80

80
“What?” Lucien frowned, turning to Kendall. “You’re going to stay with him?”

“Oh!” Liam forced a smile. “Hello, Mr. Sinclair. Didn’t see you there.”

Being the biggest person in the front hall made it pretty hard to miss him, thought Lucien, glaring at Liam.

“It was my idea,” Sabrina said. “Liam has a spare condo.”

“Yes, and it would be my honor to have Kendall reside there,” added Liam, giving Kendall one of those longing looks, eyes filled with worship.

She pushed up the corner of her lips to smile. “Thanks.”

“My absolute pleasure, Ken.”

“Are you serious right now?” Lucien muttered, his voice darkening. “Wouldn’t it be better if you made it clear that you’re upset instead of bottling up and running away?”

Slowly, Kendall looked up at him. “I’ve been trying to express myself to you for the past week or so. You haven’t listened to me once.”

“I was busy working. I’ll listen now, so just sit down for a second.” He turned to point at Liam. “Get out. She’s not moving in with you.”

“Dad,” Sabrina warned.

“You don’t get to decide that,” Kendall said tightly, holding onto her temper as best she could. “I’m an adult, I make decisions for myself. It was my choice to call Liam.”

“That’s because you don’t know him as well as you think!”

“I’ve known him since high school.”

“Did you not stop to consider, just for a moment, why it is that Sabrina’s so eager to push you closer to him?”

“It doesn’t really matter, for real, as long as I get somewhere safe to stay,” she countered.

“Safe!” he repeated. “That’s the keyword. You are not going to be safe with him.”

Her green eyes, usually warm, were iced over when she looked at him. “I’ll be far safer with him than I’ll be with you! You’re not my father, so stop acting like you are!”

The jab was effective, piercing straight through him. He stared down at her, swallowing hard to ignore the singe. Maybe she wasn’t wrong there, but that didn’t mean he’d let Liam get his grubby hands on her.

However, before Lucien could say anything more, Liam lunged forward, taking Kendall’s bag.

“I’ll carry this for you! You have everything you need?”

She glanced at him, nodding. “Yeah. Let’s go.”

Brushing past Lucien, Kendall followed Liam to the door. He turned around to watch them leave, buzzing to say anything to stop her, but nothing came to mind.
When Lucien’s mouth opened to speak, the door was already slamming closed. They were gone.
With a scoff, he stood there, glaring.

“Sonofabitch,” he whispered, getting his phone out.

Pausing, he sighed. He couldn’t call Arlo; he was probably busy tailing Judith. Shit, he’d have to tail them himself. Lucien groaned, pacing around the front hall.

He didn’t have a choice. The little creep hadn’t left an address; he couldn’t just trust him to take Kendall to some unknown location. Arlo had found out more than just a bit of information. Liam didn’t just loiter outside Kendall’s room at night or just get a copy of her key card.

He’d used the card. He’d been inside her room. The same day Lucien had caught the bastard who’d broken into her room, Arlo had installed a camera to catch anything they could while they questioned the man they’d caught.

It was true that Liam didn’t send the criminal; the two had clearly been working independently. It was just a really fucked up coincidence that Liam had also chosen the same day to get into Kendall’s room.

Lucien still had the footage. Liam had gone in and then disappeared into her bathroom for several minutes. Lucien shuddered to think of what he could’ve been doing in there.

Especially since his next move had been to come back into her room and go straight to the closet. The sight of that little creep searching through Kendall’s underwear had made Lucien sick to his stomach. He’d shoved several of them into his pockets. Then, strangely, he’d gotten in her bed and buried his face in her pillow.

Muttering curses now, Lucien glared at the door again. Fuck it.

Maybe he’d come across as a condescending asshole, but what he wouldn’t allow was for Kendall to get hurt.

The door opened, and Sabrina sashayed in with a happy smile. “They make such a cute couple!”
Lucien marched past her, and she blinked, turning around. “Dad, where are you going? They’ve already left!”

Lucien wasn’t listening. Getting in his car, he revved out of parking and raced down the driveway, much to Sabrina’s annoyance.

She watched her dad go with a huff, scowling after him. There was no need for him to be so protective. If he kept Kendall away from Liam, then Sabrina wouldn’t get his investment. That was Liam’s sole condition for investing in Sabrina’s new company. She had to get him and Kendall together, and he would hand her a blank cheque so Sabrina could write any amount she wanted.

What was so wrong about it anyway? Liam was a highly sought-after bachelor; he was good enough for Kendall. Sabrina was doing them all a favour.

But her dad clearly wanted to ruin it!



“I’m actually staying here right now,” Liam said as he led Kendall into his living room. “But I’ll leave tomorrow morning. You don’t mind me staying the night with you, do you?”

When she didn’t answer, he glanced over. “Ken?”

Blinking, she looked at him. “Hm? Oh. Yeah, sure.”

He smiled, his blood soaring through his veins as he struggled to contain his excitement. “Awesome. I’ll make you dinner!”

“You don’t have to,” she softly said.

“Of course, I do. This is our chance to get... closer.”

With a laugh, he turned away, and she sighed, looking out of the windows. She really didn’t need him to cook for her.
Kendall just wanted to be left alone, but clearly, Liam had no plans of allowing that. And, true to his word, he didn’t.

His place was incredibly high-class. All tall glass windows, marble floors, and abstract art. She didn’t know why she’d expected a normal apartment. The apartment she’d lived in was stunning, but this place was incredible.

She couldn’t enjoy it, however, because Liam was hanging over her head. He was behaving like they were newlyweds, moving into their first apartment.

She was mildly uncomfortable but chose to bear with it. He promised to be gone by morning, so she convinced herself to ignore her discomfort.
Once they’d showered and changed, he tucked her onto his massive sofa and covered her with a throw.

“What do you want to watch?” he asked, picking up the remote.

He would make sure she was impressed. He’d treat her so well, she’d realize what a great guy he was. After treating her like a queen and cooking for her, she would definitely be ready to return the favour.

He’d already perfumed the bed in his bedroom. He’d waited years for Kendall to look at him, so, no matter what… he wouldn’t waste this opportunity.