Page 52 of Diamonds

But not because of the woman.Alissa’s right, she’s glaring at both of us, her arms crossed over her luxurious fur coat.

I’m shocked because of the man at her side.

He’s wearing a charcoal Armani three-piece suit with a golden tie.A wedding band on his left hand.His nearly white hair is perfectly coiffed, and he has on a large pair of Aviator glasses.

Under the glasses… A salt-and-pepper goatee.

It’s the goatee that triggers my memory.

This man is a member of Aces Underground.

And not just any member.

This is the man I remember seeing the night I played the craps table.The night I took his two dates, Pia and Serafina, to bed.

The night he took the Nine of Diamonds—whom I now know as Svetlana, May’s friend from the club—behind closed doors.

This man could very well be the last person to see her alive.

“Maddox?”Alissa asks.“You all right?”

I turn my gaze back to Alissa, blink a few times.“Yeah.Fine.Just…”

I look back up, and both the man and the woman—I assume his wife—have walked out of the concert hall.

Fuck.

And now my phone is buzzing in my pocket.I turned it back on during the endless applause at the end of the symphony.

I pull it out of my pocket.

It’s a text.

From Bill.

Tests are finished.Please come over ASAP.

16

ALISSA

“Holy shit,” Maddox whispers under his breath.“May’s results are in.”

My heart starts thrumming.“You mean… Have they figured out who she is?Can they tie her to Rouge?”

“No idea.”Maddox pockets his phone.“But he’s asking us to come over right now.Do you want to come with me?”

I narrow my eyes.“You do realize this is the second of our dates that will end with a trip to the coroner, right?”

He exhales sharply through his nose.“What can I say?I like to keep you on your toes.”

I squeeze his hand.“You like to make them curl, too.”

Now is not the time to be flirting, but what the hell?I can be frightened for my life and horny for Maddox at the same time.

“Seriously, though.”Maddox looks into my eyes.“You don’t have to come with me if you don’t want to.I can drop you off at home first.”

“Where you go, I go.”I wrap my arm around his bicep.“Besides, we’re already downtown.It would be nonsense to have you drive uptown and back when we’re already here.”