Chapter 60

Kendall chose not to phone Lucien after all.

What she did was get up, dye her roots and then take a long, hot shower.

Once she was wearing nothing but panties and a thick, fluffy robe, she dropped onto the sofa by the balcony doors and bathed in the sunlight.

Her shoulders felt lighter somehow. She still felt like crap over what she had done the previous night, and the fact that it had resulted in her losing her job, but knowing that she was free from work for the time being outshone that.

Her phone rang as she enjoyed the sun’s warmth on her skin, and she put down her glass, reaching for the device.

She sat up in surprise, quickly answering. “Hello?”

“Kendall!” Justin said. “How are you?”

“I’m well, thank you…” She sounded confused. “Is Mr Sinclair okay?”

“Do I only ever call you because of him?”

She blinked. “Sir, you’ve never called me before.”

“Oh!” He chuckled. “Well, never mind. Lucien’s fine, except for his usual ailment of being a total jerk.” He paused. “I heard he fired you.”

Kendall pursed her lips, lowering her gaze. “That’s correct.”

“What happened, Kendall?”

His sympathetic voice made her feel guilty. Lucien looked mean for firing her when it was really her fault. But she couldn’t tell Justin that.

“We uh… we have different values. We realized we’re not a good fit to work together. It was a temporary arrangement anyway, to help him out while he looked for a secretary.”

Justin sighed. “That is true, you are far too over-qualified for that position.” He hummed thoughtfully. “Speaking of your qualifications, Kendall…”

“Yes?”

He hesitated. “I know Lucien’s not going to be able to ask you, so I’m doing it for him. We need a favour.”

She straightened. “Okay.”

“You know what’s happened with Mrs Kempt’s company, don’t you? The lawsuits she’s been fighting for the past year against her late husband’s partners.”

“The Al-Siddiq deals, yeah, I know about it.”

“You know a man called Hamza Rahim?”

“He’s the second son-in-law of the Al-Siddiq family. Recently divorced because he got into a cheating scandal involving a bunch of models and a yacht.”

“Excellent, that’s him. He’s heading to Washington, D.C, next weekend for a convention that neither I nor Lucien can attend because he’ll recognize us. But the man is full of spite, we need a way to get him on our side, so—”

“So, we can get enough information and evidence to get them to stop bullying Mrs Kempt,” she completed.

“Exactly,” he said. “Kendall. I know you and Lucien aren’t on great terms right now after the way he yelled at you yesterday… but we really need this. We have no one else who can go in there, befriend the man and slip our deal offer in as confidentially as you probably can.”

She pursed her lips, thinking it over. “Well. It’s no big deal, I could totally do it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I’m just not sure Mr Sinclair would want me to—”

“Forget about him. You won’t be going alone, either he’ll go with you, or I’ll have you accompanied by security to make sure no harm comes to you. Are you okay with that?”

She sighed. “Yeah.”

He breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you so much. I know this isn’t an easy request. I’ll send you all the details, okay? In a few days, we’ll meet for dinner to finalise everything. That’s okay?”

“It’s okay.”

He thanked her again and then ended the call. Lowering her phone, she sighed and melted into the chair. Silence filled her ears as she thought the whole thing over.

Lucien would be pissed.

A slow smirk tugged at the corner of her lips.

She hoped.

Her phone vibrated. Glancing at the screen, Kendall read the text message she’d received. It was Sabrina.

Sleep over tonight? I miss you. ♥

She sat still, thinking about it. She thought about it for a while longer, considering every angle of the matter, and then forced herself to believe that this was just her friend asking for a sleepover. Nobody else mattered, and the equation could remain simple as long as Kendall didn’t overthink it. He probably wouldn’t be home anyway.

Finally, she typed: On my way.

She felt strangely at home as soon as she got to the Sinclair mansion. Helena welcomed her at the door with a hug, taking her bag.

“It’s been forever, Kendall, dear.”

“I’ve been so busy,” Kendall remorsefully said, linking her arm through Helena’s as they walked further into the house.

“You’ve lost weight, you haven’t been eating?” Helena fondly said, studying her.

“Oh, I’m fine, Helena,” Kendall said, smiling.

A happy scream split the air as Sabrina appeared at the top of the stairs. She came to a halt, staring irately at Kendall’s arm linked with Helena’s.

The housekeeper timidly lowered her gaze and slowly pulled her arm away from Kendall’s.

“I’ll h-have your room ready, Ms McCarthy.”

“No need!” Sabrina snapped, rushing down the stairs. She grinned at Kendall, running toward her with open arms.

“You’re sleeping in my room!” she said, engulfing her in a hug.

Smiling, Kendall hugged her friend, patting the back of her blonde hair. “Of course, if you’re going to hold me hostage, I can’t have a room of my own.”

“Don’t be mean,” Sabrina whined, tightening the hug. She pulled away and looked excitedly at Kendall. “We have so much catching up to do.”

“Brina, I saw you like last week.”

“Too long ago! And we also have to discuss… Liam…” She sheepishly lowered her gaze, and Kendall sighed.

“Are you sorry?”

Sabrina nodded, pouting. “He pressured me into it. I didn’t want to trick you into meeting him.”

Kendall rolled her eyes. “I’m hungry. Let’s have lunch.”

“Oh, wait, then I have to get my dad. I’m gonna make him eat with us.”

Kendall dug her heels in, going pale. “Your dad’s home? Why?”

Sabrina blinked. “He lives here, dummy.”

“Yeah, but… he works every Saturday.”

“I don’t know, whatever. Go to the dining hall, I’ll go get him.”

She turned for the stairs, and Kendall immediately grabbed her arm. “Don’t! Let’s just eat without him, please?”

Sabrina’s brows rose. “Oh... it’s cause he fired you. You’re gonna be uncomfortable?”

“Yeah.”

“Ugh, why did you let him fire you?!”

“What was I supposed to do? Fight him? He fired me this morning.”

“Good, then we can still convince him to take you back.”

Kendall was about to refuse, but then the words got stuck in her throat, her heart pounding when a dark head appeared upstairs.

Her stomach tightened, and dread filled her chest. Slowly, she looked up.

Lucien, looking at the phone in his hand.

“Helena!” he called. “Helena—” He looked up and stopped.

Across the space between them, their gazes met, and Kendall watched his expression drop.

“Dad!” Sabrina said. “Have lunch with us! It was Kendall’s idea.”