Chapter 24

Hurry, Hurry

The White Rabbit finished buttoning his waistcoat with quick, practiced movements and snapped the cover of his pocket watch shut. Late. Always late. He was halfway to the door when his wife’s voice caught him.

“Baby, you need to eat something before you go to work.”

He turned, ears twitching nervously. “I’m late, dearest. Hopelessly late.”

She sighed the familiar sigh and pressed a wrapped sandwich into his hand. Carrot, lettuce, and tomato, his favorite. “You’re always this way.” He leaned in, brushed his lips across her furry cheek, then pulled her into a brief, loving hug.

“Enjoy work and I will see you later, honey. I’m going to take really good care of you tonight.”

Out into the day he went, sandwich in hand, mind already racing ahead to the Queen of Hearts. For years he had procured women for her. Willing women who understood the arrangement. The Queen preferred only females. She paid extremely well. Houses were bought, businesses saved, futures secured. No one was forced. They chose it because the compensation was generous enough to change lives.

He had not known about his own wife’s past until after they married. She had gone to the Queen’s chambers long before he held this position. There had been another rabbit before him, the one who taught him the role, the one who showed him how to keep the schedules tight and the encounters punctual. Now the job was his. Make certain the Queen always had a willing partner when she wanted one. Females. Always females.

He passed the bakery. The baker’s wife was outside sweeping. The attractive redhead looked up, smiled, and called cheerfully, “Good morning, Mr. White!”

He flicked an ear in return and hurried on. She, too, had spent nights with her face buried between the Queen’s thighs, earning the coin that made the family business one of the most famous bakeries in Wonderland.