Page 7 of Diamonds

He turns around, dropping his shovel as he rushes to my side.“Alissa!Thank God, you’re okay.”

I rub at the back of my head.“I’m alive, but I’m not okay.”

He kneels and strokes my hair.“I know, baby.I’m not either.”He darts his gaze around the area, frowning.“But if we want to get out of this park alive, we need to leave everything as we found it.Rouge can’t know that we were here.”

“Do you need help?”

“No.I’m almost done,” he says.“You just keep an eye on the parking lot.”He hands me the keys to my car out of his pocket.“If anyone—anyone—pulls into that lot, I want you to grab your car and run.Leave me behind.”

“No!I won’t leave you, Maddox.I’m the reason we’re here in the first place.I was the one who wanted to check things out tonight.”

“And I was the one who had the riddle.I could have chosen not to share it with you.”He rubs my shoulder.“Alissa, please.Don’t fight me on this.”

“Fine.”

But I’m not going to abandon Maddox here.If anyone discovers us here, we’re going down together.

Because I’m in love with this man.

I was doubting it at first, but the sight of May’s severed head, as ghastly as it was to behold, gave me a much-needed reminder.

We’re all going to die sometime.

And I want to die in the arms of Maddox Hathaway.I want to marry him, grow old with him, watch our children and grandchildren grow up.

Poor May.

She’ll never get to have a husband.Grow old.Have kids.

An anvil sinks in my stomach.

Is this… Is this my fault?

I was the one who got her in trouble.She broke the rules and spoke to me while she was working.

Of course, no one could have known thatthiswas the penalty for breaking the rules.Rouge certainly seemed a little odd—though she’s normal-looking compared to Chet or the bartenders—but I could never imagine that she would be capable of committing such an act of evil.

Then again, maybe she wasn’t the one who did this.Maybe it was someone else.That riddle probably came from one of May’s fellow employees.Someone who would have been able to discreetly slip it into Maddox’s jacket while his attention was on something else.

But I can’t shake the thought that this is Rouge’s doing.She was the one who was so angry about May talking to me.

And I was the one who spoke to her.Invited her to speak to me.Despite knowing the rules.

So in a roundabout way, May’s head is in that hatbox because of me.

I didn’t kill her, and I didn’t know my actions would lead to her demise, but the fact remains that if it weren’t for me, she’d still be alive, working at Aces, earning money to live the American Dream.

And I can’t help it.

I start crying again.

Maddox turns around—he’s placed the bush back into the ground by now—and walks over to me.“Alissa, baby, what’s wrong?”

I whip my gaze up to meet his.“What do you think?”

He scratches his head.“Good point.”

“Oh, Maddox.”I grab his hand.“This is all my fault, isn’t it?”