45

When Samantha left Killian's apartment two days later, still sleepy, and bumped into two men armed to the teeth, she again realized the seriousness of her situation and slowly bursting with curiosity about whose support her brother actually counted on in the fight against Viktoria . She camped outside and waited, but didn't seem to want to starve them.

Though the club remained closed, it was clear from the fresh groceries and delivery boys arriving that she wasn't trying to isolate them from the outside world. Not yet.

"What is she waiting for? Surely she'll realize that she won't get another chance to harm Sam. I firmly expected that after the attack failed, she would decide to storm the building," Dominic philosophized as she came down the stairs and stopped on the floor with the lunch group. As always in the afternoon, Killian had disappeared this time and she had finally found the courage to leave his apartment.

When she approached the small group of men barefoot, but in jeans and a hoodie stolen by Killian and all eyes were on her, she regretted it again.

you knew it They all knew. From Dominik, who had just spoken, to the strangers, armed men on the walls of the lounge. She smiled and was glad that Dominik returned the grin and was then even more relieved when Killian pushed himself off a wall and came straight to her. She hadn't even noticed him.

"Is something wrong?" he asked immediately, worried about her presence and caressed her face with his finger. The other men watched the gesture with curiosity and Sam couldn't prevent her blushing slightly. She wanted to tell her brother that she'd just missed him, but then decided to put it a little more generally.

"I just felt a bit lonely," she said, nervously watching the men's reactions. Dominik grinned even wider.

"Come here then, Sammi!" Dominik spread his arms and when Killian's mouth twitched, she ran towards him and let him press her briefly.

But no sooner was she seated than she met two pairs of eyes that didn't seem at all happy about her presence. One belonged to Sebastian. Dressed casually, he held a lit cigarette and studied it so closely that Sam immediately felt uncomfortable.

The second was Thomas and while she still considered him a loyal friend, he seemed a lot less interested in her presence.

"She shouldn't be here, Killian."

"You're talking about me, so I can hear that too!" Sam blurted out belligerently without taking his eyes off of him. Thomas closed his eyes in resignation and then turned his gaze to her brother.

"Killian!" he demanded of his best friend, but Killian didn't allow himself to be discussed. Sam's brother sat down next to her, stretched out his long arm behind her, even had the nerve to kiss her briefly on the neck, as if it's not clear proof of what everyone already knew.

"Leave her alone, Tom. If you have a problem you clarify it with me, understood!" Killian hissed before Thomas could say anything else. It hurt. Sam had always thought Thomas was also one of her best friends, seeing him so angry hit her hard .

But he should understand why she and Killian couldn't let go of each other.He was gay, why did he of all people stand in the way of her relationship with her brother?

It was Sebastian who steered the conversation back to the original topic.

"We've got enough men to defend this house, maybe she's reluctant to attack for fear of losing if attacked, but it makes me nervous that she's so calm. She seems to be waiting for something."

"Every hour she waits, she's one hour closer to losing everything. Her father might be alive for a few more days, she should have struck long ago," Dominik continued and patted Samantha's knee once reassuringly, which Killian commented with a growl, but he just grinned mockingly and continued patting.

Sebastian's face remained motionless, he definitely wasn't one of those men who smiled a lot.

"It doesn't matter to us, as long as our ambush is set up faster than their attack," Sebastian said only puffing on his cigarette and ashing it in a mug in front of him.

"I still think it's a stupid idea to ask Arnold Spencer for help. He's a cop, he'll try to arrest us, no matter what he promised." Thomas said, still in a bad mood, Sam hadn't even realized before that something like this was even possible.

Sam froze briefly. Arnold Spencer was that older cop who set his mind on making life difficult for her brother and who developed a strange interest in her. He was that mysterious support he was hoping for.

"Don't worry, sweetie," Killian whispered to her before saying loudly, "And yet he's our best bet."

"It pisses me off to wait," Dominik grumbled, got up and left the lounge while the other men stayed seated. Sam could relate. Waiting was the worst thing ever.

"Patience really isn't a virtue your people possess in excess, Killian," Sebastian said, gesturing toward the men at the corners of the room.

"My covers it up better," he grinned, picking up a small shot glass and holding it up as if waiting for Killian to toast with him. Her brother leaned forward, took his own glass, and did so with a nod of agreement.

At those words, Sam thought of Gideon. He had always been the calming influence of the men in this club and now he was dead.

"Gideon is missing, that makes her nervous," she whispered softly. Without warning, it became oppressively restless, at least until Killian turned her slightly bowed head towards him and pressed a gentle kiss on her lips.

"It's not your fault. Not that with Veronika either, understand?", Killian breathed towards her and Sam only marginally noticed how Thomas got up angrily and stomped off. Again his reaction put a stab in her heart. What was wrong with him? Veronika had her smooth forgotten, but to her own surprise, she wasn't sad about her death - which of course wasn't right.

"Yes. Thanks. I'll try to talk to Thomas," she said and wanted to get up from her seat. To her surprise, her brother looked at Sebastian for a long time. What was going on here? And why did Sam have the feeling that the men knew exactly what Viktoria was waiting for. It had been odd during the conversation, they hadn't been nervous even when they'd said otherwise.

"Yes. Why not?" Killian said then, releasing her and Sam followed Thomas with a strange feeling in his stomach.