Page 36 of Chaos Luck Wrath

“Do they even know why you’re pissed off?” She paused and then raised both her brows at Layne. “Do you even know why you’re pissed off?”

The pointed questions weren’t what Layne had expected. She took a moment to carefully mull over what she was asking then frowned. Layne started to respond, “I…” but then she realized she didn’t have a worthy answer.

Layne’s eyes watched as the doc moved over to the sink and grabbed an item off the counter. When she returned, she held her hand out to Layne. Lying there in her palm was the pocket knife belonging to Joey that Liam had rudely embedded in her leg.

Taking the weapon from Dr. Patty she gave a partial attempt at a smile. “Thanks.”

Lowering her now empty hand, she continued, “I don’t know Gage as well as I know Joey, but one of those men took a bullet for you. If that doesn’t speak to his character, I don’t know what does. So, whatever has you in a tizzy, the least you could do is clue them in on it. In all my years of practicing medicine, I have never come across a man who can read a woman’s mind except when it comes to one thing. Even then, it’s a rarity.”

Looking down at the inscription on the knife, Layne nodded. The truth was, both men had taken a bullet for her. Would they be capable of betraying her trust after something like that? What if they really had gone so far as to break their bonds with her? Maybe they both decided that if she got to indulge in more than one partner, then they should be afforded that luxury as well.

Pulling Layne from her thoughts, the woman spoke as she moved to the door, “Just something to think about.” She winked and gave a smile to Layne that was filled with kindness and warmth before leaving Layne to get dressed.

After dropping the knife into her jacket pocket, Layne was pulling up her jeans gingerly over her thighs as her phone began to ring. Answering, she pinned the phone to her ear with her shoulder as her fingers buttoned and zipped her pants. “Howdy, Cowboy. I’m guessing you got all my messages?”

Brandon spoke into her ear and what he said had her straightening up and taking the phone into her hand. “What do you mean the QR code leads to a site that needs a password? It’s just a bunch of garbled nonsense when I pull the site up.”

Unsurprisingly, Brandon was better at this tech bullshit than she was and was able to sort through the code to find the access point. Apparently, said portal needed a password. That was incredibly inconvenient.

Great, now she needed something she didn’t have in order to contact a guy she didn’t know. “Okay, I will work on it. What about the two photos I sent over to you?”

She listened carefully as Brandon explained that the photo of Mackenzie Pearson was legitimate, it was even posted on the girl’s socials. He hadn’t been able to find anything out about the father-to-be, effectively leaving Layne still questioning Joey’s behavior when he was out of her sight.

There was some good news, the photograph of Gage was a complete fabrication, a good one but fake nonetheless. Fucking AI was getting better and better these days.

Cringing and feeling sheepish, Layne groaned at her idiocy for allowing Liam to fucking toy with her head.

Her hacker friend on the phone continued to give her updates on the other things he was working on, including finding out who had been with Liam at the Chinese restaurant. Brandon had been able to pull images of the two individuals and was cross-referencing their identities as he spoke.

She felt some of her stress melt away. “I appreciate the update. Let me know when you have a name or anything else useful.” At least they were getting somewhere on finding out more about who was working with Liam.

As Layne said goodbye and hung up, she heard the front door of Dr. Patty’s home aggressively slam shut followed by heavy stomps approaching the exam room.

Swinging the door open, Joey burst into the room, his voice booming in the quaint space. “What the hell is going on with you?! I’m not taking fucking orders from Jonathan just because you’re being too chickenshit to come talk to us yourself!”

She opened her mouth to say something but he stepped up in front of her, continuing to yell so she couldn’t get a word in edgewise.

“When the hell are you going to get it through your thick fucking skull that we are doing every goddamn thing we can to protect your ass and take care of you?! Instead, you keep fighting us tooth, nail, and titty on it!” He kept leaning in towards her with each word he shouted in her face.

In frustration, he let out a growl before continuing his venting, “You are the biggest pain in my ass! I swear to God, if I didn’t know better, I’d think you have a fuckin’ death wish!”

Layne had enough of his anger being hurtled at her that she finally snapped and began to toss it right back at him. She squared her shoulders and her hand pushed at his chest as a warning for him to step back.

“Who the fuck do you think you are coming in here acting like you’re not as big of a pain in the ass, huh?! You don’t get to charge in here ready to unleash hell on me because you don’t like what I’m doing! I didn’t ask for either of you to fuckin’ hover over me ready to protect me from a goddamn papercut!” Seeing that he hadn’t budged from his position looming over her, she used both hands to shove him this time.

Joey’s eyes widened before he pointed at her leg. “You call this a paper cut?!”

Gage came to the doorway of the room right as Layne was beginning to get physical with Joey. As equally frustrated with Layne as his brother was, he had still tried to talk him out of storming in here to wage a war none of them actually wanted. He made another attempt to intervene by firmly speaking up, “Both of you need to calm the fuck down.”

With a glance at Gage, Joey sharply responded, “Fuck you! I am fucking calm!”

Layne scoffed at how clearly he was in fact not the least bit calm. “Get the hell out of my way. Gage can take me home.”

When she went to shove him again, he defensively diverted her hands away with a firm push.

“Now all is good with him ‘cause he’s not the one calling you out?!” The anger still boiled beneath Joey’s skin.

“At least he’s not going around knocking up some girl while working a contract!” The words just fumbled out of her mouth before she could realize she was saying them. Sometimes her temper could be a heinous bitch.

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