Page 64 of Diamonds

“You have a successful shop.That’s hardly nothing.”

“It wasn’t always successful.The first couple of years were pretty lean.”

“Any new business would be.You had to build a clientele, find your niche.”

“There’s something else, though.”I run a hand through my hair.“My father left me a nice chunk of change.But only on the condition that I go to Yale, pursue a degree in political science.A little over ten million bucks.It’s been sitting in a trust for over a decade now.I haven’t touched it.I can’t leave the shop.”

She pats my hand.“Of course you can’t.It’s your baby.”

Her words warm me.

Laurie left me because I stuck up my nose at my dad’s riches.

But Alissa doesn’t care.She likes—perhaps even loves—me forme.Not for my family name, not for the money I could claim at any time.

I lean over, give her a peck on the lips.“Thank you, Alissa.”

“Thankyou, Maddox.”She eyes the papers in my hands.“So what does that report have to do with this?”

I shuffle through the papers in my hands.“These were on Bill’s desk when I was sneaking around his office, hoping to find something about May or Svetlana.Right out in the open.He must have been looking over old files when the test results came in for May.”I pull out a sheet of paper.“According tothiscoroner’s report, my father died of a heart attack, likely brought on by stress from the last year of his life.Not only did he lose his popularity and his office, but there was also a slew of sexual harassment claims, and he divorced my mom.”

“Goodness.That would kill just about anyone.”

“You’d think.”I grab another piece of paper.“But according to this nearly identical coroner’s report, also about my father, two hundred milliliters of dark liquid were found in his stomach upon his death.Toxicology identified the substance as a”—I read the words directly off the page—“potassium-channel blocker with atropine-like qualities, commonly associated with cardiotoxic plant alkaloids.”

“In English, please?”

“Yeah, it’s meaningless to me, too.Luckily, Bill clears it up on the next line.”I point.“The substances in his bloodstream mimic the effects of a heart attack.A doctor treating him wouldn’t be able to tell the difference while it was happening.Only the autopsy reveals what actually happened.”

She gasps.“So your father was poisoned?”

I nod.“Probably by a political enemy.Which, at the time of his death, was basically the entire city of Chicago.Anybody who had access to what he was eating or drinking could have done it.But I’m not trying to solve my old man’s murder.I couldn’t give a rat’s ass how the bastard kicked the bucket.”I tap the pieces of paper.“What Idocare about is that Bill buried this.”

“Which means…?”

“I was wrong.Billcan’tbe trusted.”I narrow my eyes.“Which means he’s probably hiding information about May as well.”

20

ALISSA

This 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.