“What happened when you got home?”
January looks away, gnawing her lower lip.
“I don’t give a shit how embarrassed you are, Tesorina. What happened next?”
She cringes and I shove Doc’s shoulder. “Watch how you talk to her.”
He rounds on me, eyes narrowed. “Or what?”
I square my shoulders. Doc’s vicious in a fight, and not above hair-pulling and groin-punching, but I’m bigger and he knows it. Adri’s always been his muscle. Question is would he step in if we fought now? I glance at Adriano, and he stares back, blank as a statue.
“Enough,” Eli says. “The two of you are acting like fools.”
“Basher’sacting like a fool,” Doc snarls. “Tell him to go pull his dick and come back with a clear head.”
“Go fuck your—”
“I touched myself,” January blurts out. “When I got home.”
Doc and I turn back to her. She’s flushing. “I touched myself, then I threw up. I was up all night doing it.”
The corner of Doc’s mouth kicks up. “Puking or touching yourself?”
“Both.” She shakes her head as though trying to dislodge the memories. “Zia Teresa wanted me to go to the hospital, but mom wouldn’t let her take me. She said I had food poisoning. I was so scared because all the while they were talking by my bed, I couldn’t stop… you know.” Her eyes grow bright with tears. “…I was under the covers, and I don’t think they saw me, but it was humiliating. I didn’t know what was happening.”
I tense my arm, ready to punch Doc for laughing, but for once he looks as horrified as I feel.
“Go on,” Eli prompts.
January draws in a shaking breath. “Eventually I stopped being sick and… you know… but I was exhausted. I didn’t feel better for almost a week.”
“Did you throw up the next day?” Doc asks.
“No, but I felt like I had the flu.”
“And your mood? Were you depressed? Did you have trouble sleeping?”
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen him like this. Professional. Take away the tattoos and the cigarette and he could be a doctor doing hospital rounds.
“Um, just tired I think.” January seems a new kind of nervous as though Doc asking sensible questions is more disturbing than him taking his cock out. “Do you think Mr. Parker gave me Orchard?”
Doc looks out the dark rain-flecked window. “Did your mom talk to you about what happened?”
“No.”
There’s a heart-breaking tremor in her voice. I can’t fucking stand it. “Your mom might not have understood. She might have really thought you got food poisoning or something.”
January gives me a soft smile. “My stepmom is pretty smart. I don’t think she misses much.”
There isn’t anything I can say to that.
“Thanks for telling us what happened,” Doc says quietly. “How you feeling now?”
“Um, good?”
She’s lying. Her voice is shaking, and her eyes are bright with tears. Again, I look at Doc, ready to chew him out if he mocks her, but his face is tight with worry. I remember him looking that way back when everything first started. Before Alessia, before Orchard, he used to have normal human emotions. But somewhere along the way, the laughing mask became his face.
“Enough.” Eli’s voice is cold. “Outside. We need to talk.”
