The Princess and the Pauper (Arabella) novel Chapter 1737

The thing was, the head honcho of the hotel had been practically drooling to ink a deal with Romeo.

But after this security failure, that possibility was sinking fast. And to top it off, they might even need to make amends personally.

The hotel manager knew better not to speak further, mindful not to provoke more criticism. Exiting, he hurried off to devise damage control plans and compensation strategies with the other executives.

"How's your hand?" Arabella asked once the room was theirs. "Did it hurt?"

Romeo played it cool, "Nope, nothing."

"I saw it when you were handling the water earlier. Where are you hurt? Show me." Arabella retrieved her backpack, which was packed with all sorts of first-aid supplies.

"You are quite the medic, aren't you? Can't get anything past you." Romeo pushed up his sleeve to expose a crudely bandaged forearm.

"That's some rough wrapping," Arabella teased. "Couldn’t put in a little more effort?"

Romeo had used some powder the manager had given him to stop the bleeding, then carelessly bandaged his arm, hoping Arabella wouldn’t notice in case of a sudden return. But she had.

This is exclusive content from Noveldrama.com (Swnovel). Please read it on Noveldrama.com to support the author and the translation team!. Unwrapping his hastily done bondage, Arabella spotted that it was a knife wound—thankfully, it was a shallow flesh wound.

"Were there many? Any tough ones?" she probed as she started her treatment.

Someone of Romeo’s caliber wasn’t easy to injure.

"Just hired guns. They had numbers on their side."

"They were after me?" Arabella inferred.

"Mmm." Romeo's gaze lingered on her, wondering what enemies she had made recently.

When the intruders had slipped in under the cover of darkness, they likely hadn't expected to find Romeo there. They had hesitated at first, as if they looked to avoid an extra fight.

But Romeo wasn't about to let them off the hook. After a scuffle, they were badly injured.

Arabella tried to downplay it, but Romeo wouldn’t have it and insisted on seeing for himself.

Finally, he slipped off her jacket and discovered her left arm was also wrapped in a makeshift bandage, even more slipshod than his.

Her clothes were drenched in blood that had clearly been seeping for some time.

"So you are injured."

Her wound was more serious than his.

"Looks like we're even," Arabella remarked earnestly. "You kept secrets, I kept secrets."

"Even? Nonsense, girl. I'm not here to score points. What were you up to tonight? You weren't the one hunting those guys, were you?"

He recalled a phone call with Derrick, where he’d heard that his girl had gotten the upper hand and was tailgating the assailants' car.