Chapter 6

Finally, after several weeks of pain and torture for them both, Layne's hand was free of that godforsaken brace. In her opinion, it had wreaked enough havoc and inconvenience for a lifetime. While her hand wasn't fully healed yet per Dr. Patty, she at least had full functionality of it again. She just had to promise she wouldn't go around punching anyone else until it was completely healed. It was a tough sell, but she agreed she'd do her best.

Joey's knife wound was healing up nicely. As much as neither of them wanted to admit it, Gage had done a good job stitching up the laceration. As a precaution, Dr. Patty also provided some antibiotics. Nobody wanted to drop dead from an avoidable infection; this wasn't the Middle Ages.

The forced downtime allowed her to continue laying out strategy and resilience plans for the O'Reilly organization. She had a newfound appreciation for all that her father had been in charge of. Having not been raised to take on this role, she felt lost more often than not, but no less determined to reestablish the respect her last name used to demand.

Layne found herself in the office standing before the most senior associates who worked for the O'Reilly faction - who now worked for her. She had been meeting with all of them in smaller groups, but now she had all of them in the same room with her to make sure her message could be heard loud and clear. She wanted to be able to stare at all their faces to make sure nobody was missing the memo. From here on out, it was Layne in charge of how things operated. Nothing was to be done without her being made aware of it. The way things operated under Liam's piss-poor leadership would no longer be the standard.

Bringing all her boss bitch energy, she looked at the faces of the group of men with eyes on her. All of them came from various backgrounds but had one thing in common, criminal intelligence.Could she have hired every thug looking to make a quick buck to beef up her workforce? Sure. But she didn't want just anyone executing her vision for this organization; she wanted people who knew what the fuck they were doing.

"With all that said, anybody who disagrees can see themselves out that door right now. I am not going to tolerate disloyalty, inadequacy, or excuses. If you can't or won't put everything on the line to honor all this enterprise stands for, then get the fuck out. My dad set forth stringent expectations for all those who reported to him. You can expect that those standards have now been raised when you report to me." It wasn't going to be easy taking back power across the city, even more so knowing that all the other factions would consider her an emotionally weak female undeserving of respect.

The fierce green of her eyes shifted as she scanned each of the men there in the room with her, looking each one in the eyes while assessing their body language to determine how reliable and trustworthy they might be in the long run. The only person missing was her brother. The invitation for him to take a spot reporting to her had gone without a response. It seemed someone was still feeling a bit butthurt that he might have to take orders from Layne for once.

When no one made a move to leave the room, she nodded and leaned back against the edge of her desk. Her arms crossed in front of her stomach as she got comfortable. Layne began to dish out instructions to have her crew make the first moves under her reign.

First up was Jonathan, the most diplomatic of the bunch. He had worked in politics, covering up scandals and making illegal deals behind closed doors for years. He wasn't much of a fighter, but he could talk a deaf man into listening. "Jonathan, you go rub elbows with the other faction heads and try to smooth things over with the change in leadership. Make it clear that what was flying the past few months is no longer the case. Anyone who has a problem with that can take it up with me directly, and I will be more than happy to paint them a very clear picture of what I won't be tolerating."

Next was Ethan. He had nearly as much of a temper as she did, but a far more intimidating stature. The man was built like one of the NFL's top defensemen. He had started his career out as a professional bodybuilder competing in fitness competitions until he branched out into shakedowns for whoever gave him the largest commission. "Ethan, you take your guys and begin cracking down on overdue payments. I don't want there to be a single penny still owed to us."

Finally, one of her favorite hires was Sammy. He was a perfect blend of both Jonathan and Ethan. A smooth talker, but the man could get damn scrappy in a fight. Either he was brawling his way out of shit situations or using his words to manipulate others. "Sam, please see to it that Diego is relieved of his duties at the Brass Mirror. I can't be having someone operating that site who can be easily bribed by someone like Eric Ellis." May the bastard be rotting in hell. "I need someone with a backbone running that operation."

One of the others, Thomas, stood from his seat. He was well into his fifties and had seen some shit during his time served in this industry. She had determined anyone with that level of wisdom would be an asset as an advisor and mentor to the others. "Layne," his tone full of caution, "this isn't going to be a smooth transition given how weak the O'Reilly reputation has been."

She nodded. "I'm aware. That's why I'm doubling down on everything. If anyone thinks they're going to find themselves getting second chances, you can make it clear in no uncertain terms that I have a one-strike policy. Don't pay? I will take what you owe and more in any way I see fit. Ignore the boundaries of the O'Reilly territory? You will be struck down without hesitation. I'm not here to play games." Lord knew that she couldn't afford to fuck around.

Skeptically, Jonathan looked at her. "That goes against all the rules of engagement we have with the other factions, politically speaking."

Layne gave a harsh laugh that rattled the atmosphere. "You mean it goes against the unwritten and outdated rules? What good were those rules when I was being shot at when this business was circling the drain? Fuck their rules. I'm making my own now."

She shook her head in irritation recalling all the struggles over the past year when she should have had all of this under her control and not under Liam's inept ass.

"Anything else?" She glanced around the room, waiting for anyone to speak up. When she was met with heads shaking and a lack of affirmative responses, she waved them all off. "I want reports coming back on everything, I don't care what time of day it is. If it can't be spoken over the phone you better be knocking on the door."

Her hand waved off the men that she had hand-selected to be the foundation of building a stronger O'Reilly empire than had ever existed before. Money may have gotten them in the door, but now she would see just how much money talked when it came to them taking action on her behalf.

The men filed out of the room gradually, some chatting amongst themselves about more mundane things like sports and financial markets. Finally, it was just Layne left there in the office and she felt like she could drop the fa?ade of being a confident and fearless leader.

She stepped away from her desk, walked over to the window, and peered outside at the traffic coming and going down the street. Her brain felt fried and her lack of personal engagement on the front lines of the business had left her feeling useless. Getting lost in her thoughts, she hadn't even noticed a presence coming into the office.

The strength of Joey's arms wrapped around her waist from behind. It was at Layne's behest that Joey not be part of her meetings with her leads. This business was already too male-oriented; if he were to participate, they would be too quick to look to him and ignore the little lady in the room. She needed to build the foundation first that she wasn't just a pretty face pretending to be the head of a criminal syndicate.

Layne leaned back into him and allowed a sigh to escape. "I was never prepared for this. Liam always got the insight on how to run things."

"Look what good that did him. He had his chance." He didn't hide how unimpressed he was with her brother on both business and personal levels.

She was on the same train of thought. "That's because he's a fucking idiot."

Turning her around by her hips, Joey looked down at her with a grin. His hand cupped her chin. "And that is what will set you apart from how he handled things." He lowered his mouth onto hers, coaxing her into a more at-ease state.

When their kiss broke, he smiled at her lightly. "There is another matter of business we need to discuss, Layne."

She furrowed her brows together wondering what other details needed to be ironed out that she must have overlooked.

"You're not just running side jobs for Liam or your dad anymore. You're running the whole damn show." He set his jaw in a hard line as he thought about the harsh reality he was going have to admit to out loud. "That puts a massive target on your back. As much as it pisses me off to say it, even I have my limitations on what I can do to keep you protected. We need to consider seeking out someone who can professionally see to it that you're safe when I'm not around."

Her face fell at the thought of anyone other than Joey hovering over her every move. "And you're going to trust another human being to do that?"

Now it was Joey's turn to frown. "I didn't say it was going to be easy finding someone, but it has to happen. I will check around and see if anyone is worth talking to about the job."

Not being on board with this idea, Layne shook her head. "I have always been able to take care of myself. I'm not going to just trust some stranger breathing down my neck and hope that they have my back when it matters most."

To prove a point, Joey knocked her feet out from underneath her while pushing her back. Instead of letting her back hit the floor, he caught her with his other arm. With his spare hand, he pointed his index and middle fingers at her forehead. "Bang."

She tried to mask the surprise on her face as she stared up at him but her slightly wide eyes gave it away. Her hand pushed his fingers away that were aggressively pointed at her. "Are you planning on taking me out yourself? Playing the long game and finally finishing the job for Franzetti?" Layne narrowed her eyes at him.

He pulled her back upright onto her feet. "No, but it's people like me that I'm worried about, Layne. Do you think they're going to give a shit about where you are or who you're with? You'd be lucky if all they do is fire a single round into you. I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing I had the chance to put safety measures in place to prevent it."

The stubborn side of her wanted to fight him on this and tell him he was wrong. She pressed her lips together ready to push back on the issue, but her phone began to ring in her pocket disrupting her from debating with him. "This conversation isn't over yet."

She stepped away from him as she pulled out her phone, and answered it. "Yes?" Layne stopped mid-step as the caller spoke in her ear. "What?" She was pretty sure she had to have heard the person on the other end of the line incorrectly. "Oh, for fucks sake. I will be right there. No, don't do a damn thing."

Layne pressed the red button on the screen to end the call. Returning her phone to her pocket, she balled her hands up into fists and pressed them to her forehead as she shut her eyes tightly. She wanted to scream at the top of her lungs in frustration. Instead, she muttered, "I'm going to kill him."

After approaching her, Joey lightly tugged on her wrists to pull her hands away from her face. "What is it?"

She opened her eyes and shook her head in disbelief. "Liam got his stupid ass arrested."