Page 74 of Spades

“Holy shit, Alissa. You’re not supposed to go into those rooms.” I rub at my forehead. “Christ, I could have my membership revoked.”

“Seriously?” She shakes her head. “Your precious membership is the least of your worries, Maddox. May told me she was scared, that she had a friend in the club, Svetlana, who worked there until recently. I guess she disappeared into thin air after working at the club for five years.”

“Five years is the usual amount of time that servers work at the club.”

“Sure, maybe she just left. But May told me they made plans to hang out on their days off, but that she couldn’t get in touch with Svetlana after she left.”

I close my eyes. I’m trying to think of who Svetlana could be. It’s a Russian name, so she’s probably a fair-skinned woman. And in my mind’s eye I see her. A tall woman with flowing blonde hair. The Nine of Diamonds. She would bring me drinks while I played blackjack. She stopped working at the club a few weeks ago. I figured she’d moved on to a new job. A lot of servers at Aces owe a debt to Rouge for bringing them over.

“It’s possible she just left.”

“May seemed very upset that she hadn’t contacted her.”

I open my mouth to say something to quell Alissa’s concerns, but then I think back to the day of my father’s funeral. I got the Rolls-Royce and his club membership.

Getting a car when your dad dies is normal. Getting a club membership isn’t.

I knew that he wentsomewhereon Friday evenings. He’d kiss my mom and say, “I’m off to the club.”

I asked Mom once what the club was. She told me that she didn’t know, just that it was a place Dad went to grab a drink and socialize with his friends from work.

When I received the club membership, I was confused. Dad was so upset about my decision not to follow in his footsteps, so why would he leave me this?

Maybe he just wanted to keep the membership in the family. And I, his sole heir, was the only means of doing that.

Or maybe… Maybe there was another reason.

I keep thinking back to the legislation he passed in the last year of his final term as mayor. Massively unpopular moves that sent his approval ratings into a nosedive.

No one understood why he did it. His advisors begged him not to, but he was insistent.

People lost their jobs, their homes. I would see my dad’s face on posters all over windows, a big red X over his grinning mug.

People didn’t understand why he did what he did, and I don’t understand why he left me the membership at Aces.

Could there be a connection?

And could it have something to do with Seven’s—sorry,May’s—missing friend?

Or are these all random events, small dots that I’m connecting haphazardly?

“Tell you what,” I say, looking at my watch again. “The club will be open tonight in a few hours. How about we go again, and we can check things out discreetly? See if there’s something out of the ordinary?”

She bites her lip. “Okay.”

“Great.” I wrap my arm around her waist. “Is that the reason you wanted to come over?”

“Yeah, of course.”

I smile at her and pull her close. “No ulterior motive? You weren’t hoping to get another shot at me?”

She scoffs. “No, but”—she wiggles her eyebrows—“I mean… I’m notagainstanother shot at you.”

“We have a few hours to burn.” I jerk my head toward the back of the shop, where the staircase to my apartment is located. “Care to join me in my suite?”

She swallows. “No, Maddox.”

Disappointment surges through me. “I thought you said you weren’t against the idea.”

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