Fool Me Once | T. Drake ✔

[09] Scandalous

Tim had been shaken after his meeting with Romero Donnelley but he was still bound by the contract to Roxanne. Killer or not, he would have to protect her and play the part of her boyfriend.

However, Bruce was looking deeply into Adrian Castellan's case and had already dispatched Jason to Ireland to find out what had actually happened. Jason had offered to go as he had no missions with the Outlaws and was getting bored in Gotham. The Castellan case seemed like a good opportunity for him and his team to work on.

Back in Gotham, preparations for the Fall Gala were underway. And that preoccupation with the Gala was the only thing that had stopped Tim from giving into his spiraling thoughts regarding Roxanne.

He didn't think she could kill someone but he wasn't sure anymore.

Perhaps she was right and he was starting to trust her too much. She had clearly said that being nice to her would only end in his own demise.

How much truth those words held was still something he wasn't certain of.

Romero could have been lying to scare him off and even Bruce didn't think Roxanne could have killed Adrian. But if she had then the elder Donnelley wasn't the only one of them who should be kept under observation.

Either way, Tim was royally screwed.

He couldn't terminate the contract and if he followed the conditions of staying with Roxanne and protecting her, it would end up in Romero killing him out of jealousy, possessiveness or anger, whatever the man got fired up in to see them together.

But it was going to be no use dwelling upon the thought of not signing the contract when he had the chance. He was caught up in the middle of it all by then and there seemed no way out.

He was at the venue of the Fall Gala, knowing that Roxanne would be coming with her brother so he didn't need to go and pick her up from her place. And true enough, the Donnelleys showed up amid a lot of hustle bustle being created by the press.

With rumors of Tim and Roxanne dating flying around, naturally, the paparazzi were going to stay focused on the two.

Roxanne was dressed in classic fall shades; a vermilion off-shoulder dress paired with dark brown heels. He noticed that the bruises on her neck had faded or rather concealed carefully under the layer of makeup instead of being hidden by some expensive piece of jewelry.

She had rebelled against her brother's order for her to wear the alexandrite necklace and ended up covering the bruise with concealer and some foundation. 

She looked stunning and Tim found himself unable to look away from her but at the same time, the thoughts in his head were jumbled up.

Could that stunning woman really be that cruel to take the life of her last boyfriend mercilessly?

He shook himself out of that trance and turned to look for something to distract himself with.

On the other hand, Roxanne was reluctant to leave Romero's side as she didn't want to give him a reason to get angry at her and Tim again.

But surprisingly, the man nudged her forward himself, his voice low as he whispered in her ear, "go on, your pet is waiting for you."

She found it odd. The last time they had talked about Tim, he had warned her to stay away from him. Yet that once he was letting her go to him and she searched his face again for any sign of anger or mockery.

But he let go of her arm and walked away himself, freeing her to do whatever she wanted.

She considered if it was some sort of test and if Romero would punish her for her rebellion later. But the man looked quite at ease with other people from his circle, conversing with them normally.