She went down to her apartment. Donnie had her keys, so she waited until he unlocked her door, then she snatched her keys from him, pushed past him, and locked him out.
Rubbing her left thumb over the feathers inked into her right wrist, a gesture to find calm in stormy seas, Bev went to her bedroom and changed her clothes. Once she was in comfortable yoga pants and a tank, she lit an incense stick, sat lotus on the floor in her pretty, soft room, and tried to meditate.
Before she could, though, she needed to cry. So she put her hands to her face and did that.
~ 9 ~
Nick let go of Vanessa’s arm and looked at Sam. “Make sure she gets off safely. Donnie’s got this floor until you get back.”
“Okay, boss.” He took Vanessa’s arm himself. But she turned back. Her mascara was smeared. All he could think of was how ugly it made her.
“Nick, I—I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell and say those things. I would never do…I just feel crazy. You blew me off, and then I saw that picture of you and…and I just went crazy.”
Crazy, stupid, not much of a difference where women were concerned, he thought. He had seen too much of the damage created by women who’d been scorned, or who’d simply thought they’d been, to be surprised by their capacity for colossal stupidity, but he would never understand it.
“Go. Go home. I’ll see to it your phone is replaced. But if I see you again, or if you cause me any kind of a ripple, you will have much bigger concerns than a broken phone.”
She nodded, and Sam pulled her forward. As they went, she looked back again. “Nick—I love you, baby.”
He fucking hated to be called ‘baby.’ He closed his door.
He’d thought maybe he’d gotten clear of Vanessa without drama. Wrong. And Beverly had seen her. That bothered him a lot, but he wasn’t sure it should. He had decided to keep his distance. Maybe it was a good thing that she’d seen what she had.
Fuck. He needed a drink. It was still early afternoon, but his workday was, hopefully, done. Or, at least, he could handle the rest from home. He was still getting confirmation on the security for Jimmy’s funeral tomorrow. And he was waiting on some security footage from Neon. He expected to find that either Matty or Chi-Chi had done some extracurricular work Friday night.
One of his own crew, who’d worked with him for years. He really needed that damn drink.
He’d already changed into jeans and a t-shirt before Vanessa’s unannounced and ill-conceived visit. He’d have a drink and put ESPN on and pretend he was just a guy with the afternoon off.
Before he’d gotten to the kitchen for his scotch, there was a knock on his door. He went back and checked the peephole. Donnie, his baby face twisted with worry. He opened the door.
“Problem?”
“Yeah…uh. Boss, it’s Bev. She’s in there crying. It’s been going on a while.”
Nick sighed. Today was his day to deal with women’s drama, apparently. “Did you check on her?”
“I knocked, but she won’t let me in.”
“So unlock her door.”
“She has the keys. She snatched them from me when I let her in.”
“Shit, Donnie. How can you take care of somebody if you can’t get to her?”
“I don’t know! Boss, I’m sorry. I’ve never done this before, guarding somebody.”
Nick knew that. They were strapped for security, with Jimmy down, and the three made guards who’d died at his father’s funeral. With the increased need for coverage after the bombing, they’d pulled several made soldiers up for guard detail. Guarding wasn’t difficult for a man with an instinct for it. Bev and Donnie had gotten along well, so, with no better options, he’d put Donnie on as her main guard. But clearly he had little instinct for the work.
“Fuck. Okay.” He closed his door. The elevator opened, and Sam stepped out. Nick threw out a quick, “Going down the hall,” and then did so.
He tried her knob and found it locked, as advertised. He knocked. No answer. “Beverly.” He knocked again. Nothing. “Beverly, if I need to shoot the lock off, I will. That will be loud and will draw a lot of attention I don’t need. But I’ll do it. Open the door.”
The chain rattled, the deadbolt turned, and then the knob lock. She’d really wanted to be alone. The door opened. And Nick had an immediate urge to cup her face with his hand. She looked so damn sad. All clouds and grey skies.
Vanessa’s tears had made her ugly, turning her heavy makeup into rivers of black and gold. Beverly’s tears made her sweet. Even the mascara smudges.