Page 72 of Velvet Cruelty

Chapter Thirteen

Bobby Bassilotta

Velvet House isn’t an easy place to navigate drunk. Brass busts and stupid vases lurch out of the darkness at me and I’m so full of booze and horniness and second-hand panic, it’s like the place is on a tilt. I find Doc in the kitchen, an unlit cigarette between his teeth, pulling a six-pack from the fridge.

“We need to go to the east wing,” I tell him.

He doesn’t turn around. “No.”

“Eli needs us.”

Doc’s back stiffens. The two of them are always sniping at each other, but Doc knows Eli doesn’t overreact. He slams the fridge door shut. “I’m bringing the beers.”

“Whatever. We need to get Adriano.”

Doc takes the cigarette from his mouth and tucks it behind his ear. “He’s gonna be pissed.”

Adriano lives in the south wing. No one is allowed to go near his floor. Not even the cleaning ladies. Doc and I head there in silence and I try not to think about January. Her kissable mouth, her shiny hair. The way she looked at me when I talked about going down on her. She still wants me—to save her and to touch her. Tonight was a shitshow, but at least it proved that.

We arrive at Adriano’s door. “What do you think he has in there?” Doc asks.

“Goat heads? A bunch of pictures connected with red string?”

Doc buzzes the intercom. “Lurch, get the fuck out here.”

“Do you have to call him that?”

“Fuck off, altar boy.”

Adriano opens the door shirtless. I’ve seen his bare chest a million times, but it always makes me kind of sick. There are bullet scars and cuts across his shoulders, ugly tattoos over everything else. He looks from Doc to me. “What?”

“Ell needs us in the east wing,’ I say.

“The girl?”

“Yeah.”

Adriano starts to close the door, but I shove my foot through it. “It’s important.”

“And if it’s not, you can kill her,” Doc adds. “And Morelli.”

There’s a pause.

“Lemme get a shirt.”

The east wing is where guests stay, not that we have many of those. It’s on the fourth floor and a bitch to get to. My cock strains against my jeans as the three of us make our way there. I can’t stop picturing January writhing on the carpet. She was so close to giving in.

“I need pussy,” Doc mutters. “I can’t fucking concentrate.”

I stay quiet, but I feel the same way. Only, the thought of being with anyone but January makes my stomach churn. I just want her. Why the fuck has everything turned out this way?

The outer door to the east wing is open. We head for the bedroom and find Eli in a velvet-backed chair beside the four-poster bed. January is asleep under the covers. My heart flips at the sight of her. She looks so tiny among all the pillows and blankets. I want to climb in beside her and hold her close. Promise her everything will be okay.

Eli takes us in. “Thanks for coming.”

Doc takes the cigarette from behind his ear. “This better be good.”

“Smoke that in here and I’ll gut you,” Eli says lightly.

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