Assistant to the Villain, #3
Accomplice to the Villain
by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
Contents
Chapter 50
Overview
Trapped overnight by Fowler in a voyeuristic lovers’ suite, Evie and Trystan navigate comedic yet charged intimacy. Trystan’s protectiveness clashes with Evie’s teasing, exposing mutual restraint and desire. Fowler’s constraints force them to stay put, accept a bath delivery, and establish strict boundaries—deepening their fraught bond.
Summary
Evie and Trystan enter Fowler’s lovers’ suite after the disastrous party. Evie jokes about Kingsley’s “Destroyer” name while Trystan, disheveled and exhausted, struggles with the room’s suggestive mirror. Their banter turns charged when Trystan admits his rigid composure is for Evie’s sake, prompting Evie to deflect with awkward humor.
As Evie tries to ease the tension, Trystan refuses to share the bed, rejecting the trope of waking tangled together. A knock interrupts: a scantily dressed footman brings a bath and announces Fowler will replace Evie’s prize if either leaves the room before morning, effectively trapping them.
Trystan’s protectiveness spikes; he bars the footman’s gaze from Evie and demands comfortable clothes for her. The footman delivers a silk strip “for rough play,” which enrages Trystan. Evie coolly knots the silk, signaling her awareness of such implications, while Trystan retreats to a chair by the fire to avert his eyes.
They set strict boundaries: Evie takes the bath while Trystan faces away at the fire, and they maintain distance despite palpable attraction. The scene ends with both resigned to a long, tense, and deliberately chaste night under Fowler’s coercive conditions.
Who Appears
- EvieNarrator; teases to defuse tension, asserts boundaries, and acknowledges desire while respecting Trystan’s restraint.
- Trystan (The Villain)Exhausted, protective, and intensely self-restrained; refuses shared bed, shields Evie from the footman, enforces boundaries.
- Lord FowlerOffstage manipulator; confines Evie and Trystan, threatens replacement if they leave, sends bath and suggestive silk.
- FootmanDelivers bath and Fowler’s messages; flusters Trystan with innuendo, prompting protective reactions.