The kiss only lasted a second, she drew back with a swiftness that startled Kendrick. He waited for the alarm that would fill her eyes and cursed himself. What was he thinking? He wasn't thinking, that was the problem and now he was acting like a hormonal fifteen year old.

There was no alarm in her eyes, only a shyness that made her bite her lip, it only made him want to kiss her again. Just yesterday he had thought nothing could happen between them, there was just too much that needed sorting first and now he was kissing her like yesterday hadn't happened.

"Wait, what does this mean?" She blurted out.

Kendrick couldn't help his smile. "You want me to define a kiss? I'm not that apt with words."

Grace shoved him and he hit the side of his head on the sofa. He winced, thinking that those muscles from tennis weren't for show.

"I'll tell you now that I took a brief course in Taekwondo, I can hurt you in ways you cannot imagine." She said as if she read his mind.

"I surrender." He told her, but his smile was still on his lips. There were times when he wasn't even sure why he liked her, then other times like now she would smile or disarm him with that her quick wit that would make him remember why.

"What does this mean, Kendrick? I'm serious here."

His hands went to her face, traced her brows and then her lips until a breathy sound escaped them. He couldn't resist, he pressed his lips to hers. This time, she was kissing him back, her hands tugging at his hair and gasping when he kissed that beating pulse at her chin.

Kendrick pulled back, she did too, biting her smile.

"I like you, Grace, a whole damn lot, that is the most basic meaning I can come up with."

Her grin broke free.

"Fuck, fuck, I didn't sign up for this tonight." Grace said, shaking her head. "I'm going to be even more awkward about it now."

"You've always been awkward, I think I'll manage this new dose just fine." Kendrick shrugged. She touched her shoulder to his and traced the inside of her left wrist.

"I like you too, Kendrick, but I think you already knew that."

"I need the validation still, I mean, I'd feel really bad if my feelings were one sided."

Grace snorted. "Like you need any validation, I mean, look at you, you're gorgeous."

She paused, catching his smirk.

"Please go on," He urged her.

"You get the point, you have this quiet confidence that someone would sense a mile away."

That confidence she spoke of didn't come so easy, he hadn't been born with it, he had built it over the years but sometimes it still faltered. Her flaw in thinking was that she thought such confidence was bought.

"And you're beautiful." Kendrick said casually, way too casually that she narrowed his eyes at him. He hid his smile, Grace was probably the only person he knew couldn't take a compliment and he suddenly wanted to lavish all of them on her.

"Too early to go sappy on me." Grace told him bashfully.

"You're beautiful." He repeated.

"You're overwhelming." She admitted, blowing out a shaky breath.

"Let's slow down then, what do you want to do now?" Kendrick asked, suddenly remembering the dinner they had run from. As if she was thinking the same, she shot him a wry look.

"Apart from kiss you?" asked Grace, she looked away from him and he knew it took guts for her to admit those words. "I think we should go back,  I'm surprised no one's come looking for us."

Kendrick stood first, then he offered her a hand up. He didn't speak until they were at the door.

"I'm not sorry I kissed you, and I want to do it again."

She let out a strangled sound that might have been between a yelp and a laugh, then she scurried out the door like her tail was on fire. His laughter followed her.

Grace picked up her wig outside and when they returned back to the dinning room, all eyes turned to them. Amina was licking what looked like chocolate off her fork and she smirked when she noticed them.

"We just had dessert, Kendrick looks like he had his too, judging by the ruffled hair and Grace's smudged lip stick." She announced cheerily.

Joshua laughed, Charles St. Clair let out what might have been a choking sound, Jié Yong cast Kendrick a disappointed look that Kendrick had to look away from and Nina clapped briefly. Dayo Kingston was gone.

It was Tolu Kingston that looked furious, his jaw clenched tight and when Kendrick looked at him, he wanted to laugh at the hostility in the business mogul's eyes. For someone who acted so indifferent when it came to matters about his daughter, he sure fit instantly into the part of protective father.

"I'd mind my business if I was you," Kendrick said coolly to Amina. He held on to Grace's hand until they were seated again, he thought about telling Grace not to listen to Amina's taunts when he saw that she was boldly smiling at the mancracker, her hand possessively on Kendrick's shoulder.

"Jié Yong here was telling me that he wouldn't be considering selling, did your father tell you this, Kendrick?" It was the first time Remilekun Phillips was openly addressing Kendrick. He stared back, trying to figure out why.

"My father doesn't tell me much about his business." He answered, glancing down at the small plate of chocolate cake that was before him. He looked at Grace's plate and saw that she wasn't eating it either.

"Pity, Joshua is my heir after all, my business is his business."

Another jab, this time, Kendrick wasn't even sure whether it was a jab at his father, or him.

"You shouldn't write off Remilekun's offer just yet, Mr Yong." Charles St. Clair cut in easily, he might be the president but it was clearly Remilekun who ran things, Kendrick wasn't so worried about him as a potential enemy.

"I already have a buyer that's offering a lot more than I think the vice president can offer." Jié lied. Kendrick wanted to hug his father at the insult he was lacing in his words.

Remilekun Phillips was no business man, at least he didn't appear to be publicly, when it came to calculating his net worth and properties, the media never accounted for any business, he technically couldn't start offering more than a vice president was supposed to have, it would raise suspicious eyebrows.

But Remilekun Phillips was desperate than Jié knew, even more than Kendrick estimated, that the man's words took him aback.

"I'll pay double."

Jié Yong hesitated, he cast a sideway glance at Kendrick. "The current offer is in tens of millions."

Charles St. Clair was shooting glances that Remilekun Phillips ignored.

Even Joshua was frozen in his seat. Tolu Kingston however was smiling.

"I'll pay double, name your price,"

"I'm not selling." Jié repeated, this time, firmly that Remilekun had no choice but to back off. Kendrick knew that it wasn't the end of his persuasion though, he expected him to even try to buy under a different guise, maybe even throw a few threats to get to Yong Enterprises. Kendrick was ready for that.

There was an odd silence for the next couple of minutes as Amina collected everybody's desserts to add to her own. Silence until Tolu Kingston disrupted it, he stood.

"Well, this has been lovely, I'm afraid I must go now."

Remilekun Phillips didn't even bother to raise his head from his now whispered discussion with Charles St. Clair, he didn't muster a taunt, Kendrick didn't even think he noticed.

"I'm leaving." Tolu Kingston stressed again, shrugging on his jacket. Remilekun raised his head this time, an irritated smile on his lips.

"Farewell now, old friend." He said halfheartedly.

Toluwanimi Kingston shook his head in a manner than one would do to a lesser person. "I'm leaving, and I'm taking my daughter with me."

He raised his head then, and there was a murderous fury in his eyes that made Kendrick flinch. Toluwanimi Kingston was not deterred, he nodded in Grace's direction and it did not escape anyone's attention how he looked anywhere but at her.

For the first time, Kendrick wanted to smack the older man, especially as Grace's hand slid down from his shoulders, Toluwanimi Kingston was taking the act too far, so far that Kendrick wasn't sure Grace would want anything to do with him after the whole drama.

"You can't take —" Remilekun Phillips began, but Tolu Kingston slyly glanced at a confused looking Jié Yong.

The vice president swallowed and forced a smile. There was a third party in the room, he couldn't stop Grace from leaving.

Kendrick gave a staring Joshua, a smirk. He wanted to add the middle finger gesture too.

How do you like to be put on the spot? He wanted to say too.

"I mean, you can't take her without informing her own godfather." He finished weakly. He cast Kendrick's father a false smile and the latter rewarded him with a watery smile.

"I just told you," Tolu said blankly. "And her sister will be coming too."

"And Rafael." Grace ground out, furiously.

"Yes, yes," Remilekun said impatiently. "They are at the hotel, I'm sure Dinah will be glad to see you, she's always liked you anyway."

That didn't sound like a jab, in fact, Kendrick thought Remilekun might be quite jealous of the relationship Tolu Kingston had with this Dinah.

"Shame, I don't like her." He said flatly.

Jié's fork clattered on his plate and he cleared his throat in embarrassment as all eyes turned to him. Kendrick felt bad, dragging his father into a mess.

"Tolu has a dry sense of humour." Mr. St. Clair amended swiftly.

"You can go get them, but there's no where you can hide my goddaughter from me now." Remilekun said with false cheer. It was a threat.

"I think she's done enough hiding," Grace cut in, shoking everyone. "You can find me, I think you've made that clear enough."

"Dry humour, both father and daughter." Charles put in again. His daughter, Nina winced.

Grace stood at the same time Jié did.

"I think we'll take our leaves too, it's been lovely." He said in a tone that was anything but. Kendrick shared a glance with his father and there was something like camaraderie in his brown eyes so he stood too.

"You're sure I cannot tempt you with my offer to get that burden off your hands?" Remilekun remarked casually.

"I'm sure." Jié was friendly but there was steel in his voice. This was the time to plant the final seed, Kendrick didn't come all the way for nothing.

"Go ahead without me, dad." He told his father and nodded at Grace, telling her it was okay to stay by his side.

Tolu Kingston gave Kendrick a look and jerked his head at the watch on his wrist. "Two minutes, or I'm coming back to drag her out myself."

Together, both their fathers walked out. Kendrick didn't speak until they were gone.

"I just wanted to make this clear, the next time I have reason to believe my father's life is at stake, please kill him." Kendrick deadpanned.

Charles St. Clair choked on his wine. Nina hid her smile, he didn't know what to think of her, but he was always miserable with Joshua so it counted for something good to Kendrick.

"Kill him," Kendrick repeated. "And all his properties go to me, as his only son."

His eyes were fixed on Joshua Phillips.

"We could kill you both." Joshua shrugged. Kendrick hesitated for a brief moment.

"And then everything goes to our family in China, good luck finding them to threaten."

"But if you lay a fucking hand on him, and everything goes to me, I'll burn everything to the ground before I let you have it." Kendrick drawled.

Grace touched a hand to his shoulder and the burning hate in his chest lessened, he was looking at Emmanuel's murderers and he was done being soft.

"Oh, and I'm out of your little clique, cross my name off your list."

"Look at this boy, thinking you were ever a member." Remilekun Phillips barked an angry laugh.

"This boy will fuck up your life, hard."

Remilekun shook his head.

"Hold on to that threat, one child cannot stop me from what I want, it has never happened. And you, Grace Ilori, I'll see you in a week's time."

* * *

"See you in a couple of hours."

"I love you, Sanmi,"

Sanmi paused, thinking that it had been years that he had said those words to Ewatomi, once they used to say it to each other jokingly and now the words felt less of a declaration of love and more of a foreboding goodbye. He hated it.

"I will see you soon, fuck it, Tomi, don't go action movie sappy goodbye on me." He spoke into the phone.

There was a pause.

"I felt oddly close to death." She admitted quietly.

The anger returned, making his chest tighten and his breathing shallow. The ORION Project was going to pay.

"I'll make them wish for death."

She laughed, it was muffled and he heard Rafael's voice too.

"Now who's sounding like the hero of an action movie?"

She hung up after, just as he wanted to tell her to hand the phone to Grace. She might be still furious with him but damn if he didn't miss her, wanted to know if she still thought he was her brother.

It was childish insecurity and he hated it.

"That was Ewatomi?" Tope said when he stepped into the kitchen. Since Grace had been trapped in Abuja, Tolu Kingston's mansion had become a temporary home for him, his real home was nothing to brag about. Twice he had called his father's phone but each time, the line never went through, and he was only just finding out that Ewa hadn't been in that home like he had thought.

"Yeah, she's fine." He said, standing behind her to take a tube of ice cream from the freezer. Tope shimmied a little closer — seemingly unknowing that her body was only a breath away from touching his, moulding against his.

Sanmi recoiled, and the tube of ice cream fell to the blood coloured tiled floor. She turned and raised a brow, still unknowing of how close she had been to starting something that would have ended, badly. The last thing he wanted was to use her as a distraction, that was even if she'd let him, she wasn't stupid.

"Ice cream? I thought you swore off sweets."

"I did." He said curtly, offering no explanation why he was cheating on his diet. He didn't want to tell her that he couldn't stomach anything without throwing it up, that his hands shook so bad that he hadn't been able to light the cigarette he had attempted to smoke this morning. That he had sat in Nehemiah's office, his mind slipping in and out of concentration that after Nehemiah had offered him a pamphlet to a rehabilitation center.

"Are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"What is wrong with you? Don't be so touchy, it was only a question."

Sanmi turned away from her and pretended to study a painting on the wall, it was an oil painting of the late Tamika Afolabi Kingston, despite being dead for almost twenty years, there were mementos of her around the house, there was a whole room that apparently used to be hers, her things were still left untouched, Toluwanimi Kingston was the one being touchy not him.

"I'm talking to you, Sanmi."

He knew if he looked, her hands would be resting on her waist and there would be a frown forming on her face. Tope was the only person who could frown and still look as beautiful smiling, she would pout cupid shaped lips and her eyes would narrow like they did when she was laughing at something she found funny in an incredulous manner.

"I'm fucking peachy." He snapped, he felt liquid trickle down his nose and frowned, he touched a finger to it and wasn't even surprised when he saw red.

He hadn't had nose bleeds in days. He thought it was a one time thing.

"Ilesanmi!" He heard her shout in the back of his mind but he was slipping, the world was fuzzy and the floor tilted beneath his feet.

His name and a plea for help was the last thing he registered before he passed out.

* * *

"I just read Sanmi's email, he was following a lead." Tolu Kingston said after Ewa and Rafe were ushered into the room on the jet, she had wanted to follow them, to sleep like she hadn't in weeks but the need for answers was greater.

"And?" Kendrick asked. Bless his heart, Grace thought, he attempted to fill every silence so she wouldn't have to speak to her father.

Toluwanimi Kingston flickered his eyes to hers and she looked away. Ever since they got on his private jet, he hadn't stopped looking at her as if he was drinking her in.

"He was right, Tamika wrote Project Eden, but it seems she knew the dangers of equipping Remilekun Phillips with an army of secrets, most of the information on Project Eden isn't true, at least most of what has been unlocked isn't true."

She had been filled into the whole plan, every piece of information that was relevant to Project Eden and she had never felt more of an idiot in her life.

"What else did he find?"

Toluwanimi Kingston leaned back in his leather seat, Grace could barely relax against hers. She wasn't born in this world, he was and he looked right at home. It was funny that she was now heir to a multimillionaire empire.

"Senator Abayomi, the catalyst of this saga used to Tamika's lawyer, at least with areas concerning you." He said, jerking his head at Grace.

She flinched.

"That explains how he knew about her." Kendrick mused aloud, he turned to face Grace, she tried not to look at his lips as they moved.

Tolu Kingston shot her a sour look as if he knew what she was thinking. Well he could look all he wanted, he might be her blood but he didn't get to feel uncomfortable.

"He must have had those mementos sent to you throughout your childhood." Kendrick added.

"I think I've met him before." Grace admitted, Kendrick had shown her a picture of the man on his phone, although she had seen several pictures of him on the news before now and had always thought he seemed the least bit familiar.

Tolu Kingston nodded, his eyes closed for a brief second.

"That's not all." He said when he opened them.

"Of course there's more." Grace muttered.

"All these years that your mother has been dead, it was in her will that her whole estate be kept until you were old enough to return, to claim them."

Kendrick whistled playfully and nudged her but the mention of a fortune didn't faze her, it would certainly be nice not to worry about anything money anymore, she'd still trade it for a moment with the mother who bore her.

Grace felt a pang of sadness, she thought that if she had met Tamika, they might have loved each other. She looked and caught Tolu Kingston's eyes, there was a sullen sadness in them.

"It was also discovered with many other documents Sanmi retrieved, a CD recording, the tag says that it is addressed to you."

"Hopefully she left a plan to destroy ORION in those documents." Kendrick joked after she remained silent, but she heard the hope in his words.

They had just basically said a giant fuck you to Remilekun Phillips, it was drawing a battle line, a battle they might just lose.

"I've got something for that particular problem," There was a calculating look on Toluwanimi Kingston's face, his lips were pursed and his brows furrowed slightly.

"We've been fighting them by playing by their rules, I've been covering up their messes because I was thinking of the magnitude such secrets carried, but now most of them aren't even really true." He leaned forward, there was a pleased look on his face.

He turned to Grace and she looked at the wedding band on his finger that he toyed with as he spoke, twisting the band round and round.

"Grace, you're going to unlock Project Eden, every single last encryption and then we're going to need access into the dome, because we're going to upload all those gathered secrets to the public using their own database."

Grace recoiled. "That's crazy!"

He shook his head.

"Remilekun Phillips won't be using them for himself, not when everybody else knows them, they won't be secrets anymore, just common general knowledge." He added. "And when they are declared to the public by ORION'S own hands, their council will take actions against the current leadership."

Kendrick touched his chin. "We'll never gain access to the dome, not unless we have someone on the inside."

Grace started to agree with him. Tolu Kingston waved a careless hand.

"Tell me, Kendrick, how well do you know Firepemi Kingston?"

***

So it begins, Kendrick told Remilekun Phillips to go screw himself, Sanmi is in trouble, neglecting himself and Tolu Kingston has a plan.

What could go wrong? Everything.

Also, I've been teasing y'all about Kendrick potentially dying, I can assure you that it is all play, he won't die, not when it wouldn't make any sense to kill him. He's safe, but that doesn't mean he still won't suffer, lol.

See you next update where the plan begins to take root!