Fool Me Once | T. Drake ✔

[03] D For Donnelley

Romero would have stayed for tea as Roxanne offered but he was tired from his journey so he excused himself earlier to go inside. With him gone, the smile from Roxanne's face dropped and her eyes trailed back to the contract she had hidden under the dish.

"It's alright, you can breath now," she mumbled, not oblivious to Tim's caution around her elder brother.

"So can you," he replied, able to see through her charade of the perfect little sister that she had put on in her brother's presence.

She raised an eyebrow skeptically, "you suggested yourself that you will not pry into my personal life unless asked."

"In case you forgot, I haven't yet signed anything," he replied.

"Then do it," her eyes pierced through his irises and it was very clear that her bright mood from earlier was ruined by her brother's arrival, "and one more thing, be careful around my brother. I think he didn't see you as a threat just now but don't give him any reason to put you in his bad books."

"I feel like I am going to end up in a lot of trouble either way."

"They say the wise ones choose their battles," she mumbled, eyes flickering towards the gate of the mansion to see that Romero wasn't coming back, "and you don't want to go to battle with Rom."

"You've implied that already."

She watched him sign the contract and hand her back the file. She checked it and then gave it to him nevertheless, "keep it safe. I will retrieve it when necessary."

That was strange, he thought, or perhaps it was her way of showing that she would trust him too from then onward. He had felt she would keep the contract with herself but perhaps she didn't want her brother to catch a whiff of it.

"There are a few more things I had to discuss but I have a guest in waiting," her eyes flickered towards the door again, "anyways, you can call me Roxanne from now on and if you are ever to use a term of endearment, just don't use Roxy. I hate that."

He raised an eyebrow, wondering just how much she had yet to tell him to make him awestruck by the dual roles she played.

"I assume you have my number, I will call you myself when I get free from my duties," she resumed, "next time you meet Rom, he will be asking you a lot of questions so we will have to work out our story beforehand. How we met, how we started dating, you get the gist. All ideas are welcome but not right now."

He nodded, feeling that she was either scared by her brother to just leave her things in the middle because he had shown up or she was very careful, not wanting to tread the wrong line in his presence. From all that he had heard about the man, being careful around him was the logical option although it had seemed that the Donnelleys were quite close to each other from what little he had seen of them together.

"Oh and please give Mister Wayne my heartfelt thanks," she smiled at last, "I will talk to Rom and he should hear from us soon."

"Alright," he stood up, taking his cue to leave, "one last thing before I go. Are you safe here?"

"Excuse me?"

"Never mind, of course, why would anyone be stupid enough to send death threats to Romero Donnelley's sister when he is in Gotham too... Have a nice day."

His words struck her and she looked a bit taken aback but then managed a tight-lipped smile, "you too, Mister Drake."

She was just then realizing that Tim indeed exceeded the reputation of him being an observant genius. He looked past a lot and there was no way she could fool him easily.

Perhaps she had just as much to lose by signing that contract. They were equal parties in that agreement after all.

***

Tim had researched all he could about the Donnelley heirs; from their origin to their businesses and also to the dirty scandals they could have gotten into. Roxanne had a clean slate reputation, surprisingly too clean for a woman in her position. While Romero seemed the one who hadn't hesitated to smear his hands with blood to become powerful.

They had roots tracing back to Ireland but most of their wealth came from companies in the States. Their father Caden Donnelley had left all the wealth divided jointly between his children and thus both the heirs held equal status in terms of property.

All that he could find about them in the news and other articles made it seem as if the Donnelley heirs really were a great team, being each other's support rather than competing to be the sole inheritor. But from what he had judged that evening, he wasn't too sure about it.

Romero could be the one sending her death threats and he could be the one who would want her out of the way as that would benefit him greatly. But Roxanne too wasn't as innocent as she seemed.

Tim had seen her switch colors like a chameleon; going from the role of a smiling happy sister to a rival annoyed by the presence of the other sibling.

Perhaps what he had seen of Romero Donnelley was a pretense too. He couldn't be sure.

It was a well put together act, he could see that, both of them could easily fool the general public into thinking that they were fond of each other and definitely not harboring any ill will towards the other.

But the truth wasn't always what was shown, it was usually hidden by a deceptive facade.

However, as he dug deeper into his research, he found something that made him worried.

Roxanne had her fair share of past lovers but the alarming aspect was that the last one of them was killed by Romero Donnelley himself.

The case was taken to court but there was no evidence against the elder Donnelley heir so there had been no sentence. Roxanne too had testified in her brother's favor and the case was then pushed under, just like it happened with almost all the cases against powerful figures.

It was alarming for him because currently, he was Roxanne's new boyfriend. 

And he could meet a similar fate if anything went wrong.

His phone rang, shaking him out of his thoughts. Roxanne's name was flashing on the screen and he picked it up.

"I hope I didn't disturb you," her silken voice reached his ears but his eyes were still focused on the name of the poor person who had been killed by Romero.

"Of course not, how may I help you?"

"Please, Tim, don't be so formal," she remarked, "would you like to go out with me for coffee?"

"Coffee? Where?"

"To your favorite cafe. You're not the only one doing your research," her voice was breezy but it made him quickly click out of all the tabs he had opened on the Donnelleys.

There was no way she could see his search history but the lilt in her tone made him worried nevertheless.  

"I think you haven't understood my sense of humor yet," she laughed at his lack of response, "it was a joke."

"Okay... So you want to meet at a coffee shop..."

"If you have any other place in mind, you can tell me. I am open to suggestions."

He thought for a while but then spoke up, "actually, you should come to the Manor. My family would love to meet you."

"Oh... Not a bad idea. Sure," she agreed, "what time?"

"I can pick you up at five, will that be okay?"

"Certainly. See you then."

***