“This and that. So, do you agree? We’ll be polite to each other at the wedding, and you’ll take a picture with us?”
I look at Doc. He gives a small shrug. His expression says,you’re on your own, Tits.I’m surprised by his restraint, but he’s right. It is my decision. I think of Zia Teresa and take a deep breath. “Okay, I’ll take a photo,” I tell Corinne. “But I still don’t want to have a relationship with you.”
My stepmother gives a tinkling laugh, and I can tell she’s genuinely happy. Of course, she is. She’s getting what she wants, as always. “Where’s this animosity coming from, January?”
“I know you’re still withholding money from Margot and the boys. Margot replied to one of my emails last year and said she can’t afford to go to college.”
“She can’t afford to go to college because she doesn’t work,” Corinne says breezily.
“And what about her trust fund? And the thirty million dollars Mr. Parker gave you?”
Corinne’s smile fades. “Why don’t you come home and have dinner with us, January? Then we can discuss it like family.”
The wordfamilymakes my heart close up like a clam. “No, thank you.”
Corinne opens her mouth, but Doc gets there first. “Time’s up. Hit the bricks, Norma Desmond.”
I don’t know who that is, but spots of color appear on Corinne’s cheeks. “Can I at least hug my daughter before I go?”
I withdraw into the leather of Doc’s chair. “Please just leave.”
“Very well.” She eyes me over one more time and then gives a gentle smile. “You’re such a beautiful girl, January. It’s a shame you’ve whored yourself out to these criminals.”
“Get the fuck out,” Doc barks, but Corinne has already turned on her heels. The door closes behind her, leaving silence and a trace of lemony perfume.
Doc strides to the control panel on the wall and hits the intercom. “Laz, tell me when the blonde’s back in her car and flag her fucking plates.”
A low buzz.“Got it, boss.”
“Bitch,” Doc hisses.
“Total b-bitch,” I whisper. It’s always hard for me to swear, but right now my brain feels like chewing gum.
“That woman shouldn’t live a second longer than it takes for me to find a gun.”
I snap to attention. “Nico, you can’t kill my stepmom!”
“Why?”
“Because you can’t just kill people to solve your problems.”
“Of course, you can, Tits. Ask all the guys I’ve killed.”
I don’t say anything. I think I’m still in shock from the fact this happened at all. That my stepmother came to a strip club. That she saw me topless. That she’s keeping things from my Zia Teresa from me. She called me a whore.
“How the fuck did she find you?” Doc mutters. “Who paid for it?”
“My family?” I offer. “The Whitehall family, I mean?”
Doc looks skeptical. “I don’t think your uncles would do Corinne a favor. They hate that bitch almost as much as I do. And they’re not dumb enough to put up the money to stalk you when they know you’re with Velvet House.”
The intercom buzzes. “She’s gone, boss,” Laz, the security guy, says. “I’ve registered her plates. If she shows up again, the boys’ll bar her.”
Doc pounds the intercom button. “Good. Lock up and get out of here.”
“Will do.”
Doc stomps to his office door and locks it, then he turns around fiddling with his phone. He props it against a water glass on the desk, arranging it so it’s pointed right at me. I see my own face on the screen, startled and still a little flushed from dancing.
