Page 176 of Breaking Rosalind
“I sure as hell won’t share the details of my past with a man who will use my trauma as ammunition, because that’s what you did each time you took Miranda and waved that knowledge like a red flag.”
“She was always safe.”
“How was I supposed to know you’d be different with her when all I’d ever seen of you was sadism?”
He glances away, finally seeming to understand. “I told you I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, you did.” I walk around him and settle back into the armchair. “But trust isn’t something that can be bought.”
I open a laptop and stare at its screen, trying to create some distance. Cesare seems to think what we did in bed last night was some kind of breakthrough. But very little has changed. I’m still his captive. He still calls me his pet. The only difference is that I’ve agreed to help him defeat the assassins.
“Back to the subject at hand,” I say, my voice sharp. “The Moirai only agreed to the ceasefire because they’ve run out of manpower to complete the Montesano job.”
“So they’re just buying time before their new recruits are ready to replace the hostage?” he asks.
“That’s right.”
“How do we stop the graduation?”
I raise my head and stare up at him with a frown, he looks back, his gaze earnest. “We don’t. All the leaders will be at the headquarters, observing the new recruits in a room full of screens, while everyone lower down in the ranks will be supervising graduation. That’s the perfect time to attack.”
“Where’s the HQ?” he asks.
“There’s no point in telling you because it’s deep underground and protected by advanced security. We’re going to send a Trojan horse.”
“Okay, and how’s that going to work?”
“Call the Moirai and offer to send back the hostages in exchange for a longer ceasefire. They’re going to send a small team to collect them and maybe even take that opportunity to complete the mission.”
He scowls. “What part of that is Trojan?”
“Put sacks over your men’s upper bodies and send them to the Moirai instead.”
“That won’t get them past the security.”
“No need.” I close the laptop. “Your men will take the people sent to collect them by surprise and add them to your group of hostages.”
His eyes widen. “That’s...”
“Brilliant?” The corner of my lips lift into a smile.
“Fuck.” He punches his palm and races to the door. “Let’s do this.”
Smiling, I rise off the armchair and walk across the room. Gunther is relying on recruiting what’s left of his team to replace the hostages, but he’s about to lose much more.
If everything goes right, then it won’t just be me who is free from the Moirai, but every young person they’re about to corrupt.
As I reach the door, it swings shut. I grab the knob, but he’s already turning the lock.
“Cesare,” I snarl.
“Leave it with me, pet,” he says from the other side of the door. “I’ll be back later with the results.”
I slam my fist on the wood, my molars grinding hard enough to crack the enamel. No matter how many times this bastard tries to be nice, he’s still my captor.
Fuck Cesare.
The moment we take down the Moirai, he’s screwed.