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MADDOX

I’m back at Randolph and State. It’s about ten minutes before Alissa said she’d meet me here.

So much for being fashionably late.

But Alissa is worth showing up early for. I still can’t get that kiss outside her apartment door out of my mind. I’ve jacked off three times since the date just thinking about it.

Normally I’d abstain before a date. But with Alissa in mind, I couldn’t help myself.

She brings Mad Maddox out even when she’s not in the room.

My phone buzzes. A text from Harrison, my best friend.

Hey. Super random, but I think the woman you’re seeing tonight works at my hospital.

No way. I mean, Harrison is a cardiothoracic attending surgeon at a hospital downtown. But this is Chicago. There are lots of hospitals, lots of doctors. What are the odds?

Alissa Maravilla?

She’s the one. She’s a nurse in the transplant wing. You’ve never taken a woman to the club before, have you?

Nope. Until yesterday, you were the only person I’d brought as my guest.

An honor. Hope you know that I’m not putting out.

Very funny.

Anyway, I hope I didn’t fuck you over. I mentioned that you have brought me there in the past as your wingman. This was before I connected the dots and realized it was you she was seeing.

Fuck.

I hope Alissa didn’t get the wrong impression. I’ve dated and hooked up casually in the past, but that doesn’t mean my feelings for her aren’t real. Hell, I shared Aces with her on the first date.

Did you tell her she’s the first woman I’ve taken to the club?

I mentioned that, yes.

Alissa and I talked about Harrison last night. She guessed that I brought him as a wingman. She said that it wasn’t a big deal.

I hope she knows that this date with her is a big deal. I’m not just hoping to get into her pants—though I certainly won’t say no if she offers—I want to get to know this woman.

Good. I’ll talk to you later. Meeting Alissa for our second date in a few minutes.

I put my phone back in my pocket.

I look around the corner.

It’s not as cold tonight because the sun was out all day. I chose a light-gray suit for tonight over a black shirt and a blood-red tie. And of course a gray fedora, the same one I wore the night I first met Alissa.

Only two days ago. It feels like a lifetime ago. From this point forward, I’ll measure my life in years of BA and AA.

Before Alissa and After Alissa .

I check my watch. A few minutes past six.

Where is she?

I’ve always prided myself on being punctual, perhaps to a fault. If I’m ever running late for an appointment, I call ahead. And I’m usually more upset about it than the person I was supposed to meet. That was something my father drilled into my head. Time is finite, son, and you show respect to your colleagues by respecting their time. Early is on time, on time is late, and late is unacceptable. No exceptions.

But Alissa isn’t meeting me for a dental appointment or for a work meeting. She’s meeting me for a date. She’s allowed to have a few minutes to herself.

Five minutes past the hour now.

My heart takes a dive into my stomach. What if Harrison fucked me over?

Or—oh God—what if he told Alissa who my father is?

He wouldn’t think anything of it. Most people in the city have heard my name, at least in passing.

Alissa doesn’t know who I am.

And I like that.

I’m sick to death of women who are after my family’s money. They lose all interest once they find out I turned away my family’s riches in favor of an old haberdashery.

I don’t want to live in the cesspool of Chicago politics. Politics in general, if I’m being honest. Screw my family’s money. There would always be a new condition attached to it. The dominos would keep lining up. That’s how my father worked his entire life.

It's part of the reason for his downfall, too.

All those deals made behind closed doors, all the working the media like puppets, all the flashing cameras and hot mics. My dad was a master at it, until his luck ran out.

It never sat well in my gut. I don’t want to live like that.

Better to die a pauper than a prince of politics.

All Alissa has to do is a Google search, and she’ll know everything.

I thought she was different. I knew she was different.

It’s ten past the hour.

Fuck.

She hasn’t texted me, either. If she were running late, she’d at least let me know.

I’m being stood up.

Since I’m already here, I can go inside and grab a drink. Drown my sorrows in another gin and tonic.

I’m turning toward the alleyway where the club’s entrance is located when?—

“Maddox!”

I turn. And there she is.

And I drop my jaw.

Alissa isn’t wearing her coat this evening—after all, it’s unseasonably warm—and she’s wearing a tight strapless black dress that pushes up her gorgeous tits. Her gorgeous blond hair is flowing over her bare shoulders.

But as hot as the dress is, it’s not what made my jaw drop.

Alissa is wearing a black fedora to complete the ensemble. I don’t normally care for a woman in a hat—makes me think of the Easter brunches my family would have to attend as a kid—but on her, it fucking works.

Fuck.

She walks quickly to me—she’s wearing black stilettos, so she can’t exactly run—her eyes wide and apologetic. “I’m so sorry I’m late. I got held up at the hospital right at the end of my shift. I would have texted, but my phone died.”

I caress her cheek, bring her in for a quick kiss.

“It’s no problem, Alissa,” I say after breaking away. “You look magnificent.”

She smiles. “Do you like the hat? I picked it up at a thrift store on the way to work this morning.”

“I love it.” I tip my own hat at her. “Glad to see I’ve made an impression.”

“You certainly have.” She takes the hat off. “I know it’s silly, but I figured this matched the vibe of the club a bit more.”

“It does.” I trail a finger over her jawline. “But what you wear doesn’t matter, Alissa. There’s a reason I brought you here two nights in a row. You match the vibe all on your own.”

She shakes her head. “Not in what I wore last night. That light-blue number. I must have looked like the Virgin Mary compared to most woman you meet there.”

I chuckle. “It doesn’t matter what you wear, Alissa.” I place a hand over her heart. “You match the vibe here .”

She scrunches her forehead. “What do you mean?”

“Aces Underground is a place for testing your limits, for trying new things,” I say. “It’s a place that encourages its members to embrace their darker side and take the road less traveled. And you, Alissa, are a woman who exhibits all of those qualities.”

She widens her eyes. “I am?”

I nod. “You showed it to me that night you walked into my shop. You didn’t even know what a haberdashery was. You were curious, and you walked in.” I rake my gaze over her, narrowing my eyes. “And then that kiss last night outside your apartment door. You reached down, grabbed my cock. I think we both know what you would have done if your neighbor hadn’t interrupted us.”

She swallows. “Something took over me, Maddox. I… I’m not sure what it was.”

“Something took over me as well—something raw, untamed.” I offer my arm. “Let’s descend into the depths again, embrace that darkness, and see just how far it goes.”