Chapter 157 The Accusation Beneath His Smile
Chapter 146
Rosa's POV
But not in the way I wanted. Not in the way a husband moves when something his wife has said has reached him. He simply nudged one shoulder. A small, lazy lift and drop. The kind of movement that says I heard you and I do not particularly care, all at the same time.
He still did not look up from his book.
"Is that all?" he said.
His voice was calm. Completely calm. Like still water that has never known a storm.
"I have one piece of advice for you," he continued, and he nudged his shoulder again in that same slow, unbothered way. "If you are in need of warmth, go and find that concubine of yours in Alpha Dominion's pack. The one you have been running your heart after."
My hand shot into the air.
"I do not have a concubine!" The words flew out of me sharp and fast. "Anyone who says such a thing, let them bring their evidence forward. Let them stand in front of me and say it to my face with their proof in their hands."
"Okay," Jax said.
Just that? He nodded his head slightly, vertically, like a lizard perched on the wall.
The type of nod that indicates someone he knows more than he is letting out. A kind of nod that indicates the stomach is filled with all kinds of secrets but just waiting for the right time to let it out and when he let it out the whole world might be set ablaze.
In all of these, his eyes did leave the pages of the books.
Like he was storing the information in the book away.
I watched him one more time. My chest was still lifting too fast like u had run a long distance and had just stopped.
The air felt thin and heavy. I sealed my lips for a moment, steadying myself.
I know you do not love me,” I said, my voice reduced to a whisper, letting my voice go weary like one that had suffered aggression and as if the fight had reaped off my soul.
I had to try and play my last card if it would steal Jax's attention or cower him.
But shockingly, he said nothing.
I let out a deep breath of frustration.
Anyway,” I said, straightening up a bit, “I am her because of Brielle. I need her to come with me to visit my mother in the Crescent pack. I want her to help me carry all the gifts I am carrying to her place.”
Jax raised his head up slightly and looked into my face.
For the first time since I have been in this room, he looked into my face. But this look is different, not warm, but sharp, and intimidating the way a predator watched his walking into his trap.
Brielle,” he said. Jax uttered the name slowly, like he had tasted a poison.
You mean the same Brielle?...” He paused a bit again this time letting out a wicked laughter. " Or is there another one that you have recently brought to the palace apart from the one we have here?"
Yes,” I replied, shrinking my brow, " the one you gave orders to be locked up.”
Oh!" He let out a dangerous smile and nodded his head.
Jax turned to me, pouting his mouth and threw his hand slightly in the air.
"How interesting. And what about Lyra? What is Lyra's purpose now? Has she suddenly become useless?"
"Lyra is there for my domestic needs," I said evenly. "And you enjoy her cooking. It makes sense for her to remain behind."
Jax tilted his head slightly. "Then choose another maid. Brielle is not the only pair of hands in this palace. There are others who could walk with you to your mother's home and carry a few gifts. Or has something happened between you and Lyra that I do not know about? Are you not bold enough to walk straight into danger just to keep her place here?"
He paused.
"Or perhaps," he said, and the hard smile came back, "Brielle has taken your concubine from you, and this is your way of getting her back within arm's reach."
I hissed. The sound left my mouth before I could stop it. I turned my back on him and started walking toward the door. My feet moved quickly. My hands were tight at my sides.
"With the effort you are putting into convincing me to open that cell door," Jax's voice followed me across the room, steady and unhurried, "I have to wonder something."
I heard his head lift. I could feel his eyes on my back even before I turned.
"I just hope," he said slowly, "that you are not the Theodore who recently walked out of this pack alongside my soldiers."
I stopped.
My hand was almost on the door. My fingers were close enough to feel the cool of the iron handle. But my feet stopped as if the floor had reached up and grabbed them.
I turned around quickly.
My stomach had dropped the way a stone drops when you throw it from a great height. Down. Fast. All the way to the bottom.
"What do you mean, Jax?" My voice came out carefully. Measured. Every word placed deliberately, like feet on a narrow bridge above deep
water. "That I sent someone to listen inside your walls? What would I possibly gain from something like that?”