Chapter 13
It had been a painful and tedious task of playing all the social elitist games of fake smiles, fake pleasantries, and fake laughter at terrible jokes. Layne had spent the last forty-five minutes fielding conversations with various other guests. Some of whom she knew, and others who were introduced to her.
Did she care about any of the pretentious assholes? Not a single ounce of care was to be found within her. But she had put on a smile that left her cheeks sore and aching for the sake of keeping a strong front. The last thing she needed to show was weakness while surrounded by representatives of various criminal factions that were in attendance.
Servers were constantly coming around offering beverages, collecting empty glasses, and providing a variety of hors d”oeuvres for those needing something to soak up the freely flowing booze.
There was live music playing primarily classical tunes, and if the songs weren’t Beethoven or Mozart, they were classical renditions of modern melodies. The room’s vaulted ceilings that seemed to go on forever made for acoustics that would have any musician swooning.
Most of those chattering away with small talk or even more serious conversations stuck to the perimeter of the room, while others danced to whatever was being played at the moment.
Finally breaking free from a conversation with an elderly man that couldn’t hear for shit, Layne found her way to the bar. She ordered another glass of wine from the swamped bartender and stood there thirstily drinking down the chardonnay.
From behind her, a hand slid down over her bare shoulder with fingertips that caressed the back of her arm. She spun around to see the man who had invited her there. Eric’s face was full of excitement. “Here you are. Follow me, I have something I would like to show you.”
Eric offered his arm to Layne, who reluctantly took it as he guided them to a pair of glass french doors. Opening one and allowing her to step outside first, she saw the balcony had an artist’s dream view of the expansive Central Park.
As dusk was fading into evening, it was eating away at the sky in shades of oranges and reds before fading into darker hues.
Layne sipped from her wine glass as she placed a hand on the edge of the balcony’s rail taking in the sight.
With Eric at her back, his hands rested on her bare shoulders as he looked past her at the picturesque scene laid out before them. He whispered into her ear. “I will never grow tired of this view.” The meaning behind his words was layered with more than just one view he was enjoying.
She tried to keep the tension at bay as it was clear he wasn’t just talking about the beauty of nature doing its thing. Her head turned towards him. “Never is a strong word.”
“Yes, it is.” He didn’t apologize for using it though.
Finally, she fully turned to face him, noticing that they were the only ones enjoying the privacy of the balcony. “I figured you would be busy mingling with all your guests.”
“I’m only concerned with spending time with one very important guest here tonight. I hope you don’t mind.” His grin held a touch of cockiness that it still wouldn’t concern him even if she did mind.
He continued, “I was hoping we could talk a little more, away from any nosey eavesdroppers.”
Swallowing more of the expensive vintage in her glass, Layne prompted him with the obvious question. “About?”
Eric gave her a chiding look. “Don’t be coy, you know exactly what I would like to talk about. I met with one of my associates downtown earlier, and there are a lot of unhappy folks with the way the O’Reilly Enterprise is handling things. I know you are doing your best to do damage control, but time is of the essence if you’re going to make a move—if we are going to make a move.”
She looked down into her wine glass, watching the small ripples of movement as she swirled the liquid around idly inside the glass. “I know.”
“Tell me how to make this comfortable for you. I have already promised that you would never be without anything you ever need. We can rise together and establish a chokehold on the other factions who are threatening to overthrow your family and everything it’s ever stood for.” His hand moved under her chin and gently lifted it so he could remove her focus from her beverage.
Hesitation was not just in her voice, but in her body language as well. “It’s a big decision, and I don’t want to make it lightly.”
“I don’t expect you to.” He nodded and then decided to switch up his strategy. He eased the wine glass out of her hand and placed it on the ledge behind her. “Dance with me.”
“I don’t dance, Eric.” Her heartbeat sped up with panic over the idea of sharing a close space with him on the dance floor in front of so many pairs of eyes.
Despite her reluctance, he took her hand and led her back inside and onto the dance floor. “I do, and I make a point to share at least one dance with a beautiful woman during these parties.” He found a spot in the middle of the floor turning to face her with a look meant for a predator to lure in its prey.
He slid his hand around her waist onto the bare skin on the small of her back and forcefully pulled her in toward him until the fronts of their bodies were touching. His other hand by contrast lightly held onto hers.
Intuitively, she rested a hand on top of his shoulder as she found the space between them entirely gone. The music playing in the room transitioned over to a slow and haunting tune. One that seemed to tell a sad yet dark love story with its minor notes and dramatic crescendos and decrescendos.
Eric took the lead by beginning to move them across the dance floor, never once easing up his hold on her. His captivating blue eyes bore down on her, intent on maintaining all of his focus on her. Seeing the way he seemingly ignored everything else around them, Layne never once thought about her feet.
He brought his mouth to her ear as he whispered, “You promised me an answer tonight.”
Briefly, she closed her eyes as the moment she had been dreading finally arrived. Layne had to make her choice. A choice she had never wanted to make for herself. A choice the person she was years ago would have never considered.
Her mind recounted each struggle up until this point. Liam’s incompetence. The lost ranks of employees. Financials circling the drain. Clients flocking to other organizations. The warning shots that had been fired. Everything was piling up. How much longer before it was game over?
When she opened her eyes back up, revealing the depths of her green hues, he granted a moment of air from their tight hold as he raised her arm and twirled her around in a slow and elegant circle before drawing her back up against him.
When she came back into his hold, she saw a familiar pair of eyes watching from the depths of the crowd. Eyes that tugged heavily on her heart. Eyes that were full of darkness at what they were witnessing. Joey stood back, but even from where Layne was, she could feel the heat radiating off his emotions.
“I know what I promised.” That was all she could respond to Eric with, trying not to allow herself to get distracted.
His hand inched lower along her back until it reached where the smooth material of her dress began at the top curve of her ass. Boldly and without hesitation or permission, he continued his exploration with his fingers. His fingertips slipped down between her skin and the dress grazing over the hem of her seamless thong just underneath.
His voice had a rasp to it as he spoke quietly to her. “That’s not an answer.”
With his fingers still lingering inside the back of her dress, her mind struggled to stay in the moment. Layne felt a warmth in her core begin to spread underneath his touch. Her nipples strained against the fabric of her dress as they stiffened into peaks.
She knew her world was crumbling and she couldn’t stop it on her own. It felt as though she was a frightened mare out in the wild and a lasso was already tied around her throat.
Layne glanced past Eric’s shoulder while they continued to move slowly together to the tender notes of the song. The invisible mask she attempted to maintain broke and her eyes betrayed her as they filled with dread and panic. She searched for any sign of Joey in the crowd.
Whatever was reflected in her eyes, Joey didn’t like it the moment he saw it. He abruptly began to push towards them, creating a path for himself through the crowd.
Not realizing that she and Eric had gradually come to a standstill as the song faded to the next, his hand released its hold on hers and turned her face to force her attention back to him. “Look at me and give me an answer. No more stalling.”
His demand held something new in it, something laced with a promise of death. It was a tone she was very familiar with in all her years in this lifestyle. The promise may not have been a threat from him, but there was no mistake that death was knocking on the O’Reilly door. Eric was just the one offering her a way to chase away the nightmares.
Her words felt like they were choking her while getting lodged in her throat. “Yes.”
Eric tilted his head inquisitively looking for clarity. “Yes, what?” The man wasn’t stupid, he just wanted to hear her say it in no uncertain terms.
The sinking feeling in her stomach grew heavier. “Yes, to the merger and this alliance.” Layne swallowed down her stubborn pride. “I’ll marry you.”
A victorious smile curved over his mouth as whispered against her lips. “You’re all mine now, my little harpy.” He leaned forward so his mouth could territorially claim her lips while his arm squeezed tighter around her.
Things were abruptly broken apart when an arm came between them prying Layne and Eric away from one another. Joey protectively pulled Layne back, putting himself between her and Eric.
Joey held his ground there with his eyes filled with a level of possessiveness Layne had never seen before. Fury was simmering underneath the surface as he kept it aimed at Eric. His jaw was tightly clenched as he spoke through his teeth. “Miss O’Reilly unfortunately needs to leave for the evening. A business matter has come up requiring her attention.”
As the reality of what she had just done sank in, she made a futile attempt to shake off all the feelings that were crashing like relentless waves into her. The room began to feel too crowded. Layne backed up a step, nearly knocking into another guest before she turned and quickly headed for the exit while Eric was otherwise distracted by Joey.
As for Joey, when he went to follow after her, Eric’s hand clamped down on his arm. An equally vile look was directed at Joey. “Let’s get one thing straight. As of right now, she’s mine to handle as I see fit. What she does is my concern, not yours.”
Instead of giving in to the temptation of physically demolishing Eric’s face and devolving into a blind rage, Joey gave a dark smile in amusement. “I don’t give a fuck what you think you’re entitled to. Touch her again, and I’ll kill you. I won’t just kill you, but I will make sure that you suffer an unfathomable level of pain before you beg for me to end your life.”
Roughly, he shoved Eric’s hand away and left to follow Layne.
When he managed to get eyes on her, she was already at the front doors pushing against several people coming back inside from having a smoke.
“Layne!” He called for her hoping to get her to at least wait for him.
She never heard him through the roaring of her inner monologue that was screaming inside of her head. Her thoughts told her how much she had to do this for survival while simultaneously berating herself for being so damn stupid in agreeing to be at a man’s mercy.
When Joey caught up to her, he didn’t immediately say a word. Instead, his hand dropped down to take hers and guide her to where his Challenger was parked in an empty church parking lot. Layne let him guide her to the lot across the street. The plan had always been for him to drop her off at home after the party, just that the night had ended much sooner than either of them planned for.
He opened the passenger door for her to get safely settled. Joey pulled his suit jacket off, balling it up and forcefully tossing it into the backseat before he got into the driver’s seat. He slammed his door shut with a force that rattled components inside the dash.
Layne wasn’t sure what to say to him or where to even begin to explain what she was doing if he even cared. Her emerald eyes watched him as he backed out of the parking space and the tires squealed against the pavement as he left the lot.
His hands yanked at his tie, loosening it around his neck enough to unbutton the top couple of buttons of his shirt. Joey’s breathing was heavy and ragged as he replayed what he had just witnessed at the party. It wasn’t just what he saw, but the reading of how her lips moved to speak words to Eric he would never understand the reasoning for.
“Joey—”
He cut off her words. “What the fuck are you thinking?! Do you even know what type of monster Eric Ellis is?” His eyes parted from the road for a second to shoot a glance at her.
Trying to keep her voice calm enough for the both of them, she spoke quietly. “You don’t understand, my hands are tied here. It’s the only option I have. I can’t sit around and wait for a miracle that is never coming.”
His hand squeezed onto the top of the steering wheel. “You’re not doing this.”
She reached over and put her hand on top of his while he held onto the gear shifter. “I am doing this. I have to. I don’t know why the hell you’re so bent out of shape about it. You came back for your one favor, which by the way, you’re welcome.”
His eyes looked down at her hand that was touching his, covering up the sprawling tattoos etched into his flesh. Joey made a sharp turn and pulled into an empty parking garage. He accelerated up the ramp of each floor until they reached the top level on the roof.
“What are you doing?” She stared at him questioningly as he pulled into the cement structure.
He parked the car diagonally across several spaces and got out. Layne flung open her door and met him in front of the Challenger, the headlights left on and cutting through the darkness of the night.
Now she was beginning to slip as her anger started to rear its head. “What is your problem, Joey?!” Her hands shoved his chest, only for him to stay solidly planted on his feet as his eyes were locked on her. The rage she had seen in his eyes earlier now had melted into a softer burn.
“It’s you. It’s always been you.” His statement was calm but the words had a storm brewing behind them. When she tried to shove him again, he wrapped his hands around her wrists. “He doesn’t deserve you.”
She knew better than to struggle against his grasp. “And you do?”
He took another step closer to her, still restraining her wrists in front of her. “I’ve made some mistakes, but I’m not going to let you fall further down this spiral.”
Layne rolled her eyes that he thought she was having any sort of spiraling crisis in her life that she couldn’t handle on her own without his help.
“Roll your eyes again at me and see what happens, Layney.” A soft growl rolled over his words. A growl that prompted several goosebumps to flitter across her skin.
Her teeth scraped over her bottom lip as his taunt had her body reacting with a heavy sense of arousal between her thighs. No matter how long it had been, he had always managed to get her body to respond with the slightest of actions or words.
She rolled her eyes at him.