Then she walked around him, out of the kitchen and kept her head bent to her feet as she walked up the stairs and landed her last. “Tuesday’s good for me for pasta bake and Keira. I’ll be at your house at six.”

Then he lost sight of her at the top of the stairs.

Layne kept his hand at his neck, clenching and unclenching, trying to release the tension in the muscles there as he stared at the top of the stairs.

Then his eyes fell to her wineglass and he resisted the urge to throw it across the room.

Then he turned on his boot and stalked out of her apartment, slamming the door when he went.

Chapter Nine

Proceed with Caution

The next afternoon, Layne sat at his desk and flipped open his phone.

Using his thumb, he typed in, “Management office, The Brendel. Number. Now.” Then he sent the text to Rocky.

He clenched his jaw and flipped his phone closed.

You were my first kiss, my first everything.

Her words from last night sounded in his head.

He was, even as pretty as she was, he was her first kiss and her first lover. For her eighteenth birthday, he gave her a pair of emerald-cut emerald stud earrings, her birthstone. She’d given him her virginity.

He was her first date, her first kiss, her first boyfriend. She had friends and she was popular at school but she didn’t date, never got close to a boy, until him.

And she let him in immediately. Out of respect for father, but mostly for her and because of her inexperience, he’d played it cool the first year and he’d taken great pains her first time. He couldn’t say he was entirely successful. He could say he made her come before he caused her pain so at least she knew she had something to look forward to.

And she looked forward to it. Christ, it was like breaking a seal then what was held in exploded all over the place.

But she’d never even kissed a guy, until him.

He’d never thought about it, not once, except to thank his stars and consider himself lucky.

Now, he thought, what the f**k was up with that?

He flipped and twisted the phone around in his fingers and stared at his desk, jaw clenched, mind filled not just with last night but with a lot of shit, a lot of shit from the last three weeks and a lot of shit from nearly two decades ago and he only looked up when the security beep sounded.

His eyes went to the monitor and he saw Merry, a white coffee cup in each hand, coming up the stairs.

Answers.

He’d called Merry half an hour ago and told him he wanted a meet but he didn’t tell him why. But Layne was going to get answers and he loved Merry but if his friend held out on him, after the shit that came out of Rocky’s mouth last night, Layne would resort to any means necessary.

He kept flipping his phone around in his fingers as he heard the front door open and close and then he saw Merry coming through the door to his office. He was smiling but he got one look at Layne and his brows went up.

“I’m guessin’ you aren’t havin’ a good day,” Merry remarked, walking straight in.

“You’d be guessin’ right,” Layne agreed.

Merry put Layne’s coffee in front of him and sat opposite him, lifting a leg to hook his ankle on his knee.

“Well, join the club, brother. Today is officially shit,” he declared before he sucked back some joe.

“You got problems?” Layne asked and Merry nodded.

“But let’s get your shit outta the way first. Why’d you call? Somethin’ up?”

“A lot of things are up. It sucks I got shot because it delayed me hiring a receptionist. I got so much up I can’t f**kin’ keep track of it all.”

“Break it down for me, brother.”

Layne palmed the phone and leaned back in his chair. “Stew’s shit is tied to Carlito.”

Merry stared at Layne a second then his eyes rolled to the ceiling. “Oh boy.”

“Damn straight,” Layne said.

Merry’s eyes rolled back to Layne. “You know how much he’s into him for?”

“I don’t know shit. Jasper saw Carlito take a collection at the house.”

Merry’s face grew dark, his ankle left his knee and he sat forward, putting his coffee cup on Layne’s desk. “Tell me you are f**kin’ shittin’ me.”

“I’m not.”

Merry looked toward the floor, breathing out, “Motherfucker.”

“You know Stew? He play the dogs or is he sittin’ a game?”

Merry looked back up. “Dogs. Before Gabby, Stew was at the track every weekend. Since her, I’m guessin’ he’s at the track every weekend she’s workin’.”

Layne nodded. “Right.”

“I don’t need to tell you, a collection at the house –” Merry started.

Layne cut him off. “He’s in deep.”

“Okay then, I don’t need to tell you bein’ in deep with Carlito –”

Layne cut him off again. “Isn’t f**kin’ good.”

“That man would break his grandma’s fingers if she borrowed a five spot to buy some cat food and didn’t pay it back on time,” Merry concurred.

“I don’t give a f**k about Stew or how deep he is. What I give a f**k about is that this shit is comin’ to the house my boys live in and my ex has been workin’ her ass off to keep nice for them and that I’ve been sending money for twelve years to keep over their heads. I want his ass out. I wanna know what he’s into Carlito for and why, they’re gettin’ so far behind for so many months, this shit isn’t goin’ away. Jas says he saw Stew hand over an envelope stuffed full. Where the f**k is he getting that kind of cash and if he’s handin’ that shit over, why is the pressure still on?”

“I know it’s Carlito, I got some boys I can give calls. I’ll run this down for Colt and Sully, Mike and Sean too. We’ll see what we can shake out,” Merry offered.

“Good,” Layne replied.

“Sorry you gotta deal with this shit, brother but I’m afraid I gotta lay more on you,” Merry told him.

Layne stared and didn’t say a word. He had other things to talk to Merry about but he’d take whatever Merry had to dish out and move to the important shit later.

So he invited, “Lay it on me.”

Merry sat back. “Well, this morning, I got word from a friend, who has a friend who’s been hired by Jarrod to investigate you and Rocky.”

There it was. Rocky was right.

“Not a surprise, Merry, I saw him taking pictures into Rocky’s house when I was there last night. She called it, knew exactly why he was there. The only problem with that shit is he’s usin’ up money she should get in the divorce settlement with this garbage. He’s got a girl who looks like she kissed her teenage years good-bye about a month ago in his bed and Rocky has been outta that house for months. Her bein’ with me isn’t gonna get him shit.”