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 to my king. “He told you that, did he? What it means is that he intends to move into my territory. All agreements are nullified. He is warning me. He will try to overthrow me, possibly to murder me, and destroy everything I have.” He lifted his rook and his king in the castling move, slamming them to their new squares.
“Your men attacked Brewster,” I pointed out. “They did not seem interested in me.”
“The man called Thomas Brewster is one of Denis’s foot soldiers. They are fair game. You, I know, do not work for Denis by choice. He has entangled you in his mesh with promises, lies, and obligations.”
A chill crept through me. For years I had been repeating almost the same words in my head.
“I am not certain he has lied to me.” I do not know why I hastened to defend Denis, but spoke before I could stop myself.
“He has a way of dancing around the truth,” Creasey said.
I remembered when Donata had hidden Peter away from her treacherous cousins. Denis had known exactly where the boy had gone and I did not, and Denis had refused to tell me.
“Perhaps,” I said.
Creasey snorted as he moved his queen to threaten my bishop. “There is no perhaps. He has used you abominably, which is why I’ve spared you thus far. You are guilty only of being a fool. I know you saved Denis’s life when an incendiary device went off in his house—I hear you warned him of it in time.”
Another memory—this one of smoke, noise, and confusion, Denis snarling at his lackeys for not searching the man who’d made the device thoroughly enough. That man, Ridgley, had vanished, and I’d never learned what had become of him. Another body for Thompson to fish out of the river, I supposed. I’d saved Denis’s life another time, in Norfolk, but we had been alone, with no witnesses. I decided to keep that adventure to myself.
I brought out one of my knights. “I hardly could have stood by while the entire room blew up with me in it.”
“Of course not,” Creasey conceded.
“To be fair, Mr. Denis has saved my life a time or two.”
“Well, he would, wouldn’t he? You are useful to him. Why let you be killed?” Creasey’s queen swooped in to capture my knight.
In his zeal, he’d left one of his pawns unguarded, and I took it with my bishop. “Is there a point to your narration, or did you simply bring me here to tell me you dislike James Denis?”
“My intention is to explain the situation to you. You are in many ways a competent young man, but you have a blindness. Your unflinching fervor to keep your own word and do what is most honorable makes you commit foolish acts.”
“Such as saving Denis’s life.”
“Precisely. You did that because you felt obligated to him, because letting him die would mar your sense of honor. No matter that you know he is a hardened criminal. A thief and a murderer.”
I’d also once thought Denis a procurer. He’d absolved himself of that, which is when I’d begun to respect him slightly. I’d taken a long time to acknowledge that respect, but I had.
Creasey was telling me nothing I did not already know. His words echoed the whispers in my own mind.
“You know much about me,” I said. “While I only learned of your existence yesterday.”
“Because I make it my business to know everything regarding Denis and whom he recruits. You intrigue me. Such an unusual sort of man for him to trust.”
“Because he knows of the honor you twit me about,” I suggested.
“Ha. He plays you like a fiddle. He knows exactly what you will do in any situation. This is why he has not let you out of his web.”
“Does he know what I will do at this moment?” I moved my remaining knight. “Here in your warehouse?”
Creasey chuckled, his thin body rocking. “He likely has heard by now where you are. You are well watched. And yes, he knows what you will do. You will scold me for trying to kill the man assigned to guard you, but you will not try to hurt me. You will play chess with me because I insist, even though you are not a strong player.”
He took the bishop I’d used to capture his pawn.
“It has been some time since I have sat down to this game, yes.” I made another move that would gain me nothing but wouldn’t lose me a piece. “As I told you.”
“So you did.” He too made a neutral move, one that would coax out my queen while he set a trap.
“No matter the reason you brought me here, I would like you to leave Brewster alone,” I said. “He is not simply the man assigned to me—he is my friend.”
I might have also argued that Brewster had a wife who depended on him, but I decided not to bring up Mrs. Brewster. Creasey doubtless knew about her, but I did not want to put her in any more danger than she already might be.
“He is not your friend,” Creasey snapped. “He is as tangled in obligation to Denis as you are. A former pugilist and thief, who escaped the noose by the skin of his teeth. It is Denis’s influence that has kept him out of the dock all these years. He follows you at Denis’s command to pay off his debt.”