Chapter 56

Getting drunk was easier said than done when you had alcohol PTSD.

The four of them were at a table in a popular bar, their table filled with drinks and snacks.

“Stop staring at it like it’s gonna bite you!” Tanner said, laughing.

“Kendall, babe, you’re supposed to drink the alcohol. Staring at it won’t make you drunk.”

She sighed. “You don’t understand. Last time I drank was at Yale, and I woke up with the mother of all headaches. Nearly died on the toilet bowl, too.”

All three of them gasped.

“You went to Yale?” Tanner whispered reverently.

Kendall didn’t hear him over the bar noise, but she’d read his lips.

She gave them an awkward smile, nodding.

“And you’re taking shit from the Sin?!” Samantha exploded.

All three of them jolted, staring at her.

She huffed, shoving her hair back as she poured herself another drink. “He never appreciates what he has until he loses it! That’s why he’s single!”

Kendall blinked at the sudden change of topic.

“So much passion and energy, Sam?” Georgia teased, laughing.

“What did you drink at that party at Yale?” Tanner asked.

“It was a book club meeting,” Kendall corrected.

He and Georgia fell over each other laughing, and she blinked. “I’m serious!”

They laughed even harder, and Tanner cooed. “You're so cute!”

Kendall smiled in confusion. “Thanks? It was a book club meeting, though.”

“And y’all got hammered while reading books?” Samantha asked, finally letting go of her determination to remain unfriendly.

“Yeah, but halfway through we tossed the books away and started talking about ancient Yale lore and all the conspiracy theories.”

“Okay, but what did you drink?” Tanner asked.

“Red wine,” she said.

“Oohhhh,” they all said.

“That does give nasty headaches,” Georgia said, taking away Kendall’s wine glass. “Sorry, I just thought it would suit your girly tastes better.”

Kendall looked curiously at Georgia’s small shot glasses. “Maybe I can have what you’re having.”

“Bad idea,” Samantha said.

“Yeah, you’re not ready for that,” Tanner added.

“What is it?” Kendall stubbornly asked.

“Tequila shots,” Georgia said, grinning.

Raising her chin, Kendall thought of the week from hell she’d just survived and sighed. “I’ll have exactly that.”

Georgia cheered. “More tequila shots coming right up!”

The evening went by in a blur of laughter and clinking glasses.

Tanner switched Kendall’s shots out for water after her fifth one, and she couldn’t tell. He sat there in amused silence, watching her unknowingly hydrate. He’d never seen someone more lightweight in his life. Her boldness to want shots surprised him in the first place, but he didn't stop her. He just switched them out.

The other two were completely out of his control. Georgia was on the dancefloor, holding some man captive in a dance. Sam had her forehead on the table, fast asleep.

“So, basically,” Kendall drunkenly said, sniffling. “He yelled at me. And, I mean, I’m sorry, but I didn’t do it on pur— on purpose…”

He sighed, nodding. “I’m not surprised! We’ve all heard how mean he is. So, you’re quitting your job tomorrow.”

“Yup!” she yelled, blowing a lock of hair out of her face. “He thinks he’s all that. W-well… maybe he is.”

“No,” Tanner said. “You’re supposed to be talking shit about him, not complimenting him.”

She whined, pouting. “But he’s perfect.”

Her eyes shone with tears, and Tanner shook his head in amusement. “No! He's mean!”

She straightened, erasing her sad expression. "You're right."

He sighed. “You’re too nice! That’s why he won’t take you seriously. You need to give him a piece of your mind!”

She frowned, slowly nodding. “Piece of my mind…” She rose shakily to her feet and grabbed her bag. “Piece of my mind.”

Tanner’s eyes went wide as she turned to walk away. “Wait, no. Not to his face!”

He got up to grab her, but Samantha slid off the table, and he had to rush to catch her in his arms first.

Cursing, he watched Kendall stumble through the crowd. “Kendall! Don’t do it!”

She raised a hand, waved, and was gone.

It wasn’t hard to grab a taxi.

She muttered her destination like it was a declaration of war. “Ashcroft Capital.”

Justin had finally gone home. Lucien sat at his table, arms resting over his head as he leaned back in his chair. His eyes were closed as he dozed off, listening to the silent office around him.

He was exhausted. They’d figured out what to do to make Christina’s partners play fair, but it was bordering on unethical.

Justin wasn’t happy. The Al-Siddiq group had lost a key player recently after he divorced one of their daughters. Lucien wanted to get the man on their side, find out everything they were using to basically nudge Christina out of her husband’s own companies.

He needed to figure out how to—

The door slammed open.

Lucien jolted in his chair, startled awake.

The sound of heels pierced the silence in a staccato beat as she marched into his office.

He blinked, barely able to believe his eyes. “What the hell do you think—”

Kendall flung her bag onto a sofa and turned to glare at him. She raised a hand and pointed her index finger at him. “You. You think you’re all that?”

Lucien raised his brows and briefly closed his eyes in a long blink of sheer puzzlement. “Excuse me?”

“What gives you the right…” she said, walking slowly toward his table. “To yell at me?”

The closer she came, the more obvious it became. She was drunk.

He sighed, leaning back in his chair. “Who gave you alcohol?”

“I did! I’m an adult! A legal adult, you…” She sighed, scowling at him. “Apologize.”

He crossed his arms. “What for?”

“For ruining my day. My week, my month, my… my life?!”

“I ruined your life? That’s a bit dramatic—”

“Do you know how embarrassed I was?” she suddenly choked, her eyes filling with tears. "Why did you yell at me?"

He tensed. “I just… I needed you to do better.”

“How come you hate me now?” she sobbed.

“I don’t hate you—”

“Is it because we kissed?”

Lucien froze. When he looked at her, his eyes were filled with warning. “Kendall.”

“So?” she demanded. “What’s the big deal about a kiss?”

“What’s the big deal?”

“Is that why you’re so mad at me?” She stopped in front of his table, arms hanging at her sides as she looked at him in a mixture of sadness and rage. “You said I’ve been getting on your nerves. Well, same! Like, I don’t wanna be here either!”

“Then leave.”

“I will! Clearly, you’re struggling with me around!”

His eyes narrowed. “What?”

“You gonna deny it? That’s why you’re so mad at me, that’s why you’re being so mean. You’re actually mad at yourself, aren't you? Cause you can’t look at me without thinking about our kiss.”

“Kendall!”

“You can’t look at me without wanting to do it again.”

He swallowed hard.

She dropped forward, hands pressed to his table as she stared at him with dark, drunken green eyes. “I dare you… to tell me I’m wrong.”