Chapter 9

Inside the modest apartment belonging to one Rebecca Zappa, the two girls hung out in the cramped living room. The limited space was filled with papers scattered across the coffee table, boxes of samples of various wedding paraphernalia, and a laptop off to the side.

Rebecca rapidly tapped the top of her pen against the pad of paper while she mulled over the thoughts inside her head and stared down at the doodles and diagrams in front of her.

Layne lay across the dark brown leather sofa with her head supported by the arm of it, a bottle of beer hanging out in one hand while the other rested on top of her stomach. Her hair swept up into a messy bun on top of her head, a comfy pair of black leggings on her lower half, and a distressed scoop-neck turquoise tee hanging off of her upper body.

"You know," Layne spoke up, "does it really matter where the flowers go?" She turned her head to look over at her best friend. This entire wedding planning was all Rebecca's jam and not something Layne had given second thoughts to. Did people actually care if flowers were low on the table or up on a pedestal? She didn't.

Her blonde bestie's jaw hung open after a small gasp, her pen immediately ceasing its movement. "Of course it does!" she exclaimed. She set the pen down on the pad with a dramatic sigh. "I'm not going to let you downplay your own damn wedding day, Layne. It's going to be extravagantly beautiful, perfectly executed, and all you need to do is show up and say ‘I do'. You deserve it after all the shitstorms you've had to endure."

Rebecca knew better than to bring up the horrific circumstances surrounding Layne's first marriage—if one could even call it that. Signing papers that were questionably legal with Eric had been nothing but a cold and emotionless business transaction. She knew that Layne deserved better than that. Even if she still had minor reservations about Joey, she could agree that he had been taking care of Layne more than any man ever had. That was no easy feat.

After taking a small sip from the amber lager, Layne gave a light smile at the notion of seeing Joey standing across from her ready to commit to being in her life forever. The thought of seeing him dressed in a tux, in a church of all places, began to remind her of the last time he had gotten all cleaned up for her. A memory where she ended up on the hood of his car left a heated desire beginning to pool in her lower stomach.

Disrupting Layne's thoughts was the sound of the front door to Rebecca's apartment giving a small click as the handle turned and swung open. Joey pushed his way in with several bags of food in his hands. He nudged the door shut behind him and carried the bags over to the nearby kitchen table where he unloaded all of them.

"When you said you ordered lunch, I didn't expect to be picking up an entire damn buffet." He griped as he shoved his sunglasses up on top of his head to rest on his slicked-back dark blonde hair.

Rebecca gave the biggest smile ever trying to exude as much innocence and sweetness as possible. "You're the best. It wouldn't be girls' lunch without options. Besides, we both know that Layne needs the reminder to eat every once in a while before she gets too cranky." That earned a piercing glare from Layne at the minor dig.

"Does that mean I'm officially out of the doghouse?" He raised a brow at her.

She gave a shrug of her shoulders and a playful grin. "Ninety percent there."

Joey looked over at Layne who was lazed out on the couch. "She's a tough one to win over." He nodded over at Rebecca before coming over to the end of the sofa where Layne's head was resting.

"Nearly as tough as you are," he murmured as he leaned over her. His hand ran along Layne's throat until it cupped under her jaw to tilt her head further back so he could greet her mouth with an upside-down kiss. The several-day buildup of scruff on his face was lightly abrasive against her skin.

The magnetic draw of his mouth left her wanting more as her back arched slightly at the sensation. It wasn't until Rebecca cleared her throat that the two of them wrapped up their moment of affection together, leaving Layne with a sheepish smile on her face.

Joey rounded the edge of the couch and took a seat at the end where Layne's feet were, lifting them momentarily to lay them back down in his lap. "How's the planning going?"

That earned him a rolling of eyes from both girls for different reasons, but it was Layne who chimed in first. "She's in full, level five-thousand wedding planner mode. At this rate, I expect members of a royal family from a country I've never heard of to be attending." Her snark and sass were in full swing.

Rebecca, on the other hand, shook her head in denial and looked at Joey for backup. "Help me out here. I've already explained to her that showing up to the courthouse and having a kegger afterward is not only not what she deserves, but sends the wrong message socially."

Layne shifted so she was now propped up on her elbow. "There's nothing wrong with that plan!"

"Except it's not what you want." Rebecca fired back quickly. "Do you want me to go into the many in-depth conversations we've had over the years? I will be more than happy to share your extremely detailed dream wedding plans involving Jackson Holloway in the ninth grade. Including the wedding night."

Her eyes widened. "Oh my God," Layne groaned as she sat up. "Don't you dare," she warned before looking over at Joey. "Look, you've even said it yourself, it's a piece of paper."

Suddenly finding himself in the middle of this, Joey sighed and looked over at his future wife. His incredibly stubborn future wife. His hand gave her foot a gentle squeeze. "I did say that, but that was different."

Goddamn if he didn't want to bring Eric Ellis back from the dead just to snap his neck all over again for the number he had done on Layne. The bastard never deserved to have his name next to hers on that marriage certificate.

He straightened up in his seat, directing his eyes right at Layne. "Layney, I want you to have the day you deserve. I want everyone to know that you get the best of everything, including the best of me. Let's show the world that we aren't paper-thin." He let those words sink in for a moment.

When she began to show signs of backing down, the tightness easing away from her shoulders and a softness flittering across her eyes, Joey flashed her a smirk. "Although, I am interested in what you had in mind for the wedding night."

Layne sat up, grabbed one of the throw pillows tucked against her side, and tossed it at him. "Not a damn chance!"

He easily dodged the square pillow with a chuckle. "We'll see."

After an afternoon of planning, well mostly of Rebecca laying out options and drawing out opinions from Layne, Joey drove Layne back home.

"Have you heard anything about Liam?" He glanced over at Layne in the passenger seat while they sat at a red traffic light.

Looking up from scrolling through some messages on her phone, she shook her head. "Only that he had his arraignment hearing. He was denied bail, so he will have some time to sit and think about his actions behind bars. Walt thinks it was a politically driven decision by the judge." She shrugged, trying to appear unfazed and indifferent.

"You still did the right thing, Layne. Sometimes the best thing is to be in lockup. When I did my time at Rikers, it was shitty, but I fucking learned what I needed while I was there." It had been a hellhole of an experience for Joey, but it gave him the resources and contacts to learn some of the best tricks of the trade. Not to mention, it made him smarter so next time he wouldn't make the same fuck ups.

She felt a deep breath fill her lungs before she released it, trying to absorb the words of reassurance he was attempting to give her. "I know. I just had hoped things would be different, ya know? It's only him and I left in this family, and I expected more."

The light turned green and Joey proceeded, taking them towards their destination. "Blood makes you related, not family. Liam hasn't been your family since I've known you." Perhaps a harsh iteration of the truth, but from the outside peering in on the O'Reilly household, Liam only gave a shit about one person—himself.

Trying not to dwell on the topic, she shifted things over to the subject of another troublesome sibling. "So…" Her voice trailed off as she tried to find the best way to broach the topic.

Joey glanced over at her briefly while trying to maintain his focus on the road. "So?"

"I think it's a good idea if you hang back tonight." She did her best to keep it sounding as much of a neutral decision as possible. It was Thursday and if luck was smiling upon them, Italo would be at Gage's strip club for a weekly private dick rub.

Immediately, his upper body stiffened in the driver's seat. His hand jerked the steering wheel and cut off several other drivers before pulling off to a side street where he double parked the Challenger. "You've lost your damn mind. Not happening." His chocolate eyes looked over at her full of unyielding assertiveness.

The sudden maneuvering of the vehicle and near collisions nearly caused her a heart attack and shook all her efforts to keep her voice calm. "Christ!" She glanced around at where they were parked on the street before staring back at him. "You really think that you can hold your shit together if Gage is there tonight? Honestly?"

He reached over, his hand curled around the back of her neck to make sure he had her full attention. Joey wanted her to hear his words loud and clear. "Gage isn't my concern. You are, and you aren't going there without me. Do you understand?"

The warmth and the strength of his hand on the back of her neck had tingling sensations coursing down her spine and spreading down each of her limbs. His words carried the weight of a man who was hellbent on getting his way.

"Don't make me ask twice," he added.

She nodded at him. He accepted her acknowledgment by leaning over and briefly locking his lips onto hers to ease away the sternness he had thrust upon her moments ago.

"Good," was all he said afterward before he sat back in his seat.

Great, it looked like they were both going to Cassidy's Cave tonight. She just hoped that Gage wouldn't hinder their efforts and Joey could keep his personal shit with his brother on lockdown.