Diamond by Tigris Eden Read Free Book Online Page A

buzz. Shit was nasty.
    Lindy snatched her shoulder away from Phyr’s grip and sneered, “Get your own damn drink,” before turning and storming out.
    “That bitch has guilty written all over her face,” Lip tossed out as he sat down in one of the vacant chairs.
    “I doubt it was her, but we need to cover all avenues of possibility.” Diamond took the seat at the head of the table. “Phyr, were you able to get anything from the vid screens?”
    Phyr shook his head, agitated by his results. “Nope, but I’ll keep searching. Whoever she was, she knew about the camera placements, and if she knew about the cameras, it’s because someone told her.”
    “So, this came from inside my camp?” Diamond’s hands were balled into fists, and he punched the wood table, breaking skin. No one reacted to his outburst. They knew him. He kept a strict house, but he didn’t keep people prisoner. If someone from inside was willing to betray him, things were not good.
    “You think it was Martinez or Maddox?” Emerald asked, the stark black tribal markings on his face twitching with each clench of his jaw.
    “It’s hard to know, I was over by the Genysis tower. Everything was quiet. I got in and out in record time. None of my girls had any problems at the checkpoints either,” Amethyst tossed out.
    Martinez and Maddox Ibanez were now Gryphon’s seconds, they were also in charge of imports and exports. If it was out in the Atlantic—what was now half desert half ocean—they’d find it. Whether what they found was a viable product was another matter entirely. Both men were verbal in their dislike of Diamond and the way he ran the city. They wanted the city for their own, but it was something Diamond would never let happen. He controlled the Grid, and whoever controlled the power, held the cards.
    The Ibanez brothers, along with Marius, had been the first to break off from Diamond’s group. All over a dispute of what they deemed local territory. Afterwards, the brothers had somehow gotten in with Gryphon, twisting his friend’s mind into thinking they could overtake Diamond and the city. They had to be the ones who tipped off the female Splice, the bitch who’d tried to blow herself up, taking him with her. That made sense. They’d been a part of his security team in the beginning. It had been a constant struggle since. Diamond gave everyone ample space to make their own way, but the Ibanez brothers grew greedy, and in an attempt at a hostile takeover, things had gone from bad to worse in a matter of hours.
    After the coup, the brothers were cast out of the Quarry and into the streets of the city to fend for themselves.
    And then there was Gryphon. He wanted Diamond’s ass six-feet under. The greedy bastard. If someone had said any of his team members would have tried to kill him, Diamond would have laughed in their face and called them a liar.
    Gryphon was the only one who knew how to purify Dark Water and make it somewhat drinkable. Diamond knew one day the male would hold it over his head and demand to be Sovereign of the city. Everyone who’d been with him in the beginning had either died or gone their separate ways to take over one of the Towers. The team members who’d stayed under his command were loyal and worked hard to ensure the survival of the city. He and the Archials of the Towers still had a council of sorts. There had to be some kind of alliance to keep things running smoothly. They all depended on each other for one thing or another so they needed to keep communication open. Those outside the wall were always plotting to take control, and if it wasn’t them, then it was the inner-city gangs.
    With the bomb threat, Diamond had to be more careful. Tactful. The possibility of one of his own betraying him was too far-fetched. He had to have faith that his people were all in allegiance with him. But someone was testing their boundaries, his defenses. Trying to see how close they could come to ending his life