third. She also knew something was up because I’ve never contacted her during the day.
My texts have always been restricted to evening hours to let her know when to expect me, and I always texted from burner phone that I destroyed as soon as her confirmation was sent back. And the texts had always consisted of one thing only: a time. Nothing more, nothing less. There was nothing complicated about what we did or why. Beverly didn’t consider it rude when I didn’t engage in unnecessary banter, and I didn’t consider it rude if she couldn’t accommodate me. Though, to be honest, that’s rarely happened in the last five years.
Beverly had met me in the parking lot, where Sensio had opened the door for her, but had enough discretion to remain outside the vehicle. At first, she’d been wary, but then that wariness had quickly turned to surprise. However, there was no sadness, to which I was extremely grateful for. I hadn’t expected theatrics, but I didn’t want to have to deal with any misplaced feelings.
In the end, Beverly had graciously accepted that she wasn’t going to get an explanation as to why, but she knew this wasn’t a breakup. This was simply an end to an agreement. She had thanked me for the memories and got out of the car without a backward glance.
Pulling into the back of The Diamond, Sensio had pulled up near the backdoor, so I could exit the vehicle while he parked. I went inside through the back, avoiding the main floor of the club. Ciro’s office doors at his clubs were always locked, so I knocked. In the days before his marriage to Robbie, I’ve had the unfortunate luck of unlocking the door myself and walking in on Ciro getting his dick sucked by some random woman. I wasn’t a prude, and I’ve seen worse, however, Robbie was Ciro’s wife. That meant I needed to learn how to knock. The woman had serious issues around me already, I didn’t need to add to them by accidentally walking in on her and Ciro. The last thing I wanted to do was embarrass her when I was trying to put her at ease in my presence.
Ciro opened the door with the biggest grin I’ve ever seen on his face.
I wanted to break his face.
I walked past him and found Remy pacing the left side of the room between the bathroom door and the free-standing bar. She was mumbling, but I couldn’t make out her ramblings. She was dressed like she’d been at work and, considering the time, she probably had to get back to work soon.
“Remy?”
She stopped, narrowed her eyes at me, and hissed at me like a baptized cat. “You.”
I glanced at Ciro, and he just leaned back against the door, arms cross over his chest, that stupid grin still on his face. I tilted my head towards her, and he started talking. “She went into The Ruby looking for you, since Alan, the bartender, didn’t know how to get in touch with you, he called Piero to get a hold of me. I called back, and he told me she was…uh, deeply passionate about seeing one of us.” The asshole chuckled. “He called her crazy.”
I straightened. “And?”
Ciro uncrossed his arms and fanned his hands down in a calming motion. “Relax,” he grinned. “I explained to him exactly who she was and, trust me, he got the message.”
“I’d appreciate it if you two wouldn’t discuss me as if I’m not in the room,” Remy snapped, and maybe Alan was right to call her crazy. Who else in the fuck would get snappy with us besides a crazy person?
“We do that a lot,” Ciro cheerfully informed her. “You’ll probably need to get used to it.” Remy stared at him like he was insane. Granted, he was, but she didn’t know that.
I stepped to her, and Ciro made his way back to his desk to watch the show. “Remy, why don’t you tell me what’s going on?”
“If you’re going to kill me, then just fucking do it!” she yelled in my face, and that’s when I realized she really was out of her mind.
Ciro let out a low whistle.
“First off, do not every raise your voice to me ever again,” I told her. “You do not get to do that. I’ve been lenient with you for my own personal reasons. However, you’d do well not to forget who the fuck you’re talking to, Remy.”