A Billionaire In Disguise

Chapter Sixty-Nine

"Please, turn off the light." Rome moaned, covering his head with the blanket as he folded himself into

a ball.

Frowning, Catherine tied the curtain and then approached the bed, pulling the sheet off Rome's head.

With his eyelid squeezed shut, he whispered, "Babe, no..."

"Seriously, it is almost ten o'clock, and we both need to go to work," Catherine mumbled, frowning

when he slowly opened one of his eyes to look at her.

Hearing the annoyance in Catherine's tone, Rome grabbed her wrist and pulled her onto the bed.

Then he hugged onto her body tightly and mumbled, “Can we just stay home today?"

"Are you still upset about Grey not knowing who the puppets' master is?" Catherine softly intoned,

gazing into his dull eyes.

"I have never felt so weak and vulnerable in my life before, and knowing that I have you mess up in all

of this, is my biggest fear, not being able to keep you safe and shield you in it all..."

"Hon, you know that I'm a full-grown woman, right?"

"Yeah, but you are my woman, and not being able to protect you...protect us, makes me feel like I'm

failing."

Resting her palm on Rome's cheek, Catherine slowly stroked his skin and whispered, "You are only

human, after all, and there's only so much that you can do."

Without uttering another word, Rome buried his face into Catherine's chest, squeezing her gently in his

arms, and whispered, "I love you so much."

A sudden knock on the bedroom door caused Rome to loosen his grip on Catherine. Then he turned

his gaze to the door and calmly uttered, "Who's there?"

"Sorry to disturb you, sir, but Blake and Brook are here to see you." Nora's voice echoed in the room,

causing Rome to sigh heavily.

A while later, Rome walked into the living room, and when Brook saw that he had on sweatpants and a

sleeveless t-shirt, he gave in to his curiosity and asked, "Are you not going to work today, Boss?"

"Let's take this meeting to the study," Rome said, walking away without waiting on his men.

But Brook and Blaze were on his tail, and after they arrived in the study, Brook shut the door.

"It's safe to talk now since this room is soundproof," Rome mumbled as he took a seat on the luxurious

leather couch.

A look of confusion settled on Brook's face. Then his lips suddenly curved into an "O" shape as he

stared wide-eyed at Rome.

"Is there a spy in the house?" Brook finally blurted out, getting over his shock.

"Unfortunately, yes," Rome mumbled in annoyance. "Only Catherine and I... well, and you guys know

for now."

"Do you have an idea of who the person is?"

"So far, we think it could be any of our servants."

"The dress!" Blaze shouted the moment a sudden thought clicked to his mind.

With a blank expression on his face, Rome drew a deep breath and said, "Yeah, I know. A worker must

have linked the photo of Catherine's dress to this so-called puppets' master."

"No!" Blake mumbled. "No, I meant, 'yes.' But that is not all I wanted to say. Security cameras. Where

are the footages of the CCTV cameras from the day ma'am dress arrived into the mansion to the time

of the party?"

"So much had happened since the day of the party that I literally forgot that my home has cameras

everywhere, except for our bedroom, and to be honest, I didn't expect a mole in my home so a thought

like this didn't cross my mind."

"The head of security should be..." Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.

"Thomas!"

The study fell silent for a second as Blake rubbed his chin while darting his eyes towards Rome and

then at Brook.

Finally, he dropped his hand to his side and then blurted out, "If Thomas did notice some suspicious

happenings in the house, he would have reported it to you, right?"

"I mean, that's what I pay him for, so yeah," Rome said, clenching his brows. "Wait, are you suspecting

Thomas to be the mole?"

"I'm not certain, but it seems possible, especially if he's not reporting things that should get notified to

you."

"It seems possible. But what if the was nothing suspicious for Thomas to report."

When Blaze raised a brow, Rome slightly frowned and said, "There are three servants who have

access to Catherine's and I's bedroom."

Finally understanding the discussion, Brook got excited and suddenly blurted out, "Anyone of the three

maids could have had access to you guys' bedroom and taken a picture of ma'am dress. Since

Thomas had seen them go in and out of the room countless times, he won't see any of the behavior as

suspicious!"

"Exactly!"

The sound of a knock on the door caused the room to fall silent, and after the second knock, Rome

approached the door and opened it.

"Hey, babe!" Rome said, staring at Catherine gazing at him. "You look super loverly in that suit."

"Aww, thanks, hon!" Catherine sweetly intoned, smiling cutely.

Staring at her from inside the room, Brook and Blaze waved and then said almost in unison, "Good

morning, ma'am!"

As a soft smile surfaced on her face, Catherine giggled and said, "A lovely morning to you two."

Then she focused her attention back on Rome and raised both brows as she asked, "Are you not

heading to work?"

"No. Actually, I plan to stay home today." Rome casually uttered, not wanting to waste her time with

details.

"Do you want me to stay because I ca..."

"I wish I could say, 'yes!' But your crack head cousin is at the company, and if you stay home, who

knows what kind of damages he's going to create."

"True."

Smiling at Catherine, Rome rested his hand on both sides of her face and whispered, "I'm fine, and

until Attorney Sam can figure out how we are going to drag his ass out of there, let's not give him a

chance to cause more chaos."

"True," Catherine mumbled with a look of hesitation in her eyes. "Okay. I guess I will be leaving now."

After kissing Catherine on her forehead and watching her walk down the hallway, Rome closed the

study door and then his face hardened.

"So, who are we going to talk to first?" Blake asked, crossing his arm. "Thomas, or the maids?"

The moment Catherine got in the backseat of her car, her phone started ringing, and she took a look at

the name on the screen before rolling her eyes.

It took her a minute to suppress her emotion and then answer the call, even though she was hesitant to

do so.

Immediately, a frown crossed her face as she listened to her grandfather lash out, "Do you know how

mad I'm right now, Catherine!?"

"To be honest, grandfather, I'm angrier than you are furious with me because I told my uncles, 'no,' and

stood my ground which I did in the interest of the company!" Catherine said in a calm tone, yet, her

voice bore bitterness in it.

"If you have the interest of the company at heart, then you would have accepted your uncles' request

because they are of way more threat to the company not being a part of it than having a role in it!"

"Grandpa..."

"Do you think I willingly play blind eye to your uncles and cousins' wretched ways? I do so because it is

less troublesome not acknowledging it since what isn't known to others doesn't hurt the family's

reputation! This family prestige is all that should matter in the end!"

"Grandfather...!"

"That's why all of our skeletons should have stayed in the closet where they belong. But your

husband...!"

"Grandfather! Do you hear yourself! It's okay for us to act however we please as long as our deeds are

hidden and don't bring the family's shame!"

"Yes, Catherine!"

A bitter laugh escaped Catherine's lips as she tried to suppress the anger eating at her from the inside.

"I don't remember telling a joke!" Mr. Barlow coldly said from the other end of the call.

"No, you didn't. But I'm laughing because of how unbelievable you sounded!" Catherine said in

annoyance. "Sorry to disappoint you, grandpa, but I don't play by your way."

"If your cousin or uncles do anything to ruin that company and our family reputation, you are to be

blamed!"

"At this point, I really don't care anymore."

"What is that supposed to mean!"

When the line fell silent for a couple of seconds, Mr. Barlow's harsh voice echoed from the phone

speaker, "Catherine!"

"Bye, Grandpa!" Catherine mumbled before ending the call and sighing out her frustration.