anywhere you can.”

With that simple instruction, they got to work. The three of them began to tackle the harder projects like busted speakers and closing several of the bathroom stalls until replacement sinks, toilets, and plumbing could be installed to replace anything that had been smashed.

Layne walked to the back door to grab a few more contractor bags for the guys. Danielle followed behind her. “Layne?”

Hearing her name, she glanced back at the girl while looking for the next box of bags that Gage told her had been back there. “Yeah?”

“Do you mind helping me? I took some bags of trash out back earlier and they were too heavy for me to lift into the dumpster. I could use another set of hands if you don’t mind.” She looked at Layne hopefully.

Stopping her search for the bags, she looked at the door next to her that led into the back alley where all the dumpsters were located. “Sure.”

“Oh my God, thank you! The other girls just told me to get one of the guys to do it. I guess they didn’t want to get their hands dirty or whatever.” She shrugged and walked out the backdoor, holding it open for Layne to follow.

Quickly following Danielle out back, the door shut behind Layne. Danielle stopped and turned to Layne before they reached the dumpster. “You know… I expected better.”

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