Page 96 of Mad Rivals
“I’ll just call him to confirm.”
“At this hour? Don’t be ridiculous. You know after last night, he’ll be asleep. Look, I had the credentials to get this far. Are you really going to disappoint my father further?” Madden demands, and holy hell, he sounds all authoritative and freaking sexy.
“Who’s she?” he asks, nodding at me.
“My assistant.”
The man stares off at Madden a few extra beats, and then he seems to relent. He makes a good point about having the credentials, and the man steps aside. He doesn’t exactly offer a tour, but as soon as I round the corner, I know exactly what I’m looking at.
It’s one of those illegal, underground casinos you only see in movies or TV shows, but this is real life. The entire place is encased in that beautiful black marble from floor to walls toceilings, and elegant chandeliers hang above different types of poker tables from blackjack to Texas Hold’em to baccarat. Leather chairs are pushed in at tables for craps and roulette, and a cashier lines one wall while a bar lines another. A third wall has counters for sports betting and lottery games, and there’s a small area with a huge screen and gorgeous leather chairs.
It's certainly not like the casinos I’ve been to. This place is high-class, and I’m guessing it’s also high-stakes.
And it would definitely explain where the large sums of cash on Monday mornings are coming from.
“My father mentioned that he wanted to expand the wine menu. I said I’d take a look through the selection,” Madden says to me loudly enough that the burly bouncer dude can definitely hear him. We head over toward the bar, and he walks behind it to look at the wines. I, on the other hand, would like to just get the fuck out of here before we get caught down here with burly bouncer dude.
My dad’s words about Thomas Bradley come back to haunt me once more.
He has the kind of connections we can’t fight against. Was this what he meant? Does my dad know about this place? Does he know about the bouncers and the underground, illegal activities?
How did he get started in this? And furthermore, was he ever going to tell his kids about it?
Madden clearly didn’t know. I wonder if the others do? According to the bouncer, no.
Are there more of these, or is this the only location? Does it change each week? Is that why there are four warehouses? Is the time and place a secret that only the members know about?
I have about a million questions and exactly zero answers.
And as I look over at Madden, who is secretly sneaking photos of this place from behind the bar…I realize that at least I’m not alone.
CHAPTER 40: Madden Bradley
Can You Ensure Her Silence
I’m not surprised when I get a voicemail from my father demanding to see me in his office immediately.
I broke into his top-secret warehouse, bypassed Goliath, and discovered his secret. Of course he wants to see me.
I didn’t pick up when I saw him calling a little after eight, and that was probably my first mistake. I was at a restaurant eating breakfast with my girl, both of us in hats to try to stay under the media’s radar while we decompressed after a rather intense morning, and I didn’t particularly want to talk to my father.
Even so, it comes as no surprise that he’s inside my penthouse when I arrive home with Kennedy in tow.
“You were supposed to be getting information from her, not sleeping with her,” he hisses at me, pointing at Kennedy, and, okay, so that’s how this is going to go.
He’s just going to go ahead and blow up my entire life. Cool, cool.
She looks devastated by his words, and I try to reassure her.
“It’s not like that, Ken,” I say softly. “You know how I feel about you, and you know he’s not going to take this lying down.”
She snags her bottom lip between her teeth, and I feel like the scum of the earth right now. But my father just makes it worse.
“Excuse us,” he spits at her. “I need to talk to my son. Alone.”
She spins on her heel and walks right out the door we just came in through.
“Kennedy, wait,” I call after her, but she just shakes her head, holds up a hand that clearly says I can go fuck myself, and lets the door slam shut behind her. I turn toward my father. “What the fuck?”
