may begin.”
The player who made the opening move had an advantage, it was true. However, an experienced player would be able to best anyone, no matter who went first.
I studied the board, reminding myself of the pieces and recalling the games I had played in Paris. These chess pieces were not as detailed as the ones in Donata’s sitting room, but they were made of polished jade, one set a deep green of the ocean, the other so pale it was almost milky white.
Creasey would win the game, without a doubt, and from the smugness in his eyes, he knew it. He didn’t want to face a good opponent. He wanted to gloat, to revel in his power.
Well, I could let him. I did not have much pride when it came to chess, which had dismayed the fellow who’d taught me the game. The fact that I could take it or leave it had bothered him greatly. I made a note to write to the man and express my gratitude to him, if he were even still alive, for his training. It had been some time since I’d seen him, and I’d rather forgotten about chess.
I decided on a simple opening of sliding my bishop’s pawn two squares forward.
Creasey laughed, a sound like dry paper. “I did not call you here simply to demonstrate my ability at the game, Captain. I truly do enjoy playing for its own sake, and I rarely have a partner anymore. No, I summoned you to explain how things stand.”
He moved out a knight, and I scrutinized the pieces, trying to decide what to do next.
“The rivalry between you and Denis, you mean?” I moved another pawn, which would allow one of my bishops to stride out.
“There is no rivalry. James Denis is an upstart. I have tried to pay him no mind. When he first came to London, he was nothing.” Creasey spat the word and moved his second knight. “He had to scramble to build up loyalty, which he did by stealing clients from me and from others. I could have had him snuffed out at any time, but he interested me.”
I lifted my bishop and let it come to rest on a square diagonal to Creasey’s first knight, threatening it. Creasey immediately took my bishop with his second knight.
“Ah,” I said, acknowledging the hit. I was concentrating more on his words than the game. Creasey meant that he’d watched Denis, letting him do the work that brought in wealth, probably intending to either take it at some point or sweep young Denis into his own fold. “Did he refuse to join you when you proposed it?”
Creasey’s eyes went flat. “I did offer him quite a good position in my order, but Denis was too sure of himself. He refused me, all but spit on me. Fool. I let him go. He could build his empire all he wanted, and then I’d take it from him.”
I thought of the empty warehouse on the other side of the door and the emptier floor below. “But you never did?”
“He armed himself well. By the time I was ready to overthrow him, he’d grown very powerful. I’d have had to fight hard—I’d win, of course, but I’d lose much money and many loyal men in the process.”
Creasey brought out his queen, taking one of my pawns in an elegant sweep.
“Is that why you agreed to a truce?”
Anger stained Creasey’s cheekbones. “I suggested it. As long as Denis stayed away from my business—my clients, my employees, my profits—I would leave him be. We did not cross paths much after that. I work mostly in the East End, and he has decided to be a man of Mayfair, moving in circles I won’t touch.”
“Mmm.” I did not point out that Denis’s work encompassed all classes, from the Prince Regent to boys who swept the streets. He’d taken over most of the west side of London, and had MPs and aristocrats dancing to his tunes.
I was not certain how Creasey wanted me to respond, so I kept silent and moved my remaining bishop to guard my king.
“We have rubbed along like this for years,” Creasey said. “It has been tolerable, mostly. Then he sent me the white queen.” He reached across the board and lifted my queen from the square it had not left, studying the light jade piece closely.
“Which meant the end of your truce?” I asked.
Creasey frowned at me and returned the queen to her place next