The dancers replied enthusiastically.Mrs.Langley stood, giving one last look of approval at the skirt she had been mending.She turned to face him.“Everything is ready.Tonight, Jenny, Rose, Fanny, and Mary Beth will accompany Stella to the front for the opener.”
Matthew nodded.Each evening, the best of the dancers performed an opening number in the grand foyer to entice customers from the tables to come to see the nightly show.“Where is my blue angel?”
“In her dressing room, getting dressed still.Late as usual.”Mrs.Langley rolled her eyes, but her lips twitched in a smile.Everyone loved Stella despite her flightiness.She had the voice of an operatic diva and the kindness of an old soul, all wrapped in the lithe body of a seventeen-year-old girl.
Matthew glanced around at the dancers, putting forth his most charming smile.“Tonight, the atmosphere will be different than most nights.For those of you that are new, the masquerade is very popular.There will be large crowds, so sing and dance your hearts out.You never know who will be in the audience.”He sobered his expression.“Because everyone will be costumed and wearing masks, there will be more bad behavior than normal.I want you all to be safe.If you get into any trouble, Ben will be here, watching and waiting to intervene.”
Some girls nodded, but a few looked delighted at the prospect of trouble.He sighed.It was always the way of it.He couldn’t make good decisions for them.These were all grown women.All except one.“Break a leg, ladies.”Matthew walked across to the backstage area, heading for Stella’s dressing room.
Halfway across, he was waylaid by a hand gripping his arm.“Mr.Reeves, I’m just so excited to be in the opener tonight.Thanks so much.”
He glanced down into the wide blue eyes of Fanny Cooper.“All the decisions are made by Mrs.Langley.”
She batted her long eyelashes.“You’re the boss.Surely you influence everything here at the club.”
“Not in this case.I have more than enough to worry about.I don’t second-guess my managers.Keep up the good work, and I am sure you will stay in the opening number.”He tried to walk away, but her fingers tightened on his sleeve.
“Mr.Reeves, if you ever get tired of your favorite, just know that I am always available for the company of such a man as yourself.”Her smile was coy, but her eyes were cold and calculating.
Matthew pried her fingers off his arm.“You’re new, Fanny, but that’s not how I run things.I never sleep with my employees.I suggest you look elsewhere for a benefactor.”He left her behind and made his way through the backstage door into the hallway that housed the dressing rooms.He knocked on Stella’s door.
“Come in.”
Mathew entered the room and shut the door.Stella was dressed in her costume, one foot propped up on a chair as she rolled a stocking up her leg.“Sorry I am running late.I found this poor little kitten shivering in the rain on the way back from the market.I just had to bring it home.”
She finished tying the ribbons on her stocking and swept over to the dressing table with its small looking glass to pick up a pot of rouge and apply some to her lips.It didn’t stop her from talking, though; nothing could stop her chatter.“Big Ben gave me some milk in a saucer, and I rubbed the poor thing down with a towel.I left it up in my room, curled up on the hearth.I think I shall name it Raindrop…or perhaps Pitter-Patter.What do you think?”
Matthew straddled the chair and rested his arms on the back.“I think you should be out front already practicing with the other girls.”
“Yes, yes, I know.I’m hurrying, I promise.”She turned to face him, her wide brown eyes fringed with dark black lashes, the same color as her raven hair, glowing with excitement over her new pet.“There, I’m ready.Did I forget anything?”
He looked her over.Then pointed at her feet.“Shoes.”
“Oh yes.”She glanced around the small room.
Matthew sighed.“I already gave my warning to the rest of the girls.Tonight’s bacchanal will be rowdier than most of the parties we host.When guests are masked, many become beasts, with no manners whatsoever.After the show, you are to go straight back upstairs to your rooms.No mingling, no hanging out behind the bar.Do you hear me?”
Stella’s head popped up from under the dressing table, where she had found her shoes.“Yes, big brother.”She straightened and gave him a mocking salute.
“I mean it, Stella.”
“Yes, sir.I want to go see my kitten anyway.I won’t get into trouble, I promise.”
Famous last words.Stella never meant to get into trouble, but her newfound freedom this past year had made her reckless.And he was still getting the hang of the role of older brother.When their father died last summer, Stella had shown up on his doorstep.How she had known where to look for him, he still didn’t know.But he hadn’t hesitated to take her in.He understood exactly why she was too frightened to stay in the home they grew up in.Ten years younger than him, she had just been an infant when he was sent away.Matthew sighed.He would have Ben keep a close eye on her tonight.
“You know, brother, it wouldn’t hurt you to get into a little trouble tonight.”Stella smirked at him.“There are plenty of ladies who would love to let you seduce them in a dark corner.”
“I have a club to run.No time for trouble.”He got up and bent to kiss her cheek.“And you shouldn’t be thinking about seduction in dark corners.”
She huffed and rolled her eyes.He chuckled.A gaming hell wasn’t exactly the place for a young girl to be sheltered from the city’s vices.Far from it.But it was the best he could do.This was his life.At least he could offer her safety along with a sense of family, and that was something anyway.“Don’t forget your mask, my blue angel.”
Chapter Two
By eleven, theparty was in full swing.Matthew stood at the banister, looking down the stairs into the foyer.A steady stream of guests had come through the front door over the last two hours.Music drifted out from the main room to his right, and a cacophony of voices came from the gaming room to his left.
His floor manager, Rob Morrow, stood next to him.“More than last year, I think.”
“I agree.Gonna make a killing tonight.”Matthew slapped Rob on the back.“Who’s in the back rooms?”
