Chapter 23 Untitled Chapter
Thunder rolled outside. Roberto’s eyes moved to it for half a second before coming back to her.
Kendrix watched him closer, trying to pull him apart in her head. Trying to figure out where it started.
Her voice dropped. “Did my mother know?”
The room stilled. Roberto didn’t answer right away and it made Kendrix’s stomach tightened.
“She knew who you were?”
“Your mother knew exactly who I was.”He replied.
Kendrix swallowed hard.
If her mother knew him, then this started before the mansion. Before Lucifer. Before her.
“Elena,”her voice shook. “Is that my mother's name?”
Roberto looked at her briefly. “Yes.”
She shook her head, bemused.“I…I just don’t get any of this.”
“You’re not supposed to yet.”
“That sounds threatening.”
“It’s not.”
“Then what is it?”
For the first time all night, Roberto looked tired. Not physically. Deeper than that.
“It’s unfinished,” he said quietly.
Silence dragged again. The rain kept falling, steady and relentless.
Kendrix looked away. Her head felt crowded.
Luca. Her mother. The surveillance. The mansion. All of it connecting into something she couldn’t see yet.
And the worst part wasn’t that he lied.
It was that pieces of her life made more sense with him in them, and that scared her so much. Because it meant he had been there the whole time. Watching and waiting, like her life had been heading toward him before she even knew his name.
. . .
The morning didn’t feel like morning.
Kendrix woke up and just stared at the ceiling for a while, like it might explain something if she looked long enough. But it didn’t.
The room was too quiet. Not peaceful quiet, just creepy quiet.
She sat up, rubbed her face, and got out of bed. Her bare foot slapped on the floor gently. When she opened her door, the hallway was alive again. A guard stood at the far end. Another near the stairs. Same spots. Same timing.
Kendrix paused at the top of the stairs.
Nora was downstairs. She could hear her before she saw her. The soft movement in the kitchen.
Kendrix went down slowly.
Nora looked up too fast when she walked in, like she had been waiting.
“Morning,” Nora said.
“Yeah,” Kendrix said flatly. “Feels like it.”
Nora hesitated, then went back to pouring water. Her hands were slower than usual, she looked careful and was still recovering.
Kendrix leaned on the counter.
“You slept here?”
Nora nodded once. “ Yeah, last night.”
That wasn’t what Kendrix expected.
She narrowed her eyes. “Why?”
Nora paused abruptly.
Kendrix blew out air through her nose.
“You know what, never mind.”
“Kendrix…”
“No. Fine. Everyone here’s allergic to explaining things.”
“It's not what you think it…”
“How long have you known him?” She cut her off.
Nora's shoulder tensed and Kendrix saw it.
“I didn’t ask for a speech. Just don’t lie to me.”
Nora looked down. “I’ve known him a long time.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only one I can give you.”
Kendrix laughed under her breath. “Of course it is.”
She pushed off the counter.
“Let me guess. Everyone’s got the only answer they can give me.”
Nora didn’t answer. That told Kendrix enough. She turned and walked out before she said something worse.
. .
She found Roberto in the study, sitting exactly where he always sat. Skyler stood by the window, arms folded, watching outside like something caught his fancy.
Roberto didn’t look up right away. He knew it was her.
“You’re up early,” he said.
Kendrix shut the door.
“No thanks to the peaceful household vibes.”
Skyler glanced at her, then looked away.
Roberto finally looked up.
“You should eat.”
Kendrix blinked. “Is that your fix for everything now?”
“It’s practical.”
“That’s not an answer to anything I asked you yesterday.”
Skyler shifted but stayed quiet.
Kendrix stepped closer to the desk.
“Antonio. Maya. Hospital bills. My school. The car outside my campus last year.
Pick one and explain one thing without acting like I’m part of your project.”
Roberto leaned back. “You went to see Antonio.”
“That’s what you got from all that?”
“You left without my approval.”
“I went to see people I know.”
Skyler exhaled through his nose like he wanted out but couldn’t leave.
“You were exposed,” Roberto said.
“No, I was alive.”Kendrix tilted her head.
“You keep using that word like it fixes everything.”
Roberto didn’t answer right away.
“It does.”
“You don’t hear how insane you sound, do you?”
“I hear you.”
“That’s not the same thing!” She snapped.
“Did you control everything?”
Roberto didn’t react. Kendrix pushed, slower.
“Just answer. Did you control everything around me or not?”
Skyler actually looked at her this time, wordlessly.
Roberto’s voice dropped. “Not everything.”
Kendrix nodded slowly, like she expected it. “Of course.”
Her laugh came out humorless.“So some of it was real.”
“Yes.”
“And some of it wasn’t.”
“Yes.”
Something went cold in her chest.
“I need a list.”
Roberto arched his brow.“A list.”
“Yeah. Write it down. Circle what was real. Cross what you touched. Makes it easier.”
Roberto studied her.
“You’re trying to separate control from survival.”
Kendrix nodded. “Yes. Because one makes me want to punch you, and the other makes me feel like you think you did me a favor.”
Rain started outside again and Roberto’s eyes darted to the window for a brief moment.
“There it is again.”
Roberto’s jaw locked.“What.”
“You change when it rains.”
Roberto didn’t answer. That was answer enough.
Kendrix stepped back.
“This is insane. I’m standing in a house full of people acting like my whole life was a project, and I’m the only one who thinks that’s messed up.”
Roberto stood slowly.“Go back to your room.”
Kendrix shook her head. “No.”
“Kendrix.”
“Don’t ‘Kendrix’ me like that fixes shit!”
The rain got heavier and Roberto glanced at the window again, then at her.
“You’re pushing for answers you’re not ready for.”
Kendrix scoffed.“That sounds like a threat.”
“It’s a boundary.”
“From who? You?”
"Yes. Always from me.”
. .
The room felt too quiet again.
Kendrix sat on the edge of the bed with the lamp low. Enough to see, but not enough to feel normal.
It was night and she didn’t know why she wasn’t sleeping.
Actually, no. That wasn't true. She knew. She just didn’t want to admit it.
Her brain kept looping, grabbing things it shouldn't have. Not the big stuff. The small stuff was worse.
Kendrix rubbed her face. “Okay, this is stupid,” she muttered.
It didn't matter. It wouldn’t stop. She got up and started pacing. The carpet swallowed the sound, but not the thoughts.
“Why is my life so messed up?” she said under her breath.
No answer, obviously. She turned away, sat down, then stood up again. She felt annoyed, so she did what she hated.
She started thinking backward.
That chair. Maya’s hospital chair. God it was awful. The plastic was hard and too big for a kid. She had one of those shitty paper bracelets on her wrist which she kept picking at it. And that juice tasted like nothing. Like bland colored water.