Page 56 of The Queen's Knights

To my surprise, my brother laughs. Then he sobers and swipes a hand over his face with a sigh.

“Listen, I’m just glad you’re okay. I’m not here to ruin your fun. All I ever wanted was for you to be happy, and I’m over the fucking moon that you seem to have found your place. As long as school is still a priority for you, I won’t stand in your way, okay? Now are we good?”

He stretches his arms out, and a lump forms in my throat. I close the distance and embrace him, enduring the tightness of his hug for as long as I can.

“You scared me,hermano,” he murmurs against my ear. “Now that I know you’re in a safe place, I think everything will be okay. But I still havesomany questions.”

I chuckle. “I’m not sure I’m prepared for this, but I’ll answer what I can.”

“We all will,” Gwen says, reaching out a hand to my brother. “We have an evening routine after a masquerade is done. Join us, and you can ask all the questions you like.”

Chloe wasn’t exaggerating when she referred to the club as her family. Evidently after every masquerade, all the permanent performers meet in a comfortable lounge on the first floor to share stories, drinks, and snacks. We meet up with our new friends and invite them to join us, and they enthusiastically accept.

Ambrose tags along, more subdued and curious than I’ve ever seen him, simply observing and listening for most of the conversation while I gorge myself on a sandwich Percy produces seemingly from nowhere. It turns out this place actually has a very well-stocked kitchen, which I raid before returning to the conversation fully sated and ready to focus on something besides my stomach.

The trio we played with drove all the way up from D.C. for the visit, and it sounds like they’re planning to relocate permanently. It turns out Ben just graduated from Georgetown with a law degree, but hasn’t taken the bar exam yet, since he was faced with the prospect of moving to a new state. We bond over our shared passion, and he offers himself up as a study partner when I start law school next semester.

Kat shares that she’s currently interviewing for positions at economic think tanks in the city, with a few promising prospects. Andre remains quiet, seemingly happy to bask in the conversation and the plans his partners share. We’ve all figured out who he is, but so far no one has drawn attention to it, though Ambrose barely contains his fan worship. Andre is by far the most high-profile individual I’ve seen at the club, but I’ve heard other celebrities are members.

I notice Kat wears a pair of solid gold bands, one on each hand. I don’t ask, but later the conversation comes around to how their trio got together, and we learn that she and Ben grew up as step-siblings. No one flinches, since such unconventional relationships seem to be a regular thing here; Michael was married to Brit’s mother before she died, and Max was Casey’s stepfather before her mother divorced him. Casey also shares a story about her best friend Sarah, who absconded with a pair of twins who used to work here, and they were apparently Sarah’s foster brothers at one point.

“So yeah,” Kat says, smiling down at her hands and the pair of rings she wears. “Ben was the one who proposed marriage. I married Andre publicly, but the three of us held a private ceremony and exchanged vows. We are all equal partners. It sounds like all of you have similar arrangements, am I right?”

“More or less,” Michael says, giving Adam and Brit adoring looks where the pair are curled up on cushions on either side of his chair like loyal pets. But then I’m seated on the floor by Gwen’s chair and Percy’s stretched out across the rug with his head on my lap, so I definitely understand the dynamic now.

Kat gets up and slides onto Andre’s lap on the loveseat he shares with Ben. “I think we found a home, baby,” she says, kissing him, then pulling Ben’s hand to her lips.

Ambrose has asked a few questions, but mostly he’s just been taking everything in. He’ll make a good detective one day when he gets promoted. I can see his gears turning with ideas about the club, and I can’t wait to hear his thoughts next time I get him alone. He doesn’t seem scandalized by it—only curious. I think the fact that everyone in this room is clearly in a very happy, balanced relationship—however unconventional they may be—is keeping any reservations he might have about me at bay. In fact, he’s looking at me with a kind of respect I haven’t seen from him before.

I’m overcome with a strange emotion pulling at my chest and rest my hand on Percy’s sternum. His eyelids flutter open and he stares up at me, then at Gwen, and places his hand over mine.

“Can someone loan me a pen?” I ask. Brit produces one from her purse and hands it to me. I retrieve the contract from my pocket, heart in my throat as I unfold it, speed-read the thing in two minutes, then lay it on Percy’s chest to sign it.

“It’s official,” Percy says with a grin. “Welcome to the family!”

Everyone cheers. Someone produces a bottle of champagne a moment later, and Chloe joins us to join a toast to the four newest members of the club.

“It’s a wonderful place to call home,” Gwen says after the excitement subsides. She curls her legs beneath her and leans over my shoulder, combing her fingers through my hair as she pulls my head back to look into my eyes. “And always full of surprises.”

She kisses me slowly, and my body goes languid under her touch. I feel drunk, despite the single glass of champagne. All I know is that I will do anything she asks of me for the rest of my life, if that’s what she wants. And I hope it is.