Chapter twenty-five – The beginning

Yesterday Eric more or less told me we were getting married. I knew he told me that because of the things I had said. I hadn't been careful with my words because he brought the worst out of me. The look he gave me when I brought up my mother's death was dark and ominous. I made him doubt me even if it was only for a split second. He wouldn't forget. I also told him I wasn't going to stop seeing my friends, Four in particular which drove him mad. They always had been like day and night. Everyone knew it. His jealousy was something I could exploit. That's why I asked Four to meet me in secret by the chasm. I had a plan and I knew my friends wouldn't like it. They would hate me for it, but so much more was at stake here. And I wasn't forgetting about the revenge I wanted for my mother's death. Those weren't going to be empty words, I was going to make that promise come true. No matter what.

"What's with the cryptic message?" Four asked as he approached me.

The water was loud, drowning out our conversation. He once mentioned that this was a safe place to talk because the cameras couldn't pick up the sound. It didn't matter to me they would pick up our meeting. I wanted them to see, I'd let them see what they wanted.

"I have a plan." I told him, standing put.

He stepped closer to me, his eyes wary, "You have a plan?"

I nodded, "You're not going to like it, our friends are not going to like it. But I've been through it over and over again in my head and I know it's the best plan we have so far."

He stood in front of me, narrowing his eyes on me, "Rose, I don't like where this is going. I told you I shouldn't have asked what I asked of you. It's not right. I'm going to help you get out of it-"

"I don't want it." I told him firmly, "Eric proposed to me last night." I shook my head at that, "No, he more or less told me we were getting married. I wanted to smack him for being so arrogant about it but then I realized it's my ticket in."

Now Four got worried, shaking his head at me, "No! Rose-"

"After tonight we're not going to meet again. I need them to think that I'm done with all of you. That I'm fully committed to Eric. I'm going to stand beside him through this, being your inside man." I tried to hide my smile, "Woman actually. To the outside world we'll be enemies. While I try to give you as much information you need to stop whatever is going on." I smiled at him as I stepped forward, cupping his face in my hands, "You'll be the hero Dauntless needs."

Four placed his hands on mine, shaking his head at me, "You can't do this, if things go bad and they find out you'll die-"

"I know." I whispered, "It's a risk I'm willing to take. You can't tell anyone about this. I need this to look real. I need our friends to think that I switched teams, they need to act accordingly so it's believable to Eric and everyone else who is in on this project."

Four held on, but I knew he understood that this was the only way.

"I wish things were different." I whispered to him, "That we didn't have to say goodbye. Getting an out and starting over, with you." Smiling I leaned in and kissed him, long and hard, before I pulled away, "Goodbye."

Walking away from him I headed to Eric's office knowing he was working late. I had seen Erudite cars heading to the compound. They were setting things up. I had no idea when they would strike, but when they did it would mean trouble for everyone.

Eric looked up when I entered his office after knocking. It didn't surprise me to see two Erudite guys with glasses sitting in front of his desk and a woman who observed me sternly. She was no Jeanine Matthews though. Eric got up from his seat and walked around the desk.

"I'll be right back." He told them as he headed to me, placed his arm around my waist and walked out of his office with me, closing the door behind us, "I'm in a meeting right now." He told me, stating the obvious.

"I can see that." I told him, "This won't take long." I promised him.

"What's going on?" He asked, his eyes scanning my face.

"I told you last night that I want you to give me something more. Something to make me stay and you told me we were getting married."

"I remember what I said." He sounded amused.

He folded his arms across his chest, his black tee tightening around his biceps and shoulders. He might be a jerk, especially to me, but I couldn't control my emotions. Or rather my desires. In that moment I forgot about him fucking May and killing my mother. All I remembered were the orgasms he gave me. I wasn't fucking Abnegation. I was selfish and held grudges. Angry sex could be good too. But I wasn't standing before him to fantasize about him fucking my brains out. I was on a mission so I needed to get to work.

"If you're giving me more I'm willing to give you something in return."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I can leave May in the past." His eyes narrowed on me, "And I can stay at the compound, leaving my shifts at Candor." I stepped forward closing the space between us as I placed my hand on his bicep, gripping it tightly, "I even said goodbye to Four tonight. I'm doing all that for you, but then I need something real from you in return."

"What do you want in return?"

"I need you to have my back no matter what." I told him without wavering once, "Not keeping me in the dark about things like my mother being mentally unstable." I knew it was a lie they had created to make her death seem like a suicide, but I needed to make him think I believed him, "I need you to be honest with me." My lips curled up in a smirk, "And if you ever dare to cheat on me again I'll make sure you won't be able to use your dick anymore."

He chuckled, finally shifting in his stance. He reached out for me, putting his hand on the back of my hand and gripping my hair tightly as he pulled me in.

"I can do that." He told me, leaning in, "I'll set things up for us." He told me before kissing me, quick and hard.

He released me and shifted his gaze to his office door, "See you at home?"

I smiled at him, "Yes."

He left me in the hallway, closing the door behind him. I knew he wouldn't trust me right away with important things, but he'd eventually. I knew he'd believe my act because everyone around us were going to behave the way I wanted them to. I'd get what I wanted in the end. I just needed to be patient.

Eric came home to me waiting for him, sitting on my knees on the bed while wearing nothing but my lacy bra and panties. His eyes darkened as he took me in, my hair tossed to the side, my teeth biting into my red colored lip. He kicked the door closed behind him, tossed his jacket aside on the floor and closed the space between us, his fingers tightening in my hair while he leaned in to kiss me. The minute our lips collided we both got to work on his clothes. I reached for his shirt, pulling it up while I let my fingers explore his stomach, slowly trailing up to his chest. Feeling the light dust of hair. He pulled away to pull the shirt over his head and toss it aside and leaned in to kiss me again.
Trailing my hands down I reached for his pants, undoing his button and slowly unzipping it. The sound of the zipper the only sound in the room. He placed his hand on my stomach and pushed me, making me fall down on the bed while he stared at me. Kicking off his boots he reached for his pants and slipped them off along with his socks, carelessly tossing them aside as well.

"You won't regret this." He told me as he crawled on top of me and laid between my legs, his erection pressing against me, "I promise." He breathed against my neck.

I knew he wasn't talking about the sex. It was about my decision to stand beside him. Giving things up in order to make him happy. I knew he'd like that.

Grabbing his chin in my hand I made him look at me, "Actions speak louder than words, Eric."

His eyes darkened, "I know."

His hands traveled down my body, his hand slipping into my panties. It felt like it had been a while, but my body responded to him like it always had. When it came to him my body would always betray me. No matter what he did to me.

The next morning was the first day as Eric's fiancée and being a complete bitch to my friends. They had to believe I was fully committed to Eric, that I forgot about them. I hoped Four kept things to himself, because if he hadn't things wouldn't work out the way I had planned.
I was dressed in a black tight short sleeved dress which reached just above my knees. I had tossed my hair to the side and went heavy on the eyeliner and mascara. Painted my lips in my red lipstick which had left marks all over Eric last night and our bedsheets. He didn't complain though.
He was walking beside me, his lips curled to a small smile while he faced ahead. We were having breakfast together, meeting with Wes to talk about my shift at Candor. I only did half a shift, I'm sure Lex wouldn't be impressed with me. Ditching my shift just like that.
We entered the dining hall together and headed for the cue which was quite long. Eric grabbed a tray and handed me one. We didn't wait in line though. People didn't like it but I ignored their looks as I filled up my plate and headed to the leader's table with my fiancé. Taking a seat beside him.

"Morning." Wes told us cheerfully, as he took a seat across Eric and reached for his coffee.

We both greeted him back, less cheerfully though.

"You wanted to talk?" Wes asked, his eyes locked on Eric.

"We're getting married." Eric announced without hesitation, "Her shift needs to change. I don't want my wife to be away for three weeks straight. Fix her shifts."

I had to hide my smile. Eric wasn't asking, he was telling Wes, acting like he was his superior. Wes didn't seem to mind though. His eyes flickered to me and I looked back at him, letting him scan my face for answers he was looking for. His frown told me he couldn't read me.

"Alright." Wes agreed, "She'll do patrols around the compound-"

"No patrols." Eric told him, "I need her to be safe. Find something else."

Wes raised an eyebrow at his friend, "You are being serious about this, aren't you?" He asked, not even hiding his surprise, "I'm sorry, but I think I need a minute to process this."

"Take all the time you need, just don't forget about what you need to do." Eric told him.

I placed my hand on Eric's thigh underneath the table and sipped from my coffee. I felt people staring at us, confused about us being so close after all the drama. They wouldn't get an explanation though. The only one who knew what was really going on was sitting at the table I'd never sit at again, ignoring us. Just like I asked of him.