A Billionaire In Disguise

Chapter Forty-Five

When Rome got home, he was about to head upstairs when he saw Scar approaching him from the

opposite direction.

With a look of confusion in his eyes, he faintly smiled and mumbled, "Boss, you are home,"

"Yeah," Rome muttered, looking over Scar's shoulder. "Did something happen to Catherine?"

"No. Miss is upstairs, in your bedroom."

"Then why isn't sh…"

Holding in the rest of his statement, Rome walked past Scar and hurried upstairs, heading straight for

their bedroom.

When he got inside, an his gaze rested on Catherine, laying on the bed, he let out a sigh of relief as he

gently closed the door.

Then he walked over to the bed, sat beside her, and gazed at her face.

At first, he didn't notice it. But after taking a closer look at Catherine's eyes, he saw that her lashes

were fluttering.

"Are you asleep?" Rome mumbled without taking his eyes off hers.

Gently squeezing her eyelids, Catherine pinched onto the sheet as she fought against her urge to raise

her lashes.

"Are you angry with me?" Rome calmly uttered.

Silence followed his remark, and as he swayed his gaze away from her, Rome's sight rested on her

phone.

For a moment, he hesitated. Then he picked it off the nightstand and gently pressed the power button.

"Did you not hear your phone ringing?" Rome mumbled, gazing at his miss calls on her screen.

"No. I put my phone on silent when I got home." Catherine whispered with her eyes still closed.

But when she didn't hear Rome's voice for a couple of minutes, she finally raised her lashes and her

gaze met with his.

"You've been crying. What's the matter? Did something happen?" Rome hastily asked with a look of

concern on his face as he stared into her puffy red eyes.

"Nothing happened," Catherine mumbled, swaying her gaze to the left. "Why are you back home this

early in the morning. I thought you were supposed to be back later today."

"Can you not change the topic, please, and tell me what's going on?"

"It's nothing."

Taking a long look at her, Rome paused and then said, "Okay, tell me, and I will be the judge of that."

At first, Catherine didn't utter a word as she gazed at him. Then she realized that he wasn't going to let

the matter go, so she pushed the cover off her, sat up in bed, and pouted.

"Chloe is missing." Catherine softly uttered as tears began to settle in her eyes again.

Immediately, Rome's face went blank as he stared at her. Then he took a deep breath and said, "What

do you mean by she's missing?"

"Well, Dash texted me this morning to ask about her whereabouts, and even though I told him that I

didn't know where she was, he didn't believe me, and now, no one else believes me except my father

and mother!"

Sniffing back her tears, Catherine looked into Rome's eyes and mumbled beneath her breath, "They all

believe that I have something to do with Chloe's disappearance."

Furious, Rome tightened his fist and firmly uttered, "I leave town for a day, and suddenly, they think

they can bully you. I guess I wasn't loud enough the other day! Maybe if I start taking more drastic

measu…"

"Can you help to find Chloe first, and then we can talk about punishing my family later," Catherine said

with sad eyes. "Please!!"

"Well," Rome mumbled, clearing his throat.

When Catherine raised her brow as she stared intensely at him, Rome drew a deep breath and said,

"That's what I was calling you to tell you."

Refusing to blink, Catherine kept her gaze solely on him, and Rome hesitated for a second before

saying, "Chloe is not missing."

"What?" Catherine mumbled.

"Chloe is in Archenland."

"Archenland?"

For a moment, Catherine's face went blank, then her skin grew pale, and with a look of confusion in her

eyes, her expression became cold.

"How do you know that? Nobody in the family knows where she is." Catherine asked, holding herself

back from thinking negatively.

"I don't know how she did it or how it happened, but she suddenly showed up in my suite," Rome said.

Not thinking straight, Catherine frowned and mumbled, "Is she the reason you made a change in your

flight?"

"No. Of course not. Where is your head at?" Rome dumbfoundedly uttered.

"I don't know. You tell me. Because right now, I don't know what to think or feel!"

"If you are wondering if something happened between us, I can tell you now that nothing happened."

Keeping silent, Catherine held in her breath as she looked into Rome's eyes. Then she softly intoned,

"Really? Nothing happened?"

"Yes," Rome said without any hesitation.

For a while, Catherine blankly stared at Rome while striving to make sense of everything and not allow

her imagination to run wide.

Then she finally suppressed her feeling of doubt and mumbled, "How did she get access to your

suite?"

"I don't know. But Brook and Blaze are looking into it. " Rome calmly said.

It grew quiet between them, and he could tell from Catherine's face that she had doubts. So he took

her hand in his, looked into her eyes, and softly intoned, "Nothing happened. She tried to come on to

me, but I immediately left the suite. Okay?"

Although Catherine tried to smile, her lips rebelled against her, and she pouted as she lowered her

gaze.

"Is it selfish to say that I prefer you as Rome Miller than Rome Ford?" Catherine mumbled, drawing a

soft breath as she looked up at Rome. "It is, isn't it?"

Then Catherine gave a smile and whispered, "Back then, I didn't have to worry so much about other

women, and now, here I am, super pissed over the fact that my cousin that hated you then is chasing

after you now."

"I'm all yours, and you know that," Rome said, gently squeezing her hand.

Annoyed, Catherine frowned and mumbled, "I know that, and you know that. But thirsty women like

Chloe don't care about that."

"Okay. I can wear a paper bag over my head. Umm, put some hole in it for my eyes, nose, and mouth.

That could work, right?" Rome said, giving her a faint smile.

With a look of disbelief on her face, Catherine took a long look at him. Then she giggled, burying her

face in her palm.

"Why are you laughing. I'm being serious. It could work." Rome said, smiling at her. "My identity will get

hidden from all those women, and I can take off the bag only when it's just the both of us because it's

you that I love and want."

Withdrawing her hand away from her face, Catherine solely looked into Rome's eyes and mumbled,

"You are joking,"

"Am I!" Rome said with a straight face.

Immediately, the feeling of doubt that ate at Catherine's emotions faded, and she was suddenly staring

at Rome with a yearning expression on her face.

Understanding the hint in her stare, Rome leaned towards Catherine, meeting her lips with his and

kissing her slowly.

Then their kiss deepened, and Rome lost himself for a second as Catherine's soft lips caressed against

his, causing him to want more of her. © 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

Suddenly, pulling back, Catherine looked into his eyes and mumbled, "Are you not tired from the

flight?"

"Mmm, no! I'm not!" Rome hastily said without a second thought.

Then he warmly smiled at Catherine before claiming her lips again as he grabbed onto her waist and

pressed her body against his.

Letting out a soft moan, Catherine wrapped her hands around Rome's neck and closed her eyes tightly

while allowing the feeling of excitement to course through her.

"Hon," Catherine murmured.

"Mmmm," Rome muttered in frustration.

"Your phone is vibrating."

"Let it ring."

"It could be important."

Frowning, Rome groaned loudly, throwing his head back. Then he reached his hand into his pocket and

angrily mumbled, "Someone have a death wish!"

After taking out his phone, he answered the call and said, "Who's this?!"

"Rome, Mr. Ford. It's me. The guy you spoke with earlier today. Well, yesterday." A fellow voice echoed

from the phone speaker.

Running his fingers through his hair, Rome sighed and then said, "We were supposed to meet. But you

never showed up!"

"I know, and I'm very sorry."

"So why did you stand me up?!"

"My daughter is sick. I came to the hotel, but I didn't enter because I suddenly got a message that her

condition had deteriorated, and I needed to go to the hospital immediately." The fellow said from the

other end of the call, sounding enraged.

"Oh, I'm sor…"

"My mind was so disturbed that I left the hotel immediately and flew out of the country to go and see

her. I arrived at the hospital a couple of minutes ago, and to my shock, her conditions did not worsen,

and she is stable."

"What?"

"I don't know if it was a prank call from some sick person!"

A frown crossed Rome's face as he thought, 'He's not the puppets' master. But he was getting used by

him! Damn it!!'

"How did you get my number and find out my address and name?" Rome asked, striving to keep focus.

The was a brief pause. Then Rome heard him say, "Some unknown number message your information

to me that day."

"Do you still have the number?" Rome hastily asked.

"Yes. I honestly don't know how they found out that my business was struggling. But the person told me

how powerful you are and that they can help me get you to support my company if I followed their order

and do exactly what they say."

"So those things you said about knowing me?"

"I was following a script. When you agree to meet me, I believe that their method had worked. But now

that I have stood you up…"

"I still want to meet you!"

"Really?"

With his gaze centered on Catherine's curious eyes, Rome gave himself a second to think and then

said, "Yes. I'm back home. But I will send you my information and address so you can fly on this end,

and we can talk more."

"Okay! Thank you, Mr. Ford. Oh, and by the way, I'm Mr. Jackson."The fellow said before Rome ended

the call.

Then he silently stared at Catherine as he worriedly thought, 'What kind of calculative psychopath am I

dealing with here!?'