Page 81 of Brutal Kingdom

Jordanna invited me to come with her to meet her friend. I have to meet her there, since we’re keeping our alliance low key. Pulling up the driveway feels surreal. On the top ten things I never thought I’d be doing, stepping foot into this house is probably number one on the list, because there’s no scenario I ever would’ve imagined that would have me interacting with the old woman that lives here. I never imagined falling in love and losing my position at school either, but that shit happened, so looks like I’m living in crazy times.

The butler, who looks like he’d have no problem hitting me over the back of the head and rolling me up in the carpet, leads me through the house. It’s quiet and somber around here until I get to the room where Jordanna’s sitting. She and the old woman stop laughing when I walk in.

Pepper Dane eyes me without a hint of kindness or warmth. “So this is him?”

“Yup.”

“Looks like his grandfather.”

Jordanna purses her lips. “Probably acts like him too.”

“Mm, hmm.”

I wish I could say I’m insulted as I stand here listening to their shorthanded conversation, but everything they’ve said is mostly true. I do look like my grandfather, and I learned from my dad, who learned from him.

“Mrs. Dane, thank you for inviting me.”

“Don’t thank me yet, young man. Our visit might be shorter than you think.”

“You invited me just to kick me out?”

“Haven’t you heard? I’m senile. I might forget I invited you any second now.”

“I’ve heard a lot of things said about you. If Jordanna trusts you, I doubt any of them are true.”

She nods, sips her tea, and says. “Smarter than his cousin, too.” Pointing to the seat closest to her, she says, “You may sit, and have some tea with us.”

The butler appears with a tray, carrying a teacup and saucer. I take it with an amused thanks, before turning back to the woman who’s staring at me. Pepper Dane. Jordanna is pretending I’m not here. I sip my tea politely and place it on the table beside me. “Thank you for the tea. It’s delicious, but I’m sure tasting your herbal blend isn’t the reason you invited me here.”

“Always impatient.” The woman mutters, to which Jordanna starts laughing.

“Did I say something funny?”

“This isn’t VDU or one of your country club socials. Pepper will get to her reason for bringing you here, when she’s ready.”

The butler appears again and sets a chess board up. I look from the game to Pepper. There’s a glint in her storm grey eyes. “Do you play?”

I get it now. This is more than a meet and greet. She wants to see how my mind works, and determine if I’m truly worthy of being part of Jordanna’s war. We’re five minutes into the game when she asks, “How does your father feel about you working behind the scenes to ruin his plans?”

“I think he’ll be more upset if I didn’t do everything I could to make sure we’re not making a mistake.”

“Are you trying to prevent a mistake or make up for one you’ve already made?”

“Why can’t it be a little of both?”

She makes another move, causing me to rethink my strategy. “It can be, but one reason will always overpower the other.”

“I disagree. They have the same result in the end.”

“You only think that because you haven’t settled on what you want the result to be yet.” She taps the board. “Are you more concerned with capturing the king?” She takes my queen, “Or protecting the queen?”

Life lessons in chess. In my eagerness to take down Bella, am I leaving Jordanna exposed for another attack?

In two more moves, she has me checkmated, offering a “Good game, young man,” to soften the blow. I’m a good chess player, but she’s got Bobby Fischer level skills.

“That was fun to watch.” Jordanna says, smiling at Pepper.

“Of course it was. You’re just happy I got to beat someone else for a change.”

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