Shroud of Exile Copy by Kane Moira

Author:Kane, Moira
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2022-09-24T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

Vengeance Becomes Her

Cady

My cheeks flushed as red as the neon lights outside the windowless building in front of us. We drove forty-five minutes out of Port O’Henry to a club across from an adult video store and a truck stop. A van with the word, “churro,” spray painted on the side was parked on the street in front of Eli’s truck but by the look of the people inside, they weren’t selling sweets.

Eli dropped me back at my house earlier this afternoon. He didn’t kiss me at the door or ask for a second date. Which was good because the moment I got home I remembered the stakes. I couldn’t afford to get distracted yet.

Sure, great excuse, Cady.

The reality was that I wasn’t just falling for him, I was tumbling head over heels faster than I could handle. To say I didn’t trust Eli would be a lie. Yet, there was this wall between us, this barrier of secrets I could feel myself bumping into every time I inched closer.

Honesty was a dealbreaker for me. He’d been clear since the beginning that there were things he wouldn’t tell me, and that wasn’t going to work. My heart had no room for betrayal and even a lie by omission was a lie.

So, here we were. Teetering on the edge of this something between us, drowning in sexual tension, and also standing in front of a strip club.

“Um, darlin’,” Eli cleared his throat, trying not to laugh. “You sure this is the right place?”

“Yes,” I choked, curling my fingers around my stack of post-it notes I found in Barlow’s stuff.

This was the clue that made the most sense to pursue. If Barlow was involved in the increasing drug market in Port O’Henry then he wouldn’t want to be obvious about it. A bunch of addresses that pointed to the outskirts of Port Tortuga, where most respectable people would avoid, seemed promising. I’d been picturing dive bars like the one by the motel in Port O’Henry. Dark and dusty places with shadowy alcoves for nefarious men to hide.

This place probably had shadowy alcoves. All kinds of alcoves.

The smile in Eli’s voice made my face even hotter. “You still want to go in?”

“I have to. Maybe someone in there knows something.” But my confidence sounded fake, even to me.

Still, I slid out of the truck and crossed the street, walking up to the door and nervously eyeing the giant man standing out front. The doorman’s gaze jumped from me to Eli, and he scowled. Whatever he saw on Eli’s face made his brow fall even deeper over his beady eyes.

Eli handed him a crisp fifty dollars and he muttered something about keeping our hands off before waving us in. I didn’t know you had to pay to get into a strip club and now I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know why Eli did.

I was not prepared for what was on the other side of the door. Almost-naked women were everywhere, their

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