Chapter 21 Untitled Chapter
Bash looked away with a tense sigh, and Kendrix hated that she waited for the answer too.
Roberto didn’t hesitate long enough to be kind.“No.”
The word landed soft and ugly.
Kylie’s lips twisted into a small, broken smile.“There it is.”
For the first time, Kendrix saw the crack underneath Kylie’s control. Not heartbreak, just something meaner. Replacement.
Kylie looked at Kendrix.“You hear that? That’s what makes you dangerous.”
“I literally didn’t do anything.”
“That’s exactly the point.”
Roberto stepped forward. “This conversation is over.”
Kylie laughed quietly. “You always end things before they become uncomfortable.”
“You kidnapped my fiancée.”
“You announced an engagement a few days after ending things with me. You’re scared, aren’t you?”
The room sharpened. Even Bash straightened a little.
Kylie kept going.
“You think I didn’t notice? You only lock things down when they matter to you.”
Roberto’s expression flattened. And Kendrix understood something ugly.
Kylie wasn’t trying to keep her anymore.
She just wanted to leave damage behind.
“You’ve been watching her like a goddamn creep,” Kylie said. “Following her. Rearranging your whole life around someone who didn’t even know your name.”
Kendrix froze. Slowly, she looked at Roberto.
“What does she mean… following me?”
Nobody answered. That silence hit harder than words.
Roberto’s eyes shifted to her.“Kendrix.”
“No.” She held up a hand. “Don’t do that calm voice thing.”
“It’s not what you think.”
Kylie laughed softly. “That’s a lie.”
Bash closed his eyes briefly like the night was exhausting him.
Kendrix looked between them.
“Somebody wanna explain why she keeps talking like you stalked me?”
“Kendrix…”
“How long?” she cut in.
Roberto stayed silent. Silence from him was never empty.
“How long?” she repeated.
Still nothing. Kylie answered for him.
“Your whole damn life.”
The room tilted.
Kendrix stared at Roberto like she had never seen him before.
“No.”
But suddenly things replayed wrong. The black car across from campus last year. The anonymous hospital payment when Maya got sick. That feeling of being watched walking home some nights.
Her breathing changed. “No,” she whispered.
Roberto took one step toward her. “Kendrix...”
She backed away immediately. “Don’t.”
That stopped him. And somehow that tiny reaction changed his face more than yelling would have.
“You watched me my whole life?”
“It was protection.”
Kendrix laughed sharply. “That is genuinely the creepiest thing anybody has ever said to me.”
Bash rubbed a hand over his face. “Okay. Hearing it out loud sounds worse.”
Kylie smiled faintly. “You still don’t understand the worst part.”
Roberto’s attention snapped to her. “Enough.”
Kylie ignored him.
“He was there before you even knew what danger looked like.”
Kendrix’s stomach dropped. Something clicked hard in her chest. Her throat tightened.
“Luca?”
The room fell silent. Even Bash looked at Roberto.
Kendrix stared at him. “No way…”
Roberto didn’t answer fast enough. That answer was enough.
“Oh my God.”
Kylie let out a quiet breath. “There. Now she sees you properly.”
Roberto’s expression turned cold. “Take her out.”
The guards moved immediately. Kylie didn’t resist. She only kept looking at Kendrix.
“You think he saved your life,” Kylie said quietly. “He built it around himself. He's a heartless son of a bitch.”
Then she was gone. The door clicked shut.
Silence swallowed the room again.
Kendrix couldn’t breathe properly. Her eyes locked on Roberto.
“You’re Luca.”
Not a question anymore.
Bash looked between them, then stepped back awkwardly. “I’ll…um…I'll clear the floor.”
He left and closed the door behind him.
Kendrix stared at Roberto like she didn’t know where to place him anymore. The man from her childhood stories. The stranger who kept appearing.
Lucifer.
All the same damn person.
“You deceived me,” she whispered.
Roberto finally spoke. “I stayed away from you.”
Kendrix laughed once. “You watched me for my entire life.”
“To keep you alive.”
“You don’t get to decide that!”
The words cracked out sharper than she intended.
Roberto stayed still and somehow that made her angrier.
“You followed me. You watched me. You manipulated things around me and never said a word.”
“You were safer that way.”
“That is not normal!”
For the first time, something in Roberto’s expression shifted. Not guilt. Something heavier.
“I know.”
That hit her harder than anger would have.
Not because he defended it. Because he didn’t. He just stood there looking tired.
Kendrix shook her head slowly. “I don’t even know what to believe anymore.”
Roberto looked at her for a long second before speaking quietly.
“You were never supposed to find out like this.”
And somehow, that sounded worse than everything else.
CHAPTER 22
The hallway felt longer on the way out.
Bash walked ahead, quiet, radio in hand but silent. The guards followed at a controlled distance, like they were making sure the building didn’t change its mind.
Kendrix stayed slightly behind Roberto.
Not because she was told to. Because she needed space to think. And because standing too close to him now felt wrong.
Like walking next to a stranger she used to know through fogged glass.
Roberto didn’t turn back to check on her.
He didn’t need to. He already knew she was there.
That irritated her more than it should.
They reached the main floor.
Everything looked normal again. Kendrix didn’t trust it anymore. Not a single part of it.
Outside, the night air hit her face sharply.
A car was already waiting. Black, clean with the doors opened.
Bash got in first. Roberto paused at the door, then looked at her.
“Get in,” he said.
Kendrix exhaled through her nose. “Did I ever said I wasn't gonna get in?”
That earned her the smallest pause. Not a surprise though, just recognition.
Like he registered she wasn’t going back.
She stepped into the car. The leather felt too soft. The door closed behind them. The sound sealed everything in.
For a few seconds, nobody spoke. The car started moving.
Bash sat in the front, eyes forward. Roberto sat beside her in the back.
Kendrix stared out the window first. Then stopped pretending. She turned toward him.
“So,” she said quietly. “Luca.”
Bash shifted in the front seat.
Roberto tensed.“Not now.”
Kendrix chuckled dryly.“No, actually now feels perfect. I just found out my entire life might be monitored by a man I didn’t even know existed properly.”
Streetlights slid across Roberto’s calm face as he stared out the window.
“You watched me for a few years,”she said, slower now. “Or… my whole life. Depends which version you’re standing on today.”
Roberto’s gaze stayed forward. “It was longer than just a few years.”
Kendrix blinked. “Say that again.”
He finally looked at her. “I didn’t interfere with your life.”
Kendrix leaned back. “You’re joking.”
“I made sure you stayed alive inside it.”
That made something in her chest tighten.
Bash stared out the window like the road had become interesting.
Kendrix shook her head slowly. “No. Don’t make it sound like you did me a favour.”
“It wasn’t a favour.”
“Then what was it?”
The pause was long enough that she almost regretted asking.
“Just...containment.”