Page 35 of A Dangerous Proposal

“We saw Felix at church last week. He is looking so well,”her mother had said when she saw her last month.

I just bet he’s trotting his ass to church with his twinset-wearing wife every Sunday, Madison thought. Senator Armstrong was running for re-election on a ‘family values’platform. Appearances were important to people like that, and it probably didn’t look great that his son-in-law didn’t have custody of his own child. It was a chink in Felix’s redemption story.

Madison had done as much research as she could on Mary’s family, hoping to find something she could use to help her case. Unfortunately, other than a penchant for drinking too much and gambling over an occasional golf game, the Senator was as squeaky clean as his campaign manager touted him to be.

“He’s the boy’s father. How will you ever have a life if you’re tied to a child that isn’t yours?”Her mother’s voice rang in her ears.

But after all this time, Jaxfeltlike her son.

She paused the movie and glanced at her watch. Jax would be asleep by now. Her throat clogged. Did he go down easily? Did Mary remember to give him Dino, his favorite stuffed animal? Madison was under no illusion that Felix was doing any of the nurturing.

Madison took another large swig of wine as her phone chimed. She ignored it. The first few times Felix had unsupervised daytime visitation, Madison had hovered over her phone, worried that something might go wrong and they would try to contact her.

When Cami noticed, she had gently reminded her that, if Jax were upset or crying, Felix wouldn’t call Madison for help.

She knew Cami was right. But it killed her.

It felt like everything was out of control and her life was spiraling. Her parents weren’t completely off base with their concerns. This custody fight had all but wiped her out financially, and she wasn’t sure her heart would ever fully heal if she lost Jax.

Hence the drowning of her sorrows in wine while the rest of the world prepped for a better year.

Another tear slipped down her cheek.

The phone chimed again, and with a heavy sigh, Madison picked it up, scanned through the messages, and groaned. Apparently, she was still on a group text with her old coworkers in social services.

They were meeting at a club downtown and were trying to convince her and Cami to join them. Cami had already declined, and Madison indulged herself in a moment of self-pity. Cami was probably in bed with her hot new husband, and the only date on Madison’s horizon was with her vibrator.

A sudden intense desire for human connection swept through her.

Alex Kovalyov’s face appeared in front of her, and Madison immediately shook her head.

Don’t do it. He’s not a casual guy.

Maybe she just needed a night out. To get drunk and make some poor decisions in the form of casual sex.

She chewed her lip.Fuck it. It was better than sitting home alone, torturing herself over what was happening at the Armstrong mansion.

Madison spent extra time heavily lining her eyes and fishing a short, blue dress that she hadn’t worn in years from the back of her closet.

“If I’m going to do this, then let’s do this,” she said, staring at herself challengingly in the mirror. She resolutely ignored the other voice in her head that said—You don’t really want to do this. It won’t make it hurt less.

Slipping on a pair of silver, strappy heels, she decided not to take a coat and poured another glass of wine while she waited for her Uber.

She was already well on her way to drunk when the car stopped in the middle of a busy Buckhead street, a block from the club.

“This is as close as I can get,” the driver offered over his shoulder.

In front of and beside them, other passengers were disembarking from their vehicles.

“No problem.” She glanced at her phone. It was already after eleven. She was normally in bed with a book if not asleep at this hour. For a moment, she thought about telling the driver to take her home, but the blast of another car horn propelled her into motion.

Icy wind licked around her bare legs as she joined the mass of people and made her way toward the club. She spotted her oldoffice mate, Denise, standing with a group of Madison’s former coworkers, just before the woman waved.

“You made it!” Denise squealed. “I haven’t seen you in forever! I’m so glad you came out tonight.”

Madison felt her shoulders relax as the round of hellos continued. They were standing in a bunch near the entrance, a velvet rope holding back the line behind them.

Ugh. She hadn’t thought about standing in line to get in.

---