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Despite her protests, Joey was adamant that he bring her back home. After the incident with Franzetti, there was a whole new level of complication in Layne’s life. He made sure to leave her a few doors down where they exchanged goodbyes.
“Thanks for everything,” she wanted to avoid any awkward discussions with him and leave things in a good spot between them. “Take care of yourself.”
All the talk back in his apartment during their morning romp she chalked up to mere words in the searing heat of the moment. Neither of them needed any long-term entanglements, not when they both led very chaotic lives.
She stepped away from the sports bike before he could try to say words they would both regret, and half jogged up to the steps leading up to her home.
He sat watching her until she reached her front door and then took off. The sound of the exhaust fading the further away he got.
After letting herself inside, when the door shut behind her, she had captured the attention of several unexpected house guests; a few associates who worked for the O’Reilly family, Uncle Mick, and Liam who was paused halfway down the stairs.
Everybody was staring at her and the silence was deafening. It was her Uncle Mick who spoke the first words. “Thank Jesus, Joseph, and Mary.” He let out an exhale like he had been holding his breath for hours before coming over to her and pulling her into the biggest of bear hugs. Layne blinked a few times and gave a small squeeze in return.
“Um, hi. What is everyone doing here?”
Liam came down the steps, if he had been relieved to see her it wasn’t obvious given the level of heated emotions rolling through him. “What the hell, Layne?”
Mick released her but stayed nearby in case a mediator was required between her and her sibling. Her brother looked like he was barely holding onto the last straw of restraint he had ever been given. “Tell me what the fuck happened!”
She held her hands up in front of her defensively. “Whoa, calm down. Look, I ditched the babysitting patrol, I take full responsibility for that but that’s all because you couldn’t keep out of my business. But this,” she gestured to the number of people currently standing around her home looking through her belongings, “this is excessively overreacting!”
“Overreacting?” Liam’s voice raised another decibel. He pulled his phone from his pocket, shoving it into her hands. “How else do you think we should be reacting when we get this note from Franzetti, huh, Layne? What the fuck happened?”
She fumbled with the phone that was thrust into her palm, turning it right side up she saw a photograph of a bouquet of white roses and a note attached to them that read, ‘Condolences on the loss of your daughter. -M.F.’
Layne winced a bit, there wasn’t a whole lot she could do to smooth this one over.
“I need answers, Layne!” Liam’s barking voice startled her slightly as she tried to figure out the best way to give him an explanation. He snatched the phone right back out of her hand. “You know what this did to dad? I’m surprised the man didn’t have a fuckin’ stroke!”
She ran her fingers through her hair taking a deep breath in. “It’s complicated, Liam.”
“Un-fucking-complicate it!”
Mick stepped forward, lightly placing a hand on Liam’s chest to try to get him to ease up. “Alright, let’s all just take a moment here. Layne is alive, and someone should let your father know as much before he outright wages a war on everyone in the entire damn state.”
Layne shook her head, guilt starting to weigh on her about how the situation escalated beyond even what she had anticipated for a rebellious night out.
“Look, I went on a date. It was a fluke that I ran into Franzetti, one thing led to another and he may have tried to drown me. But look,” she motioned to herself, “I’m fine.” Sure, she was understating the turn of events last night, but just like anyone else there, she didn’t want a war breaking loose.
“Goddamnit!” Liam turned and violently crashed his fist into the nearest wall.
Mick turned to look at Layne, rubbing the side of her arm. “Let’s get you back to headquarters so we can straighten this all out. You know your dad is going to need more than the Cliff’s Notes version, Layne.” She knew that he was absolutely right about that.
Everyone wrapped up what they were doing, and Liam refused to utter another word to her. She got into the passenger’s side of Mick’s vehicle where it was just the two of them. He looked over at her empathetically. “You want a piece of advice?”
“You’re going to give it anyway, you always do.”
He nodded. “That’s true. Well, here’s my advice; be honest. We can’t help if we don’t have all the facts.”
She leaned back in the seat, glancing up at the roof of the car, and shook her head. “You know, I always appreciate your advice, right? Ever since I can remember, you’ve always been the best shoulder to lean on when things seemed unbearable. But, this? It’s different.”
Mick frowned, mulling over her response before he reached over and patted her leg. “It may seem that way, but whatever it is has you spiraling, Layne. You’re more levelheaded than this. Whoever the guy is, he’s not worth it. He will get you killed.”
She looked over at him, furrowing her eyebrows as he pinpointed it down to being a guy issue.
“I’m smarter than I look.” He flashed a smile at her as he pulled away from the curb.
Joey was going to get her killed. She couldn’t exactly argue that given she barely survived last night.
