“It appears you’re going to make this difficult,” Simeon said, scratching his head. “How’s this? I’ll agree to any wager you’d like. The homes? The horses? Hell, I’ll even toss them all in together. Think of it, Max. In one game, you could win back all you lost and then some. Honestly, you’d be a fool not to take it, and you’ve never struck me as a buffoon, or would coward be a better word?”

Max’s eyes darted between the chessboard and Simeon. “Everything on one game, you say?”

“That’s right, old friend,” Simeon said, suppressing his delight over his soon-to-be triumph. “Of course, you still have to come up with your half of the bet.”

“In due time,” Max said, placing Simeon’s brandy on the table. “All right, but on one condition.”

“Which is?”

“Bennett plays in my place,” Max said without missing a beat.

“Bennett?” Simeon slanted in his chair and pointed past Max. “Her? Are you daft? You want me to play a game of chess with that know-nothing slave.”

Max waved Bennett over, pulling out the chair so she could sit down. “Oh, she hardly knows nothing. I’ve spent the last year and a half teaching her everything I know about the game. Haven’t I, Bennett?”

“Yes,” Bennett said, looking up at Max. “And you’re an excellent teacher.”

How the woman was keeping a straight face was beyond Max. There had yet to be a lesson Bennett hadn’t absorbed, and chess was no different. Once she learned the basics, there was no stopping her. They had played almost seven hundred games in the last eighteen months, and Max had won the first eleven. Bennett had won all the rest, sometimes in as little as five moves.

“So, what do you say, Simeon?” Max said, folding his arms. “Care to play my protégé or…or are you too faint of heart to play against, as you called her, a slave? I mean, you do have a tremendous amount to lose.”

Simeon scoffed, and picking up his brandy, he took a sip. “And what would ever make it worth my while to play against someone who’s nothing more than chattel? What exactly are you willing to lose for this…this nonsensical idea of yours?”

“Me,” Bennett said, her tone as flat as her expression.

Everyone in the room jerked in unison, and Angelique’s leather outfit groaned as she quickly swiveled in her chair.

“What did you just say?” Simeon said, sitting forward.

“Bennett,” Max said, placing his hand on her shoulder. “That’s not what we agreed—”