Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Minerva

I could barely remember the drive back to the hotel. My mind was still stuck on what happened. My lips still felt sore from the kiss, and my skin still felt hot where Kendrick’s hands had touched me.

The moment the hotel suite door closed behind us, I turned around and faced him.

“You have a fiancée,” I said. My voice was full of anger. “You kissed me like that, but you have a whole fiancée downstairs. A woman in a red dress who calls you darling in front of cameras.”

Kendrick threw his key card onto the table. It slid across the surface before stopping.

“Minerva…”

“No. Don’t say my name like that.” I stepped closer. “You pulled me away from everyone. You kissed me. And while you were doing that, Elena was downstairs smiling for the whole world like she owned you. What is wrong with you?”

He rubbed his face and ran his hands through his hair. It became messy as he looked away.

“It’s not what you think.”

“Then explain it.” I crossed my arms. “Because right now, it looks like you are engaged and still kissing me when nobody is watching.”

“I am engaged,” he said loudly. “But only on paper.”

I gave a small, bitter laugh.

“On paper? That makes everything better?” I shook my head. “Does Elena know that? Because she looked pretty real when she kissed your cheek and smiled for the cameras. She looked real when she told everyone you were a perfect couple.”

“She knows exactly what this is.”

Kendrick started walking around the room. He looked stressed, like he had been carrying a heavy secret for a long time.

“My father owes money to dangerous people,” he said. “Not the kind of people who send letters or make phone calls. These people hurt the things you care about to get what they want.”

I stayed quiet.

“Titi is seventeen,” he continued. “She is still in school. She is the only person in that family I truly care about. I will do anything to keep her safe.”

He stopped walking and looked at me.

“Elena’s father is on the board of three major banks. He has the power to clear my father’s debt if Elena and I get married. The engagement is only there to protect Titi until everything is finished.”

I stared at him, trying to understand.

“So after the debt is gone?”

“After the contracts are signed and everything is settled, Elena and I will separate,” he said. “No real marriage. No love. No future together.”

My anger slowly changed into confusion.

“You’re doing all of this… to protect your sister?”

Kendrick nodded.

“Yes. She is the only reason I agreed to this.”“I’m not marrying her. I’m engaged to her. There’s a difference. The paperwork is already drawn up so the engagement itself acts like a legal shield. If anything happens to Titi before the debt is handled, Elena’s family has every reason to come after the people who touched her. That’s the deal. That’s all the deal is.”

“And you didn’t think I needed to know that before you kissed me?”

“I wasn’t planning on kissing you,” he snapped. “I saw Liam’s hands on your face and I lost it. Then we were on the balcony and I just… I stopped thinking.”

The fight went out of me all at once. My shoulders dropped. “So you’re not in love with her.”

“I can barely stand being in the same room as her.”

“And the photos? The way she touches you?”

“Image. League likes a clean story. Sponsors like a clean story. My father likes a clean story. None of it is real.”

I took one step closer. Then another. The space between us disappeared because I closed it. My hands went to the front of his shirt and I pulled him down until our mouths almost touched again.

“Then stop talking,” I said.

He made a sound that was half groan half laugh and kissed me like he had been holding it back for months. This time I met him just as hard. My fingers worked the buttons of his shirt while his hands found the zipper at the back of my dress. The black fabric slid down my arms and pooled at my feet. His jacket hit the floor next. We stumbled toward the bed without breaking the kiss for longer than a second.

Kendrick pushed me onto the mattress and followed me down. His mouth moved from my lips to my jaw to the side of my neck. I arched under him when his teeth scraped lightly. He pulled the cups of my bra down and his mouth closed over one breast like he had been starving for it. The heat of his tongue circled and then he sucked hard enough that my back left the sheets. I grabbed his hair and held him there.

“God, your mouth,” I breathed.