Chapter 256
Chapter 256:
“That’s one option,” Rose said, sitting on the bed and crossing her legs. “Or we could make a new plan.”
Something in her tone made him wary. “What kind of plan?”
“We still need to hit the main control center. One final blow to bring down Camille and Victoria.” Rose smiled, but the expression didn’t reach her eyes. “You’re already facing life in prison for the first two bombings. What’s one more? Especially if it means hurting them where it counts?”
Herod stared at her, unable to believe what he was hearing. “You want me to keep helping you, knowing you’ve set me up to take the fall?”
“I’m offering you a chance to complete what we started.” Rose stood and moved toward him, placing her hand on his chest. “To make Victoria and Camille pay, just like we planned.”
Her touch, once exciting, now made his skin crawl. Yet, he couldn’t pull away. Despite everything, some broken part of him still craved her approval, her touch, her presence.
“And afterward?” he asked.
“Afterward, I help you escape. Get you out of the country with new identity papers, enough money to start over.”
It was a lie. He knew it was a lie. Yet, he found himself considering it, weighing his options. The FBI was closing in. His life, as he knew it, was over. What did he have to lose by playing along with her plan a little longer?
“You’re asking me to trust you,” he said. “After everything, after learning you’ve betrayed me.”
Rose’s fingers moved to his face, tracing his jaw. “I’m asking you to finish what we started. Together.”
“Until you no longer need me.”
Her smile turned predatory. “Everyone leaves eventually, Herod. At least with me, the ride is exciting while it lasts.”
Herod searched her face, looking for any sign of genuine feeling, any crack in her perfect mask. But there was nothing but cold calculation.
“You never cared about me at all, did you?” he asked.
“I cared about what you could provide,” Rose answered, her honesty brutal. “Money. Connections. The means to hurt Camille. And you delivered beautifully.”
The admission should have angered him, should have sent him storming out. Instead, it created a strange calm. The final illusion had been stripped away. He saw Rose clearly now, not as a partner or lover, but as a user. Someone who took what she needed and discarded people when they were no longer useful.
Just as she had done with Stefan. With her parents. With Camille.
And now with him.
“We need to leave this motel,” Rose said, moving away to pack her bag. “The FBI might trace Martinez’s call. I know another place we can stay while we plan the control center attack.”
Herod watched her efficient movements, the way she packed only the essentials, ready to disappear at a moment’s notice. She was offering him a poisoned choice: continue helping her and face certain capture afterward, or try to run now with the entire FBI hunting him.
.
.
.