Page 18 of Spades

Chet looks back up at me, his eyes shiny. “Mr. Hathaway, you are allowed one guest for the evening. If she leaves, you will not be permitted to bring another person into the club for the rest of the night. Is Ms. Maravilla here your chosen guest?”

“Yep. Just as she said.”

Chet closes the book. “It’s important that both parties confirm.”

Chet stands, reaches into his suit jacket, and produces a brass skeleton key. He walks over to the black door at the rear of the room and places the key in the lock, turning it.

Chet opens the door slowly, staring at us both with the same grin he’s kept on his face since we walked into the room.

“Welcome, my friends, to Aces Underground.”

7

ALISSA

Oh,my God.

Fuck this.

The door Chet opened leads to a dark staircase that looks like it’s descending into the bowels of the Earth itself.

I’m definitely being sold off into human slavery. Aces Underground is some kind of sex dungeon, and I’m about to be put on the market like a piece of meat.

I look up at Maddox, my eyes wide as my heart thrums.

He smirks. “I realize this looks weird.” He turns to Chet. “Can you switch on the lights? It’s her first time.”

Chet nods slowly, reaching under his desk.

A few sconces along the sides of the staircase flicker on. I look down again. The walls of the staircase are lined with mirrors, allowing the limited light from the sconces to bounce all the way down the stairs.

I look down, swallowing. “How long is it?”

Maddox raises an eyebrow. “The staircase?”

I nod.

“It’s two or three stories total.” He shrugs. “Aces was built during the Prohibition era. The Montrose family—the people who own it—made a deal with the city to purchase this underground space that was originally dug up for an additional subway system. The city never used it, and the Montroses got a great deal on it. They turned it into a speakeasy—a secret bar where people could drink and gamble without fear that the cops would show up.”

I bite my lip. This is feeling a little bit sketchy, I can’t lie.

But something about this staircase is beckoning me in.

This is a place designed to not be found.

And maybe…I don’t want to be found either.

I want to know what’s beyond these mirrored stairs.

Maddox takes a few steps down and then looks up at me, offering his hand. “Shall we?”

I look around the foyer, at the fur-lined couches, the wall lined in muted green wallpaper, and the ever-grinning Chet sitting behind his pink desk.

I could still make a run for it.

I could go home, heat myself up a frozen dinner, and go back to my life of straight lines and right angles. It’s boring, but at least I know what I’m getting.

It’s safe, secure. Comfortable.

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