LOGINShare
Ruse
Last Updated:
2024-10-29 19:42:56Ella willed herself not to look in the direction of the men in the suits headed her way, but it was all she could do to keep from lifting her eyes and look at them. She kept her focus on Gus, who was telling them a story from when he was in elementary school. While his French was perfect, he had a bit of an Italian accent. She hoped the men wouldn’t be listening too closely as they came by or that she could take over the majority of the conversation by then. But… would they be looking for her and expecting Ella Sinders to be speaking French? Surely, they didn’t know she was alive, did they?
Related chapters
Ashes and Rose Petals Change of Plans
Ella waited to hear what Gus’s plan might be. She had a feeling he had something up his sleeve, which shouldn’t have been a surprise considering how useful he’d been already.“Why not Domazlice?” he asked with a shrug. “I have a friend from my childhood who lives there who might be able to help us. It’s a much less likely place for them to be looking than a bigger city like Budapest.”
Ashes and Rose Petals Meeting King
It was dark by the time they got off of the train in Domazlice. So far, they hadn’t seen any of Rome’s father’s men again after the incident on the train earlier in the day, but Ella wasn’t about to let her guard down now, even though it seemed very unlikely that they would’ve followed the party here without picking them up at all of the other stops they’d made that day.“King is here, waiting for us in the parking lot,” Gus said, looking at his phone.
Ashes and Rose Petals Safe House
Rome had never ridden in the back of a truck before, but it was actually kind of fun, even when King went over big bumps that made him think he might go flying out at any moment. Gus was also having a good time, though he was keeping his enthusiasm reined in so as to keep eyes off of them, Rome supposed.It took over an hour to get to King’s property, and even then, they had to wind their way through a thick woods to get to his house. Rome and Gus laid down flat in the back of the truck to keep the tree branches from reaching out and clawing at their eyes. Betwe
Ashes and Rose Petals Stewing
The aftertaste of King’s stew lingered in Ella’s mouth long after she’d finished shoveling down a few bites, which had been hours ago. She lay in the dark on a small, twin bed, listening to Rome’s heartbeat and trying to be thankful that they were together, despite the fact that she was hungry and uncomfortable.“It could be worse,” he whispered, brushing her cheek with his fingertips. “You could be Mary.”
Ashes and Rose Petals Safe and Sound
Rome stared at Gus for a long moment before he said, “So the guy who is supposed to be keeping us safe brought us to a shootout?”“I think it’s more like the guy who is keeping us safe went out into the world to fetch us and brought back some enemies who otherwise might not have known where he was,” Gus said with a shrug.&ldqu
Ashes and Rose Petals Breakfast of Kings
Rome woke up with a crick in his neck. He had to look at his phone to see what time it was, since the windowless room gave no clues. It was just a little past seven. Normally, he wouldn’t get up that early, but something told him he wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep under the circumstances anyway. He may as well let Ella try to get another hour or so with the entire tiny bed.He feared using the makeshift restroom would be enough to wake her up, but he didn't have a choice and was glad that she only let out a little sigh when he relieved himself. He put
Ashes and Rose Petals Find a Way
The weight of someone’s eyes on her face had Ella’s eyelashes flickering. She knew it was Rome before she even opened her eyes, before she was even fully awake, but she didn’t want to come back to the real world just yet. She knew where she was, and she was glad he was there with her, but facing life in the compound wasn’t nearly as blissful as the dream she’d be leaving where she and Rome were alone on a secluded beach, his arms around her, the sun beating down on them as the cool waves crept up their legs.Unable to fight it any longer,
Ashes and Rose Petals New Identity
“The key to a good disguise is to make one feature draw the attention away from all others,” King was saying as he worked on transforming Ella into someone else. “You want to make it look as if it isn’t possible that one feature is false, so that the mind is tricked into focusing on that feature and dismissing all others.”Ella watched the face she’d drawn used to recognizing in the mirror transform into something else, a person she didn’t even know. Her eyes weren’t even the same color as usual after King put colored co
Latest chapter
Ashes and Rose Petals Epilogue
Nervous energy bubbled throughout the theater. Dressed in probably the most amazing gown she’d ever seen in her life, including her wedding dress, Ella sat next to Rome holding his hand, and waiting for his award category to come up. The long red ball gown shimmered in the dim light, its full skirt moving and flowing when she walked like butterflies’ wings. If Rome’s category didn’t come up soon, she thought she might explode with anxiety. It already seemed like they’d been waiting for half a day, even though it had only been a few hours since they’d gotten into the limo and made their way to the famous theater in Hollywood where the biggest award show of the year was always held.
Ashes and Rose Petals Endings and Beginnings
It was a gamble. Attending Henry’s funeral was a risk because there would be people there who knew her as Ella Sinders, and as Juliet stood on the periphery, watching the black clad mourners gather around the casket where the pastor was speaking, she spotted the one person she most needed to avoid in the whole world--her father.Of course he was there. Even though Henry’s father had disowned him after he stabbed Rome and then killed himself, refusing to even fly his son’s body back to his native France or attend the funeral himself, Lloyd Sinders had
Ashes and Rose Petals Awake
The fuzzy feeling in his head radiated down his entire body as Rome tried to open his eyes and found it much more difficult to do so than he’d ever experienced in his life. The realization that his arms and legs were heavy, that there were tubes protruding from various body parts, and that there was a steady beeping sound in the darkened room reminded him of what had happened as his eyes finally opened a crack.“Oh, thank goodness!” His mother’s sobbing voice was not at all what he wanted to hear upon realizing he was still alive, that Henry ha
Ashes and Rose Petals Room to Wait
Sitting in the hospital waiting room, Ella was doing her best to keep herself together, but she was struggling. The ambulance had arrived quickly to the scene at Capressies, where Rome lay in her arms, bleeding from the wound in his back near his lung. Henry had buried a six inch steak knife to the hilt. Whether or not it had collapsed Rome’s lung, she didn’t know. No one would tell her anything.The police had arrived a few minutes after the ambulance. While the EMTs worked to stabilize Rome, the officers had asked her a slew of questions about what had h
Ashes and Rose Petals Shocked
Not seeing Henry had become nearly impossible. Juliet had absolutely no desire to see him whatsoever, but his constant calling and insisting that she go out with him was getting old. Now that he no longer had control of Rome’s contract, she decided it was time to rip off the band-aid. She’d already told Parker that they were just going to have to be friends, a realization he hadn’t taken well, but she thought he’d get over. She wasn’t sure how Henry would react.She walked into Capressies knowing he was there already. She was purposely tw
Ashes and Rose Petals Changes
Rome walked into the sound stage building, dreading every step he took closer to another day of pretending to chase around unicorns and annihilate them. Drew’s acting was almost as atrocious as the script. The little girl wasn’t bad to work with, but she could only be there for a few hours each day. He spent most of his time listening to Guy argue with the set construction team, hating his life, and praying that the lawyers would hurry up and process the sale of his contract from Henry to Lloyd. It had been two weeks since the Montage show, and so far, nothing had changed, even though he’d only given Lloyd one week to get it done initially. Every day, he walked past the Vinune, wrapped and stored in his living room so that if and when the sale went through, he
Ashes and Rose Petals Confessions
“Well, tell me all about it!” Fae insisted as Ella came into her room at the nursing home and settled onto the couch. She had two cups of tea ready on a silver server. Ella wondered how she’d managed that without a kitchen but figured Fae had her ways. The staff absolutely adored her, for good reason. “Did you have a nice time?”Ella smiled at her, slightly amused that she was most concerned about whether or not Ella had had a pleasant experience. She honestly couldn’t say that she had, but she’d choose her words carefully for
Ashes and Rose Petals Solutions
Walking away from his wife when she clearly wanted to talk to him wasn’t the easiest thing to do, but Rome knew it was more important for Juliet to speak to Henry at the moment. She could talk to him later--at home. Besides, he wasn’t sure he wanted to speak to her considering what he’d done. The bottom line was, they’d gotten what they wanted. Or, they would, as soon as Sinders sent him the finalized contract.He stood in the back of the gallery, speaking to actress Chrissy Indiana, not hearing a damn word she was saying, despite the fact that
Ashes and Rose Petals Another Form of Evil
Schmoozing the filthy rich wasn’t something even Juliet enjoyed (Ella despised it) but it was part of her job as owner and chief executive officer of Montage, so she put her head down and did it. So far, it had made her a lot of money. After her first show, months earlier, she didn’t think it was possible to bring in much more revenue at one event, but she’d been very wrong. Even without the Vinune, she was going to make three times more money than she had at the first show, in profits alone. She was sitting in a good position to be able to buy Henry’s entire company outright if she wanted to.
