Chapter 44

Like her skin had been burned, she flicked the phone out of her hand.

The device bounced a few times on the bed and landed face down. Kendall staggered back, her spine stiff with horror as she stared at the phone.

Her legs rammed into a chair, and she shrieked, flailing as she lost her balance and crashed onto the floor. She scrambled back, a terrifying urgency making her heart pound as if someone—something was hunting her.

Swallowing hard, she tried to regain control of herself.

Had they found her?

Who? She didn’t even know. From where she sat on the floor, she stared at the phone, wondering if she’d imagined it.

No. Someone had definitely said her past name. Who? Kendall didn’t recognise the voice. She couldn’t even tell if it had been a man or a woman. Could it be her parents? Nobody else knew her name. God, anybody but them.

Shattering the silence, the phone rang again. She jolted, clutching herself.

The familiar feeling of a stifling anxiety attack started closing in on her. Her chest tightened, her body trembling as her breathing got shallow, pulsing out of her in short pants and brief inhales.

She grabbed the leg of the chair beside her, trying to get control as she’d endlessly practised. It seemed no amount of practice ever helped when she was deep in the trenches of her inner nerve storm.

Her breathing wouldn’t stabilise. The ringing of her phone filled the room, fuelling the fire she was trying to tame in her mind.

Weakly, she wondered. How had they gotten her number?

Her vision dimmed at the edges, a soft grey eating into her peripheral sight. The air felt too thin, her heart slamming against her ribs like it was trying to escape.

Another shrill ringing joined the sound of her phone, and both sounds slowly faded into the distance.

Her grip on the chair loosened, and slowly, she drifted to the floor, passing out.

“Did you get reception to call her?” Lucien asked, pacing his office. Kendall had suddenly stopped answering his calls.

At first, he’d felt impatient because he really needed to ask her something, but then he’d gotten a bad feeling. That Liam lad. Surely, he hadn’t done something?

“I did,” Arlo said. “They say it rang with no answer. I’m outside her door now.”

“Okay.”

He waited, listening to Arlo knock in the background. He knocked again, loud enough to distract a few of the neighbouring rooms.

“There’s no answer, Sir,” Arlo said.

Lucien frowned. “What the hell is going on?”

“Would you like me to break into the room?”

“No. It might scare her. I’ll check myself.”

He hung up and grabbed his jacket, marching out of the office. At times like these, he could’ve done what the parents of other best friends do. He could’ve called her parents to let them know something wasn’t right. But because they were absent, Kendall was on her own. There was nobody to call.

So, Lucien called himself. He’d be damned if the poor girl remained alone in the world.

Soon, he’d sent Nelson off to have coffee and was racing himself to the Hotel.

When he got there, he handed his keys over to a valet, spotting Arlo in his black van across the street. He gave him a nod and went straight inside.

The receptionists perked up in surprise at his sudden appearance, but didn’t try to stop him as he marched to the elevators.

In a few minutes, he was walking to Kendall’s door. He inspected the carpet outside her room and saw nothing that indicated a struggle. He tried her doorknob, but it was locked.

Sighing, Lucien turned and marched down the hallway to the next door.

He dug a card out of his pocket and, with a beep, quickly opened the door.

The moment he’d found out that Kendall was staying here and that Liam had loitered outside her door for over an hour, he’d booked the room next to hers.

For one reason only, and that was to be there if she got in trouble. Being who she was, not even the police was an option for her. Lucien made himself her option.

Shutting the door, he stalked straight to the living room balcony. It was a shared balcony that connected right to hers. Special rooms for cheating spouses, it appeared.

Stepping onto the balcony, he went over to hers and peered into the glass. With a start, he saw that the latch was up. The door was unlocked.

Lucien shoved it open and slapped the curtains out of his way as he rushed into her room.

“Kendall?”

His eyes searched the empty room. He spotted her phone on the bed. The bathroom?

He rushed in that direction and then froze, a flash of blue catching his gaze. He spun toward it, a mass of silk sprawled across the floor.

“Kendall??” he called. Lucien cursed, rushing over to her. She was unconscious, nearly completely swallowed up in the extra-large royal blue silk pyjamas he’d once gifted her.

Kneeling beside her, Lucien checked her pulse. His hand covered her forehead, checking her temperature. It was normal, so was her pulse. So, why?

Her eyes suddenly opened.

He leaned in. “Kendall! You okay?”

She stared at him for a moment, hazy eyes blinking tiredly at him. Suddenly, she jolted up, clutching herself.

“Hey, relax,” he soothed. “It’s me. What happened?”

Kendall couldn’t get her head together. Rubbing her temple, she looked dazedly around herself. “I’m not sure. I think I… fainted.”

He stared at her in horror. “You fainted? Oh, my God. I overworked you.”

She swallowed weakly. “Water…”

“Here.” He grabbed a bottle and cracked it open, holding it to her mouth. She drank gratefully and thanked him.

“I’m taking you to the hospital,” he announced. “This flu isn’t as minor as I thought.”

“No, I’m okay. I feel better.”

“You fainted. That means your body shut down and was unable to keep going. You need medical—”

Cutting sharply through his speech, the sound of a ringing phone filled the room. Kendall went still, her eyes widening.

Lucien frowned, studying her expression. “What? It’s just your phone.”

He got up, went over to her bed and picked it up. “It’s Sabrina.” He answered the call and put it on loudspeaker as he walked back to Kendall. “What do you want?”

There was a scoff. “What do I want? What are you doing picking up my best friend’s phone?”

“Your best friend fainted; she’s sick.”

Sabrina gasped. “What?! Omg, Kendall, I’m so sorry! Where is she?”

Kendall straightened. “I’m… I’m here.”

“Ohhh, Ken, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have played around, I didn’t know you were sick!”

Kendall frowned. “What do you mean?”

Sabrina made a sobbing sound. “The prank call? Isn’t that why you fainted?”

The words sent a chill so cold down Kendall’s back that it felt like her skin had iced over. “Sabrina… that was you?”