Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 77292 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77292 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
The larger man is built like a fortress—huge pectoral muscles straining to break out of a black T-shirt that’s speckled with a silver diamond pattern.
This must be the real King of Diamonds. One of Rouge’s bodyguards.
And the man he’s holding against the wall by the neck is scrawny, pale, with wispy facial hair. He’s—
I hold back a gasp.
My God. It’s Bill. The coroner.
Maddox’s eyes widen. He recognizes him, too.
“I’ll ask you this one more time, Lassard,” the King growls. “Where’s the fucking file?”
The King releases Bill’s throat, and he gasps in a breath of air before speaking. “I told you… It was misplaced… I… I don’t know where it went.”
“Not fucking good enough.” The King punches him in the nose.
Blood gushes from Bill’s nostrils, and he cries out in pain before the King throws a hand over his mouth. “If what you’re saying is true, you must understand that Rouge can never trust you again.”
Bill whimpers underneath the King’s hand.
“I’m sorry, Bill. I always liked you. But our Queen doesn’t believe in second chances.”
And quick as a flash, the King pulls out a silver blade and rams it into Bill’s throat.
29
MADDOX
Blood gushes out of Bill’s throat in a crimson stream. The color slowly drains out of his face as the life leaves his eyes.
I immediately throw my hand over Alissa’s mouth. I don’t want her to scream.
But she doesn’t. A few tears well in her eyes, but she’s not going to give us away.
Fuck… Fuck.
We just witnessed a murder.
And as far as I know, we’re the only witnesses.
If the King sees us, he’ll kill us too. Of that I have no doubt.
I peer out from behind the dumpster. The King has tossed Bill’s lifeless body to the side and is walking out of the alleyway—thankfully, in the opposite direction from us.
Once he’s out of our sightline, I grab Alissa’s hand and we run out of the alley.
What do we do? What do we do?
Go back to Aces? Pretend we saw nothing?
Chet saw us leave. We told him we’d be right back. If we don’t return, that might arouse suspicion.
Rouge saw us there, too.
But I can’t take Alissa back in there. I won’t allow her to put her life in danger.
She’s my everything.
How does Bill factor into all of this?
I already figured out that we couldn’t trust him anymore. But I never thought that he might be in cahoots—or at least was in cahoots—with Rouge in some way.
The King mentioned a file.
A file…
Holy shit.
Not the file that I grabbed? The one confirming that my father died from poisoning, not from a heart attack?
It was right on top of his desk. And Bill knew we were coming by.
I have a feeling he didn’t just pull that file out for a simple stroll down memory lane.
Christ. My head hurts. Blood is pounding into every corner of my brain.
That must be the file the King was talking about.
Which means Bill died to give me this information.
And if Rouge is involved…
Holy fuck.
Rouge Montrose killed my father.
And if she killed the former Mayor of Chicago, she won’t hesitate to kill his only son.
Or worse, his only son’s girlfriend.
Alissa. Sweet Alissa.
I can’t take her back into Aces. Not right now.
And I can’t take her to my place, or her place.
Everyone who gets into Aces has to show ID. So they have our addresses.
Rouge doesn’t know that we witnessed Bill’s murder, but she could still be after us. When we don’t return to the club, that’ll send up a red flag.
We pull out of the alley onto a busy street. Cars rush past.
We’re safe for now.
Alissa bursts into tears and throws her arms around me. “Maddox! I thought we were going to die.”
I hold her tight. “I won’t let anything happen to you, Alissa. No one’s going to harm a hair on your beautiful head as long as I’m around.”
She looks up. “What about when you’re not around?”
“Don’t worry about that.” I squeeze her body against mine. “I’m not letting you out of my sight until we figure out what the hell is going on.” I point to a building. “That’s the garage where the Rolls is parked. We’re going to get to the car, and then I’m going to take us somewhere safe.”
“Where?” she asks.
“I’ll figure that out on the way. Right now I just want to get us the fuck out of here. Away from Aces, from Rouge, from her Kings. Because the file that the King mentioned? I think he was talking about my dad’s file. The one that was buried, that shows that his death wasn’t a heart attack.” I swallow. “I think Rouge might have been behind it all.”
She drops her jaw. “So it’s all connected.”
I nod. “This must be why my dad left me the membership. He must have known that his number was up soon, so he made arrangements for me to inherit his place at Aces. Rouge must have figured out that I had no idea about any intentions he might have had, so she let me come to the club, plied me with as many gin and tonics as I could handle. Kept me clueless, except for—”