Page 33 of Chaos Luck Wrath

Gage’s impatience grew by the second as he waited for Layne’s blue dot to appear on the phone’s digital map. Just as it did, the stranger tried to pull the phone from his hands.

“Maybe I could use your phone instead?” The strange man’s strangely clean hands tugged at the device Gage was holding.

Defensively, Gage grabbed the dude’s wrist and took back possession of his phone. He flung the man’s hand away from him.

Angrily, Gage shouted, “Back the fuck up, motherfucker! What the hell is wrong with you?!” Jesus, he had never seen a homeless person so damn brazen before.

Joey huffed and pulled a twenty from his pocket and tossed it at the guy. “Here, get the hell outta here asshole!”

The man fumbled for the bill and began to profusely thank them both, trying to shake their hands and grace them with all the blessings in the world.

When the crazy beggar went on his way, Joey looked over at Gage’s phone. “Got eyes on her?”

With a nod, Gage zoomed in on her location and then looked up at their surroundings. “She should be right over there,” his finger pointing towards the mob of tourists filling the heart of the popular sightseeing destination.

“Fuckin’ Times Square,” Joey muttered at the insanely busy area that made this place a nightmare to traverse.

Feeling the sudden herd of people behind her, Layne stopped and looked back. Her eyes were unable to locate either Joey or Gage. “Great…”

After feeling a figure knock into her shoulder, she stumbled a half step before a painful grip curled around her bicep. Her head spun around to face whoever was holding onto her, to be greeted with the face of the last person she wished to see tonight.

Liam’s lips curled into a forced smile. “Keep walking.” He yanked her close to his side.

Before she could protest, underneath the coverage of her jacket she felt the unforgiving metal tip of a blade digging into her side. It was positioned perfectly between her fourth and fifth ribs, if he wanted to drive it into her heart he easily could have.

Her brother leaned over and whispered into her ear as he led her farther away from her dutiful protectors, “At least fuckin’ smile like you’re happy to see me.”

When her scowl didn’t leave her face, more pressure was applied to the knife placed at her side.

Layne snarled as she mustered as much of a damn smile as he was going to get from her. “I’ll be happy to see you when you’re lying in a coffin.”

As they walked into the thick crowd of the tourist area, he came to a stop right in the middle of the most densely populated section and also the most public. Times Tower, the twenty-five-story building with its iconic three-hundred-and-fifty-foot LED screen, loomed over them. The colors of the changing advertisements flashed across both their faces.

Her eyes quickly surveyed the busy surroundings. She scanned the area for Joey and Gage, assessed opportunities for a swift getaway, and noted the occasional police officer performing their public safety duties. Nothing was in her favor; Joey and Gage were lost in the crowd, the foot traffic was too thick and unpredictable, and murdering her brother in the middle of Times Square would be a publicity nightmare in the best-case scenario—battling homicide charges was the worst case. This was all assuming she wasn’t stabbed to death first.

Keeping close to her, Liam’s painful grip never let up. He kept his face inches from hers. “Did you get my message, Layne?”

She glared at him. “What message?”

Liam snickered, clearly getting off on the games he was playing that had been concocted inside his demented mind. “The message that there isn’t anyone who I’m not willing to turn against you. Everybody has their price and I have the funds to pay it.”

“Go fuck yourself, Li. Not everyone in my inner circle can be bought.” Trying to pull her body away from the threat of being stabbed was unsuccessful and the tip poked through the thin layer of her shirt and then pierced the first layers of skin. Her hardened exterior faltered for the first time. Layne sharply inhaled as she winced, feeling the light tickle of a drop of her blood begin to drip down her side.

Her brother’s face displayed wicked amusement at getting that brief reflection of her pain from her.

“Oh, you mean fuck boys one and two? Are you sure they’re as loyal to you as they say?” He cocked his head at her, hazel eyes staring into her own and beating at the door of her soul’s resiliency.

When she refused to respond, she was sure he was going to shove the blade between her ribs as the pressure continued to painfully increase.

“Check your phone.” His weapon pulled back on the threat to impale her, but only just enough that she could breathe a little easier.

The urge to take her chances of making national headlines by blowing her brother away in Times Square was looking more and more appealing. However, she followed his instructions and her hand slowly pulled her phone from her jacket pocket. Her eyes glanced down at the screen where a notification from an unknown number was waiting for her.

“Go on, Layne, check your messages,” Liam urged with nearly giddy excitement.

Using her thumb to unlock the phone and check the latest message, her fingers barely could conceal their trembling. When she pulled up the text, it only contained pictures.

The first picture was of a young woman in her early twenties with a large pregnant belly. Layne didn’t recognize the girl at all. “So what? Do you need the birds and the bees to be explained to you?”

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