Page 57 of Chess

“Ever!” Mouse said with a smile. “We were so worried.”

“It’s done,” the White Queen assured them. “Rav is dead.”

The group descended into conversation. Or more like an interrogation, as far as Chess was concerned. A thousand questions swirled through the air about what happened. Ever barely got the answers out before a new one was asked.

Chess made an exaggerated sigh and pushed his way back to Ever’s side to save her from an endless bombardment. “Enough with the questions,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Play inquisition later after we’ve had a bath.”

“Ignore his insufferable manners,” Ever said, “but I do need a bath. We’ll get into all the details tomorrow, Maddie.”

“We’ll have a tea party.” Maddie grinned.

Ever laughed, then threw a wink at the foursome before heading toward the castle with Chess. “They just want to know what happened.”

“AndIjust want to clean up in the bath, preferably with you.” He kissed the top of her head. “Call me selfish, but there will be plenty of time to fill them in after I leave.”

“Oh, you are certainly selfish.” Her lips tugged upward at the corners. “But I’ll forgive you this time.”

“You better.”

It wasn’t until Ever was fast asleep after a bath, fucking twice more, and another, longer, relaxing bath, that Chess slipped from her bedroom. They had both needed to distract themselves with each other’s bodies, but reality couldn’t be avoided forever. Before he left to start things anew in Scarlet, he wanted to make the first step toward a life partially in Ivory.

“Prince,” Maddie drawled when he poked his head into one of the drawing rooms. Her brow arched at the sight of him and Noah tensed beside her on a small settee. In front of them, a fire crackled, casting the room in a warm glow. “Where’s Ever?”

“I’m a king now. And she’s sleeping.” He smirked, stepped into the room, and folded his arms across his chest. “I actually wanted to speak to you, Hatter.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Why?”

“I was hoping we could have a civil conversation.” He glanced at Noah. “Alone.”

“Fuck no,” Noah said.

At the same time Maddie let out a suspicious, “Ooo-kay.”

“Maddie, I’m not leaving you alone with him,” Noah whispered urgently.

“I’mrighthere,” Chess scoffed.

“It’s fine,” Maddie assured him, although she still eyed Chess. “Could you please give us a moment?”

Noah hesitated, glancing between them, before stalking toward the door. “I’m waiting right outside. If I hear anything—”

Chess groaned his annoyance. “Yes, yes. If she screams, please do rush back in.”

“You really shouldn’t goad him.” Maddie cocked her head. “It’s very unnecessary.”

“Many things areunnecessary.” He shuffled farther into the room and lifted a dusty book from the mantelpiece. “Yet, they are still done.”

She leaned against the back of the settee and blinked, staring at him as though trying to read him. “What do you want?”

“To make peace. For Ever’s sake,” he added. He didn’t give a shit otherwise. “It looks like we’ll be around each other often, even if we both hate it. So, I figured, it might be beneficial to have more than a tentative agreement not to murder one another.”

She shrugged, her fingers skimming the brim of her hat. “If it weren’t for Ever, I would gladly use your skin as a pincushion.”

He offered half a smile. “And I would strangle you with the ribbon from your own hat.”

“That settles it then,” she sang, a small grin on her lips. “You may leave.”

He laughed, then quickly sobered. “I…” It was so easy to admit this to Ever, but in this moment, he was exposing himself to someone he should hate. “I love Ever.”

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