Chapter 81 Untitled Chapter

Chapter 81 Untitled Chapter
Kendrix hadn’t realized how cold her hands were until that moment. His palm swallowed hers, rough skin and steady heat driving the chill out from her bones.  
Roberto glanced down at their joined hands once. Just once. Like he was memorizing the way her fingers looked tangled in his. Then he started walking.  
There was no teasing. No comment.  
No “this is ridiculous, Kendrix.”  
Just guiding her quietly through the sleeping mansion. His thumb brushed slow circles over her knuckles, the only sound between them the soft press of their steps on the marble.  
The silence felt different now. Not empty.  
Not heavy. Just…comfortable. Safe. The kind of safe that didn’t need words to prove itself.  
Kendrix walked half a step behind him, watching the broad line of his shoulders. The familiar stiffness was still there, but it wasn’t as sharp as usual. The wall he always kept between himself and everyone else had a crack in it tonight. Like he had forgotten to put all the walls back up after she asked him to stay.  
When they reached her room, Roberto pushed the door open and stepped aside. The lamplight spilled across the floor, soft and gold.  
Kendrix hesitated. Then looked at him.  
He looked back at her.
“What?”  
She shook her head. “Nothing.”  
That was a lie. A terrible one. Because suddenly she felt embarrassed, raw, exposed. This had seemed like a perfectly reasonable idea downstairs in the kitchen, with the quiet and the whiskey he wasn’t drinking. Now she was standing in her bedroom asking Roberto to put her to sleep like she was five years old and afraid of the dark. Heat crawled into her cheeks.  
Roberto noticed immediately. Of course he did. He always noticed everything about her.  
His eyes softened into something warmer. Something that made her chest ache.  
“You changed your mind?” He asked.
“No.”  
The answer came too fast, defensive, honest.  
That earned the smallest twitch at the corner of his mouth. The ghost of a smile he tried to hide.  
Kendrix groaned. “Don’t.”  
“I’m not doing anything.”  
“You almost smiled.”  
“Almost.”  
She pointed accusingly at him, trying to cover the heat in her face. “There.”  
“That’s not a crime.”  
“It should be.”  
For a second, neither of them moved. The air between them went still and charged. Not with tension, but with something tender and dangerous and new.  
Then Roberto stepped into the room.  
The door clicked softly shut behind him.  
Not fully locked. Just closed. Like he was choosing this space with her.  
The room felt smaller somehow. Not in a bad way though. Just... aware. Like every breath mattered more in here.  
Kendrix climbed onto the bed and pulled the blanket up to her chin. Immediately she felt ridiculous.  
Roberto stood beside the mattress looking completely out of place. A six-foot-something terrifying man standing guard over a girl with tangled hair and oversized socks. All sharp edges and scars, watching her like she was the most important thing in the mansion. The image was so absurd she laughed.  
“What?”  
“You look like you’re protecting the bed from intruders.”  
Roberto looked around the room once, slow and deliberate. “It seems secure.”  
That only made her laugh harder. The sound bubbled up, bright and real, and filled the corners of the room that had always felt too big.  
For a moment Roberto just watched her.  
Like he wanted to remember the way her face changed when she laughed without guarding it.  
The laughter faded slowly and silence returned. Softer this time. Deeper. Like the room was holding its breath with them.  
Kendrix settled deeper into the pillows. Her eyes were already heavy, but she didn’t want to miss this. She didn’t want to miss him.  
“So what now?”  
Roberto considered the question.  
Then he pulled the chair from her desk and placed it beside the bed. The legs scraped quietly against the floor. He sat, elbows resting on his knees, close enough that she could feel the heat of him without touching.  
Kendrix stared. “You’re just gonna sit there?”  
“Yes.”  
“All night?”  
“Probably.” His voice was low and certain. No doubt in it.  
Her chest did that strange thing again.  
That warm, aching little squeeze. Like something cracked open and let light in.  
“Roberto.”  
“Hm?”  
“You know that’s insane, right?” Her voice came out soft, teasing. But underneath it, wonder.  
His expression never changed. Steady as stone. “You asked me to help you sleep.”  
The simple certainty of it nearly stole her breath. No hesitation. Just acceptance.  
Like her asking mattered. Like she mattered. Like staying beside her all night wasn’t a burden…it was a choice he made without blinking.  
Kendrix swallowed, voice barely above a whisper. “Will you still be there when I wake up? In the morning?”
Roberto went still for a second. His jaw worked like he was deciding if he should answer at all. Then he exhaled through his nose and met her eyes.
“Where else would I be?”
His thumb paused on her knuckles, then kept moving, slow, deliberate. “Sleep, Kendrix. I’m not leaving.”
Kendrix looked away before he could see the emotion creeping onto her face. The way her throat tightened. The way her eyes stung. She pressed her cheek into the pillow instead.  
The room grew quiet again. A few minutes passed. Then ten. Then twenty.  
The mansion settled around them. The floorboards were cooling. Wind brushing the windows. The grandfather clock somewhere downstairs chimed soft with patient notes.  
Kendrix’s eyes felt heavier. Sleep finally crept in, slow and sweet. The fear that usually sat in her chest at night was gone. Replaced by the steady sound of Roberto’s breathing and the warmth of his presence right beside her.  
The last thing she saw before drifting off was Roberto still sitting there. One arm resting on the chair. Watching over her.  
Not because he had to. Not because it was his job. Because he chose to.  
Because she asked, and that was enough.  
And for the first time in a very long time, Kendrix fell asleep feeling completely safe. Not just guarded or protected. Safe.