Chapter 76: Untitled Chapter
Sunlight was coming through the curtains when Kendrix finally opened her eyes. She blinked a few times, rolled onto her side, and just lay there for a second wrapped in the quiet.
Outside the window everything looked calm and normal, like nothing complicated had happened last night.
A small smile started on her lips but it faded fast. Her stomach twisted instead. Her hand went to her mouth as pieces of last night came back.
Roberto. His kisses. The way he had looked at her. The way she had thrashed in his fingers. It was familiar but still overwhelming and she couldn’t explain it. Her face went hot and she hid it in her hands like that would stop her from thinking about it.
It felt ridiculous in daylight. Like something she had dreamed and wasn’t supposed to remember so clearly. But she did. She remembered all of it and her breathing wouldn’t steady.
A knock at the door cut through her thoughts. Before she could answer it opened a little.
Roberto stepped in. He looked way too composed for someone who had been in her head all morning. His eyes went straight to her, calm and observant like he already knew what she had been thinking.
“You’re awake,” he said.
Kendrix sat up straighter and suddenly the air felt thick between them. She swallowed. “You left early.”
“I had something to take care of. Did you sleep well?”
The question came out casual but it didn’t feel casual at all. Kendrix gripped the bedsheet tighter.
“About last night…” she started, then stopped. Her eyes dropped before she forced them back to him. “What happened?”
The room shifted. Roberto didn’t move closer. He didn’t need to. His expression softened just enough that she felt it.
“Nothing you need to worry about,” he said quietly.
That should have been the end of it. But Kendrix’s heart didn’t buy it. Because the way he was looking at her didn’t feel like nothing. It felt like something she didn’t understand yet.
Her voice dropped. “I… um… I just…” She trailed off.
Roberto stepped further into the room and his voice got lower. “If you’re asking whether you were safe, you were.”
Kendrix’s breath caught at that.
Roberto leaned in toward the bed and brushed her cheek with his hand like he had done it a hundred times before. Then he kissed her. Not rushed, not careful either. Just this kiss that picked up right where they had left off last night.
Kendrix reacted before she thought about it, leaning into him like her body remembered first. When he pulled back a little his forehead stayed near hers.
“Is that what you were asking about?”
Kendrix didn’t answer. Her heart was still trying to catch up.
He studied her a second longer, then said, “Come down when you’re ready. I’ll be outside.”
And just like that he turned to leave. But Kendrix didn’t move. Because even after he was gone the room still felt like him. And she wasn’t sure if she was remembering last night or still stuck in it.
. .
The old man sat calmly in his study. The city outside was dead quiet at this hour. The only sound was the ticking clock hung above the fire place.
Kieran stood by the door, bouncing on his feet like he couldn’t stay still. “So he took her out of the city?”
The old man didn’t turn. “Yes.”
Kieran’s voice sharpened. “And you’re not gonna do anything about that?”
The old man finally glanced at him. Just a look and Kieran felt it in his chest anyway.
“I am doing something.”
“Bullshit,” Kieran said. “You don’t look like you care.”
“Not everything needs me to jump in,” the old man said, nonchalantly.
Kieran stepped forward, frustration breaking through now. “He’s a damn traitor. Someone you should have killed a long time ago.”
“I know.”
“That’s why you should…”
The old man lifted a hand to silence him. “For now, Kieran.”
Kieran stopped talking, his jaw tight like he was biting words in half. He was angry. He hated this. His patience was running thin.
The old man looked back out the window. “Let them be.”
“That’s it?” Kieran laughed, but it came out bitter. “After all that?”
“Yes.”
Kieran muttered under his breath, “This is a mistake. A big one.”
The old man didn’t answer right away. When he did, his voice was lower and calm. “Most things worth watching feel like that. Give them time, Kieran. We're going to get a good revenge.”
Kieran huffed. He didn't like this one bit, but he didn’t say anything else.
. .
Kendrix came downstairs slowly, tugging at Roberto’s sleeve. She had taken his shirt without asking. It hung off one shoulder and she liked it too much to fix it.
She heard him before she saw him. The movements from the kitchen. She stopped in the doorway.
Roberto turned when she walked in but didn’t talk, he just looked at her with a warm smile. And that look did something stupid to her chest.
“You’re wearing my shirt,” he said finally.
Kendrix looked down like she had forgotten. “It’s not yours anymore. I’m keeping it.”
His mouth twitched.“That’s not how it works.”
“It is now.”
He went back to the counter but that warm smile stayed.
Kendrix walked closer, barefoot on the cold tile, watching him. He moved like he had done this a hundred times. He placed the breakfast on the table.
She leaned on the chair next to him, studying his face instead of the food. He looked different. Like something in him unclenched and didn’t know how to clench back up.
“You’re in a mood,” she arched her brow.
“No I’m not.”
“Well…I think you are.”
He looked at her then. That same look from before. The one that made her forget her point.
“I’m fine,” he said.
Kendrix snorted. “That’s your lying voice.”
“I don’t have one.”
“You do.”
He set a cup down and stepped closer. He closed the space between them and stared down at her.
“Eat,” he said, quietly.
“Is that an order or do you actually care?”
“Both.”
She couldn’t help it, so she laughed. And something in his face changed like he had been waiting for it.
Kendrix took her place on the chair but he didn’t move away. His hand rested on the back of her chair, close enough that the air got heavy.
Kendrix poked at her food. “So…”
“So,” he said back.
“What are we doing?”
He didn’t answer right away. He didn’t look away either.
“Breakfast,” he said.
Kendrix rolled her eyes. “That’s not what I meant and you know it.”
“I know.”
“Then say something real.”
He leaned in a little, just enough that she felt it.
“I don’t know what to call it,” he said.
Her chest tightened. “That’s not you,” she said, quietly.
“No,” he said. “But it’s true.”
She stared at her plate cause she couldn’t look at him too long.
“You’re annoying,” she muttered.
“I’ve been told.”
“And you’re standing too close.”
“Am I?”
“Yes.”