5. Kung Pao Chicken

Chapter Five

KUNG PAO CHICKEN

T he entire drive into Chinatown had been riddled with enough stress to leave her sweating by the time she finally parked Gage's Jeep. The damn thing had been making a rattling noise inside the dash the entire trip, driving her fucking insane when her nerves were already on edge. He had enough money to live in a ridiculously swanky condo in Hudson Yards, but couldn't let go of a rusty piece of shit Jeep? Luckily, he had reinstalled the doors on it after listening to her bitch for an hour about her hair getting whipped around and tangled into the worst knots she had ever dealt with in her life.

Before she left the hospital, she turned off her cell phone to force all calls to go straight to voicemail. She would have to answer to the guys later about taking off, but this was her decision to make. Layne already saw the price Joey had nearly paid and hell if she was going to drag either of them further into this shitshow. Liam was her brother and that made it her problem.

Layne walked down to the little Chinese restaurant half a block from where she parked. The House of the Chinese Dragon was tucked between two other retail spaces. On one side of it was an Asian grocery store, and on the other side? It was what could be called a massage parlor with a very ill-reputed area of expertise.

This wasn't a randomly selected takeout place. Their father, Scott O'Reilly, had made a tradition of taking them here whenever there was something to celebrate. It didn't have to be good grades or a birthday, but he was known to bring them down here after winning a fistfight, closing a deal under the table, or even after their first kill. It was a way of finding comfort in family and food.

As she stared up at the sign written in two languages with the image of a dragon sprawled over the top of it, this place no longer brought the joy and nostalgia it once did. Having her baby Glock tucked into the back of her jeans made her feel less anxious but didn't seem to prevent her palms from feeling clammy. She wiped them against the sides of her pants one more time before walking inside the restaurant.

It maintained a rather eye-catching and spacious interior for in-house dining. The little Buddha statue by the door was the first thing she recognized when she entered. Music lightly played in the background like little chimes being struck to mimic cheerful sounds of nature. Inside was just as she recalled, lots of red and black splashed across the decorations and multiple pieces of artwork of dragons in various styles. At the back corner table—her father's favorite—was Liam.

Reminding herself that they were in a public space, she hoped that it would be the one piece of security that would allow this to be as fruitful of a discussion as it possibly could be. Was Liam stupid enough to start a gunfight in public? She was hoping not, but after what transpired on her wedding day, she wouldn't put it past him.

Layne walked past the other tables, most of them full of hungry patrons. Once she was within three feet of the table, Liam looked at her with an at-ease smile. She didn't bother giving him one in return. He may have been happy to see her disregarding all the red alarms sounding in her head, but she wanted nothing but to come in here with a stick of dynamite to shove up his ass.

He looked the way he always had in some ways, but different in others. His smug fucking face was laced with signs of an ugly heart turned black. His auburn hair was no longer in a messy heap on his head, but smoothly styled with an off-center part. Liam's hazel eyes seemed darker in an unsettling way with less of the green popping through the brown. The clothes he wore now looked like he owned a Fortune 100 company. The black tie paired with his custom designer suit was screaming for her to tighten it until he choked to death. Did he think he was Dad? He was far from it in her not-so-humble opinion.

"I was beginning to think you weren't going to show. You had two minutes to spare." He took a slow sip from the small ceramic cup in his hand, swallowing down the serving of green tea. "Are you going to sit or just stand there glaring at me?"

Layne pulled a chair out for herself opposite him and plunked down into it. She crossed one leg over the other and crossed her arms in front of her stomach. "Nice suit. A little out of your budget though, isn't it?" She had been monitoring all the cash, including what was set aside for Liam before he had gotten arrested. His name wasn't listed on any of the accounts, so he had to be getting funds elsewhere.

He grinned at her as one of his hands ran down the smooth material of the jacket. "You like it? I reached out to Dad's old tailor and he hooked me up."

So, he really was trying to emulate Dad, wasn't he?

"Where did you get the cash?" Her voice was flat in an effort not to let her emotions boil up to a full rage just yet. Flipping the fuck out and scaring all the innocent bystanders was not going to be in her best interest.

He sat back in his seat, his eyes remained on her. "Well, no thanks to you, I had to make a few business deals of my own. Knowing that Dad left everything to you, I took a few proactive steps to ensure that I had some rainy-day funds. I made a few friends, did a little negotiating, and kept those important details to myself." Liam shrugged like it was as much of a common practice as opening a savings account.

There were so many questions she wanted answers to, with the biggest one being whether he wanted his body buried or cremated. Layne sat there, looking far more casually dressed in her jeans and snug-fitting black button-up blouse. The loose waves of her chestnut hair hung down a couple of inches past her breasts. The light above the table caused Gage's gold necklace around her neck to shimmer subtly.

"What's the point of all this, Li?" The first hints of pain tainted her words. She shook her head in disappointment. It wasn't just him she was disappointed in, but herself for somehow never seeing it coming down to this. "The money was there, all you had to do was work for it. I didn't ask for a whole hell of a lot from you."

The corners of his mouth twitched in amusement. "You think this was about money? Cute, Layne. Real cute." He set his cup of tea down on the red linen tablecloth. "Where do you want to begin? For starters, Mom dies and you shack up with the man responsible for it."

Her facial expression slipped, indicating her surprise at his knowledge of Joey's involvement in their mother's demise. In turn, Liam grinned menacingly as he continued to explain, "Yeah, I know all about it. After realizing you were falling to your knees for our masked friend's dick, I did some research. It wasn't easy, but I see why Dad never traced it back during the hiring process. That fucker has some friends in high places."

He shifted in his seat with a smirk, "Did you know that he was fucking the former mayor's daughter at one point before blowing her dad away on his way out the door? I bet the cum was still freshly smeared over her thighs. Sheesh, he knows how to pick jobs with benefits. I'm almost jealous."

She recalled a contract Joey had taken and executed on the retired mayor back after Eric Ellis had been eliminated. He wouldn't have betrayed her, would he?

Layne gritted her teeth trying her best not to take anything Liam was saying to heart. There was no telling if he was lying out of his ass or telling the truth. Even if he was being honest for once, she was never ignorant of what type of work Joey often was contracted for. Yet, that little tidbit about the mayor's daughter refused to be unheard.

She shook her head and pushed her chair back to stand up. Liam smirked. "You may want to sit back down until I'm finished." He jutted his chin in the direction of a table near the door. "You see that man in the Yankees cap? All he has to do is make the call and my contacts at the hospital will make sure that there is an unfortunate incident of gross medical malpractice."

He motioned at another table closer to them. "That one there is always looking for a reason to strangle a pretty face to death. When he heard you nearly drowned once, you should have seen how quickly he nearly busted the zipper of his pants with his erection. The way he's been looking at you since you walked in the door, I would say he might even have a crush on you."

She glanced at both the referenced men. The Yankee fan's face was obscured by the shadows of his location in the restaurant while he had his nose buried behind a newspaper. As for the other man, she was sure to remember his face in the event she ever saw that fucker again. Begrudgingly, she sat back down. This time she let her anger and hatred start to seep into her eyes, no longer trying to host a composed front. "Fucking talk quicker then," Layne spat out impatiently.

Liam was more than happy to draw this out as long as he wanted knowing he had her full attention for as long as he wanted it. "In addition to your poor taste in men, you ended up fucking me out of a very beneficial deal with Eric Ellis. I stood to take control of several of his business ventures, plus one more for every baby he knocked you up with."

God, she was thankful she wasn't ordering food or else she would have projectile vomited across the table at the thought of procreating with Eric. She wasn't looking for any offspring with anybody, and Liam was a prime example of why birth control was a life necessity.

"I knew one day you might find evidence that Dad left you everything, but I never expected you to seriously try to take control of it all. I'm glad I began making plans to ensure I could take back what has always been rightfully mine." With the way Liam was now glaring at her, this was the part that burned him up the most. Layne had what he wanted and what he thought he deserved. How toddler-like of him.

She shifted in her seat, refusing to interrupt him and draw this out any longer than necessary.

Liam continued droning on, "Did you know that Kristill had this special ability to suck the information out of just about anyone? Quite literally, her blow jobs were that phenomenal. I'm kind of regretting my decision to kill her when she threatened to tell you everything." He had the nerve to look remorseful.

"I digress though. Based on her talented efforts, when I found out you would be beating the crap out of some fucker for information months ago, I thought having her tip off the cops would get you busted and thrown behind bars." He shook his head with disappointment that it hadn't gone that way at all.

"I had to change up my strategy after that. Thanks to that beautifully sloppy mouth of hers, the judge granted me release on my own recognizance. After that, it was smooth sailing dropping a few pennies into several pockets to keep it all very hush-hush. I wanted our reunion to be a surprise. Shooting your husband instead of you was just a happy little accident." His smile was filled with anything but warmth upon his last statement.

Layne leaned over in her seat after she memorized every damn word he was saying to her. She spoke through her clenched jaw, "Fuck. You. You're a goddamn embarrassment to our family name."

Her brother sat there for a second in silence before he also leaned in closer from the other side of the table, lowering his voice. "As the Upper East Side whore, who really is the embarrassment here?"

The temptation to reach back for her gun and off him in the middle of the restaurant was growing by the second. She ran quick calculations on the likelihood of ending up in prison without either Joey or Gage, and it wasn't odds she wanted to take. But hell, if it wasn't an enticing thought.

Layne eased back into her seat. "Why the hell am I here, then? What do you want?"

Seeing her back down from the edge of her temper ready to explode, he also sat back. "Everything. Every asset, every dollar, and all the damn respect that I've been owed. If I get that, I'll give you a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to leave New York and never come back."

He was the worst fucking liar. "Why don't you just try shooting me again? Because you're not getting any of those things from me." She had clawed her way from the bottom to get where she was. Layne wasn't about to give it up because her brother suddenly found his balls and showed up to the game.

"Oh, believe me, Layne, I will and I won't miss. I'm being gracious enough to try and make this as peaceful of a transition as possible. Now that you know how serious I am, I'm hoping you will come to your senses." He plucked up a fortune cookie off a plate in the middle of the table and cracked it open. Pulling the little paper message out, he barked out a laugh. "Shit, it seems that even my fortune knows I'm destined for greatness."

When Liam tossed the rectangular piece of paper at her, she rolled her eyes and looked at the message typed on it, ‘There can only be one crown found through greatness in forming unexpected alliances.' Well, this was the biggest piece of vague bullshit she had read from an all-foreseeing cookie.

Her brother checked his phone before tucking it into the interior breast pocket of his suit. "As much as I would love to stay here and discuss this further, I have some clients who are waiting on me. I will be in touch, but just know one more thing. If you start taking too long to come to terms with this, I won't hesitate to forcefully take everything you have one asset at a time. If it comes to that point, I will find more creative and personal methods to persuade you to cooperate."

Liam got out of his seat and straightened out his suit jacket, smoothing his hands over the front of it. He came over to her side, placing one hand on the back of her chair and the other on the edge of the table. Bowing his head down, he whispered to her, "I heard Rebecca is still single; do you think she still has that middle-school crush on me?"

That was the tipping point. Her anger spilled over the edge and she began to rise from her seat ready to break her hand on his face a thousand times over. Her brother anticipated as much and grabbed her roughly by the back of the neck forcing her back down into her seat.

Keeping his words quiet he snarled into her ear. "Fucking try me, Layne. I've made a lot more friends than you even realize. I could blow your damn brains out right now, then sit down for some kung pao chicken and nobody here would blink a damn eye."

She winced as his grasp on her painfully tightened. Just when she thought maybe her head would pop off her shoulders like a broken bobblehead, his hand released her, leaving a red mark behind on her fair skin.

He straightened up and gave her a pleasant smile like they just had the best time catching up. "This was nice; I'm looking forward to our next chat sometime soon. Enjoy the rest of your day, sis." Liam nodded to the two men he had drawn attention to earlier and both got up from their respective tables. The three of them left the Chinese restaurant, leaving Layne behind.

Layne sat there hoping to feel a sense of relief now that he was gone, but that sense of dread never lifted.