Whispers of a Broken Halo by Abbi Glines

Each table was named after a dead music icon. Elvis was The King, so the table with his name was the most exclusive.

“Gotta have something if they reserved the Elvis table,” Trix said, flashing a smile.

Saint was looking at me though, and I wondered if he wanted me to say something. I never understood him. His mood swings came and went. Getting to know him was impossible. Although Trix wasn’t bothered by his moodiness. She was always flirty with him.

“This is your fifth night in a row, isn’t it?” he asked me.

I nodded.

“You need a night off,” he stated.

“I’m fine until Marley finds new servers,” I assured him.

“Tomorrow night, you take off,” he said, then turned and walked out of the room.

“Yeah, don’t worry about me,” Trix called out and rolled her eyes. “Damn, must be nice, having that face of yours and those tits. Come on, Angel. Let’s go.”

Angel was my name here. My first night at work, Saint had given it to me, as he had done with the other girls here. It was his job—or at least what everyone expected of him. When he named me Angel, I was relieved. It didn’t sound like a stripper name. Trix, however, had teased me about it relentlessly in the beginning.

“You just do better with makeup than I do,” I told her, following her out. “I must have looked rough.”

Trix laughed then and shook her head. “Oh, Angel, if life were as simple as you see it. Damn, girl, you should be more jaded with your history.”

I didn’t say anymore as we walked out onto the floor. It was time to become Angel. I had learned to leave Bryn back in the dressing room. My acting began now. Placing a smile on my face, I sauntered out into the club with my bare chest on display and my lips painted as red as the heels I wore.

Saint’s gaze locked with mine as he stood behind the bar, pouring a drink. I made sure that tonight, I would work extra hard at making the customers happy. I would smile more, wink, and be sure to stand at the tables longer than necessary. I wasn’t going to give Saint any reason to say I couldn’t do my job.

“Young and hot,” Trix whispered as we drew closer to the Elvis table.

I turned my attention to the table that was reserved by those who wanted a front row seat to the dancing onstage as well as two different servers to wait on them.

The smile I was determined to keep on my face tonight, however, was forgotten when a pair of familiar eyes met mine. Breathing also became difficult as my throat tightened from panic. The room seemed to close in around me, and suddenly, there was no one else here, no loud music, no voices. All I could see was the disgust in Rio March’s eyes.





Chapter Five

Rio

What the fuck? I stared at Bryn as the reality of this sank in. She was topless. In a strip club. Walking toward our table. Or she had been until she saw me. Holy hell.

“Hello, boys,” another female voice said, but I couldn’t focus on her or anything other than an almost-naked Bryn standing a few feet from me.

Drake was speaking now, but I wasn’t paying attention. Why was Bryn here, dressed like that? She had to work here. In a motherfucking strip club. Was there nothing of the girl I had once known left inside her?

A massive brick wall of a man with dreadlocks and tattoos appeared at her side then, and she swung her gaze up to him. He was touching her back. She wasn’t wearing any damn clothes, and he was touching her. I felt my hands fist at my sides as my blood began to simmer from rage.

What had happened to her over the years? She was nothing like the girl I had known.

Bryn was smiling again and saying something to the man, but he looked our way and didn’t look convinced. Then, his eyes found me watching them, and I met his steady glare head-on. What was she telling him? Was she dating him? He was a damn bouncer at a strip club.

She moved then and began walking toward me—or us. She didn’t look my way again, but I watched her as she walked up to Benji, Drake’s brother, who we were here for, celebrating his graduation from college. Benji lifted his eyes to her—or her tits.

Had she really sunk so damn low that she had no problem with using her body to make money? I was torn between being disgusted with her and being turned on. I hated that I was attracted to her at all. She was just like her sister. Maybe worse.

“I’m Angel,” I heard her say.

Then, Benji said something that I couldn’t make out with the noise, and she laughed. It was an excellent fake laugh. No one else here would know it was fake. No one but me. I had once thought she reminded me of an angel. How ironic that she went by that name now that the girl I’d once known no longer existed.

“Hey, sugar. You look familiar,” Drake said then, and her gaze swung to mine only briefly before she lifted a shoulder and gave him a small laugh.

“I have one of those f-faces,” she replied.

Drake laughed. “No, babe, you don’t. Those tits might have me proposing after a few drinks. Go ahead and start thinking about your answer.”

Unable to handle any more, I stood up abruptly, shoving my chair back as I did so. Bryn’s eyes swung to me. I could see the uncertainty there, and damn it, I wanted to wrap her up and take her out of here. I wasn’t sure what made me angrier. Her working here or my giving a fuck what she did.

“We need to talk,” I said to her.