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The circuitous conversation continued, with Lauren careening from self-loathing and crushed self-esteem to anger to clarity and back again—and Augie went on the ride with her, patiently waiting and listening until she exhausted herself.
Finally, when she was wrung out, Augie was able to persuade her to go to bed. Lauren found him in the morning folded into the recliner, the TV still on. She ordered him to go home because she wanted to be alone. They argued briefly, but eventually Augie relented.
When he got off the elevator, Augie went to the desk—Carlos was just leaving and George was starting his shift.
“Is Miss Stone feeling better?” Carlos asked.
Augie didn’t answer the question. Instead, he said, “If Danny Padovano shows up to see her, donotlet him up there. In fact, tell him to fuck off.”
ChapterThirty-Nine
While Augie complied with Lauren’s order to go home, he didn’t leave her alone. He called and texted his cousin several times. Lauren answered a few but ignored most. In the afternoon, he showed up unannounced to find her aimless and in tears, just as shattered as she had been the night before. This wasn’t the first time her heart had been broken, and Augie knew it wouldn’t be the last. But since she was connected to Danny on such a deep level, he knew this hurt was far graver than anyone understood.
He called the rest of the band so they weren’t blindsided on Monday. DJ took it the hardest, cursing Danny’s name so furiously, Augie felt compelled to warn the keyboardist not to do something stupid. Stevie was concerned and Ox didn’t say much, but that was typical Ox.
When Augie arrived at the studio on Monday, he said good morning to Tisha and headed into Studio A. The others looked up, clearly expecting Lauren to be with him.
“Where is she?” Ox asked.
“On her way,” Augie said.
“How’s she doing?” DJ asked.
“She was a wreck when she called me Friday night. She thinks she’s a fool, and that there’s something wrong with her…”
“Nothing wrong with her,” DJ muttered under his breath. “She deserves so much better than Jackass.”
Lauren arrived a few minutes later, and all of DJ’s bluster and fight vanished when he saw the forlorn expression on her face. All he really wanted to do was hug her and tell Lauren that he’d make sure everything was okay. But he held back as she brushed off any comments and said she wanted to get right to work.
And work they did until it was time a bit of sustenance. Lauren picked at her lunch, using a big breakfast as an excuse for her lack of appetite. DJ didn’t believe her—and could tell Augie didn’t either.
As lunch wrapped up, Lauren wandered into one of the other studios. DJ followed her. She sat down at the keyboard and ran her fingers back and forth over the keys, random notes spilling out as she did.
“Push over,” DJ said. “You’re hogging the whole bench.”
Lauren obliged, and he sat down. With the two of them on the bench, there wasn’t much room. He glanced over at her and saw tears sliding down her cheek.
“I know I’ve always given you shit about your boyfriends, but I really am sorry.”
“No, you’re not,” she said, her voice catching. “You can’t stand him.”
DJ wasn’t going to lie to her. “I don’t like him. But I am sorry.” He paused. “He’s still a dick. I can go rough him up in a parking lot if you want. That make you feel better?” The thought of clocking Danny right in the head gave DJ a warm fuzzy feeling.
“No. I’d prefer that you not get shot by his partner.” The smile that cracked her face was fleeting.
“Would be totally worth it.”
Her mumbled response made it very clear, even though he couldn’t make out the exact words, that she didn’t believe him.
“Look at me,” DJ said.
Lauren looked away.
“Lauren. Please look at me.” He reached out and gently turned her face back. Her dark eyes held nothing but sorrow and self-loathing, and DJ felt a knife go straight through his own heart. “You deserve so much better. Someone who gives you their whole heart. Who lovesyouand loves you for who you arenow—all of you, all the light and all the dark—not who you were twenty years ago.”
“Wouldn’t that be something?”
DJ put his arm around her shoulder and kissed the top of Lauren’s head. “Yeah,” he said, his voice almost lost in her hair. “It would be, wouldn’t it?”
