Inheritance

Chapter 41

The rest of the dinner had gone surprisingly well, considering the arcanely smug woman that stayed engrained on my mind. Strangely enough, I couldn't seem to forget the haughtiness of her aura or the way she'd spoken so arrogantly and pranced around like she'd owned the damn place. 

And Kendall had in one way or another...allowed her to. Not that he was superman or anything, but I had always perceived him to be someone who was indomitable.

Though I was curious about the impish woman, I held in my increasing reservations. If I had learned a thing or two from being around him after all this time, I knew it was better to hold off on asking about her. There was a high probability that bringing her up in any shape or form would only provide him with more reason to refortify the walls I'd worked so fortuitously to break down. 

The more I played out the doomed scenario in my head, the further I realized that voicing my concerns wouldn't serve to benefit either of us for the time being. Especially, if I valued my peace. If I truly wanted more information on her, I would need to go about soliciting it in a strategic way. 

Therefore, or at least for the remainder of the night, I planned to act like I was unbothered by the hostile encounter. Rather, I'd find a more subtle way to bring it up on an entirely separate occasion. Though, I had to admit that it was beginning to get a bit cumbersome the way I seemed to always end up in situations where I was forced to uncover the many nuances of Kendall's covert lifestyle. 

Quite frankly, I was growing wary of it. Besides, it wasn't like he'd gone the extra mile to grant me the courtesy of explaining who she was, anyways.

Taking this all in, I couldn't help but stare begrudgingly at the preoccupied man sitting in front of me while he busied himself on his phone. Sure, he was gorgeous, rich, successful, and even charming—at times. But, that did nothing to take away from the collective realization that he possessed so many coded layers to him that I truthfully questioned whether I could handle.

When Kendall finally glanced up from his phone, it was to call over the waiter to pay the bill. Shaking my head, I attempted to revert my focus to the positives of the night. 

Throughout the dinner, I'd noticed how he'd made an extended effort to discuss various aspects of his childhood, even going as far as to speak on some of the more monumental events that took place after I left California. Granted, most of the stories had consisted of innocently nostalgic memories—like asking out his first girlfriend, or his unusual time in private school.

Although it wasn't much, I recognized that it was a start. Especially for someone as diplomatic as him. For some unknown reason, I had this hopeful feeling that he would eventually become less guarded overtime.

~~~

After dinner, Kendall had rather effectively convinced me to spend the night at his estate. The ride back to his place was riddled with a comfortable silence, as he held my hand over the central console for most of the drive. His chauffeur, whose name I still hadn't learned, trailed behind us in my Range Rover, owing to my persistence that my car not remain overnight at the restaurant bay.

Once we arrived at Kendall's property, I almost instantly let him know that the first thing I planned to do was shower. Considering how I had consciously overdone my makeup, I was now eager to rid my skin of the excessive layers of foundation, powder, and concealer still plastered on my face.

Kendall seemed to quickly act on the request, making prompt accommodations for his housing staff to prepare his master bathroom. By the time he'd led me up the stairs and to his bedroom, the wash space had been thoroughly arranged with a wide selection of costly shampoos, lotions, hair creams, and other essential toiletries.