Chapter 0185

Jerome and I each give a little shout of surprise as I smack bodily into him.I stumble back a few steps, wheeling my arms a little

to find my balance. Jerome is there, luckily, catching me by the shoulders and holding me steady.

“Well, Miss Fay,” he says, his voice hardly more than a whisper as he glances towards the office door. “And where were you last

night?”

“Nowhere,” I say, smug, shaking my hair back from my shoulders and gathering up my dignity as I find my balance. Jerome

releases me, crossing his arms smugly over his chest as he grins at me. “I was just...getting a pen. From the office.”

“Fay,” Jerome says, his face breaking out into a wicked smile. “If you think I don’t know whose bedroom is through the bookcase

in that office —

“What!” I hiss, my face dropping. “Does everyone know the secrets of his house except me!?”

Jerome just laughs, shaking his head. “So, how was he, Fay? Come on. I’m dying to know.”

“Ew,” I say, wrinkling my nose at him. “You're seriously asking this about your boss?”

“My hot boss,” Jerome whispers, raising his eyebrow at me. “And I’m just asking — you're the one taking action with your maybe-

father-in-law —*

My mouth drops open at Jerome’s gall and then I realize something, glancing at the stairs. Jerome — he was coming down them.

At four in the morning. I don’t actually know where Jerome sleeps, but it’s certainly not in one of Kent’s guest rooms.

“And where were you, Jerome?” I ask, crossing my arms and blinking up innocently at him. “Speaking of taking action within the

Lippert family — did you happen to see my maybe-fiancé last night?”

“Actually,” Jerome replies, hesitating, his whole demeanor changing as he glances around to make sure we're alone. Then,

making a quick decision, Jerome grabs my hand and pulls me towards the kitchen. Confused but curious, I follow without protest

as Jerome pushes open the door and leads me towards the fridge in the empty kitchen.

“What are we doing here?” I whisper.

“Getting orange juice,” Jerome murmurs in reply, dropping my hand to pull the juice out of the fridge and grabbing two clean

glasses off of the rack next to the sink. “So that we have a reason why we're talking, if anyone comes across us. We both just

came down here, independently, and happened to be thirsty at the same time. Okay?”

“Ooooookay,” I say, agreeing to it even though I think this story is a little unnecessarily elaborate. Jerome pours me a glass and

hands it to me and then begins to whisper to me as he pours his own.

“Actually,” he says, picking up where he left off, “Daniel is really pissed at you.”

“What?” I breathe, looking up at Jerome with wide eyes. “Why?”

“That’s why he called me up to his room last night,” Jerome continues. “He usually doesn’t... mean, he doesn’t let me come up

to his room with him unless he’s feeling a little reckless. He knows we’d both be fucked if we got caught. We usually go to my

place, or —*

“Really?” I ask, my eyes still wide, tilting my head to the side. “Where's your place?”

“Seriously, Fay?” Jerome asks, twisting his lips at me a little. “All of this — and that’s what you ask?”

I shrug, still wanting to know. He just rolls his eyes and moves on.

“Listen,” he continues, taking a brisk

drink of his juice, era) Kent

said something to letjasCight I

consuieene. That Daniel

" Jerome hesitates and looks

around the empty room, not even

wanting to say it aloud even though

it’s just us. Please read the original

content at .

“Really?” I breathe, shocked. Kent hadn’t said anything to me last night about a fight — hadn’t even given a hint that there was

any discord — “Oh my god. I thought he...he hadn’t guessed.”

“I think Kent's known for a while,”

Jerome sighs, shaking his head

looking down pis jets" Boe he

eitheraidedAwant to face it, or...who

knows, Fay. Actually, you probably

know him now better than most of

us.” Please read the original content

at .

I frown at this, shaking my head a

little and thinking that Kent is still an

enigma to me. Jerome, oddly, has the

most connections in thi ighousethat

riper TE consider this

ier moment, realizing that despite

Jerome's boyish, almost

golden-retriever personality...that he’s

actually kind of a great spy. People

trust him without thinking twice

about it — I mean, I do. Daniel does.

And Kent hasn't kicked him out yet.

Please read the original content at

.