Crossing the Lines

THIRTY SEVEN

Hannah's POV

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Today was day two of being in France.

Ace was grumpy, but he still let me sleep in my own bed the first night. I made breakfast and made him eat. After, he taught me how to play chess for a few hours. It was hard and gave me a headache, but I was obsessed with trying to beat him. Eventually, he had to pry me away from the chess board because I still couldn't win.

We ate lunch in the courtyard, overlooking the beautiful land in France. I've always thought Paris would've been beautiful, but I never even considered the countryside. I could see why Ace liked it out here so much. It was quiet, peaceful.

"Can we play chess when we go back inside?" I begged him. He just laughed, shaking his head.

"No, Amore."

"Why?"

"Because you won't win."

"Then tell me how to win." He's silent, overlooking the estate.

"You won't win because you're worried about protecting your king."

"Isn't that the whole point?"

"Yes, that's how you win. Do you know who the most important piece is though?"

"The king." I say, matter of factly.

"No, it's the queen. The queen is the most powerful, the only one able to make every possible move on the board. If you make one wrong move, you can lose your queen. If you lose her, most people forfeit there."

"Why? You can still win without her."

"Anything is possible in chess, but it's not likely. When you lose your queen, you will eventually lose all of your pawns, and then your king. You can't protect your pieces by taking one step at a time. Losing your queen to your enemy, it gives them all of the power."

I'm silent, thinking. The queen can't possibly have that much power. I mean, don't get me wrong I think we should be treated equally, but chess is an old game. If the queen has always had more power, then maybe every hierarchy we've thought of is wrong.

After lunch we decided to watch a couple movies. It was fun, but also frustrating. Ace and I's game from yesterday has still been going on. No sex, but subtle little touches. Just when you think you're going to get more, you're shoved back to arms length.

For dinner, Ace decided he was going to show me how to make authentic Italian spaghetti. It was so funny, watching how serious someone could be over making pasta. By far, the best part was testing to see if the noodles were done. I thought I was going to lose it when I watched Ace chunked a noodle at the kitchen cabinets. I wanted to try it and, even though I was aiming for the cabinet, I accidentally hit Ace.

"Amore..." We were both frozen as the noodle fell to the ground. "You shouldn't of done that." He says lowly. 

I immediately bolted out of the kitchen with Ace chasing me. I ran into the living room and stopped behind the couch, catching my breath. Ace stood on the other side of the couch, smirking. Before I could realize what happened, he chased me in circles around the couch. I ran out of the back door and into the yard where he chased me for a little while longer. I screamed when arms wrapped around me from behind, lifting me off the ground.

"Not so fast, are we?" He whispers in my ear.

"I let you win." I breath out. He puts me down before walking back inside.

"Come on, Amore." I ignore him and lay down on the grass, still out of breath.

Ace turns around and laughs when he sees me. He walks back to me before pulling me off the ground. I groan as he shakes his head. He turns around and lets me get on his back before carrying me back inside.