23
Kelly
Pushing through the front glass doors, I stormed into Kendra’s building with my blood boiling hot.
“Mr. Black.” The doorman approached me.
“Where is she?” I hurried to meet him with furious eyes darting across his face.
“I don’t think now is a good time,” he said with a slight head shake.
I narrowed my eyes and rubbed my face. “What do you mean? She’s home, isn’t she?”
Clenching my hands into tiny fists, I watched Mr. Anderson’s gaze travel the length of my arm. “I can’t let you go upstairs when you’re like this.”
My nostrils flared as I bore my gaze deeper into his unwavering eyes. He was older and shorter but a hidden strength kept him standing firm. It was admirable but it wasn’t going to be enough to stop me from getting what I wanted. “I need to see Kendra.”
He held up his hands, showing me his palms. “Like I said, now is not a good time.”
I took one step closer, peering down over the man dressed in his silly black suit. “Don’t make me regret this.”
He nodded, still holding his palms an inch away from my chest. “She has a visitor.”
My eyes widened as fury zipped to my extremities. Without hearing anything more, I stepped to the side. Mr. Anderson grabbed me by the arm but I broke free and hurried to the elevator with him threatening to call security. I didn’t have to ask who Kendra was with because I already knew. His tone gave it away.
Kendra was with another man.
Stepping in front of the elevator, I repeatedly jabbed the button like it would speed things up. My breath was steaming through my nostrils as I clenched my teeth. Looking down, my hands were still balled in fists and my heart beat fast enough to cause a heart attack.
I didn’t know who she was with but just the thought of her being with another man was enough to make my head pop. “C’mon!” I screamed while sending my fist into the metal door a second before they opened.
I pushed the woman stepping out of the car to the side, only to turn and see Mr. Anderson on the phone staring in my direction. He wasn’t the kind of man to bluff so I knew my time was limited before security would track me down and kick my ass out.
The journey up to Kendra’s floor couldn’t have taken longer. Time slowed and there was nothing I could do to make it speed up. I tapped my toes anxiously on the floor, wondering if security would be waiting for me before I had a chance to see who Kendra was with.
I paced.
Rolled my neck.
Cracked my knuckles.
By the time the car slowed to a stop, I flexed my muscles, puffed out my chest, and held my breath, waiting to see what I would be met with once the doors opened.
Peeking my head around the corner, the hall was empty. I sighed.
Marching at a quick clip, I pounded my fist against her door, demanding she open it. “Kendra!” I continued knocking, the force of each blow growing more intense with each second that passed. “Kendra. Open up!”
The door creaked open. “Kelly?”
Her eyes were bright with surprise.
Glancing over her shoulder I could smell the scent of another man.
“I was just about to call you.” She opened the door all the way, and without waiting for an invitation I pushed my way inside.
I looked toward the couch. Nothing. Then I hurried to the bathroom. Still nothing. I searched her bedroom and her closet. The man was nowhere to be found.
“What’s going on?” She followed me around like a lost puppy. “Is something wrong?”
Making my way back to the front, I saw the flowers I’d sent her and thought back to what I had written in the note.
“They’re beautiful.” She clasped her hands down in front of her and flashed a weak but appreciative smile. “Thank you.”
“Last night,” I took a deep breath in, “where did you sleep?”
She furrowed her brows and gave me a questioning look. “Here.”
I cocked my head to the side and gave her a look.
“I swear. Kelly,” she hugged herself inside her arms, “what’s going on?”
“I don’t like not hearing from you.” I watched her eyes glance over to the note folded on the table next to the bouquet of flowers. She was right, they were beautiful. “Contrary to what I said in that note—” I pointed to the flowers, “—you need to let me know where you’re at—at all times.”
Silence hung in the air between us and I watched Kendra plant one hand into her hip while the other lifted to rub her forehead. “I see.” Then she turned to face me. “How did you get up here, anyway?”
The muscles in my neck tensed.
“Fucking shit, Kelly,” Kendra cursed. “If this is the way you’re going to treat me, you can’t just come up here and expect me not to consider this visit an invasion of my privacy.”
My brows raised. “You’re supposed to do as you’re told.”
She jumped, bringing her heels together and standing tall while saluting me. “Yes, sir!”
“It’s our arrangement.”
“Why didn’t you call if you missed me so much?”
I stroked my chin, staring at her out of the corner of my eye.
“Huh?”
My head gently shook as I couldn’t stop looking at her thick moist lips and the way her tongue slid over them.
“And since you brought it up, maybe I should ask where you were early this afternoon.” Her brows raised as she took one step toward me. “Huh? Who were you with?”
I pinched my runny nose between my fingers as thoughts of this morning’s anguish filled my head. I didn’t ask how Kendra knew because I didn’t care. My visit to Nora’s grave with Kaycee was our affair. Not Kendra’s. Those were our memories, our emotions, and if I started talking about it now, I knew that it would cause more unnecessary distress than even I was prepared to handle in this moment.
Turning my back, I rooted my hands into my hips and tipped my chin to the ceiling.
“I should have known,” Kendra murmured.
What I couldn’t say was how I silently wished for her to have called me this morning so that I could take my mind off the past and concentrate on what made me hopeful for a better tomorrow. “Who was the man you had here?”
When I turned around, Kendra shifted her weight to her opposite leg. Her cheeks blushed with guilt and she looked so damn cute I couldn’t stand it.
“Was it your way to get back at me because you’re jealous of something you know nothing about?” I asked.
“It’s not like that.”
“It’s not?” I slowly strode toward her, closing the gap between us.
She shook her head. “No,” she whispered.
“You’re mine.” Hooking my finger beneath her jaw, I forced her to look me in the eye. “Say it.”
Her beautiful greens danced with mine as her beating pulse ticked in her neck. “I’m yours.”
My eyes crinkled from the happiness filling my heart. Her voice was light, soft, and sexy all at the same time. “And I won’t allow you to invite other men into your apartment without my knowledge.”
Slowly, her hand lifted to my arm. She smoothed it over my bicep before letting her fingers come into contact with my face. Her other hand grazed over each ripple of my abs as she looked up at me beneath her brow. “You can’t have it both ways.”
I arched a brow.
“If you expect me to be loyal, then I expect the same from you.” There was a glimmer of strength in her eyes that got me hard. “There are no double standards here, Counselor.”
“The Madam said you’re afraid I might have another woman on the side.”
Her lips parted.
“Madam tells me everything.” I smiled.
Kendra dropped her gaze and flattened her hand on my chest, pushing herself away.
My stomach clenched as I asked, “What was it you were doing with the Madam?”
She moved to the window and stared outside without saying anything for a long minute. Then at last she said, “Madam called me in to see how things were going with me. Checking in with her,” she made quotation marks with her fingers, “investment.”
My mind swirled with deciding who to believe and who was only telling me half of the story. Kendra was hiding something, I could feel it, but I didn’t know what it was. But what I did know was how manipulative the Madam could be when it came to using people. And I refused to allow that to happen to my sweet Bella.
Kendra turned around and started cleaning up magazines lying aimlessly around her living room. “Her investment is doing just fine.” She flicked her eyes up to me as she plopped the stack directly on top of a pile of manila folders. “In case you’re wondering.”
“The clothes in your bedroom,” I paused to look in that direction, “it looks like you’re packing your things.”
“I’m leaving here.” She moved to the side of the couch and leaned against it with arms folded across her chest. “My cover is blown.”
She turned her head away and I watched her eyes scurry over the place she called home with a look on her face that said she wasn’t planning to come back. I didn’t ask what she meant by her cover being blown but I did care to know where she was planning to go. “Where are you going?”
“Anywhere but here.” She lifted her head and met my gaze, adopting a sullen look somewhere along the way.
My brows drew together. “What’s wrong?”
Her arms unfolded and she covered her face inside her shaking head.
“Kendra?”
“Stop, Kelly.” Her voice was muffled but clear as day. “I’m leaving.”
“I don’t know what’s going on with you, but this shit needs to stop,” I barked.
Even from behind her hands, I saw her face twist with pain and she began to cry. As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I regretted it. Whatever was going on wasn’t just something that she could wash away.
Closing the gap between us, I wrapped my arms around her trembling body and held her tight—wanting her to know that I was here for her, would always be here for her. And as she cried into my chest, all I could think of was how Madam warned me of Kendra being broken. I’d seen it. But I’d refused to believe she was right.
Until now.
“C’mon. Let’s finish packing your things. You’re coming with me.”