Chapter 25
Now that Layne knew how much Eric had taken up the role of puppet master in her life, she struggled to play her part now that the veil had been lifted from her eyes. Regardless, she pushed through her feelings knowing there would be inevitable retribution if only she played the game intelligently.
Joey had been keeping his distance while working diligently with his tech-savvy associates to uncover how far Eric’s web stretched and exactly what secrets it held. He didn’t want Layne’s involvement in this to get any deeper or last any longer than necessary.
As a way to refocus her energy on something other than violence and sex, she found a healthier form of escape in running through Central Park. There was something cathartic about her feet against the ground, the brisk winter air against her face and in her lungs, and her muscles being pushed to move faster for longer.
She was three-and-a-half miles into the run and finally getting into a groove of things. Layne had her earbuds in listening to Let the Sparks Fly by Thousand Foot Krutch to keep up her pace. With frigid winter temperatures in full swing, she was thankful she had decided to toss on ivory gloves to keep her fingers warm and a matching knit hat on her head before she had left the house.
As she began to feel a surge of energy to keep gunning for her planned five miles, the sound of an incoming call dulled the upbeat music inside her ears. She groaned as she slowed down to answer the call through her earbuds. She panted as she tried to gradually ease her legs down to a walk.
“Hello?” Her voice sounded as out of breath as she felt.
Eric greeted her on the other end warmly. “Little harpy, I’ve been trying to get a hold of you. It seems you have been quite busy.”
She winced at the stupidity of not screening her call before answering. Layne stepped off to the side of the path as she kept walking so her muscles didn’t seize up on her. “I’ve had a lot going on.”
“Oh? You’ll have to tell me all about it. I will come meet up with you and we can catch up.”
Layne suppressed a groan as she placed a hand on her hip. “I’m actually in the middle of a run. Now’s not a great time.”
His voice during the start of the call had sounded cordial, but now there was something darker lurking underneath the words. “I wasn’t asking whether or not it was a good time for you. Would you prefer I send my men to pick you up instead?”
She shook her head as she glanced around the section of Central Park she was in. It wasn’t the most populated section, but she could quickly remedy that. “No, that’s okay. I’m in Central Park, I can meet you near the first-mile marker.”
His tone was quick to switch back to that lighter tone he had started the call with. “That sounds better. I will be there in fifteen minutes.”
The call ended and all the inner peace and calm she had begun to achieve on this run was quickly dissipating.
It only took her ten minutes to sprint back to the mile marker she had told Eric to meet her at. When she arrived, he was just walking up to it a solid five minutes early.
She pulled her earbuds from her ears and tucked them into the pockets of her leggings. Her face was still flushed from the mixture of physical exertion and the burn of icy wind hitting it during her workout. The warmth of her labored exhales was visible as it hit the freezing air.
Eric gave her a light smile as he looked her over. He had on a navy winter coat with a pair of dark leather gloves to fend off the cold.
When he leaned in to greet her with a kiss, she leaned away from him. “I’m all sweaty from my run.”
His eyes narrowed but seemed to brush it off. “I wanted to talk about expectations that I may not have made clear enough, Layne. Let’s walk.” Eric’s hand didn’t make it a suggestion as he linked his arm with hers and began to escort them both down the path toward the more scenic and wooded area of the park.
Layne walked with him already calculating the odds of various things he wanted to talk with her about. Had he known she had taken his phone? Was he upset that Liam was still struggling to get access to the last of the primary bank accounts?
“What type of expectations did you want to talk about? Aside from a few minor items, I feel like this arrangement has been going fairly smoothly.” She tried to keep things in a positive light and not immediately jump to doom and gloom.
Eric reached into his pocket and pulled out a turquoise jewelry box. “I realized that I may have been unfair in expecting you to take us seriously when I haven’t held up all of my end of the bargain. If I want you to act like my wife, I should at least act like your husband.” He drew back the top of the box to reveal a diamond ring nestled inside.
The surprise on Layne’s face was authentic if nothing else. This was one time she didn’t have to pretend around him. Taking a look at the piece of jewelry before her, it definitely wouldn’t have been the ring Layne would have chosen. It was a ring designed for show and status.
The ring held its own brand of beauty with its thick gold band with a large round diamond in the center and smaller diamonds inset around the entire band. While some woman somewhere would have been over the moon to be offered the ring, it couldn’t have been further from Layne’s tastes.
He stood there letting her take in the sight of what he was offering to her. “I want everyone to see this ring on your finger and know that you’re mine. When you see it on your finger when you wake up in the morning, let it be a reminder of all my promises to you.”
After removing the ring from its box, he reached down for her hand. Not waiting for any type of response from her, he slid her glove off of her hand so he could slide the ring onto her finger. “There.”
The ring felt heavy and cold on her hand. It felt more like a set of shackles than a romantic promise. Layne finally gathered some coherent thoughts together as she looked up at Eric. “This… This was not what I was expecting today.”
Eric took her chin in his hand and pulled her into his kiss as though it was going to elevate the moment into something more meaningful. Afterward, he smiled at her. “Now that we have that taken care of, I wanted to let you know I have the movers coming in two weeks to pack up your things and move you into my house.”
“What?” She blinked as her brain did a hard shift.
As with everything he said or did it came off as non-negotiable. “I’ve done my part and given you more than sufficient time. Now, you need to show me you’re willing to do yours.”
Layne reminded herself that she needed to bide her time. She wanted nothing more than to strangle the life out of the man standing there before her. Patience was not at the top of her list of things she was great with, but she was stuck having to do her best.
While Eric seemingly was holding off the figurative underworld hyenas from attacking the remains of her family’s business, it was at a cost. After learning how he had manipulated the entire Russ Spencer and Andrew Correlli situation, she didn’t trust that anything he said or did was as it was being presented to her.
They continued their stroll around the park. Layne put her warm glove back on her hand at least covering up the eyesore on her ring finger. Though, she could still feel the odd sensation of it shifting around on her hand.
Later on that evening, she was sitting in the driver’s seat of her car with Rebecca in the passenger seat after picking her up.
“Holy Christ, woman!” Rebecca exclaimed as she stared at Layne’s hand and the massive rock now adorning it.
Layne grimaced. “I know.”
Her friend grabbed her hand to take a closer look at the ring on it. “I don’t even want to know how much this is worth.” Then, her face shifted into one of concern as she let go of Layne’s hand.
Immediately, Layne was already ahead of her and was quick to speak up. “It’s temporary and complicated. It’s all for business purposes. I just didn’t want you to be caught off guard.”
“Too late for that!” Rebecca gave a small shove to Layne’s shoulder of minor annoyance.
Layne released a breath of relief now getting this heavy secret off her chest to the person who had been in her life since childhood and always treated her like blood.
“To make matters more complicated,” Layne winced as she was about to drop another bomb on her bestie, “there’s something else.”
Rebecca’s mouth dropped open. “Are you pregnant?”
“No!” Layne immediately responded, almost having a minor panic attack at the thought of how that would turn this entire situation into an even bigger shitshow. “Remember the guy? The guy?”
“Oh, you mean the one that did you dirty? That one? The one I would like to smack for what he put you through?” Rebecca huffed recalling how much she wanted to lay into the man that managed to put Layne in such a dark spot. She hadn’t gotten all the specifics, but as the best friend it had been her duty to be pissed off on Layne’s behalf.
“Well…” Layne struggled to fully come out and say it. Thankfully, she didn’t need to when Rebecca made the leap that Joey was back in the picture.
Rebecca’s eyes widened. “Girl!”
Layne gave a slightly apologetic smile. “I know, I know. It’s different this time. I don’t know how to explain it. Things are just… I don’t know. It’s different. Like, it’s beyond not being able to breathe around him. All I want to do is breathe him in. God, he just has this ability to make me feel like I’m the only person that exists in his world.”
Rebecca nodded as she listened, a smirk easing onto her face.
Layne picked up on the expression Rebecca had that said she had some thoughts on all of this. “What??”
“I’m not going to say it.” She grinned as she picked her water bottle up from the cupholder and took a sip.
Staring at Rebecca, Layne picked up a random crumpled-up receipt from her last fill at the gas station and tossed it at her. “Tell me!”
Smugly, Rebecca sat there knowing something that Layne wasn’t even aware of. “No, I’m not going to say it, because you’re going to get all freaked out and spooked. I’m not going to be held responsible for that.”
Layne sighed and shook her head. “You’re lucky that I would be unable to function without you around. Otherwise, I would drop your ass off at Penn Station and ship you down to Baltimore to go visit your mom.”
Rebecca laughed. “You wouldn’t last a week.”
“I know, that’s why you’re still here. You’re the one piece of sanity and normalcy in my life.” Layne smiled knowing that without Rebecca, she likely would have taken an even darker path in her life.