Chapter 159 The bargaining
Chapter 157
Rosa's POV
"Now?"
Like a two edged sword, the cut into air from the mouth of the prison chief. I watched him how he sat behind his leather chair. Jerked forward, behind his seat, threw his hand into the air.
His mouth hung opened for a second and he couldn't believe what he had just heard.
I neither blinked nor flinched. I leaned forward into his face from where I stoodike a raging demon.
Yes now!” I roared. Thick stood besides my neck. I want her release to me now!"
My voice came out raw and sharp like a flinton stone. The heat rose sharply up my neck and up to my throat.
I knew what I was doing dangerous. I knew that moment I stepped into the prison cell few days back to cut a deal with him. With the prison chief.
I knew going against Jax's rule was not something that would be easy. It must require trwmdous courage. Since he is the alpha of this pack. Going against his words could lead alot of things.
Banishment from the pack. Death sentence and whatever. Not only to me but the both prison chief and his guards that mannung the walls of this prison.
But I fucking give damn.
Brielle sitting there, in that cold cell deserve it. I pushed her into it. If not, the innocent young omega would still be performing her duties in the palace serving tea and scrubbing the floor.
But I brought her into this. I pushed Brielle into this precipices.
Apart from that, every hour she stays in that cell makes me uncomfortable. What if she eventually spilled the tea? What if she eventually leaked the identity of who sent her, which was me?
And so I was fucking ready to risk it all. To come to this place to strike deal with devil in front of me. Which is the prison chief.
The prison chief gathered himself behind his seat. Cleared his throat. But his behaviors indicates that he was also adraid. He knows the magnitude of the favor I am asking from him.
To me it is a favour, to the pack it is a treasonable offense.
But still he folded his arm close to his chest and try to steady the pressure in the air.
I know him very well. He had been through something similar but not close to this gravity.
But he suddenlt let out something shocking that almost caught my heart intm two.
T…hat will not be possible my queen.” he said slowly. Driving each words home.
You how how dangerous this type of thing is? You if words get out of this wall… you know the repercussions…”
He trailed off, but I didn't need him to finish the sentence.
I already knew the consequences.
I didn't bother responding with words. Instead, I reached deep into my coat pocket and pulled out a thick bundle of cash. The notes were pressed tightly together, bound with a band around the middle. I held it up for just a second so he could see exactly what it was.
Then I slammed it down on the desk.
The bundle hit the wood with a loud, heavy smack and bounced once before landing flat. The sound echoed around the small office. A coffee mug near the corner of the desk rattled from the vibration.
The prison chief stared at the money. He didn't move. He didn't speak. He just stared at it the way a hungry man stares at food he isn't sure he's allowed to eat.
I stood up straight and crossed my arms over my chest and waited.
"I… I am sorry… your honor…"
Just like this morning. I had already tried this once before, earlier in the day. I had come to him with cash and a simple request, and he had sent me away with soft words and excuses. But I had come back. I would always come back.
He reached out slowly and pushed the bundle of cash back across the table toward me. He didn't say anything out loud, but his eyes said everything. I could read them perfectly. The message was simple and clear.
It's not enough.
I held his gaze for a long moment. Then, without saying a single word, I reached back into my pocket and pulled out a second bundle. This one was just as thick as the first. Maybe thicker.
I raised it up and brought it down even harder than before. The desk shook. The mug rattled again, this time nearly tipping over.
The prison chief flinched.
He sat very still for a moment, looking at both bundles of cash sitting in front of him on the desk. Then he let out a long, slow breath through his nose and shook his head.
"This is not about money, your honor," he said, his voice dropping lower now, becoming more serious. "What you are asking me to do is not a small thing. You want me to take my team, the people who work under me and who trust me, and put them directly in the path of the king's anger. You understand what that means? You understand the repercussions of going against Alpha Jax?"
He leaned forward in his chair.
"This is not just a job risk. This is a death risk. For all of us."
"I know!" I cut him off sharply before he could say another word. I pressed both palms flat against the edge of his desk and leaned in close until there was barely any space between my face and his. "I know all of that. And I am telling you, you can help me. You must help me. You bring that omega out of there right now, tonight, and I will make sure you are taken care of. Every single one of you."
He shook his head again. "That would not be possible now."
"It is possible!" I straightened up and brought my hand down hard on the desk one more time, not with the money this time, just with my open palm. The sharp crack of it made him jump in his seat.
I pointed my finger at him from across the desk, letting it hang in the air between us.
"Can I not ask you to do one thing? One single thing? After everything?" I paused, letting the silence stretch out heavy between us. "I can see that you are becoming disloyal. Disloyal to alpha Ryder, the very man whose name got you sitting in that chair. The man you swore your loyalty and allegiance to. You remember him, don't you? You remember the influence of the person who put you here?"
That landed. I saw it in his face. The way his jaw tightened. The way his eyes shifted just slightly to the side before coming back to mine.
He was quiet for a moment. When he spoke again, his voice was careful and measured, like he was picking every single word off a shelf and examining it before putting it in his mouth.
"I know that. I know who put me here and I would never disrespect that name. I am not disloyal to Alpha Ryder, not for a single second." He paused. "But you must understand my position. If anything goes wrong with this operation, who is going to step forward and save us? Who is going to stand between me and my team and the king's judgment?" His voice got a little louder, a little more urgent. "Every single one of us would be facing a death sentence. Me. My guards. Everyone involved."
He looked at me with tired, honest eyes.
"Especially you. Because with respect, your honor, your words do not carry the same weight in front of the king as they once did."
The air in the room went very cold and very still.
I felt the words hit me somewhere in the chest. Sharp and small, like a splinter.
"What did you just say to me?" My voice came out very quiet. Quiet is more dangerous than loud, and I think we both knew that. "Are you trying to disrespect me?"
He shook both hands up quickly, palms out toward me.
"I am not disrespecting you. I would never disrespect you. I am simply asking you to see things from where I am standing." He lowered his hands slowly. "I am fully committed to helping you bring that omega out of this prison. I give you my word on that. But it cannot be tonight. Not like this. Not without a plan."
He sat back in his chair and linked his fingers together on top of the desk.
"This will require serious underground planning. Me and my team will need time to work out every detail, every possible thing that could go wrong and how to handle it. And when this operation is done and successful, none of us can stay here. Our work here will be finished. Our safety will be gone. So this will cost more than what you have on this table."
I stared at him. "How much are we talking about?"
"Two hundred thousand shekels," he said without blinking. "And we want it all in gold."
I didn't react. I just listened.
"When it happens," he continued, "it will look like a breakout from the outside. Like a group of rogues came in from beyond the borders and broke her out by force. No connection to you. No connection to anyone inside this building who matters."
"When?" I asked.
"Give me two days." He folded his hands calmly. "After that, go to the river. There will be a boat waiting at midnight to take her out safely."
I shook my head. "I can't be there myself. If I disappear in the middle of the night, it will send a signal. Jax will notice. He will start asking questions and putting things together."
The chief nodded slowly, understanding.
I reached over and picked up a pen from the small holder on the corner of his desk. I pulled a blank piece of paper toward me and pressed the pen to it. I wrote carefully and clearly, each letter deliberate. My mother's address in the crimson pack.
I slid the paper across to him.
"Tell Brielle to go to this address and wait for me there." I picked up one of the bundles of cash still sitting on the desk and held it out toward him. "And make sure whoever takes her out gives her this money. She will need it. She shouldn't arrive with nothing."
He took both the paper and the bundle with a slow, steady nod.
"Your gold will reach you in two days," I said, straightening up and smoothing the front of my coat. "Once your work is done."
I turned away from his desk and walked toward the door. Then I stopped and reached back and picked up the second bundle of cash that was still lying on the table. I tucked it smoothly inside my inner clothing, pressing it flat against
my side.
I looked back at him one last time over my shoulder.
"Nice doing business with you."
Then I stepped out of his office and pulled the door shut behind me.