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Scott had invited both his children over for dinner after hearing Liam’s overly dramatic briefing of what he had witnessed and heard from Layne.
He thanked the plump, black-haired maid who took away his empty dinner plate, and then sat back in his chair and looked over at Layne while swirling what was left of his Old Fashioned in the glass he held.
“You want to tell me anything?” His hand motioned to her cheek where the makeup only managed to lighten the bruise on her face.
Layne fiddled with the fork in her hand, twirling it this way and that, and then pushing around some leftover potatoes on her plate. “I already know that I don’t have to. I’m sure Liam already filled you in.” He always was good at tattling on her.
Liam was already about to defend his stance on all of this, but silently Scott lifted a hand to stop his son before he even started down that road. “I want to hear it from you. All of it.”
She dropped her fork down onto her plate causing a clatter that echoed in the air of the expansive room that seemed far too large for just three people to be eating in. Layne looked over at her father letting the unspoken words build the tension.
Her father didn’t move an inch while he waited for her to go ahead and respond to his initial question. She wasn’t even sure he blinked.
After it was clear he wasn’t going to let the subject change, she acquiesced. “Fine.” Layne went ahead and gave the bare bones of her version of events, leaving everything out that had to do with Joey, and didn’t drop any names of anyone else involved.
“Interesting.” Her father nodded before continuing. “Nothing else to add?”
“No, I told you all that I know.” She sat back in her seat, trying to find a comfortable spot in the hard wooden chair.
Mulling over everything his daughter said, Scott kept his eyes directed at her. “You mean to tell me, you don’t know anything about anyone who was involved, they got the jump on you, and then you just… got away?Can you understand why I’m skeptical, Layne? You are better than this. I’ve taught you better than this.So, either you’re lying or you’re getting reckless.”
She winced slightly at the tone of disappointment weighing on his words.
“Which is it, Layne? Cause I can’t imagine that you’d be stupid enough to lie.”
Sitting there in silence, she wasn’t sure what to tell him that would still keep the truth protected. Scott shook his head in disbelief that he was even having this conversation with her.
“I’m assigning a guard to keep an eye on you.”
It didn’t come as a surprise to her. “For how long?”
He snapped back at her with a roar. “For as long as it fucking takes for you to get some sense!” He smacked a fist onto the table prompting a rattle out of the place settings.
Layne flinched as he lashed out. She looked at Liam across from her, he looked all smug that Dad once again took his side. Oh, how she wanted to wipe that look off his face with a handful of rusty nails, but all she could do was stare daggers at her brother before giving a pleading look to their father.
“Dad, please…”
“No, don’t ‘please’ me. You’re getting security detail, and you’re not getting any more jobs until I know you aren’t going to compromise yourself or this entire damn family.” Her eyes widened slightly as he tacked on that last bit that she wasn’t going to be able to do any work for the organization at all.
She popped up from her seat. “What? What the hell am I supposed to do, then?”
Scott gave a tired sigh. “Layne, go out, have fun, go meet people.”
“You mean go meet my future husband? Go make the rounds at all the luxury clubs, bat my eyelashes, and pretend that I want a life being cared for and providing offspring in exchange?” It sounded more like a prison sentence than any type of life she ever wanted to live.
When he didn’t say anything in response to her question, she took it as confirmation that it had crossed his mind.
“Unbelievable.” She gathered her belongings.
“It was a life your mother enjoyed and embraced, Layne.” His attempt to make it sound more of an appealing option failed.
“No! You don’t get to say that!” She pointed her finger at him. “She tolerated it! She tolerated all of this, and how was she repaid for it?” Years worth of tears filled with anger pricked at her eyes now. “She got burned anyway, so don’t sit there and tell me that I need to go be some damn trophy wife because it’s for the better good!”
Liam tried to do his best to de-escalate the situation seeing the pain in their father’s eyes at his sister’s outburst. “Layne, that’s not a fair comparison.”
She choked back a few tears with a laugh. “The hell it isn’t, Liam.” Layne yanked her arms into the sleeves of her jacket and walked away from the dinner table. Both of the O’Reilly men had the sense not to agitate her further by following.
Going into the main hall, already waiting there for her was her newly assigned guard. He was going to be the first of many in the rotation of shift to shift. This one, in particular, looked like he took life way too seriously, and not the type that made having fun easy. She did her best to tell herself that all of this would blow over in a few days after everybody cooled down.
