Chapter 80 Untitled Chapter

Chapter 80 Untitled Chapter
The mansion was quiet. Too quiet.
The kind of quiet that made every creak in the floorboards sound like a confession.
Kendrix rolled over for what felt like the hundredth time. The sheets were tangled around her legs and damp from restless sweat.m but sleep wasn’t happening. She tried forcing herself to sleep, but it wasn't working.
With a frustrated sigh, she threw the blanket aside and sat up. The cold air hit her bare arms and raised goosebumps. She ran a hand through her hair, tried to talk herself back into bed and failed.
Maybe water would help. Maybe not.
But staying in that room with her thoughts was worse.
She padded downstairs in socks that were too big, the hem of her shirt slipping off one shoulder. The mansion stretched around her, all high ceilings and shadowed corners. No guards at this hour. No staff. Just her footsteps and the low hum of the fridge from three floors down.
The kitchen light was already on. A soft, yellow glow spilling into the hallway. She stopped in the doorway.
Roberto was sitting at the island, alone.
A glass of whiskey rested near his hand, amber catching the light. He wasn’t drinking it. His fingers weren’t even wrapped around the glass. Just resting beside it, like he had forgotten it was there. He was staring at it. Or maybe through it.
For a moment, Kendrix considered retreating. Backing out, pretending she had never seen him like this. Unarmored. Still. Not the man who barked orders and kept everyone at a distance.
Then the floor creaked beneath her. Roberto looked up. Their eyes met.
Neither of them spoke. The silence stretched, but it didn’t cut. It just sat there between them, heavy and unfamiliar. Not hostile. Not awkward. Just… new. Like they had both forgotten how to talk without a reason.
“Can’t sleep?” she asked eventually. Her voice came out softer than she meant.
“No.” His voice was rough from disuse. He didn’t look away.
She nodded and moved to the fridge. The cold air hit her face when she opened it. She grabbed a bottle of water, twisted the cap off, and took a long drink. When she turned around, Roberto was still watching her. Not scanning the room. Not checking exits. Just watching her.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
His expression didn’t change. The scar at his jaw twitched once. That was all.
“You laugh more now.”
Kendrix blinked. The water bottle crinkled in her grip.
“What?”
“You laugh more.” He said it like he was reporting a fact. Like he had been keeping count.
Of all the things she expected him to say at 2 AM in a silent mansion, that wasn’t one of them. She had expected “go back to bed” or “don’t ask questions.” Not that.
She leaned against the counter, the marble cold through her shirt. “Is that a complaint?”
“No.”
His answer came immediately.No hesitation. No calculation.
Something warm settled unexpectedly in her chest. It wasn't a relief. It wasn’t comfort either. It was the feeling of being seen without being dissected. She wasn’t used to it.
“Oh.”
A tiny smile touched his lips. Barely there. And it was gone almost before it started. But she caught it.
“Don’t start.” The words were dry, but his eyes weren’t.
That made her laugh. Soft at first, then real. The sound bounced off the high ceilings and filled spaces that had been empty for years.
And this time Roberto actually smiled. Not a small one. Not one he hid behind his glass or let die when someone looked.
A real one. The kind that reached his eyes and softened the hard line of his mouth. The kind that made him look ten years younger and ten times more dangerous, because now she knew what was under all that armor.
The sight of it stole her next thought completely. She just stood there, holding the water bottle, forgetting why she had come downstairs.
Roberto noticed. His smile faded slightly, like he remembered himself. The walls started going back up, brick by brick.
“What?” He asked, voice quieter now.
Kendrix looked away first. At the counter. At her socks. Anywhere but at him. Her face felt hot. Stupid.
“Nothing.”
He didn’t believe her. She could tell by the way his gaze didn’t drop. He kept watching her like he was trying to figure out the answer she wouldn’t give. Neither did she.
She took another drink of water, but it didn’t cool the heat in her chest. The mansion was still quiet. But it didn’t feel empty anymore. It felt like something had shifted while neither of them was looking.
Roberto finally picked up the glass. He didn’t drink. He just turned it between his fingers once, twice. Then set it down again.
“You should go back to bed, Kendrix.”
She should. She knew she should.
But she didn’t move.
Kendrix set the water down and hugged her arms around herself. The words came out before she could stop them, quiet and a little shaky, but honest.
“Roberto… Can you put me to sleep?”
Not like a command. Like a question. Like trust. Romantic and sweet, the way people asked for comfort when they were too tired to pretend they were strong.
His eyes softened for just a fraction, but it was there. The armor cracked, and for a second he wasn’t the man who controlled every room he walked into. He was just a man she had asked for something gentle.
Roberto set the glass down with a quiet click. He stood slowly, like he was afraid sudden movement would break the moment. When he reached her, he didn’t crowd her. He just tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, his thumb brushing her cheek like she was something fragile he had been entrusted with.
“Yeah,” he murmured. “I can do that.”
He held his hand out. No demand. No pressure. Just an offer.
Kendrix stared at it for half a second, then slipped her smaller hand into his.
His fingers closed around hers, warm and steady.