Page 19 of Chaos Luck Wrath

“And I would do it all over again. The day I sat down next to you on that stool over there,” he pointed over at the line of stools up against the bar, “was the luckiest day of my life.”

“Look at you being all sentimental,” she teased lightly.

Joey grinned at her, taking her face with both of his hands. “Now, this is the part where I’m going to tell you to suck it up. You’re better than this. Don’t try to put out your fire because you’re worried about me or anyone else. I want you to pour fuckin’ gasoline on that bitch.”

A smile cracked at the corners of her mouth.

It was the way her lips curved that he saw the piece of her that had been shaken up after his brush with death beginning to fade to make room for the feisty Irish girl to return. “Speaking of sucking things up, I have something else you can use your mouth on while you’re at it,” his words lowered into a growl.

Immediately, her hand smacked his shoulder. “You’re an ass. You should have quit while you were ahead.” She laughed.

He smirked, “There’s my girl.” He pulled her face to him as his lips possessively locked onto her own.

Layne’s hands balled up his shirt as she leaned into the kiss, passionately wrestling with him for control. Her need for more of him escalated quickly as she shifted from being perched on his leg to straddling his lap with her body grinding against him.

It wasn’t until Jillian cleared her throat, standing in front of their table with her arms crossed that Joey and Layne halted their actions.

“You two almost done here? If not, God created these things called alleys you can go fuck in.” Jillian motioned at the side door that led outside to the nearest said alley. “I would like to get these books back upstairs before I leave for the day.” Her eyes dropped to the accounting records Layne had been perusing.

Biting her lower lip with a sheepish grin, Layne was definitely considering going outside to continue what they had started. Her thumb swiped below Joey’s bottom lip, wiping away a bit of leftover saliva from their heated exchange.

She looked over at Jillian as she eased off of Joey’s lap and back into her seat. “I am almost done, just give me a few minutes to finish going through this book and then we’ll be outta here.”

Jillian nodded, “Mmhmm,” before walking away. She was not entirely convinced the two lovebirds would be able to keep their hands to themselves long enough.

As Layne tried to focus back on the records, her eyes stole a glance over at Joey. Damn, getting through the last few pages of this book was going to take every bit of effort and self-control she had in her. He was sitting back in his chair, legs spread with his hand casually resting on top of the bulge that pushed against the fabric of his jeans.

Telling herself that she could manage to keep her hands to herself for another five minutes, she forced herself to look back down at the book in front of her. Intentionally, she placed an elbow on the table and pressed her fingers to her temple to feebly attempt not to be distracted by him. Where were a set of damn horse blinders when you needed them?

She flipped to the next page, and when she got midway down, she paused. Cocking her head to the right she blinked a few times.

Abruptly, she popped up from her seat. “This!” Layne snatched up the book, strode over to the bar, and dropped the book down onto the counter in front of Jillian.

She tapped aggressively at the line item that had captured her attention. “Do you know what this is??” With wide eyes, Layne hoped her hunch was correct.

“Um,” Jillian looked down at the transaction that was being brought to her attention. “Your initials next to a payment for $611.24?”

Layne shook her head. “Yes! But it’s really not. Have you had any other transactions like this since you’ve been here?”

Now, the woman was beginning to believe some of the rumors of Layne’s unhinged behavior given how she wasn’t making much sense right now. “No, you take your cut straight from the cash reserves.”

“Exactly!” She slapped her hand down on the bar. “Son of a bitch! Fuckin’ Sean knew I’d question it.” Layne unleashed a laugh that bordered on the brink of insanity now that she finally had a breakthrough and not a damn breakdown.

Joey came up behind Layne, laying a hand on the small of her back. “Question what?” He raised a brow, wondering how concerned he should be at the suddenly erratic behavior.

She pointed at the page again. “L.O. Those aren’t my initials. Sean made sure that I never had my shares recorded in the books. It has to be Liam! It would explain how he was getting funds without me or anyone else noticing.”

Layne cursed under her breath at both the ingenuity of it and whatever other heinous acts Liam must have resorted to in order to get the money out of Sean. If it had been anybody else checking the books, it would have likely gone unnoticed.

That’s when the thought struck her. She only checked the books for a few long-standing clients and left the rest to be checked by the lower ranks of her crew. “Fuck…” Layne pulled her phone out of her pocket, quickly dialing up Ethan.

“Ethan? I need the books checked for every damn client of ours for the last few months. If any of them have records with my initials next to them, I want to know.” She paused, listening to his response before cutting him off, “I don’t care, get Jonathan or Sam to help you. Get it done and don’t tell anyone else what you’re looking for.” She tapped the red circle, ending the discussion.

God help her if she discovered any of her clients were still actively funding Liam’s ventures. They would see firsthand just how hot her fire could burn.

Chapter Ten

BOGEYMEN

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