Layla & Levi Smith's Corner

By Jayne Paton

Book 2 of 10 Romantic Suspense / Opposites-Attract / Misconceptions / Strong & Curvy Female / Protector Male / Brothers with Attitude / Sisters with Sass.

Men and trust. Yeah, these two things, in my experience, don’t go hand in hand. The promises I made to myself were easy to keep for years, that is until Levi Smith walks into my life.

What is it they say about good intentions and best-laid plans?
I have them all, and then my daughter asks for help with her wedding. The easy yes is only the beginning of my problems. Levi’s laughter is more potent than a quart of liquor. His fast mouth and easy smile I can resist, but his big heart is another matter, especially when my past comes to haunt me.

With more secrets than Mount Rushmore, will Levi’s love be the solution or my family’s downfall? I’m about to find out.

Smith’s Corner: Layla & Levi (book 2) is an opposites-attract, romantic drama. It comes with a hot as fuck barman who is about to learn love has no boundaries. This book has trigger warnings.

If you enjoyed any of Susan Stoker books, you'll love reading Layla & Levi Smith’s Corner by Jayne Paton.
Start reading now by clicking on the Look Inside feature above and order your copy today.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jayne Paton
• Release date: May 29, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005756284

Jayne Paton

An author just looking to create a little escapism in a world where everyone needs to be romanced.

Book preview

The hand holding my arm tightened painfully as I was dragged over the rocky ground. The sounds in the woods appeared amplified by the darkness. I tried to struggle, but nothing made him stop. The cabin loomed in front of us, and my heart took flight at what he was going to do next. Please, I’ll be good. I won’t say nothin’. Don’t do this. Don’t leave me here. My anguish increased when the next contraction stole the words from my mouth, and I gritted my teeth to keep the cry in.

It was useless. He didn’t even pause, my pleas falling on deaf ears. Pain lanced through my shoulder as I was jerked up the steps, and he threw open the door. The stench of death filled the muggy night air. Get in, he grunted more than spoke while he flung me forward into the bleak cabin.

When I caught my breath, I sobbed, Don’t do this. Delilah needs me. I need a hospital. It was useless. In my heart, I knew it was, but I couldn’t prevent the words from falling from my lips.

You need nothin’. Push the thing out, and I’ll be back when you’re done. There was no emotion as he stared down at me. His face caught the moonlight, revealing an evil smile. "Don’t cha worry ‘bout Delilah. I’ll take good care of her."

Oh God, no!

My legs gave way, and I landed on the filthy, wooden floor with a cry. He didn’t hear it because he’d already shut the door. With the moonlight gone, the darkness sucked away my courage. The rattle of the lock being turned made my blood run cold.

Delilah, I’m so sorry.

Don’t you touch her. You hear me? You leave her alone. You promised me! I uselessly shouted at the closed door.

The sound of his boots hitting the steps seconds later was followed by an engine starting. The noise faded away long seconds later, leaving nothing but the eerie noises of the forest outside the door.

He’s gone. He left me!

Was this worse than him being here?

Fear crawled over my skin.

There was the sound of scratching, and I struggled to keep me from releasing the screams waiting to come out. I squinted into the darkness, having only ever been to the cabin twice before. It was the place he liked to come alone. It was the only time I’d been able to breathe, to feel safe in my own home. I stifled the next sob, holding out my hands in front of me to edge over the creaking floor to where I thought the small camp bed was. I bumped into the table, finding the chair before I tripped over it. I avoided where he stored his kill. The stench coming from it gave me a clue as to which way I needed to go. I felt around the edge of the room, looking for the lamp he used, coming up empty. The place had no electric or indoor plumbing. It was rustic and had been in his family for generations, as had the land it was sitting on.

No one would find me out here. No one would hear my cries.

My lips trembled as fat tears fell heedlessly down my chilled cheeks. The bastard, it appeared, was hoping the baby wouldn’t survive. It shamed me that, in the beginning, I’d felt the same when I realized why my belly was swelling. The internet was the only place I could safely ask my questions.

Once he realized what was happening, he pulled me from school before I got big enough for others to notice. There’d only been one visit from the school authorities to ask why. He’d sounded so damn believable when someone came knocking on the door. Why wouldn’t he? He was the town's sheriff. Would they believe his child? No, no one listened. They believed his lies.

I’d long since given up pretending that anyone would come and protect Delilah and me from what was happening behind closed doors. When Mama died not long after Delilah was born, I’d gotten the feeling she just gave up. Unable to take what was happening right in front of her. Her religion couldn’t save her from the fact that her husband was a monster.

Another sob tore from me as my fingers found the edge of the small bed. I climbed on, trying not to think about the stench coming from the thin sheet under me. I curled into a ball and stared into the darkness, cupping my belly. The pains had started this morning, and I’d managed to hide them from his knowing eyes, but he’d caught me bent over the sink in the middle of a contraction only an hour earlier. I cursed my body for betraying me. I cursed myself for not being able to fight back, to stop what he’d done to me. What he could be doing to Delilah.

I shut my eyes, belly contracting painfully under my hands. I tried to count the seconds off in my head. Time the length between each excruciating contraction. On and on they went as the hours bled into each other until the mattress under me was soaked with my sweat and the fluids that the internet said was the sac protecting the baby. Panic flared through me, understanding dawning that the baby was coming and soon.

Light peeked through the cracks of the wood by the time the fluid was trickling continuously from between my legs. Wave after wave of crippling pain ran around my belly, to my back, until I couldn’t catch my breath. I’d lost count of the time between them as the pain never seemed to stop. The cries were as useless as the promises I’d made to my baby sister that I’d stop the monster from touching her.

Another pain wracked my body, and I screamed as it felt like I was being torn apart from the inside out. I panted through the pain as the urge to push was relentless. Mewling as I rolled from my side onto all fours, I rocked back and forth, hips swaying. The next pain came with a wave of dizziness that left me barely able to cling to consciousness. I gritted my teeth, blinking and breathing through my nose. Don’t let the bastard win.

Focus. Come on. Your baby needs you. Delilah needs you.

I clung to the words like a lifeline and bore down on the next contraction. Using every ounce of my energy to push the baby out of my body. From the first time I felt the baby kick, I’d been overcome with protective urges, ones I’d developed for Delilah when I had become her mom after ours died. She was my child, as was the one I was birthing, regardless that they both belonged to the bastard who’d done things that no father should ever do to a child.

You will not take my children from me. I swear to the heavens, you won’t take what’s mine, I cried hoarsely. The scent of death and decay surrounded me, filled me with each breath I took. Rage burned through me as I struggled with the next wave of pain and tried not to think about Delilah alone without me to protect her.

Fluid coated my naked thighs as I howled and threw my head back at the next contraction that ripped through me. I battled the exhaustion and bore down with fierce determination. My lower body felt as if it was being torn apart violently as I rode the pain until my teeth ached with force. With no clue if it was seconds, minutes, or hours since I’d become trapped in hell, I slumped forward as the baby slipped out of my body.

My ears throbbed with an insistent buzzing as I panted, too exhausted to move. A mournful cry broke the spell. My heart thudded painfully against my ribs and tears blurred my vision as I reached between my legs and carefully moved the child. The cries grew, and my heart broke for things I couldn’t change, for a baby that was going to have to endure the shame I’d caused.

As I moved to pick up the baby, another crippling pain came, and I pushed hard, knowing this was the final bit. That I needed to pass the placenta, cut it from the baby. More tears flooded my eyes at the reality of doing that here, in this filthy place with nothing to clamp the cord. Was that his plan to make the baby sick so it would die?

The terror came coated in the rage that he would want this defenseless child to die just to keep his secret. I shook as I lifted what had come from my body. Blood coated my hand as I crawled off the ruined mattress, then placed it next to the baby. On shaky legs, I was guided by the soft light to the other side of the room. I searched through the drawers, finding a knife and a piece of string. I recalled what I’d read and, gritting my teeth, I cut the cord. I tried not to look too closely at the bloody gunk as I tied a bit of string around the cord as close to the baby as I could.

I released a breath when the string seemed to do its job. I took off my sodden nightdress, wrapped it around the baby, and held—I felt between the legs—her to my breast. I stood swaying back and forth.

The sobs wracked my body as I stared at my daughter. Cora, the Gaelic name I’d secretly picked for a girl, meant honest, virtuous, or good. They were all the things that had been taken from me. He wasn’t going to take them from my baby. My arms tightened around the warm bundle making her squirm and cry. Shush. Shush now, Mama’s gonna take good care of you. I’m gonna protect you from the monsters. I swear on my life, he will never get to touch you.

Seventeen Years Later

I know what I said, Burt, but the guy is a certified asshole, and I can’t make allowances for his damn wandering hands no matter how much money the guy has. I tapped my heel on the wooden flooring as Burt gave me one of his wheedling smiles.

Now, Layla, Mr. Swan is one of our top clients.

I held up my hand to stop him. Can it, Burt, we’ve been through this before. He’s your top client, not mine. The man skirts far too close to the legal line for me, and his company should pay the fine. He did dump illegal waste. He should also pay for the clean-up.

Layla, what happened to proving a client guilty?

Please, you know damn well he’s guilty. He all but confessed it at his media briefing. It’s why you’re in here now trying to get me to take on his case. He’s too arrogant for his own good, and this time he’ll find his stupidity won’t get him out of the hole he’s created. My advice, tell him to hold his hands up, pay for the mistake, and move on. He has more money than God, so it’s not like he’ll feel the pinch.

Burt’s lips twitched. Is that your professional opinion?

It is. I was already tired of this conversation. I loved Burt. He was my rock, the person I went to when I needed advice, a sounding board when life got to be too much. However, the man didn’t like to take no for an answer when it came to his top clients. It was a frustration I tolerated because Burt was family. This, however, was too much of an ask, even for me.

I’ll ask Marty to deal with him. He rubbed at his saggy jowls. He’d put on a little weight recently after being on vacation. His gray button-down was a little strained over his ample belly, and his pants looked a little tighter than usual. Is everything all right with my girls?

That he would ask because he knew I was feeling a little out of sorts with Delilah now engaged to Dallas, showed how much he paid attention. I walked back around my office desk and sat in my bright-red leather chair that matched the furnishings in my office. An office I’d decorated myself when I’d made partner two years ago. It still filled me with pride to sit at my desk and look at what I’d achieved.

When I’d decided to practice law, Burt had been only too happy to offer me a position in his law firm before the ink was dry on my degree. I’d interned for him, so he already knew just how much of a ballbreaker I was when it came to work ethic. That had been five years ago. I was now equal partners with him and James Gregory.

James had been a little more resistant due to my age, but I’d more than proven myself. My client list had grown their business and contributed enough that they’d both been able to ease off the throttle. Whereas I worked my ass off to make sure the business thrived so I could afford to buy a home for my girls.

It had all come together, and that had included Delilah getting to set up her own business. The image of the burned-out shell of her shop ran through my mind before I could stop it or the shudder that followed. Inhaling the scent of my new perfume to distract myself, I picked up my pen and tapped it in on my lips, a habit I had when something was bothering me.

Dee came home yesterday and emptied her room. I sighed. The place feels empty without her there.

He came around the desk and perched on the edge as he stared at me. It’s hard to let your youngin’ fly the nest. He placed a hand on my shoulder and squeezed. I remember that feelin’ when you decided to move out with my girls.

I covered his hand with mine. It was time. You and Sylvia didn’t need us cramping your style forever.

You never did that. You gave us something we’d been missing. His voice became choked. Their own baby girl, Lily, had died when she was eight months old. A crib death that left them devasted. It had taken years to conceive, so for Lily to be taken from them was a cruel twist of fate. Six months after this, I’d arrived in Farley, and Burt had found me on the street in tears after a vagrant had snatched the bag with the last of the formula in it.

He’d saved my family and me that day. Don’t go back to that time, Layla. He ain’t worth it.

I shuddered as I squeezed his hand before getting up. The pen twirled in my fingers as I walked to the window that overlooked the Farley skyline, the place I’d found peace. You’re right. It’s just it’s hard not to think about what came before with these new changes that are coming. I looked back at Burt. At the secrets I’ve kept. And the ones I’ve made Delilah keep from her soon-to-be husband.

I thought you’d spoken to Dallas.

Looking back out of the window at the gloomy sky, I recalled the conversation I’d had weeks ago with Dallas, the same night Delilah had made the decision to move in with him.

The sound of the knock on the door got me moving before Cora could get up. I’ll go. I want a word with Dallas. Why don’t you go and finish your homework?

"Mom."

"Don’t Mom me, go on now."

She followed me into the hall and walked off with her shoulders hunched. I swallowed the sigh, promising myself I’d make it up to her later. Right now, I wanted to speak with Dallas without either girl hearing what I had to say. After the fight I’d had with Delilah before dinner, I’d come to a decision. Delilah’s confession to being scared to be alone in our home changed things.

My fingernails dug into the soft skin of my palms at the lunatic, who’d set fire to her bakery with her trapped inside, still out there somewhere walking free. It was a hard reality to face that all the promises I’d made to keep my girls safe could be so easily ruined by a stranger. I’d wanted to argue, to rant that Delilah should stay with me, but how could I when I couldn’t make her feel safe? It left me with no place to hide and with my past haunting me whenever I shut my eyes. I didn’t want to live with any more regrets.

With a trembling hand, I opened the door and met Dallas’s stare head-on. Dallas.

"Layla." Whatever his thoughts were, he kept them to himself as he offered a polite smile.

The day before, when he’d picked Delilah up at the hospital to bring her home, we’d gone toe to toe over where it was safest for Delilah to stay. It had gotten pretty heated, and he’d eventually left, spitting mad that I’d refused to even consider Delilah moving in with him. Twenty-four hours later, I was about to do something I’d never have considered doing, letting my daughter find safety with a man.

I stepped aside. Come in. I eyed the bag he held, and his jaw tightened.

"I was plannin’ on stayin’ if that suits." It wasn’t so much a question, more a statement.

I shook my head. His lips parted as if he was going to protest, but I stopped him. She’s packin’ her bags to go with you. This was met with a wide-eyed, stunned expression. Before she comes out, I want a minute of your time.

He nodded slowly.

I blew out a breath, my stomach one huge knot that tightened with what I was about to reveal. In the hospital, I think it caused a stir when I mentioned I was Delilah’s mom. Another nod at the same speed as the first. I am, in every sense. I’ve cared for her from the day she was born. I became her legal guardian when she was six. She is my sister, but I’m also the only mom she’s ever known. It’s complicated to explain it all. She’s not spoken of it because I ask her not to. I swallowed to wet my throat.

"Is Cora the same?"

It was a question I’d expected, yet it still caused my heart to flip in my chest. No. No, she’s my daughter. I was fifteen if you’re wonderin’. I’m only tellin’ you this because of Dee, she loves you, and I love her with my whole heart. So, I’m trustin’ you’ll keep this to yourself.

"I’m not a gossip. You have no worries there. I love Delilah, and I’d never intentionally hurt her or her kin."

He sounded genuine, but I know men lie. I’m warning you now, you hurt her, and I’ll come for you. Your brothers won’t be able to protect you. Levi’s look of disgust filtered through my mind, and I clenched my teeth as anger followed.

"I won’t hurt her, I swear on my Ma’s life, my brothers."

Where did you go? Burt’s hand gently touched my arm.

I blinked the view back into focus. Nowhere important, I said as I gave him a smile to ease the worry he didn’t attempt to hide. I’ve spoken to Dallas. Hopefully, it will be enough to satisfy his family’s curiosity.

The butterflies I’d never admit to, fluttered in the pit of my stomach at thoughts of Dallas’s family, in particular, Levi. The man was…

Leave it.

Yeah, like it’s that easy with the impending barbecue that Delilah had organized and invited everyone to our home for on Sunday. I’d been left with no place to hide. Are you coming on Sunday to the barbecue?

Burt’s smile grew, revealing the handsome man that was there beneath the quiet exterior. I’ve messaged Dee to say we’ll be there as it’s a sort of engagement party.

As yet, Burt and Sylvia had only met Maryjo and Dallas after I’d invited them over for Sunday dinner a few weeks back. Did you need to remind me of the occasion?

He chuckled. How do you think it is for me, seeing my sweet Delilah gettin’ hitched. The chuckles turned to sniffles as he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped at his eyes and nose. She’s asked me to give her away.

I wrapped my arm around his thick waist and nestled my head on his shoulder, much like I’d done in the past. There was the familiar scent of the peppermints he loved to chew on. Why do our babies have to grow up?

Neither of us had an answer.

The sounds coming from the bar were more background noise and didn’t interfere with what I was doing. The accounts were laid out in front of me as I prepared to submit them to pay taxes. I cringed at what the final bill might be as I started to tally the columns before adding them into the spreadsheet.

You comin’ to help out here tonight? Stone asked, sounding pissed as he poked his head around the door, not bothering to come in fully.

I pointedly looked at the desk in front of me. You wanna do our taxes?

Fuck no.

I met his scowl with one of my own. Then leave me the fuck alone and go deal with the customers.

He disappeared fast, and I cussed at the interruption when I couldn’t remember what figures I’d already added together. Starting again, I ran the numbers before inputting them into the spreadsheet and double-checking I had everything in the right place before saving it. Sweat patches had gathered under my armpits by the time I’d worked out how much our taxes were going to be.

Balancing the books wasn’t as hard as it once had been. The first two years after we’d opened the bar, there’d been many lean times after plowing all our money into renovating the place and trying to change the bar’s reputation. The long hours and hard work had paid off. The business supported the five of us and paid for the few staff we had. The original plan was for the five of us—me, Ash, Fox, Stone, and Dallas—to run the bar and keep the overhead costs down. That had worked until Ash had been arrested and ended up in jail.

I rubbed at my throbbing temples, shoving thoughts of those difficult days after he’d been arrested to the back of my mind.

A tap at the door, and I dropped my hands as Monty appeared. What’s up? You scare off another kitchen hand? I asked fatalistically. Monty was a diamond in the rough, a chef that could create magic in the kitchen, but his temper sizzled hotter than all my brothers combined.

He grunted and sat on the chair in front of my desk, making it groan under his bulk. The guy was huge and solid, his shoulders nearly too broad to fit through the doorway.

Some folks are just plain stupid, and ya can’t teach that. He shook his head, the shaggy hair moving around his face.

The throbbing at my temples worsened as I eyed the unrepentant man. When you shout at them, they can’t even remember their own name. Have you heard yourself when you’re on a tear? It’s like a grizzly bear charging with blood in their eye.

He shrugged his massive shoulders once more, making the chair complain under his bulk. "That’s not why I’m here. Dee mentioned