“Tits…?”
The front door swings open and Bobby walks in. “Okay, we need to—what thefuck, Valente?”
Doc keeps right on stroking himself. “January needs a good old-fashioned dicking. You in?”
I leap backward, away from Doc. “I don’t need that!”
“You fuckin’ liar.”
Bobby rounds on him. “Get dressed, Eli’s expecting us.”
“God fuckin’ forbid we keep Morelli waiting.” Doc lets go of his penis and swings to his feet. “You had your chance, Tits. Next time you’re staring down my cock, you’ll be black and blue and mute from screaming.”
He heads back into the bathroom and slams the door.
Bobby sighs, and walks past me to the fridge, avoiding my eyes.
“I’m so sorry,” I tell his back. “I didn’t want to… I mean, I don’t know. I’m so sorry.” To my humiliation, my voice cracks. I press a hand to my mouth.
Bobby turns and I see he’s not remotely angry. His thick brows draw together in concern and he strides toward me, wrapping me in his big cinnamon-scented arms. “JJ, it’s okay. We just have to get going.”
For the hundredth time, tears prick at the corners of my eyes. “You don’t understand, I was thinking about sleeping with Doc.”
“I know.”
“Doesn’t that… I don’t know, make you angry?”
Bobby chuckles. “No. Valente’s a whore, lying on the couch with his cock out. You’re only human.”
I giggle, suddenly a million times lighter. “Thanks, Bobby.”
“Anytime. You sleep okay?”
“Mostly.” I feel the strange urge to keep confessing. To get everything off my chest. “I, um, had a dream about you and Doc. And me.”
Bobby goes still. “The three of us together again?”
I can hear the smile in his voice. I bury my face in his shirt. “Maybe.”
His big hands move from my waist to my hips and back again. “Were we… nice to you, JJ?”
‘Yes,’I try to say but that’s not what comes out. “You weren’t nice. Actually, you were really mean.”
“Hmm,” Bobby presses his face into my hair. “Sorry, baby.”
“It’s okay… I liked it that way.”
Bobby makes a sputtering sound. I stand in mortified horror, wondering what the hell to say. A loud crash from the bathroom rescues me.
“Sorry,” Doc calls. “Dropped the hairdryer.”
“Goddammit.” Bobby lets go of my waist. “We’ll talk about this later.”
“Sure.” I look around the room for imaginary things I might have forgotten, then follow Bobby to the car. He gets behind the wheel and a few seconds later Doc slides into the passenger seat. I’m alone in the back, like a child. Bobby starts the engine as Doc puts on pulsing dance music. I wait for one of them to talk, but we leave the motel parking lot in silence.
Both men seem tense. I want to ask why but I’m scared of what they’ll say. Maybe Adriano’s injuries have gotten worse or Mr. Parker found where we are or he killed Emilia as revenge…
Doc leans across the console and mutters something to Bobby. His face is tight, and he looks older than usual. When I first saw him I thought he was in his late twenties, but from what I’ve learned about them, all the Velvet House men are in their early thirties. So grown up. Compared to them, I’m a kid.
