Page 171 of Broken Brothers

“Fuck, Chance,” Layla said. “Then we have to get you out of the city now. We have—”

“No,” I said. “I don’t think he’s going to kill me anytime soon, if he does. I’m not saying it’s a guarantee, far from it. I may be paranoid as hell, quite honestly. But I think my death happening in such short conjunction with his divorce would be a bad look, the kind of thing that would force him to step back and re-evaluate his standing in the company. So I think it’s a small percentage chance that it happens… but it definitely could. Look—”

I moved in to cut her off before she kept speaking, realizing that what I had said had put a certain level of panic in her that I’d never intended to create.

“For right now, let’s just get home, OK? Forget I said that, I’m sorry.”

“I can’t forget that.”

Much as I was bothered by that, I knew she was right.

“OK,” I said. “Then let’s get home. I’ll help you forget about it. OK?”

Layla squeezed me tight, a few sobs emitting from her. I held her close, kissed her on top of her head, and squeezed her.

“I am not going to let anything happen to you or to me,” I said. “That is my promise. You asked me to promise that I loved you? Well, here’s another promise. I promise nothing will happen to either of us. Do you believe me?”

Layla pulled back, wiped tears from her eyes, and smiled.

“I do.”

69

Ihad Layla ensure that as soon as we exited the Empire State Building, her limo would be outside waiting for us. That was easily arranged, and a quick check of my surroundings suggested that no one was being so overt as to watch us.

Not that put my mind at ease. It could have just meant people were getting better at being able to watch me, or that Edwin had gathered enough for the evening to put his thumb down on me.

I knew that a large part of this game was just the threat of pressure as much as the pressure itself. Edwin probably figured that if I stressed myself enough as I was, I might eventually quit as so many had before me. But what he failed to realize was just how stubborn of a motherfucker I was; I wasn’t going to give him what he wanted to long as it was possible to live and do so. If an actual threat was made on my life, maybe things would be different, but for right now, I wasn’t going to just quit and leave New York City.

Which, I suppose, answered Layla’s question for the time being.

We made it back to her apartment without incident, and as soon as the door shut, I knew I had to make a decision. I had to either make a move on her, or—

Well, the choice got made for me. Layla spun around, threw her arms around me, and kissed me passionately. I took off my coat, and she kicked off her shoes. Shuffling along the ground, we made our way to the bedroom where we toppled over to the bedside. I was on top of her, pressing my hips into hers, listening to her soft gasps as the lights of the city outside illuminated her.

I slowly worked down to her neck as her fingers pawed at my shirt, desperately trying to unbutton them as she squirmed from the work I put on her. I slid off a portion of her dress—

And then my phone rang.

“Shut up, phone,” I said as I moved to mute it, returning to Layla. By this point, I had my entire shirt unbuttoned and quickly tore it off, hovering over her for just a second with a smirk.

“God, I love your body,” she said. “I need you, Chance.”

“Just as I need you, baby,” I said, coming back down to her and kissing her once more.

She hiked her dress up so that I was pressing against only her underwear. I could feel her warmth and how wet she was, and the very feeling had me threatening to burst through my pants in excitement. I quickly reached behind her, unzipped her dress, and then yanked down, pulling her breasts out into full view for the first time since we’d last had sex.

Goddamn, how I’d forgotten how perfect they were.

I shuffled back a bit so that I could kiss her breasts, fondle them, squeeze—

My phone rang again.

“Goddamnit,” I said, again muting it.

I returned to her chest, working on it until she practically cried “get your ass down there, now.” I removed the remains ofher dress, kissing her quivering belly and reaching the area of highest pleasure. I had my eyes set on the bullseye, my tongue the dart, and I could land it perfectly—

My phone rang again. My head dropped into her stomach as she laughed at our disbelief.