By the time Tim came back to the manor, it was quite late. Roxanne was in the kitchen, talking to Alfred, and it seemed he had given her his remedy to sober her up.

Tim came to the kitchen as well to get a cup of coffee. She looked at him, cheeks flushing slightly as she briefly recalled her antics at the Gala. He had been very patient with her but that didn't mean she could put him into compromising situations.

He took the seat beside her, keeping his eyes focused solely on the coffee cup. But the faint tinge of pink on his cheeks was quite noticeable.

"I thought you would be asleep by now," he spoke at last.

"I was waiting for you," she replied in a lower voice than usual, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have drunk too much, I was quite a burden on you tonight..."

"It's fine," he turned to look at her, "you were kinda funny though."

She shook her head, "I don't remember the last time I had gotten this drunk. I guess I was just too happy that Rom left me on my own and I could do whatever I wanted."

He stiffened at the mention of her brother, the man's words resonating around him still. But then there was no proof to his statement and he had to give Roxanne the benefit of doubt.

After all, she was innocent until proven guilty. Every evidence they had found so far pointed against Romero being the killer.

"Did you see Romero after I left?" She asked, feeling that there was something he was hiding from her and that had a lot to do with her brother.

"No. I was told he left early with another guest."

"Right..." She checked her phone and still, there was no call from him, indicating that he was either very busy or didn't care to call her back just yet.

That worked well with her too. She didn't want to go back.

"Alright, it's late. You should rest too now," he stood up, taking the cup to the sink to wash it, "I can show you to a guest room or you can stay in mine if you want to. I have some work to do so I won't be in my room either."

"Oh," she looked slightly crestfallen to hear that, "okay."

Tim took her to his room because to his family, she was his girlfriend and if she stayed in a guest room for the night, Steph won't let him hear the end of it.

"You still have work to do?" She asked as he led her inside his room which was quite different from her own.

It was very neutral shaded and it seemed as if everything in there was placed according to functionality rather than aesthetics. There was no vanity table, just a framed mirror with a slab underneath. His bed was pushed to the corner and most of the space was taken by his computer setup.

"I'm always working," he replied, "and if this looks a mess, you can take the room beside mine. No, not the left one, that's Damian's."

"It's okay, I'll stay here," she said but paused in front of the mirror, taking in her disheveled reflection, "I look a mess."

"You can use the bathroom and I can go over to Steph's and bring you something to wear," he remarked but then checked the time, "oh wait, she'll be asleep..."

"It's fine, can I borrow a shirt from you?"

"Sure," he nodded, showing her to the walk-in closet, "pick whichever you like."

She looked around, noting that there were some outfits that were all put together and hung up for formal wear such as attending meetings or galas. Then the majority of his closet was of folded shirts and trousers kept at the bottom. It seemed that he preferred dressing in comfortable clothing, especially the worn down ones.

She picked out a white shirt that didn't look too formal for it to be new and wasn't exactly worn out either.

"Thanks," she mumbled, stepping into the bathroom, "and once again, I'm sorry for all the ruckus I caused."

"I told you, it's fine. I am used to dealing with a lot more chaos than that," he remarked, stepping back in order to leave, "I'll have my phone on me so if you need anything, just call."

She smiled, "you've already done a lot. I'll be fine on my own for a few hours."

"Alright," he looked slightly nervous again but then spoke up, "I'll see you at breakfast then."

"Sure. Good night," she smiled, closing the bathroom door.

Tim went back to his computer setup and disconnected everything, picking up the files that he had been researching on the Donnelleys. He wasn't stupid to leave her in his room with everything he had been researching about them lying around.

Making sure that there was nothing that could make her suspicious about him, he finally stepped out, intending to go down to the cave to complete his work right where he had left off.

Jason was supposed to call in half an hour with some news so he had to be safely away from Roxanne before answering it.

He had left by the time Roxanne came out. Just a dim lamp was flickering on the bedside table and she noticed a few books placed beside it.

Crime fiction, she judged, picking up one and then putting it right back at the top of the others. She wasn't supposed to snoop around with him not there so she got into bed, adjusting the soft duvet.

His bed too seemed as if it was used very less but it was the right kind of stiff, making her joints straighten out as she stretched. Despite being stiff, it was comfortable and she should have fallen asleep the second her head hit the pillow.

But her phone's ringtone jolted her awake and her hand reach out for her phone, thinking the call would be from Tim telling her about something he had forgotten earlier.

However, it was Romero's voice that greeted her instead, "where are you?"

She sighed wearily, "what do you want?"

"You're not at home."

"Because you're probably treating it as a brothel right now. Go do whatever you want and let me sleep."

"Where the hell are you?" He demanded roughly and Roxanne knew hanging up on him right then was not the right option. She had to tell him something but before that, he answered his own question, "don't tell me... You are with the Wayne boy? Still?"

"And how is that any of your concern?" She mumbled, burying herself deeper in the comfortable warmth of the duvet.

She had zero patience left to deal with him at the moment.

She knew Romero wouldn't come to Wayne Manor to take her back by force. He cared about his reputation no matter how reckless he could get when angry. Breaking into Bruce Wayne's property was a mistake he would never dare to make. But she didn't know how he would react when she got home.

"The boy sure has some nerve. Even after I told him what you did and he's still colluding with you," his words chilled her to the bone and she sat up.

"Wait, what... What did you tell him? When did you even meet him?" Her voice was frantic, all sorts of terrible thoughts going through her head.

Tim hadn't mentioned anything about meeting Romero to her. Why would he not tell her?

He should have told her the second Romero had approached him.

"My darling Roxy, always so worried about your precious boyfriend yet still insisting he means nothing to you," his voice had that same taunting hint, "I met him and warned him to stay away from you. Can't let another man get ruined too, right?"

"What did you fucking say to him? Answer me!"

It was taking all her willpower to not scream down at him. She wasn't in her own room, Tim had told her Damian's room was the one beside his. She didn't want his brother to come to check what was wrong.

But at the same time, she was panicking.

"I told him you killed Adrian. His face was worth seeing at that revelation," he chuckled, "enjoy the time you have left with your little pet. I can see it won't be long."

With that, the call disconnected and Roxanne sat still as a statue, her eyes wide in disbelief and her hands shaking.

He had told him about Adrian yet Tim didn't bring that up even once. She could see now why he had been so stiff at the event with her that he had to get through it by consuming alcohol or else he wouldn't have been able to carry on with his act.

He knew.

And he probably thought of her as a murderer.

She could no longer go to sleep with all those thoughts flickering in her head. Romero had once again succeeded in making her restless and there was nothing she could do about it.

He always ruined things for her at the worst of times. And she wished she could put a stop to it but was helpless in that situation too.

***