The next morning, Layne woke up with a mission. He quietly let himself out of his dorm and successfully walked himself out of the clubhouse without a lot of people seeing him. Late last night, he had texted Doc Jones and let her know that he needed to talk to her. That it was important. She had immediately texted him back and told him that she could see him first thing in the morning. That had been all he needed to hear. He knew that he needed to see the Doc before he even saw Jessica again, he needed to get his head wrapped around all the fucked up shit that was going on inside it.The ride to the old farmhouse was relaxing. He really did love the ride and the scenery that lead out to the office she used. It calmed him down; just liked he had hoped it would. Before long, he was pulling onto the gravel drive. Before he had even fully parked and gotten off the bike, the front door to the house was open, and the Doc stood on the front porch."Mornin', Layne," she called out, a cup of
"Sorry, didn't mean to get so emotional," he told her, wiping his cheeks up too."Me neither, I really thought the two of us were just going to have a conversation," she laughed."That was a conversation I think I needed," he admitted.Doc Jones glanced at the room where she did most of her listening. "Do you want to take it in there, or do you want to sit out there? Either one is fine with me, wherever you feel most comfortable. I think we may have made a breakthrough with you."He did too, but he was scared to say anything. Sometimes giving voice to your fears or your successes made them go away, in his mind. Layne only nodded slightly. "I think I might like to sit out there.""Then that's what we'll do.""You mind if I get some more orange juice?""Help yourself," she told him, watching closely as he got up from the chair. It wasn't very often that she could see a weakness in this man, but when he got up, he favored one leg. She remembered reading in the files she had
Was it too much to ask for a sinkhole to open up right where they sat? Maybe a tornado to come whooshing by and take that notebook right out of Layne's hands. Jessica was pretty sure that no one had ever died of utter humiliation and embarrassment, but she was looking to take that title. It felt like hours as she heard Layne flip through the pages of the notebook. At several parts, she heard him clear his throat lowly. The sound very deep and masculine. She wanted to open her eyes and see if her words affected him, but there was another part of her that was flat scared to death. After what felt like a good ten years, she heard him set the notebook down. "Wow," he breathed.Her eyes slowly opened. It took a moment for them to adjust to the bright light of the hot summer day. The sun in Kentucky was even brighter, more potent, than the sun in California. They stared at each other for long seconds."So." He pursed his lips, a grin tilting up the left side of his mouth. "You writ
"Have you found out anything about this Jackson Wright?"Steele looked up from his computer at the sound of Tyler's voice. He rolled his head around on his neck to loosen up some of the tight muscles there. "A little.""Do share." Tyler had a seat next to him and turned to face the other man, giving him his full attention.Turning his laptop so that Tyler could see it, Steele took the sucker he absent-mindedly sucked on out of his mouth and set it on the wrapper beside him. "He's Jessica's ex-boyfriend.""Really? So was this revenge?""I'm thinking so. I've gone through his financials with a fine-tooth comb…he needs money in a big way. I can't prove it, but I know that asshole stole those pictures and the writings from her house.""What does he have to do with the Vojnik though?"Steele rolled his chair over to the side and grabbed some papers off the printer. "I don't think it's him, I think it's her—indirectly."Tyler sat up straighter, his eyebrows coming together. "
"Where are we going?" Jessica asked Layne as the two of them sped along the road towards Bowling Green. She had become very familiar with this road, with its twists and turns and hills, but there was no one she felt safer to ride with on it than him."Someplace where we can be alone."That made her heart speed up. The only other place the two of them had always been alone had been a hotel room. Something inside of her knew that Bowling Green, Kentucky probably did not have hotel rooms that you could rent for the hour. Well, unless they were attached to Wet Wanda's, so she hoped he meant somewhere a little nicer."You got quiet. Is that okay?" he asked, reaching over and taking her hand in his."It is," she nodded, glancing back out at the scenery as it passed. He was content to let her sit quietly beside him as he drove them through the back roads that would take them to Bowling Green. He wondered what she was thinking, but something told him that maybe he didn't want to kno
"What are you thinking?" Jessica asked as she lifted herself up off the mattress onto an elbow. Her red hair fell into her face, but she didn't bother to push it away. She liked the way it rested against the tattoos on Layne's chest.He cleared his throat and turned his head so that they faced one another. His eyes moved past her, taking in that daytime had changed to evening and onto night as the two of them had been in their own little world. Outside, he could see the world light up as a storm raged over Bowling Green, the lightening giving him enough time to see her face. He'd taken her three more times since they'd made their way into this hotel room, and he felt as if each time he re-gained a part of himself. "That I don't want to go back to the clubhouse tonight." He lifted his hand up to cup the back of her neck with his warm fingers."Mmm, I don't either." She let her head fall against his shoulder, snuggling up beside him."But I'm thinking we need to. I could feel some
As soon as Layne and Jessica made their way back to the clubhouse the next day, they were called in for a meeting with Liam and Tyler. "Why would they want to meet with me?" Jessica asked, her hand shaking as she held it out for Layne to take."I'm sure it's nothing bad. Let's just go see what they want. I won't let anyone hurt you or take you away from me. Do you believe that?" he asked, tilting her chin up so that he could place a kiss there."I do.""Then everything is going to be fine."Truthfully, he was also nervous. It wasn't unusual for the two of them to call a meeting with a particular member of the club, but it was unusual for them to ask to meet with someone who was an outsider. He knocked on the door to the meeting room and pushed the door open when he heard the answering call from Liam. "C'mon in you two, have a seat," Liam said as he got up to shut the door behind them."Did I do something wrong?" Layne asked, catching the glare of Tyler."My man, I'm j
Everything was quiet and Layne hated it. After speaking with Tyler and Liam the night before, they had all decided to call a meeting with not only Dino but with Thomas Stanton—together. "Think he's going to show?" Dino asked as he sat in the abandoned warehouse with the Heaven Hill boys and two members from his crew. Their uneasy truce was continuing, for how long he didn't know, but sometimes they all knew they had to work together."I dunno," Layne answered. "Jessica sent him a text message last night telling him that she was quitting the business. He won either way."Dino looked up at the other man. "What do you mean by that?""If he sells more of the pictures, he's won because they made a shit ton of money out of it. If they didn't sell it and she ended up having to buy herself out of the contract—which she's going to have to do now—he's won a personal battle. Either way he's living it up.""That shit pisses me off.""What do you know?" Liam asked the leader of the oth