Chapter 25

The three of them headed back to Hudson Yards since it was only less than a mile away and the sun would be rising sooner rather than later. Exhaustion overcame them all and they crashed right into Gage's bed together.

Layne had never slept so hard in her life. With Gage on one side of her and Joey on the other, she felt entirely at ease. All the stressors of her life took a backseat as she allowed herself to succumb to a state of utter relaxation. After several hours of slumber, when she began to wake up, Joey was still in bed with her. His hand was securely attached to her bare breast underneath the t-shirt that Gage had given her to sleep in.

She giggled quietly as she leaned over and laid a sweet kiss on his mouth while the growth of his facial hair tickled her skin. He must not have been sleeping as soundly as she thought, because he suddenly gave a growl and yanked her closer to him while kissing her neck and nipping at her throat playfully.

Layne outright squealed and fell into a fit of laughter while squirming in his hands. "Ah! Joey!"

He rolled on top of her, pinning her down with his body with a sparkle in his rich brown eyes. "Good morning…" Joey's hips suggestively rolled against her with his cock already beginning to harden in his boxer briefs.

Gage walked into the room with a smirk. "If you both are going for round two, I'm going to need more coffee first." He stopped at the side of the bed wearing just his black silk boxers.

She cupped Joey's face in her hands and lovingly kissed him. "Maybe later. I am supposed to meet up with Thomas today for an update on what the pulse is across the city's factions. If something is being stirred up, there are going to be whispers and I want to make sure I hear them first."

Joey squeezed her tightly with his arms before rolling off of her and onto his back. Tucking his arm behind his head, he sprawled out there amongst the charcoal sheets with the sunshine filling the room and lighting up the lines of his collection of tattoos on his bare chest.

As for Gage, he smiled at her and leaned over scooping her up into his arms. "You're not doing anything until I get you in the tub so you can recover a little more before you start your day."

Her hand held onto the back of his neck as she found herself quickly laying across his arms as he began carrying her to his master bathroom where he had already prepared a bath for her. "I think I can handle a little soreness."

"Are you arguing with me?" Gage grinned teasingly and set her feet down on the tiled floor of the extravagant bathroom. It had a massive floor-to-ceiling window with a view of the Hudson River that allowed the bathroom to be drenched in natural lighting. A dark granite tub was inset into a rectangular base right next to the window.

"No, Sir." Layne smiled as she found herself in awe of the beauty of not just the design of the oversized bathroom, but the view it would give her while she soaked.

His fingers lifted the edge of his tee from her body until it was completely removed. "Good. Go get in the tub and I will bring you some coffee and your phone so you don't bitch you're not able to get any work done." He patted her ass lightly as encouragement.

She stepped into the warm water and gradually lowered herself down into it. "How well you know me," Layne smirked. Gage seemed to take to heart that despite how much he got enjoyment out of bossing her around between the sheets, he ultimately wanted nothing more than to spoil and take care of her afterward.

It was a few minutes later that she was alone in the bathroom, her mug filled with freshly brewed coffee in one hand and scrolling through her phone in the other. Gage had been right, the warmth of the water with a mixture of scented salts was gradually melting the soreness away from her body.

She sent a message to Thomas informing him that she needed to push back their meeting by at least an hour. After setting both her caffeine and her cell to the side on a dry ledge, she leaned back and got cozy. Her eyes couldn't have been shut for more than five minutes before her zen-like state was interrupted.

Gage was heard yelling from the other end of his condo. She couldn't hear his words but he sounded livid. She opened her eyes and sat up in the tub hesitantly as she strained to hear the words he was shouting.

Layne got out of the tub, drying herself off before wrapping the fluffy bright white towel around her body, and securing it under her arms. She left the bathroom and made her way to where Gage's voice was growing louder.

"What the fuck do you mean the damn alarm didn't go off?!" His voice thundered in the kitchen. Joey was standing there sipping from his cup of coffee, leaning against the counter waiting to find out more information about this not-so-pleasant phone call his brother had received.

Gage punched one of the kitchen cabinets with his balled-up fist. "I set it myself! It was fucking ON!"

She stepped into the kitchen staring at the both of them for a few minutes before Joey noticed her. Setting down his mug, he walked over to her and rubbed her arms gently. "Something happened at Cassidy's last night after we left," he explained quietly.

Pacing back and forth, Gage listened to one of his managers on the other end of the line. He grabbed a handful of his hair in frustration. "I will get down there when I can." His words were slightly calmer but still vibrating with anger. He hung up on the caller and tossed the phone down on the counter. "Motherfucker!"

Layne grew worried and stepped away from Joey to try and ease Gage's fiery rage. Her hand rested against his tightly tensed bicep. "What happened?" Her eyes were full of concern as she peered up into his eyes.

Not wanting to misdirect his anger at Layne, he took several ragged breaths. "Someone broke into Cassidy's last night sometime after we left and before my manager came in to prep for opening later. The joint got completely ransacked."

Trying to think of a way to help, she rubbed his arm soothingly. "I'm sure if you pull the camera footage it should at least show who it was, right?"

He swallowed hard, his jaw clenched as he was internally kicking his own ass. With a softer but still strained tone, he replied, "I turned them off before the three of us…" His words trailed off.

She frowned that the one thing that could have perhaps captured who was responsible was not available thanks to Gage's consideration and thoughtfulness of not evidencing their extracurricular activities together.

"I'm sorry, Gage. Look, we can go down there, assess the damage, and maybe try cleaning it up." She tried to share some of her optimism with him.

Joey placed a hand on Layne's shoulder with a gentle squeeze and patted Gage on the back supportively. "I agree with Layne. We will all go down there and take a look."

Layne nodded. "I will reschedule my meeting with Thomas for another day. I will see if I can get some of my men to come down and help once we know what level of damage there is. I just need to run home first and get a fresh change of clothes."

Gage tried to take a calming breath, his fury still simmering underneath the surface but remaining under control for now. "Alright. Joey, you take her home. I'm going to make some phone calls and then I will meet you both over there in two hours." He leaned over and gave Layne a tender kiss. "Don't the two of you get into trouble when I'm not around to join in, okay?"

She chuckled. "I will make sure he behaves." Her emerald hues gave a playfully stern look at Joey.

After both she and Joey threw on their clothes from last night, they left to head back uptown. With both of them deciding that a shower wasn't optional, they got cleaned up and dressed, ready to do some potential dirty work that didn't involve exchanging bodily fluids.

Her fingers swept her long locks of hair up into a ponytail as her thoughts plagued her mind. "It can't be a coincidence that Gage's club was targeted. He got involved in my life, and now…" The first signs of guilt weighing in on her conscience began to seep through the cracks of her strong fa?ade.

Pulling his shirt down over his head, Joey immediately came over to her and forced her to turn and face him. "This is not your fault."

"But isn't it? I could have said ‘no' to all of this. I could have slammed the door shut in his face. It could have just been you and I against all five boroughs. Now?" Layne shook her head. "He shouldn't have to be targeted and potentially end up like?—"

"Sean?" Joey finished her thought.

Layne hung her head and tried to swallow down the truths that clawed at the little bit of morality she had left. "Yeah."

Joey tilted her head back up with a finger under her chin. "We all chose this—together. We will get through this together. You already know how I feel about you, and I can tell you that Gage's feelings for you run just as deep. His stubborn ass may not know it, but I see it."

She swallowed past the swell of a lump in her throat, still struggling with allowing her emotions to get the best of her. "I don't want to see him or you get hurt because of me."

"Layney," he smiled and gave her several small kisses. "I wish you could see what I see right now."

Layne wrinkled up her nose. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Chuckling, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and drew her into a tight hug. "Nothing you won't figure out eventually." Joey ran his hand over the top of her head, his fingers trailing along the length of her ponytail before kissing her forehead. "We need to get going if we're going to make it back over to Hell's Kitchen. God knows one of us is going to need to prevent Gage from lashing out at any fucker that looks remotely guilty."

She nodded in agreement. There was no reason to have Gage dealing with this on his own. Just as she was dedicated to being at Joey's side, Layne needed to make sure that Gage knew she wasn't going anywhere. She was just as much his as she was Joey's.