That threw him. “You actually told another man that?”
She put her hands over her face, embarrassment burning it hot. “I did,” she nodded. “But at the time I was so pissed. You wouldn’t let me see you in the hospital, and then I found out that you had gone somewhere else to do your rehab, I couldn’t find you…for months. Then I got a call from Bowling Green, Kentucky, and you told me you’d joined an MC and you wanted to see me. I was so mad, and that’s when he started making demands. It wasn’t my best hour. Of course, I left to come see you. Do you remember that?”
He did remember that day; it had been the only day she’d ever seen him in Bowling Green before he’d come to get her in Nashville. “That day was painful,” he admitted.
“It was. I realized that day that you weren’t Layne anymore. You were a shell of Layne. So when I came home, I did something incredibly dumb. I spent the weekend with Jackson and then told him that we couldn’t be together anymore. That weekend, he moved his shit out of my house. A year and a half later, it was burglarized, and I truly believe it was him. I think he’s run out of money, completely run out of money, and he knows that I would run to you, but I think he’s scared of you.”
“Wait a second, you’ve had an idea of who did this to you the whole time?”
Looking straight into his eyes was one of the hardest things she’d ever done in her life. “I had my suspicions, and now that you’ve said his name, I’m pretty sure he did. He’s always known my contract stipulations. If the holder of my largest contract has seen those nude pictures and those erotic writings—I’m toast. I’m done and I’m gonna have to buy myself out of my contract.”
“Are you shitting me?”
“Nope,” she shook her head. “Those things are iron clad, but we sign them—like idiots. Money looks awesome when you don’t have any.”
The things she’d told him swam around in his head. He still wasn’t sure what this had to do with the Vojnik, but figured that would come as they dug deeper into everyone’s financials. “About Iraq,” he started.
She put her finger over his lips. “Layne, it doesn’t even matter. You had to do what you had to do to survive. If those things haunt you today, then that hurts me, but you don’t have to give voice to what you did. I trust you enough to know that whatever you did wasn’t easy.”
“Even if I was with another woman while I was in love with you?” he questioned, running a hand over his head.
Jessica smiled sadly. “I just told you what I did. We’ve both made mistakes. It’s what we do now that we’ve been honest that counts. Don’t shut me out.”
“Don’t lie to me,” he countered.
“I deserved that,” she told him.
He clasped their hands together. “How are we going to make this work, Hollywood?”
“Hollywood can be a little small town when she wants to be,” she grinned.
“But can Hollywood be small town all the time? What I do puts a target on your back. Would you be willing to give it all up?” he asked, scared to hear what she had to say. There was a fifty-fifty chance that she was going to tell him to put his clothes on and drive her back down to Nashville.
“I think Hollywood can be small town for the rest of her life. I love it here,” she grinned, launching herself into his arms.
He caught her and adjusted her so that she straddled his stomach. “There are still things to work out,” he warned her. “I’m not healed yet and I might never be. You might still wake up again with my hand at your throat. Are you prepared for that?”
“Any life we have together is better than a life apart. I’ve been going through the motions for a long time, Layne. You’re the only person that brings the real me out. I want to write these books and live here in this small town, drive the back roads with Bianca—even though I think she might kill me one day, and I would really like to find out if that mug that Tyler drinks out of is cursed.”
“Don’t touch it,” he whispered against her lips. “We don’t need any more bad luck.”
“We make our own luck,” she whispered back at him.
“It’s not going to be perfect,” he warned her again.
“Perfect is boring,” she answered back.
He laughed. “Okay, if you’re sure.”
“I am.” She pulled at the hair on his head. “Stop trying to talk me out of it.”
“I’m not, I swear, I just want you to know what you’re getting into.”
She pulled him so that their lips met again, forcefully. “I know exactly what I’m getting into.” She turned her grin saucy. “In fact, why don’t you get into me one more time?”
He flipped them over, pulling the covers over the both of them. “Whatever you say, ma’am.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
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 just wound up tight from personal bullshit. Nothing to do with you, I’ll try to calm my shit,” Tyler told the two of them.
They glanced at each other, both a little frightened of the big man.
“The reason we called you here is because of the information that Steele found out about Jackson Wright,” Liam explained.
“I told Layne about him last night,” Jessica said, crossing her legs as three sets of male eyes looked at her.
“Why don’t you tell me about him?” Liam asked. “I need to know who he is and just what the fuck he’s doing with the Vojnik.”
Jessica recounted the story she’d told Layne earlier in the night and waited for the men to talk once she was done.
“Wow.” Tyler rubbed the back of his neck, rolling it around on his shoulders. “So you think maybe he’s pissed he pushed you right to where he didn’t want you to go? I know I would be.”
“Possible,” Jessica shrugged. “But he knew all my codes, all my passwords, and he knew exactly how I felt about Layne. It wouldn’t surprise me if he had some sort of back door deal with someone, especially if he needs money.”
“I’m thinking it’s actually Thomas Stanton that’s got a back door deal,” Liam mumbled.
“Excuse me?” She screwed her eyebrows together. “Did you say Thomas Stanton?”
“I did. Do you know him?”
She laughed, but it was dry. “He’s my old manager who holds most of my contracts.”
“I thought your old manager was your dad,” Layne said from where he sat.
“He is,” she groaned. “Where did my dad come in on all this?”
Liam and Tyler exchanged a look. “Something isn’t making sense here.”
“Quick lesson,” Jessica said. “My parents cared more about money than their daughter. I was emancipated as a teenager, but some of the contracts that I signed—before I knew better—let him manage some of my portfolio and sponsorship deals until I’m twenty-five. After I was emancipated, they took off and I haven’t seen them since. I don’t know what the hell they’re doing here in Kentucky, but I wonder if it’s because of Layne.”
“They knew you’d run
here,” Tyler finished. “I bet they’re in it with Jackson.”
“Now that just pisses me the fuck off,” Layne said, slamming his hand down on the table. “I say we get both Jackson and Thomas here, and we figure out just what in the fuck they’re doing here with each other.”
“Like Steele said, Thomas wins either way,” Tyler told Liam. “I think he just wants to see her suffer.”
Liam saw black. “And I can’t stand a motherfuckin’ father that’s a piece of shit,” he ground his back teeth together. “Give us a day; we have a meet up with him tomorrow anyway. He’s supposed to be telling us what Dino wants with him.”
“Dino?” she asked.
Layne laid a hand on her shoulder, looking over at the guys. “Don’t even worry about it; I think they’re a part of this too.”
“Yeah,” Liam said from where he sat. “I’m beginning to think so too, although I don’t think they realize it.”
“If you don’t mind, we got some stuff to discuss,” Tyler told Jessica, his gaze showing her the door.
“If you need anything else, just let me know.”
“You sure you got this?” Jagger asked Steele as the two of them pulled into the parking lot of Wet Wanda’s.
“Yes, I got this. If Liam asks where you are, I’m not gonna tell him you’re out back fucking your girlfriend.”
Jagger snickered. “It’ll be the truth. We’re going to Nashville, thank you very much.”
Steele rolled his eyes. Sometimes it really sucked being the only guy in the clubhouse that was part of the main fold who didn’t have a woman. He lit a cigarette and let the nicotine flow through his body. So much for trying the candy to keep the demons at bay. “Well, have fun.”
“We will, and thank you again for doing this. I heard through the grapevine that Layne’s probably gonna come join you closer to closing time.”
“Looks pretty dead, I’ll be fine.”
Steele watched as Jagger and Bianca got back into her car and took to the main road. Within minutes they’d hit the interstate south, and they were on their way to a fun-filled night. Too bad he wouldn’t be included in that. He needed a little fun; he needed something more than what he’d been having the past few months. Walking into the establishment, there was a new woman on stage. One he had never seen before.
“Who’s that?” he asked Dominic, the head bouncer.
“She’s going by the name Talon, but I’ve never seen her here before. I have a feelin’ she just needs a little money to get her to her next destination in life.”
They had a lot of those come in and out of the club, but Steele couldn’t help but watch the woman on stage. Her hair was brown, looked like at one time it had been blonde. She’d probably dyed it one or two times too many. She worked the pole, but she wasn’t a pro like most of the woman who got up on the platform here. There was something in her eyes that he could see, even from where he stood in the back of the room. He knew he would have to watch out for her as they were leaving.
A few hours later, Steele went to the dressing room, looking to see if there were any stragglers. He glimpsed the new girl. “They’re about to shut down. You need to get your stuff, and Dominic will pay you before you leave.”
Her eyes met his, and he felt like she was staring right through him. She looked familiar to him. “Do I know you?” he asked her.
“No,” she answered, packing her stuff in the bag she carried.
“You from around here?”
“Yeah.”
He could tell that she didn’t want to answer the questions that he was asking, but it didn’t stop him. He couldn’t help it, he felt like he needed to know who this woman was.
“You sure I haven’t met you before?”
“Look, if you want a blow job or a hand job, we can do that, but it’s going to cost you.”
He held his hands up. “No, that’s now what I wanted at all. I really do feel like I know you from somewhere, and I’m pretty fuckin’ sure your name isn’t Talon.”
A sad smile covered her face. “My name’s Christine. Christine Stone.”
With those words she was gone. “Are you Jagger’s sister?” he yelled after her, but she either didn’t hear him or she didn’t want to hear him.
Jessica walked through the clubhouse back to Layne’s room. It felt weird being back in the room without him, especially since the last time she had been there it had been to move her stuff out. So much had happened in such a short amount of time, but that was the way her life had always been. Even when she was younger, her parents had always wanted her to do this and do that and have it done as quickly as possible.
Her parents.
She couldn’t believe that her dad was in on the burglary of her home. It shouldn’t surprise her, but it did. It always amazed her what people would do for money. That was one of the mitigating factors that made her want to stay in this place. Money was a catalyst here, but it wasn’t the be-all, end-all of everything. She was sure that Heaven Hill did more than what she knew to make money, but they didn’t seem to let it control their lives. They seemed to be a family in this little clubhouse, they seemed to want to help each other out, and they were friends. It wasn’t like they were destitute, but they didn’t scream rich to her either. In the few weeks she had been here, these strangers had felt more like a family than her real family and friends back in California were. It was a snap decision, but she knew she had to make it. Turning on her cell phone that Steele had finally given back to her, she ignored all the messages that sat there for her and set up an outgoing text message. It went to her dad, her agent, and her manager of record now. A part of her wished that she could be there to see what their faces would look like when they got the message. Another part of her just didn’t give a shit anymore.
I want out. Contact my lawyer and let him know how much it will be for me to buy myself out of my contracts with you all. I quit!
—Love Jessica
The love part was a joke. She didn’t love them, and they didn’t love her. The one thing in the world she loved would share this room with her. They would build a life together and take anything that they had to deal with head on. For the first time in her life she was clear and knew exactly what she wanted. There was no one who cared about what kind of percentage she would bring in there to influence her decision, there was no one whispering in one ear while someone else whispered in the other. This was the first truly selfish decision of her life. She would live with whatever consequences it brought, but she knew without a doubt that this was the best decision for her. Now, it was time to do something for herself.
Chapter Thirty-Four
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 other club.
“That he’s already rolling in the motherfucking dough after what he did for us. He doesn’t need to fuck his daughter to get more money. Now he’s just damn greedy.”
At that moment Thomas Stanton and another man walked into the room. The other man was younger, and Layne knew exactly who he was before
he even opened his mouth.
“Jackson Wright?” he asked as he walked towards the two of them.
“You must be Layne,” the other man said as they faced off against one another.
“So what if I am?”
Jackson didn’t know who he was messing with when he got up in Layne’s face and smiled. “If you were, I’d tell you that Jessica is pretty fuckin’ sweet lay. Thanks for teaching her all that shit so she was primed when I got to her.”
Layne fought his temper—the black hole threatening to enclose him. “Too bad you couldn’t keep her, and it’s too bad that when she was with you, she’s was thinking about me.”
Jackson swung, but Layne felt it coming and ducked, shoving his head into Jackson’s stomach. The two of them went down. Nobody dared get in the middle of them. Nobody even cheered as each one laid punches on the other. Long minutes of them beating the shit out of each other went by.
“Layne’s gotta be gettin’ tired,” Liam quietly spoke to Tyler.
“Fuck, no,” Tyler shook his head. “That’s what he wants you to think. He gets me with it every time in the ring. Jackson’s almost worn himself out and then Layne’s gonna attack, you just wait and see.”
Tyler made sure to keep watch of where Dino stood next to Thomas. Dino had his hand on Thomas’ shoulder, so no matter what, Thomas wasn’t leaving. Just as Tyler predicted, a few seconds later, Layne laid into Jackson, and less than two minutes later, Jackson was knocked out cold.
Layne stood up heaving, his chest and stomach pumping up and down. “Now that I’ve taken care of him, I’d like to say you’re one sorry-ass motherfucker,” he directed his rant to Thomas. “You’re her dad?”
“Yeah, so I hope you put a ring on it if she’s giving it up to you for free.”
The words had barely left his mouth before he was stumbling back, blood spewing. Layne couldn’t help it. He had to get a taunt in too. “It’s not hard to get into those sweet little panties when a girl’s got daddy issues.”
Heaven Hill Series - Complete Series Page 79