Page 38 of Midnight Whispers

Rapsody shakes her head. “No, but I’m ready for the details.”

I nervously laugh. “We met at the strip club where I work.” Not entirely true, but it doesn’t matter.

I watch their eyes for any signs of judgment but find none. I know for sure that Anabelle knows I work at T&T’s, but I don’t know about Rapsody. If she’s surprised at all, she doesn’t show it.

“For months he would come in and watch me dance from a table at the back and then leave before I was on the floor.”

“Okay…” Anabelle waits for me to continue.

“I guess what I’m asking is, do you think Nero could ever fall for someone like me?”

Understanding blankets Anabelle’s face, and she frowns. “You mean a beautiful, friendly, smart woman? Yes, I do.”

I shift uncomfortably. “But he’s a Voss. Could he really be with a stripper?”

Anabelle squeezes my hand. “Honey, you wouldn’t be here if the answer was no.”

I think about her words and realize she’s probably right. Nero is letting me stay here in his home and has made no indication that he wants me to leave any time soon.

“We all have a past,” Rapsody says. “It doesn’t make any of us any less worthy.”

I get the feeling she’s speaking from personal experience, and I give them a small smile. “Thanks, ladies. I’ll try to be patient then.”

They both nod, and we keep eating.

I miss Nero. I haven’t seen him since yesterday morning. A part of me hoped I’d find him waiting for me when I returned late last night after my shift, but no such luck.

Then I remember my shift last night at Black Magic Bar and the line of expensive vehicles that came through Magnolia Bend, heading to Midnight Manor. The same line of cars that rolls through town on the last Saturday of every month.

I remember the first Saturday night I worked there and saw them and asked one of the locals what it was all about. They said no one knows. Apparently, the cars have come for decades, but no one knows who or what they’re here for. Urban legend claims there’s some kind of ritualistic sacrifice that happens once a month, and others claim it’s a meeting of the Illuminati. I didn’t hear anything last night.

I decide I’m going to ask the girls to get a straight answer. “I was working the bar last night and couldn’t help but notice all the vehicles that came through town on their way here. What’s that about?”

Anabelle stops bringing her mozzarella stick to her mouth, her eyes pinging to Rapsody, who swallows and gives me an expression to say she definitely knows what I’m talking about. The space fills with an uncomfortable tension. I shouldn’t have asked.

I wave them off. “It’s okay, you don’t have to tell me.”

Anabelle’s shoulders sag. “We wish we could, but we can’t. I’m sorry. If we could tell you, we would. But maybe ask Nero.”

I nod. “Okay, no biggie.”

Are the townspeople right in their assumptions? I don’t know what I just walked into, but it’s clear it was the wrong thing to ask. One thing is for sure, Midnight Manor has its own secrets.

Chapter

Seventeen

CINDER

Iplop down in my seat in the changing room at T&T’s, ready to wipe off my makeup, and my stomach rumbles something fierce.

“You’d better feed that thing,” Trina says, walking past.

I chuckle and pick up a makeup wipe, but my phone rings from inside my locker, so I set it down and get up to answer. It’s not often that my phone rings—I don’t know that many people.

When I look at the screen, it’s Lisa.

“Hey, girl, shouldn’t you be in here already?” I ask, knowing she has the night shift while I worked this afternoon.

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