Chapter 106
Chapter 106:
“The Grid goes fully operational in six days.” Herod now stood directly behind her, close enough that she could feel his body heat. “The safety systems are designed to run seventy-two hours of testing before full power integration. Once they connect to the city’s main power supply…”
“Boom,” Rose whispered, watching lightning split the sky.
“Precisely.” His hand came to rest on her shoulder. “And Camille Kane will be held responsible for the greatest engineering disaster in New York’s history.”
Rose turned to face him. Herod’s dark eyes held hers, intense and unreadable. She’d worked with him for weeks now, plotting Camille’s destruction, yet sometimes he remained a mystery. A dangerous one.
“Victoria will protect her,” Rose said, her old bitterness rising. “She always protects her precious new daughter.”
“Not this time.” Herod’s thumb traced a small circle on her shoulder, the gesture oddly intimate. “The evidence will be overwhelming. Criminal negligence at a minimum. Potentially even charges of knowingly endangering public safety for profit.”
“Prison,” Rose breathed, the word sweet on her tongue.
“If she’s lucky.” Herod’s mouth curved into a smile that never reached his eyes. “More likely, Victoria Kane’s empire will collapse trying to defend against the lawsuits. The stock will plummet. The board will remove them both. And I’ll be there to pick up the pieces at pennies on the dollar.”
He moved to the bar, pouring amber liquid into two crystal glasses. “A perfect revenge for both of us. Victoria loses everything, just as my family did. And your sister…” He handed Rose a glass. “Your sister loses her freedom, her reputation, and her new mother figure, all at once.”
Rose accepted the drink, the crystal cool against her fingers. “To perfect revenge,” she said, raising her glass.
“To mutual satisfaction.” Herod clinked his glass against hers, his eyes never leaving her face as they both drank.
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The liquor burned pleasantly down Rose’s throat. She wandered to the large desk, where multiple screens displayed different angles of the Phoenix Grid construction site. Workers in hard hats moved about like industrious ants, unwittingly building a disaster.
“Look at them,” she murmured. “No idea what’s coming.”
Herod moved beside her, setting his glass down on the desk. “Do you ever wonder,” he asked, his voice lower now, “what you’ll do after?”
The question caught Rose off-guard. She’d been so focused on destroying Camille, on taking back what should have been hers, that she’d given little thought to what came next.
“After?” she repeated.
.
.
.