A Billionaire In Disguise novel Chapter 158

Keeping his eyes on Catherine's worried face, Rome lifted his hand and said, “Do you see this cut,”

“Yeah,” Catherine softly intoned, focusing solely on the bandage on his palm.

Without uttering another word, Rome pulled his shirt off his body, tossed it to the floor, and said, "And this, do you see it?"

At first, Catherine felt hesitant as she stared at the bandage on his side, but before she could realize it, the tip of her fingers was gently caressing against his skin, and she whispered, "Yes,"

"They will both heal. But do you know what will never heal if it got wounded?" Rome calmly uttered.

Although Catherine already knew the answer, she stayed silent as she stared solely into his eyes with a hint of sadness in hers.

Then her lashes flickered when she felt Rome hold her hand and bring it towards his chest.

"My heart. It's never going to heal if something happens to you." Rome said, resting her palm flat against the left side of his bare chest.

Feeling every single beat his heart made, Catherine pouted and mumbled beneath her breath, "I only wanted to help."

"I know, and I appreciate you so much for having such a thought. But your family, Earl, and everyone else that I have fought with, they are foes that I know, and I took them on with a clear vision." Rome wholeheartedly intoned.

Then he rested his palms on Catherine's arms and said with the utmost seriousness, "But there is an enemy out there who I'm in a battle with that I have not the slightest bit of idea about. I'm fighting blindfolded here. Do you know how hard that is?"

Keeping silent, Catherine gently shook her head without looking away from Rome.

When he noticed her gave a despairing little shrug, he paused for a moment, realizing how much his words were weighing on her.

But then again, Rome didn't want tonight to repeat itself, so he maintained eye contact with Catherine and continued, "It was safe when I was just Rome Miller, the useless live-in son-in-law of the Barlow family, and people looked down on me."

A frown flashed across Catherine's face, and Rome faintly chuckled and said, "That's the truth. It was much easier back then. But now, I'm Rome Ford, and my last name is like a magnet for enemies and a red dot on my chest."

Then he silently gave her a long stare before gently uttering, "That's why I need you to stand behind me. Not in front of me or beside me, but behind me, so you wouldn't get hurt. Got it?"

Overwhelmed with emotion, all Catherine could do was nod because her words kept getting stuck in her throat as she choked back her cry.

"Good," Rome softly said, resting his palm against her cheek. "You should head back inside, and I will join you in a little while, after changing this."

For a moment, Catherine looked at his side, wondering how bad it was going to hurt him to take that bandage off. Then she gave him a quick smile before leaving the bathroom.

A couple of minutes later, Rome walked into the bedroom and stared at Catherine. Then his gaze swayed towards her phone, and he mumbled, "So, what evidence do you have on Earl?"

For a moment, Catherine's eyes lit up a bit as she picked her phone off the bed. But then she suddenly froze with it in her hand and mumbled, "Ummm…"

"What is it?" Rome asked, walking over to the bed.

Lowering her gaze to the floor, Catherine gently rubbed her neck and mumbled, "Well, I said some awful things to make Earl talk."

"Okay, like what?" Rome casually asked.

A minute when by quietly. Then Catherine glanced up at Rome before handing her phone over to him and nervously saying, "You play it. I don't think I can."

At first, Rome did nothing as he stared at her phone in his hand. But after a couple of seconds of hesitation, he unlocked the screen and went to the audio recording icon.

For a few minutes he and Catherine listened to the audio in silence until she heard, "Also, just because Rome beat up a scumbag for me, that doesn't mean he's not one."

"I didn't mean that!" Catherine hastily said, fixing her eyes on Rome.

But his face remained calm as he listened to the rest of the audio, and even though she tried, she couldn't guess from his expression the entire time what he was thinking.

After the audio ended, Rome looked at Catherine with a straight face and said, "You got nerve, woman, calling your husband a scumbag and flirting with Earl like that."