A clank of metal woke Kennedy up from her sleep. Well, it would have been great if Samuel had gone to make their breakfast-as last night, he was being too rough and her body ached, especially her lower body.

However, the big body of Samuel stayed beside her in a deep slumber, snoring softly and it was 3 a.m.

She heard a few of the utensils dropped on the ground and she sat up taking her nightgown. Her heart somersaulted in her chest and she wore the silk cloth.

She nudged Samuel and widespread, "Samuel?"

He didn't reply.

She nudged him hard and called again, keeping her voice down, "Samuel!"

He let out a groan of annoyance and turned to his sides, taking the sheet over him.

"Samuel!"

"What?" He hissed in his sleep, his voice was throaty and deep.

"You sure, you had locked the main door?" She asked looking at his bedroom door as she clearly heard footsteps from behind it. Someone was walking around and cold sweat formed on her forehead. What were the chances that there would be a ghost?

"Hmm... Why?" He started to snore again.

"Because someone might be using our kitchen in the middle of the night."

He hummed but his snore stopped as he sat up at a lightning speed.

"What?" He growled. It was dark to see what his face displayed but from his state, she could sense he was aware of someone indeed using the utensils.

Kennedy had always looked after their countryside house and as their town was small and often encountered burglary she was always cautious about it. However, she never once came face-to-face with one until today.

She got up from the bed and searched for a stick or a weapon that could land a good smack on the burger's head.

"Wait here, I will check it out," she said as she took a baseball bat from a corner. With a little light in the room, she took cautious steps and headed to the door.

Samuel yelled in a low voice, "Wait! Are you out of your mind?"

He got up and wore a pantsuit. Kennedy turned and saw Samuel's dark silhouette was coming and with gathering courage, she opened the door without creating a sound.

"Give me the fucking bat and stay behind me!" He hissed from her behind but she was now peeking at their kitchen and all the air pulled out from her lungs as she saw a tall man in a hood standing in the middle of the kitchen with a knife.

Kennedy's hands shook but she tightened her grip on it as she dashed to the man and landed a blow with all the power she could muster.

"Argh!"

When she tried to hit him again he caught the bat. Kennedy's heart was going to burst as the hooded man tried to snatch it away.

"What the fuck!" The man scowled and Kennedy struggled to free her defensive weapon as adrenaline rushed through her body. She was determined she would beat him senseless then call 911. He was very tall like Samuel and had a good physique. If she didn't make him unconscious, maybe he could take two of them without a sweat. As she was unable to free her weapon, she took the saucepan from the counter to launch her next attack. She aimed for his head and swung it as he dodged it, however, it landed on his nose.

The man groaned and clasped his hands around his nose.

"Fuck!" Samuel cursed as he dashed to them.

When she was about to land another blow, Samuel approached from behind her and took the utensil.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Samuel growled and Kennedy felt her hands were empty. The defence she had already vanished and reached Samuel's hand.

"Why the hell was she trying to hit me? Is she trying to kill me?" The tall man shouted.

"Anyone would hit you if you break into a house in the middle of the night!"

Kennedy blinked at them. People don't usually ask burglars why they have come.

"Err... You know this burglar?" Kennedy asked Samuel and the man answered, "I am certainly not a burglar, lady. I am his brother!"

He put away his hands, anger flashing through his eyes and his nose was red with blood.

Now that she got a good view, he certainly seemed a bit identical with Samuel on the eyes and the nose part however, it swelled.

"You didn't say he was coming." She said Samuel who was by now irritated as he was stripped of his sleep and probably because she launched an attack on his brother.

"I didn't know he was coming."

"Alright, lady, whoever you are, now it's time for you to get out of here," he said and Kennedy went blank.

Cold sweat appeared on Kennedy's palms. Of course, he would say that if she beat her land lord's brother.

"And why would she get out of here?" Samuel asked.

"What else? You have picked her from one of your clubs, now it's time you and I talk about some important business."

"Well, you are wrong, I didn't pick her up from the club."

"Well, the hickeys say it all." Kennedy realised she was wearing only her short nightgown that hung from the straps. Pretty much all the hickeys are visible on her shoulders and upper chest. She felt uneasy.

She concealed herself behind Samuel and Samuel straightened up to hide her body from his brother's eyes. He wasn't wearing a t-shirt and the scratches of Kennedy were visible on his back. Her face heated. Shit!

"She lives here."

"W–what?"

"Apart from that, why are you here?" Samuel changed the topic and she was thankful for it.

"Well, I came after two years and that's how you are gonna welcome me?"

"If you don't have anything else to say, please, get out."

"Hey! I am older than you. At least have some respect. Besides, I crashed here before going home."

"Okay. Now that you have seen me, you can go home."

While both of the brothers indulged in their conversation she felt she should slowly go to her room while she had the chance.

"At first, I thought that too but after I came to know you are living with a girl—which is unusual—I will stay here for a few days then will go home." His answer made Kennedy halt taking her steps and she gulped. Maybe he was here to cut bad influences from his life. Any brother would do that. If it was her, she would do the same for her siblings.

Samuel's brows twitched as anger rolled off his skin. Kennedy cowered back as she could not understand why Samuel was so cold toward him. His brother certainly had a rough tongue but that was exactly as Samuel. No wonder they were brothers.

"Err—how did you enter, by the way?" Kennedy asked from behind Samuel and thought that would be great to divert the heated conversation.

"He is Dean Johnson, he can get any keys to any house."

"What? That's not good since that defeats the purpose of locking the doors for safety."

"What do you think, I go to visit everyone at night while breaking into their house?"

"Err...no?"

"You thought that."

"I am sleepy!" Samuel growled making both of them shuddered.

"Where do I sleep?" Dean asked.

"On the couch."

"I am not going to sleep on that dirty—" then his eyes followed the couch and it was pretty clean. Kennedy felt proud as she had cleaned everything a few days ago. Dean's eyes moved around with a frown on his face, "Wait, how the hell did you manage to clean everything?"

"I didn't," Samuel said with a straight face and Dean's eyes moved to Kennedy—who was still behind Samuel and peeking on him. She gave him an awkward smile.

"Still, I am not going to sleep in the drawing-room. I'll use the guest room," he demanded

"She is staying there."

"I don't mind sharing my bed." He flashed Kennedy a toothy grin and Samuel fisted his palms at his sides.

"Kennedy, shift to my room," Samuel ordered, still fuming in front of her. And she thought she paid for that room.

****

She took a few clothes as she needed it to use for a few days while locked the cupboard because all of her things were there and she didn't want him to see those. Especially her diary. Then she remembered he could get any keys!

"Oh no! I forgot my diary!"

"What?" Samuel asked as he took a side of his bed and sunk deeper on it.

"My diary! It's in the cupboard."

"Did you lock it?"

"Yes, but you said he can get any keys."

"That meant he could use his goons to make the keys. You seriously don't know who he is?" He asked.

"Yeah, your brother." She shrugged.

Samuel gave her a look. "Do you know who I am?"

"Samuel, what kind of question is that?" Kennedy said as she placed her clothes on his chair, "Of course, you are Samuel Johnson and you are in college, South Hill."

He nodded. "You don't know anything other than that?"

Kennedy wasn't sure what he was trying to ask. "Err... You have a few friends who are nice and you get angry at everything?" Kennedy was not sure if she was answering him or asking instead. Now that she thought, she didn't really know him well other than a few details.

A gap formed on his face as he grumbled, "I don't get angry at everything."

"You do."

"Hmm..." Samuel hummed and stated, "So, Sheila was right, you have no clue on anything."

Kennedy was awestruck by that. Maybe a little hurt because she didn't have a clue when Sheila and Samuel chatted behind her back. Damn, Sheila! She had to say that to him. She only hoped Sheila didn't spill other secrets.

"Hey! I do have clues," Kennedy said with an irritated voice.

"Tell me what do you know about me?" Samuel challenged as if he knew she couldn't answer. And she certainly could not but she replayed her memories and searched for any information on him but nothing came out. She cursed herself why didn't she follow him on Instagram?

"Fine! Tell me, what do you know about me?" She asked back and she was confident that he knew nothing about her as well.

"You're Kennedy Smith, born on 7th June 1992, you are from Ohido, a country from Asia although you don't look Asian." He eyed her.

"That's because I got my grandmother's genes. My mom is Asian but my father is from Europe, maybe I got my father's genes but my sister got Asian genes." She said and bit her tongue. She already told him about herself. She smacked her head mentally.

"Hmm... You have two siblings."

"Hey! Were you extracting information so you can tell many things about me?"

"You are the one who says everything about you." Samuel was right. On the other hand, Samuel never talked about his family, not even about his friends. He was very secretive. She felt it wasn't fair.

"You worked in High Tech Coding then it got bankrupted and now you live here because of your low wages," Samuel said shrugging his shoulders.

"How did you know that High Tech Coding got bankrupted? And what do you mean by low wages?" She narrowed her gaze down. Was he spying on her? It made her heart flutter and at the same time made her uncomfortable. How come he knew so much about her?

Maybe because of her ID. Of course, he would know.

"You lived in an apartment, now you can't. Of course, it's because of low wages." He stated matter-of-factly and added, "and High Tech Coding got bankrupted because my father Merric Johnson sued them."

There was a moment of silence. She felt she could not swallow it up. Wait! Merric Johnson!

"You—" Kennedy opened her mouth then shut it and then again opened it as if she was a fish.

He raised his brows, "Yes?"

"You are that bastard's—I'm so sorry—Merric Johnson's son?" She finally asked.

That means the brother who right now took her room was...

Samuel nodded.

"Then he is the renowned Dean Johnson?! Who took the shares of High Tech Coding and cut most of the employment?

He nodded and his face said he knew all these from the start. How come she didn't get to that conclusion?

"I am stripped." She bit her nails, "now no one is going to give me a job."

"Why?"

"Because I literally hit the Dean Johnson with a saucepan and broke his nose!"

Samuel laughed and the bed rocked with the vibration.

"And I may have argued with your father and gave him a piece of my mind over the phone." She resisted to grab her own throat and kill herself.

Samuel could not stop as he caught his belly and she clenched her teeth. Yes, he was having fun! Great!

After her formal and heated conversation with Merric Johnson, her boss lost the company and he still held a grudge against her. Her boss had cursed her with three years of bad luck. Of course, he was Asian and believed in superstitious beliefs. Maybe that was the reason she is struggling now. But her boss was a slacker. He used to make her and the rest of his employees do his share of tasks.

After losing her job because of Merric Johnson, she had ended up right at the door of his son! How screwed up that would be. And not to forget she was also screwing with his son.

Kennedy slumped onto the bed and rumbled, " Don't laugh!"

And Samuel laughed.

---------
17th Feb, 2021