Chapter 84: Untitled Chapter

Roberto paused. His eyes searched hers, desperate for something she didn’t know how to give him yet.

“I don’t care which one you give me,” he finished, voice rough. “Just don’t give me to anyone else. Don’t look at anyone else like this. Don’t let anyone else hold you in the morning. Because if they do… I don’t know what I’ll do.”

The words hit her harder than the kiss. Raw. Honest. Terrifying. A confession from a man who didn’t confess. A promise and a threat tangled together because that was all he knew how to be.

Kendrix stared at him, at this man who never asked for anything, begging her without begging. Her throat burned. She didn’t have armor for this. No clever comeback. No cute argument about company policy.

All she had was the truth sitting heavy in her chest, matching his.

So she did the only thing she could. She leaned in and kissed him again. Not soft. Not questioning. Answering. Her lips met his with everything she didn’t have words for yet. Yes. Yes to mornings like this. Yes to being the one he let close. Yes to the dangerous, impossible thing growing between them.

Roberto groaned into the kiss, low in his throat. His arms came around her fully, lifting her until she straddled his lap properly, face to face. The kiss turned deeper, slower, like he was sealing that promise into her skin. One hand cradled the back of her head, the other splayed wide across her back, holding her to him like he would never let go.

And neither of them were counting minutes anymore. Five had turned to six. Six to seven. Seven to forever somewhere between his first kiss and his confession.

Outside the mansion, the world kept moving. Inside this room, time stopped. There was only Roberto. Only Kendrix. Only the way he kissed her like she was his salvation, and the way she kissed him back like he was hers.

The knock shattered everything. Three sharp raps. With no warning. No hesitation.

Roberto went cold instantly. The man who had just been kissing her like she was oxygen vanished. In his place stood something harder, sharper, dangerous.

Kendrix barely had time to breathe before he was off the bed. He moved like he had never been soft at all. Like the last ten minutes had been a hallucination.

His voice came out low and lethal. “Stay.”

Kendrix nodded, chest still heaving, lips still swollen. She could not speak. She could barely think.

Roberto yanked the door open.Bash stood in the hallway. His face was blank and professional. But his eyes were wrong. They were too sharp and too fast. He did not waste words. He held out a phone. The screen was already playing.

Kendrix slid off the bed before she realized she was moving. Her bare feet hit the floor. She crossed the room in two steps.

She saw it.

Maya was tied to a chair. Her mouth was sealed with a black tape. A bruise darkening her cheek, and blood smeared at the corner of her mouth.

Antonio was beside her. His head lolling forward, then jerking up. His lip was split. One eye was already swelling shut. A tape was plastered across his mouth too. His hands were bound behind the chair. He was breathing hard, fast, like he was trying not to pass out.

The video had no sound. It did not need it.

Kendrix’s stomach dropped. Her hands went cold. “No,” she whispered.

The room went silent.

Roberto watched the video once. His jaw clenched. A muscle jumped there. His eyes went flat and empty. The way they got before he decided someone was going to die. He did not look at Kendrix. He could not afford to.

Bash spoke first, voice careful. “They sent it two minutes ago. No demands yet. Just this.”

Roberto took the phone from him. His fingers tightened around it until the plastic creaked.

Kendrix stared at the screen. At Maya’s bruised face. At Antonio’s broken breathing. At the tape holding their mouths shut. Her throat burned. Her chest felt like it was caving in. She looked up at Roberto. Her voice cracked. “They were supposed to be safe.”

Roberto finally turned to her. His eyes were dark. Torn open. The softness from minutes ago was gone, buried under something ancient and brutal. He stepped closer and cupped her face with one hand, his thumb brushing her cheek like he was trying to memorize her again. But his touch was different now. Desperate. Like he was saying goodbye without words.

His voice was rough and low. “This is not your fault.”

Kendrix shook her head, tears stinging her eyes. “I was happy while they…”

Roberto cut her off. “Kendrix.” He pressed his forehead to hers for one second. One heartbeat. “Look at me.”

She did. Her vision blurred.

“You do not get to do this to yourself,” he said. “Not now. Not when I need you to be clear.”

“I am not…” Her voice broke.

“You are,” he said. “You are the only thing that matters to me right now. But I need you to breathe. I need you to think. Can you do that for me?”

Kendrix swallowed hard. She nodded once. It was all she could manage to do.

Behind them, Bash cleared his throat. “They will call again. Soon.”

Roberto pulled back from her slowly. Like it physically hurt him to let go. His hand dropped to his side and fisted there. When he turned back to Bash, his expression was gone. Completely gone. All that was left was Roberto Tuzo. Power and violence and control wrapped in skin.

“Get me everything,” he said. His voice was ice. “Location. Voice trace. Who touched them. Who ordered it. I want names in five minutes.”

“I think you should already know who is behind this.” Skyler said from behind Bash.

Roberto's Jaw twitched. “The old man,” he glanced at them. “See if you can get the location and voice traces.”

Bash and Skyler nodded once and disappeared down the hallway. The door clicked shut.

Roberto stood there for a second with his back to her. His shoulders were rigid. His breathing was too controlled.

Kendrix whispered his name. “Roberto.”

He did not turn around. His voice came out flat. “Do not ask me to be soft right now. Not now.”

Kendrix crossed the room. She stopped behind him. She did not touch him. Not yet.

“I am not asking you to be soft. I am asking you to let me stay.” She said.

After a long pause Roberto’s shoulders dropped, just a fraction. Like her words hit something cracked inside him. He turned slowly. His eyes met hers and for a second the mask slipped. She saw it. The rage. The fear. The guilt he would never say out loud.

He reached for her and pulled her against his chest hard. One arm locked around her back. The other hand tangled in her hair, kissing it softly.

"Little Devil..."He muttered.