My vision swims. “What!?”
“Naw.” Archie shakes his head so that drops of blood spatter Doc. “That was Newton. I swear, Bill only broke his nose.”
Doc bares his teeth, looking all the crazier now he’s sprayed with blood. “You think that’s better?”
Archie’s swollen eyes find mine. “Kitten…Please?”
Doc gives a low laugh. “You think you can call my bitch ‘Kitten’ in front of me and live? Goddamn, you are a funny guy.”
Doc’s fingers tighten around Archie’s throat. “Or at least you used to be.”
My pulse spikes and I know I only have seconds. I turn to Bobby. “Please,pleasestop Doc?”
He makes an ‘eh’ face. “He does work for Parker, baby. And he probably is a rat.”
“But ‘probably’ doesn’t—”
“Valente, youfucking asshole!”
We all turn and I see Wonder Woman stomping toward us. Doc loosens his grip on Archie’s neck. “Hey, Betty. Just dealing with some—”
Wonder Woman—Betty—flings her hands in the air. “Deal with it somewhere else, you stupid son of a bitch! I have a business to run.Yourbusiness. You think anyone wants to come to a gentlemen’s lounge to watch a man die?”
Doc rolls his eyes and drops Archie like a sack of potatoes. “Better?”
“No.Get him upstairs.”
Doc sighs like he’s being asked to take out the trash. He hauls Archie to his feet again. “Come on, bitch.” Doc looks to Bobby. “Get January to the car. This won’t take long.”
I step away. “No! You’re not killing Archie.”
Betty gives me a look that could scorch steel. “All of you. Upstairs. Now.”
“Fine,” Bobby takes my arm. “Come on, JJ.”
He directs me behind the bar, steering me through a door that’s barely visible in the wood panelled wall. We climb two sets of stairs then Bobby ushers me into an office. It’s cramped with a huge desk and a black wingback chair lined with barbed wire. There’s a framed picture of two blond kids on the wall and I want to take a closer look, but Bobby leads me to a smaller non-barbed wire chair.
“Sit. I’ll bring you some water.”
I do as I’m told, watching as Bobby grabs a bottle of spring water from a black bar fridge. He rubs my shoulders as I drink, and I almost melt into the chair. The water seems to unlock my tongue.
“Is Eli mad?” I babble. “Are you sure Adriano’s, okay? Where’s Mr. Parker? Am I going back in the cage?”
Bobby doesn’t answer my questions. Instead, he presses his thumbs into the knots near my shoulder blades and says things like‘you’re safe’and‘we’re not going to let anything happen to you.’
I’m not convinced, but it’s nice to hear friendly words. A few minutes pass and I wonder where Doc and Archie have gone and if Doc is just beating Archie up in some other part of the club. I’m just about to ask when the door opens and Doc shoves Archie onto the office floor.
“This one needed a piss,” he tells Bobby, settling himself in the barbed wire chair.
“So,” he says to Archie. “You and your brother infiltrated my business and put your filthy hands all over my girl and expect me to what? Give you a job?”
Archie gets to his feet. “Seems that way.”
I admire how cool he sounds. If I was in his position I would definitely be crying.
Doc picks up a pen, whirling it between his long fingers. “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t put a bullet in your head before you can lead Parker back to January.”
Archie swipes fresh blood from his chin. “Because Parker can get fucked. My brother and I want out of his crew. We figured rescuing the Whitehall girl was as good a chance as any to make an impression.”
