Ririko trembled with rage, strode up to Jeremiah, and raised her hand to slap him across the face-
Jeremiah calmly caught her wrist and gave it a gentle tug, pulling her slender body into his arms.
"Weren't you having a great time yesterday?" Even his voice sounded like Jerome's, only steadier and more rational. "Now that you've got your clothes on, you're pretending not to know me?"
Ririko struggled in his arms.
But no matter how she pushed, rammed, jabbed, or stomped on him, his arm remained locked around her waist.
"You pretended to be Jerome," Ririko snapped. "You're a complete bastard."
Jeremiah smiled.
He pressed his lips into her hair, deliberately making her both embarrassed and furious, while she could do nothing about him.
"So what?" He held her a little tighter, until there wasn't a sliver of space between their bodies.
"Aren't I better than that Penguin? Better than Bruce? Stay with me, and I can be with you every night. I can give you everything Jerome did."
Ririko lifted her head and stared at that face, identical to Jerome's, as he spewed such shameless garbage.
She reached behind her, found the glass on the coffee table, grabbed it, and flung its contents in his face.
He didn't dodge or even close his eyes. It seemed the angrier she became, the more satisfaction he took from it.
"You'll never be Jerome."
She pushed him away, turned, and headed for the door.
After leaving the room, Ririko turned several corners in the hallway, climbed two flights of stairs, and pushed open an iron door marked "Emergency exit," only to find herself on a familiar street.
This was Owlman Street. She glanced back at the building behind her. It was the Man in the Mirror bar.
So Jeremiah had