Page 65 of Diamonds

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 actuallypursuea 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?”