The voice is familiar, but I must be wrong. I was just thinking about Archie, he can’t actually be—
“That’s our price, Baskerville,” Eli says sharply. “You and your brother can take it or leave it.”
“And if we leave it?”
“That’s your choice. But you boys won’t be welcome here again.”
My stomach swirls. Itisthe twins. They’ve come to Velvet House and I can finally thank them for rescuing me. I knock on the dining room door. “Hello, it’s um… me?”
“Come in,bella,” Eli says.
I enter and see Doc, Eli, and Bobby sitting at one end of the big table. At the other is Bill and Archie Baskerville. Their blond heads turn, identical smiles spreading across their faces.
“Hey, Kitten,” one of them says. “Ain’t you a sight for sore eyes?”
Doc barks something at them, but I don’t hear it. Suddenly I can smell the truck stop restroom again, feel Emilia’s clammy lips on mine, Mr. Parker is saying he and I’ll be married in Vegas by nightfall. He’s laughing at me…
Then I’m flat on my back, my brain ringing like a bell. Someone has a hand to my forehead.
“She’s okay,” Doc says. “It’s shock. Get her sugar. Soda or candy or something.”
“There’s orange juice in the kitchen,” Bobby says. “I’ll be back in a second.”
Doc’s fingers dig into my neck like he’s taking my pulse. Is he a real doctor? He said his nickname came from dealing pills, but he’s always doing medical stuff and when he does, the others listen to him.
The ringing in my head gets louder and I force my eyes open. Doc, Eli, and the Baskerville twins stare down at me. “Urgggghhhhh?”
“Everyone back off,” Eli says sharply. “Bill, Archie, come with me. Doc, you stay.”
Eli leads the twins out of the dining room as Doc removes his fingers from my throat. “Your heart’s going apeshit. You dizzy, Tits?”
I nod, glad he’s still calling me that gross name because it means he’s not scared I’ll die. “Did I pass out?”
“Sure did.”
“That’s soembarrassing.”
“You had, like, six traumatic experiences in a row. It’d be more surprising if there weren’t aftereffects.”
“It was seeing the twins. It reminded me of being in the limo with Mr. Parker.”
Doc’s jaw tightens. “I should just kill them for touching you and get it over with.”
“Don’t,” I say. “Be mad at me if you want, but don’t hurt the twins anymore.”
Doc’s nostrils flare. “I’ll do whatever the fuck I want, Tits.”
His tone is so sharp I flinch. “Get away from me.”
“No.”
Then the way he’s staring down at me changes. Goes all soft. “Goddamn, you’re pretty.”
My head is spinning from my fall and this strange turn in the conversation. My mouth opens without my permission. “You’re pretty, too. Even though you’re rude.”
The corner of his mouth kicks up. “Let’s be pretty together.”
He’s lowering his lips to mine when the door bangs open. Bobby enters carrying a tall glass of orange juice.
