Page 21 of Diamonds (Aces Underground #2)

ALISSA

T his is a lot of information to digest at once.

Maddox is the son of the former mayor of Chicago.

I thought his name sounded familiar. Now that I think about it, I’m pretty sure I saw him listed as an eligible Chicago bachelor in some old magazine I picked up in a waiting room around the time I first moved here.

I’ve heard his father spoken of on the train as well. If the L passes a series of tents set up on a city sidewalk, people will point out the “Henry Houses.”

I, of course, didn’t grow up here. I don’t know much of the city’s history. So I didn’t put two and two together when I first met Maddox, and things happened so quickly, I haven’t thought about his past. Too much else has been going on.

Maddox probably thinks I’m horrified that he hid this information from me. But I of all people understand wanting to keep your familial skeletons firmly in the closet.

One day, when I’m comfortable enough to talk about it, I’ll tell him about the horrors inflicted upon me by my own mother.

I’ve heard whispers of the unpopular bill that his father passed. It had something to do with nightclubs, didn’t it?

Wait.

Wait a bloody second.

Maddox received his membership to Aces Underground from his father.

His father, who we are now learning died under mysterious circumstances.

“What exactly was the bill your father passed? The one that ended his political career?”

“I’d rather not talk about it, Alissa. It’s ancient history.”

“It might not be. Just give me the CliffsNotes version.”

He shrugs. “Okay. Why the hell not. The HOUSE bill. The Hathway Overhaul for Urban Security and Equity. Basically, my dad decided on a whim that the nightlife venues—theaters and bars and the like—of Chicago were fronts for organized crime, and he introduced all these security measures that they had to implement to renew their business licenses. Basically, all these smaller places couldn’t afford to do it and had to shut their doors.

Lots of people lost their livelihoods, and homelessness and unemployment went through the roof. The city is still recovering.”

I stroke my chin. “So…would that legislation have applied to Aces Underground as well?”

He widens his eyes. “Wait. Holy fuck.”

I nod. “Your father was a member there before you were. What if he, like us, grew suspicious of what Rouge was up to? Maybe he knew a waitress who disappeared with little explanation, too. So he used his power as mayor to enact legislation that would force Rouge to implement these security measures, to expose her.”

He swallows. “But it didn’t work. Rouge is too powerful to be brought down by some flimsy legislation. She owns every person with power in this town. That would have included my father.”

“Perhaps he turned a blind eye to it at first. But maybe, inspired by his own son’s bravery to shirk the family name, he grew a semblance of a conscience.”

“There’s no way in hell my father was inspired by me,” Maddox says dryly.

“You don’t know that. You weren’t in his head. Until twenty minutes ago, you believed he died of a heart attack.” My mind whirls. “The truth is sometimes a lot more complex than we’d like to believe.”

“But if my father actually did this in an effort to do something good, then—” He frowns.

I gently squeeze his bicep. “Then your hatred of him might be misplaced.”

“He cut me off, Alissa. Threw me out of the family like I was trash.”

“But he left you the membership to the club. And his car.”

“That was all…” His jaw drops. “Holy shit. Did he want me to continue the work he was trying to do?”

“You said that his trust fund stipulated that you had to get a degree in political science at Yale. Did it say that you had to actually pursue a career in politics?”

He taps his fingers against his stubbly chin. “Just the degree. The ten million would be handed over upon graduation.”

“Maybe he thought you’d go on to get a law degree from there. Of course, he probably never would have guessed you would turn down the ten million.”

“He never believed in that shop. It was in rough shape when he died. But I was bound and determined not to let him run my life. I didn’t let him do it when he was alive, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to let him do it after he died.”

“Either way, though, he left you the membership with no conditions. He wanted you to get in and look around.”

He widens his eyes. “Not just that, but he also left a weird little hint.”

“He did?”

“Yeah. At the reading of the will, I received a sheet of paper with instructions on how to access Aces Underground. Go to the corner of Randolph and State, find the black door with the four card suits on it. The instructions were typed up. But he had written something in his own handwriting on the note.”

“What did it say?”

He closes his eyes. “ Follow the writing raven through the river of tears. ”

A chill runs down my spine. “What does that mean?”

“Fuck if I know. I think the river of tears might have been referring to the Des Plaines river in the park where we found May. But what the writing raven is supposed to be is anyone’s guess.

” He pauses a moment. “But if you’re right—if he wanted me to figure out a way to expose Rouge—there must be something to his words.

But if that’s the case, why the hell would Rouge let me keep coming to the club?

Why not just rescind my membership, keep herself shut off? ”

“Maybe she had no idea what your father was up to.”

“Maybe. But if that’s true, who poisoned him?”

I close my eyes and mull it over. “If she did poison him, it would look suspicious if she didn’t let you come to the club. If that real autopsy report ever came out, shutting you out would create a trail of breadcrumbs leading directly to her. This way she has some plausible deniability.”

He nods, eyes wide. “And she knows my dad and I had a rocky relationship…”

“Did you ever talk to her about that?”

He blinks a few times. “She and I were…well acquainted when I first started going to the club.”

My heart skips a beat. Does “well acquainted” mean what I think it does?

I stuff my jealousy down. Not the time.

“So if she knows that you and your father didn’t have a great relationship, then she probably thinks you have no clue about what she’s doing. If she did, you might end up with a poison-induced heart attack as well.”

Ugh. Just the thought… Maddox… Dead… I want to toss my dinner.

The color leaves his face. “Shit. You’re probably right.”

“Which means this.” I look straight into Maddox’s eyes, pushing down my fear and repulsion. “We can’t allow her to know we have any inkling that she’s up to something terrible.”

“Easy enough.”

“I don’t think you understand what I’m saying.” I grab his face, meet his gaze. “We have to keep going to the club.”