Chapter 5

Afew mornings later, Layne rolled over in bed expecting to find a large warm body next to her. Instead, she was just met with the small mound of the cold white bedding Joey had tossed aside.

She frowned as she opened her eyes and found a small piece of paper left on his pillow.

Have to pick up a package for a client. Be back in an hour to have my breakfast. - Joey

P.S. I'm never late.

Layne grinned in giddy anticipation damn well knowing that between her thighs was going to be ready for him the second he walked in through the door. He had been finding creative ways and sneaking in every opportunity to distract her body from the pain of her fractured hand.

She slid out of bed, wearing a cropped light blue camisole with a matching pair of shorts. After taking care of a few things in the bathroom, she left the master suite and went downstairs to find a cup of coffee left on a warmer for her.

It looked like he was doing his best to stay in her good graces, and she wasn't complaining about it. The coffee was only a small gesture in comparison to how he had been trying to help her organize and restructure how she took over the operations of her family's business.The stressors of her new role plus the added injury to her hand had been leaving her already short fuse even quicker to blow.

Liam had been radio silent since their blowout, likely licking his wounds and having a pity party for himself between Kristill's legs. After he puked all over her office floor, she had to toss the maid a little extra money to come in on her day off to clean up the mess he had left behind. Layne could handle some bloody violence, but vomit? Hard pass on the sour smell alone.

Before Layne could let the first drop of caffeine hit her lips, the doorbell echoed throughout the house. She set the mug back down on the center island in the kitchen before leaving to answer the door.

When she swung open the front door, an unexpected face greeted her on the other side of it. She blinked a few times at the scruffy-jawed man with eerily similar brown eyes as Joey.

Gage stood there with a broad smile at the sight of Layne answering the door in her pajama set and her long brown locks of hair in wild waves indicating she had gotten out of bed not too long ago. "Well," he licked his lips as his eyes wandered, "good morning, love."

Layne stared at him in both surprise and confusion as to why he was standing there on her front step. "Gage? What are you doing here?"

His hands were tucked in the front pockets of his dark blue jeans, and a pale green shirt that seemed one size too small for the ripped lines of his upper body. A long chain hung from his neck. At the very end of the chain was a small coin-like charm with the spread wings of an eagle and the letters SPQR at its base and a laurel wreath curved around the outer edges.

The short, dark blonde hair on his head was styled casually to appear as though very little effort and thought had been put into it. His smile reflected how at ease he was feeling, enough that he attempted to step inside without an invitation.

Having gotten used to the soft brace on her right hand, she immediately put her left hand against his chest to put a halt to his advance into her home. He didn't press onward, but he did look down at her hand and grin. Taking his hands from his pockets, he wrapped one around her fingers and examined the platinum and black rhodium diamond ring on her slender finger.

"My brother give this to you?" He lifted a far too curious brow.

She ignored his question. It was none of his damn business. "You haven't told me why you're here. How did you even know where I live?"

Finally releasing her hand, he raised a finger to her while a hand slid into his back pocket. When he pulled it back out again, he held her credit card between his middle and pointer fingers. "You dropped this the other night at the club. A few online searches, a few questions asked of chatty ex-neighbors, and here I am."

Despite that he was now smiling oh-so-proudly, Layne plucked her credit card from his hold and kept her eyes full of suspicion. "Thanks."

Gage leaned over to attempt to catch a glimpse of what lay just past the front door of her home. "Nice lookin' spot. Looks like Joey traded up."

She stepped to the side to try and block his view of the interior of her home. Though it was a moot point given how he easily saw right over the top of her head given his towering height that matched Joey's. "Why are you still here?"

He chuckled and raised both hands in front of him innocently. "Settle down, sweetheart, I'm just being friendly."

"The fuck you are." She leaned over and slapped her credit card down on the thin side table to the left of the door before she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

Amusement sparked in his eyes as he leaned one forearm against the doorframe. His eyes noticed the way her arms pushed her breasts together in that cute little camisole she had on. "Oh, there's a bit of a brat in you. Now, I get it." It seemed his brother's taste in women hadn't changed much.

"Get what?" Her patience was quickly running out as she released a sigh of frustration. "I swear to God, is there a gene in your family that causes you to be irritatingly arrogant and cocky?"

He laughed in response to her observation. The way he did so had a deep and rich tone to it that seeped in past her barriers. It made something inside of her flutter with excitement.Layne quickly tried to pitch those feelings to the side and focus on how he had interrupted her morning coffee.

His charming smile didn't leave his face as he rubbed his hand over his jaw in thought. The sunlight glinted off of a few silver rings decorating his fingers and also highlighted the inked letters ‘WRATH' just above his knuckles on the back of his hand.

The way he was now staring at her while he did it was getting her even more flustered. Layne shook her head. "Alright, congrats, you've found me and returned my card. Either move along or I will?—"

Gage shoved his way inside, firm hands catching her off guard when they grabbed just below her shoulders and moved her to the side. "Hey!" She squawked. His foot kicked the door shut behind him.

After his hands released her, he began to wander deeper into the house. His head nodded to himself as if he was impressed with what he was seeing. He stopped right outside the dining room which was currently a mess with plastic liners, buckets of paint, ladders, and various other tools. The memory of Mick's death there needed to be erased along with the outdated decor.

Gage motioned at all the hardware. "Doing some renovations? You know, I'm pretty good with my hands, or so I'm told." He smirked at her.

Layne strode after him, her bare feet padding quietly against the tiled floor of the main hall. Fuck the pain in her right hand, she shoved his shoulder with it to turn him partially to face her as her left hook came at that smug face of his. If he wanted to invade her home, he was going to get an unwanted visitor's welcome.

He gave a brief look of surprise as he pulled his face back before she could make contact. Gage's grip wrapped around her left forearm, twisting her around until he had her back pulled up against the front of him with her left arm twisted behind her back. The strength of his other arm wrapped across her and squeezed tightly.

"Take it easy, killer." He chuckled.

Layne wriggled in his hold. "You have no idea." She wouldn't mind adding him to her body count at that moment, even if he did smell like an intoxicating combination of spices and soothing vanilla.

Gage leaned over and gave her a quick peck to her cheek before letting go of her, nudging her forward away from him. "So, where is Joey? I was hoping to catch up, make amends and all that shit, then maybe even bring him into a business deal I'm working on."

She took a few steps forward when he released her, then spun around to glare at him. "What makes you think I know where he is?"

He waved off her question. "You're going to play that angle? My brother doesn't start getting hot and throwing punches over a one-nighter. Though, I am surprised he was willing to get on one knee." He shrugged at the thought of Joey popping the question to any woman. Maybe the woman standing in front of him was that great of a lay. He wouldn't mind taking a tour of everything she had to offer to see what had Joey getting all possessive over.

"He's not here." As if on cue, the front door creaked open. Joey stumbled in, his hand clutching onto his side. A large patch of red soaked into the white fibers of his shirt, and his blood covered the hand he was using to apply pressure to the area.

Layne looked over her shoulder at the sound of the door opening. When she saw him trudge in with a grimace on his face, her face fell and her heart sank right along with it.

"Shit," she uttered as she ran over to him. Her hand grabbed onto his arm, though she wasn't sure what good it was going to do if he fell. His weight was easily twice her own and would take her right down with him, and hard. "What the hell happened?!"

Joey groaned as he looked up at her trying to brush it all off. "Son of a bitch brought a cracked-out friend thinking he was getting out of handing over the package…" His eyes caught sight of Gage standing off to the side.

His pain turned to anger with the flip of a switch. "What the fuck is he doing here?!" He tried to straighten up but immediately doubled back over again as pain shot through his body. Layne stumbled under the weight as her arm tried to at least keep him upright.

She shook her head. "Don't worry about him right now. I'll shoot him on your behalf if I have to. Let's get you in a chair."

Gage snorted. "Hopefully your aim is better than your swing." Then, seeing the struggle between the both of them, Gage took pity and approached. "Move," he commanded as he encroached on Layne's space at Joey's side.

It only took a brief moment for Layne to assess that Gage didn't have any malicious intent in his eyes before she allowed him to take her spot. He took up Joey's non-injured side, wrapping Joey's arm around the back of his shoulders to help take the burden of the weight.

Layne left to grab a chair out of the dining room, returning to meet Gage and Joey halfway across the foyer. She set the chair down in front of Joey. "Here. I will go get supplies." Moving quickly, she disappeared to gather any first aid supplies they might need.

Gage eased Joey into the chair. Immediately, Joey let out a sigh and leaned back. With Joey's jaw set in a hard line from both the searing pain in his side and his anger, he leered at his younger brother. "What the fuck is wrong with your hearing? Have you gone deaf in the last ten years and didn't hear me when I told you to stay the fuck away?"

Squatting down, Gage began to peel back the shirt to try and see how bad the damage was underneath. When Joey didn't move his hand to allow him to take a look, Gage sighed. "I heard you, but you think I give a shit? At least let me check this out and see how much of a pussy you're being right now." He had seen his fair share of wounds from fights breaking out in the various establishments where he worked as head of security over the years.

"Fuck you." Joey relented and eased his hand away to allow Gage to further lift the bottom of his shirt up to expose the injury.

Despite all the blood surrounding the area making it difficult to determine the full extent of the damage, it was obvious that the slash was the deepest right above the waist of his black pants on his side.

Layne returned, a bin of various medical supplies in her hands. She knelt at Joey's side to see the laceration for herself. Her emerald hues looked up at Joey silently saying everything she was thinking. His stubborn ass should have called. He should have been more careful. The last thing she wanted was to lose him.

She pulled out disinfectant, but Gage plucked it out of her hands. "No offense, but I think someone who has full use of both hands automatically makes me more qualified." He motioned to the black brace on her right hand.

Joey grumbled but didn't protest, allowing Gage to proceed.

Almost an hour later, Gage removed his gloves after applying a bandage to the freshly stitched wound. During the course of the hour, Layne had tried to break the awkward tension between the two of them every so often by asking Joey questions but only received one or two-word responses.

"All set." Gage stood and offered a hand to help Joey up out of the chair. It was either hard-headedness or pride, but Joey pushed through the pain still very much present, and stood from his chair on his own accord.

Layne gently hugged Joey's uninjured side as she looked up at him. "Why don't you go upstairs and get some rest?" Seeing the distrust painted over his face of leaving her alone with Gage, she rolled her eyes. She reached up and grabbed his face to turn and look at her. "I can handle getting him out the door."

As a means of reassuring him and maybe even sending a message to Gage as well, she stood on her tiptoes and brought her lips to Joey's. Kissing him long and slow, she allowed the taste of him to linger in her mouth. Once she felt some of the tension in his body fade, she pulled back with a sweet smile promising more to come.

After Joey was upstairs, Layne turned and looked at Gage as the sweetness of her smile shifted into a conflicted look between gratitude and sheer irritation he was still lingering. "Thank you for helping."

Gage grinned, finishing her unspoken thoughts, "But, get the fuck out?"

She tried to hide the smile pulling at the corners of her mouth, but she wasn't quick enough and he caught sight of it. He already knew from that glimpse that he wanted to see just how big of a smile he could get out of her in the future.

Layne walked him over to the door. He turned after stepping foot onto the front step to look at her. "I still need to talk to him about a few things."

Scoffing at the thought of Joey willing to entertain the notion of having another talk with Gage, she shook her head. "Good luck with that."

Trying to re-engage his charm and smooth-talking, his eyes looked into hers. "Well, that's what you are - luck. I'm sure you can find a way to convince him to come down to Cassidy's and have a chat. What do you say, lucky charm?"

"Why would I do that for you of all people? After everything that's happened between the two of you." She didn't make any effort to diminish the skepticism in her tone.

He tilted his head slightly with a curious note in his words. "And, just what did he tell you happened?"

She crossed her arms in front of her chest and gave a small shrug. "Everything I needed to know."

"I very much doubt that, but my offer applies to you as well. If you ever want to know what you're in for, come see me." He gave her a harmless smile.

"Bye, Gage." She shut the door in his face.

Layne turned and looked at the main staircase that led upstairs. A small voice in the back of her head wondered what else there was behind the animosity between the two De Luca brothers.