Chapter 10 Untitled Chapter
Inside the mansion, nothing changed immediately. But the stillness wasn't normal, it had weight. Skyler noticed first. He looked up slightly from where he was sitting.“Where is she?”
Bash didn’t even lift his eyes from his phone.
“If you’re asking now, she’s already gone.”
Nora’s expression tightened, but she didn’t speak immediately.
Skyler stood.“She went out?”
Bash finally glanced up.“She left. That’s different.”
Skyler hesitated, then moved toward the hall.
Upstairs, Roberto was still standing near the window, unmoved. His phone vibrated once. He looked at it and exhaled. He was not surprised.
Skyler’s voice came from the doorway a moment later.
“She’s gone.”
Roberto didn’t turn immediately.“I know.”
Skyler frowned.“And you’re not reacting?”
That finally made Roberto look at him.
“Do I need to?”
Skyler stopped. Because there was no answer to that that didn’t sound wrong.
Roberto turned back toward the window.
“She didn’t leave far.”
Skyler’s expression shifted slightly.“You’re tracking her.”
Roberto didn’t deny it. That was enough answer.
. .
Outside, Kendrix kept walking. At first, it felt too easy. That thought alone made her wary. Still, she kept going. One street turned into another. Distance stacked slowly behind her.
For the first time in days, the air didn’t feel like it was watching her. She almost believed it. That she was free, but deep down she knew it was far from over.
Walking down the road without a destination in mind, Kendrix's thoughts wandered and the weight of everything crashed down on her. She stopped walking and took in an uneven breath. Her hands found the necklace around her neck and she gently rubbed on it to calm her nerves. A car engine sounded somewhere behind her. Not loud and fast. Just certain.
Kendrix turned slowly. A black car rolled to a stop at the edge of the road ahead, blocking the narrow path she didn’t even realize she’d been funneled into. Her stomach dropped slightly.
“No,” she whispered. “Not again.”
The door opened and Roberto stepped out. Composed. Like nothing had been interrupted. Like he had simply arrived where he was always going to be.
Kendrix stared at him for a long second, then chuckled awkwardly.“You’ve got to be joking.”
Roberto shut the door behind him, eyes locked on her.
“I’m not.”
That was all he said. Kendrix took a step back before she even realized she was doing it. Then stopped herself.
“No,” she said quickly. “I didn’t even go far.”
Roberto looked at her properly now and then briefly at the necklace. His gaze lingered for half a second too long. That small shift in his expression told her everything she needed to know.
Her jaw locked.“There’s a tracker in the necklace, right?” She asked.
Roberto didn’t answer. The silence she had always hated .
Kendrix shook her head.“You’re tracking me like I’m…like I’m something you own.”
Still nothing from him. That lack of response was worse than denial.
Her voice sharpened.“Say something.”
Roberto stepped forward once steadily. “I told you,” he said. “You were never going to leave properly.”
Kendrix scoffed.“That’s not an answer.”
Roberto didn't blink.“It is,” he replied.
She stared at him.
Something twisted in her chest. Anger.
Fear. Confusion. All tangled together.
“Then why?” she asked suddenly.
Roberto didn’t respond immediately.
That pause felt heavier than anything else.
Kendrix pressed.
“Why keep me here if I’m so… whatever I am to you?”
Roberto hesitated for a moment.“Let's get out of here.”He said, voice dropping low that only she could hear.
“No,” she said. “No, I’m done with your riddles.”
She stepped sideways, trying to pass him.
He moved just enough to block her without touching her.
That annoyed her instantly.
“Move.”
Roberto didn’t.
“You ran because you wanted distance,” he said.
Kendrix scoffed.“I ran because I wanted answers.”
“You think distance gives answers?”He asked.
That stopped her for half a second. Just enough and she hated that it worked.
Her voice dropped slightly.
“Then what does?”
Roberto didn’t answer immediately.
For once, he looked like he was choosing carefully.
“Staying alive long enough to understand them.”
“That’s not reassuring.”
“No,” he agreed.
The space between them felt different and controlled. More like something unfinished sitting between them.
Kendrix looked down at the necklace again. Then back at him.
“You’re not just tracking me,” she said slowly.“You’re afraid I’ll disappear,” she continued.
His jaw ticked.“Get in the car,” he said.
Kendrix shook her head immediately.
“No.”
This time, he didn’t argue, he just watched her. Like he was deciding something.
“Then you’ll keep running until something else finds you first.”
That didn’t sound like a threat. It sounded like an experience. And that was the problem.
Kendrix swallowed.“What else?”
Roberto’s eyes held hers. Long enough that the air between them felt tighter.
“You don’t want to know the answer to that yet.”
And for the first time since she ran, Kendrix didn’t move immediately. Not because she was agreeing, but because something in his voice didn’t feel like control. It felt like a warning. And she hated that she was starting to believe it.
. .
They got home at night. Kendrix didn’t speak on the ride home. Not because she had nothing to say. Because everything she wanted to say still felt… unresolved. Like the words would come out wrong if she tried.
When the car stopped, Roberto got out first and strolled away without glancing back.
Inside the compound, the air was different again. Cleaner and colder, like the house reset itself when Roberto wasn’t around. Then she saw them. Skyler was the first to wave, too casual for someone waiting outside in the dark. Bash was leaning on the railing like he lived there. Which, honestly, he might as well have. Nora stood calm slightly behind them. Kendrix slowed for half a second. That pause didn’t go unnoticed.
Skyler smiled immediately. “Don’t look so suspicious. We’re not ambushing you.”
“I wasn’t thinking that,” Kendrix said flatly.
Bash snorted. “You were absolutely thinking that.”
Kendrix shot him a look. “You talk too much now.”
“Yeah,” Bash nodded. “I’ve been told. Just ignore it.”
Skyler clapped once. “Okay, before this turns into an emotional damage hour, we have food.”
Kendrix blinked. “Food?”
Nora finally spoke, quieter. “I cooked.”
That alone made Kendrix pause.
“You cook?”
Nora gave a small shrug. “Apparently.”
Skyler immediately jumped in. “She’s hiding talents. Dangerous woman.”
Bash nodded seriously. “Very suspicious behaviour.”
Nora didn’t react much, but her eyes flicked briefly to Kendrix.
Kendrix didn’t notice the weight of that look yet.