Chapter 177 THE DANGEROUS BARGAIN
Rosa’s POV
I ran as fast as my legs could carry me. I needed to meet this bloody servant—this idiot who had made it his business to disgrace me out of this palace.
Disgrace would be a small thing. If the truth eventually comes out that I was the one who instructed Brielle to bug Jax’s room, Jax may decree that I be taken to the border and stoned to death—just the way we planned against Mila.
I hurried as fast as my feet could carry me. The palace guards greeted me. I didn’t look at them. I knew they were only doing it to fulfill all righteousness.
At this point, I just didn’t care. I was holding my shame by a thread before everything collapsed.
The entrance from the verandah to the living room of my quarters was still without a door.
I didn’t care at this point. I just wanted to see that bastard with the leaky mouth.
He wants to show loyalty to the crown. He wants to show loyalty to Jax. Then let’s wait and see.
The security guards had not returned to their post. The broken door was kept at one side. They had gone to call someone to fix it.
In my entire life, I have never seen Jax in such an animalistic and feral manner.
Pulling the door with his foot and threatening someone with a gun—goodness, it is awful even to think about.
As I walked, I saw the corpses of two people being carried out of the palace, and I heard the news that the chief prison warden was dead.
That stupid fool had no sense. How was the gold I gave him found on him?
His sloppiness had dragged me deeper into this trouble, causing Jax to cast more aspersions on me than ever. My respect in his eyes was already as thin as silk. He had messed things up so badly that Jax couldn’t even bat an eyelid in my arms to sleep.
That stupid fool deserved the death he got. He was greedy and sluggish.
I walked into my living room, waiting for the omega who leaked the secret of Brielle’s whereabouts.
I sat on the couch. My foot hit the floor repeatedly as I waited patiently, staring through the broken doorway for when he would come through it.
I had instructed all the guards stationed at my door to leave.
For my privacy and sanity.
I stared at the gold bar Jax instructed him to come and take, sitting at the center of the room like poison set for a ravaging mouse in a food store.
My gold bar.
Anger erupted in me. So this was the money Jax wanted to give someone for being a loyal servant.
I kept my cool. I tapped my foot repeatedly on the ground. Anger simmered within me.
A thought then struck me. I processed it. Very good.
A small laugh tugged at the corner of my lips.
I relaxed back into the couch, waiting for him.
Then his footsteps approached the verandah and moved through the doorway.
He stepped into the room like an unexpected visitor barging into a party.
He leaned back slightly, his hands behind his back.
His presence disgusted me. Anger crawled up from the innermost part of me and rested on my tongue. I tried to swallow it back down.
“Your king asked me to come and pick up my gift,” he said, his voice calm.
“Your gift? Which one?”
He pointed to it with his forefinger at the middle of the room.
“Good,” I replied. “What good tidings did you bring to the king to earn such a hefty bounty?”
“I…I…” He stumbled over his words.
“I…I am sorry. The king warned me not to divulge anything to anyone…”
“Good. Fine. Awesome. A loyal and faithful servant,” I replied, nodding my head and pouting my lips.
He stood at the center of the room.
I stood up from where I sat. I drifted toward him and began to circle him like a predator circling a tired prey that could no longer run for its life.
I had already checked the door and windows. No strange movement. Jax might come, or send someone to check on this servant. He might be using him to bait me.
So I needed to be very fast.
I went to pick up the gold from the floor and handed it to him.
“What is your name?” I asked.
“Leo, Your Honor…”
“Good. What a nice name,” I replied, still circling him. As I did, I kept checking both the doorway and the window to ensure no one was watching, in case Jax had sent someone.
I breathed out. I liked it when the silence settled.
“Do you know how tremendously your life would change if I gave you five pieces of that?”
His eyes widened. The words echoed in his ears, and a smile followed.
“How? My…honor… my generations would be free from poverty. I would leave this pack instantly… go to a far pack—Blackstone Pack, to be precise—where I would live, wine, and dine with the most powerful alpha on the planet,” he said quickly, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
Wow. Then good, Rosa. I knew this one could be bought too.
I paused and turned to face him directly.
“And your wish has been answered… if—”
“How?” he asked, his surprise brightening into a smile.
“I…I hope you are not pulling my legs, Your Honor.”
“Why would I?”
“Okay… wait. Take this first and go,” I commanded.
“I will give you four more by this evening… if you tell me where Alpha Jax is keeping Brielle. Where she is recovering.”
“Ahh…” He threw his hand over his mouth as though I had said something abominable. “He will kill me.”
“You saw how he killed the chief prison warden and a guard instantly in the palace hall not long ago. I have never seen our king like that before. He is like a wild beast…”
“He won’t. Are you taking the deal or not?” I countered.
“I will deliver the gold bars to you this evening, and you can leave the pack for good.”
“And if he insists on taking you to where Brielle is, then take him to the wrong place. A false healing house in Alpha Dominion’s pack.”
I looked back at him. “Deal?”
He nodded.
“But… my queen… please promise me,” he said, pausing to let the words settle. “Promise me that you will deliver as promised…”
“I always deliver. You don’t even know how much the gold bar you are taking away is worth, do you?”
He nodded.
“It belongs to the chief prison warden—the one who was just killed. He wasn’t smart; that was why he was caught.”
He covered his mouth again in shock.
“And he had many of these. Only this one was found on him. I hope you now understand that if I promise you something, I will always deliver.”
He nodded quickly and tucked the gold bar under his uniform.
“Please, I need to go now.”
He turned and was about to leave.
“So where exactly is Brielle kept in Alpha Dominion’s pack?”
He turned and
looked back again facing me.
“At…at,” he paused, forcing words from his mouth.
“L… lord Elvis’s house, Your Honor.”
“Lord Elvis?” I asked.