28

RIAN POV.

That filthy bastard...

He wasn't looking to hurt her at all. By now I was certain that he was trying to wreak havoc on her mentally, and probably only so that I would have to watch her break down more and more from her fear.

If I could get my hands on it...

"Rian," Keeva spoke softly and I glanced over at her staring out of the windshield, wide-eyed. "Can you please slow down?"

I looked confused at the speedometer and then slowed down a bit to take a deep breath afterwards.

My cell phone vibrated in my trouser pocket and I was sure it was Cathan who just wanted to yell accusations and threats at me. Well, let him do his shit himself. I certainly wouldn't leave Keeva alone. Who knew who that guy was...

As soon as we arrived home and a security guard opened the gate for us, I parked my BMW right in front of the front door and hurriedly got out to walk directly inside.

"Senan!" I yelled, impatiently waiting for him to come down the stairs with Nero.

It was now the middle of the day and he was yawning loudly as he approached me in only a pair of boxer shorts.

I wanted to wring his neck, but that wouldn't bring him to his senses either.

"What's going on?" he asked stretching and I immediately grabbed his neck and pulled him close to me so that he too would finally understand the seriousness of the situation.

"The bastard from the beach was on the golf course! I want you to stay in the living room the whole time and keep your eyes on Keeva!"

He immediately nodded and looked past me to the car, where Keeva was staring out the window, lost in thought. My little one... she looked so worn out and it only made me even more angry at everything.

"All right," Senan said, and I immediately turned back to my BMW to help Keeva out of the car by the hand.

"Sit down on the couch and try to switch off," I said calmly to her, but she immediately clutched my shirt so tightly that I thought it would tear apart.

"I said I want to stay with you!", she fought back against my words and I took her face gently in my hands to give her a kiss on her forehead.

"I'm here. I just have to clarify a few things, then I'll come in."

Although she nodded, I could almost feel how she was bothered by all this, but then reluctantly she broke away from me to walk past Senan into the living room, where she bent down to Nero to greet him affectionately.

Senan nodded and closed the door while I looked around the driveway in front of me.

Several guards paced back and forth, chatting and even laughing as I tightened my chest and stood up straight.

"Where's John?!" I then asked one of the guys, but he just shrugged stupidly, which made me angrily run towards him. "Why don't you know where your boss is?!" I yelled and grabbed his collar, but John was already coming towards me around the corner from the terrace.

I let go of the frightened sweating guy and immediately turned to John, who gave me a questioning look.

"John," I growled at him, standing right in front of him. "I want all these fucking pissers out of here!"

He looked at me in bewilderment and apparently wanted to say something about it, but my gaze alone only allowed him to nod silently.

With a slightly startled look, he wanted to pass me, but I quickly held his arm back.

"And you can take a vacation," I let him know, looking deep into his bright eyes.

"What happened?" he wanted to know, but I just shook my head.

By now I didn't trust anyone except my family and someone else I was going to call.

"Mr. Gallagher," I heard John. "If we all leave, there won't be anyone left who-"

"Is that your fucking problem?!" I snapped at him angrily and then turned away from him to get my phone out of my pocket. "Make everyone go! The rest is my business!"

I noticed in passing how John was walking away and then called Juri, who, luckily for me, answered quickly.

"Oh, Rian. What a coincidence. I was just fucking Anjelika and I was thinking about you!"

I rolled my eyes and rubbed my face once, because his manner really got on my nerves sometimes.

"Then I hope you had fun with my face in mind," I replied, taking a deep breath while he laughed in amusement.

"But I'm sure you're not calling to inquire about my sex life. What's going on?"

Clever fellow!!!

"I need new guards. Men you would trust blindly!"

"I don't even trust my cock, Rian," he spoke seriously, pausing briefly before continuing. "How many?"

I looked around briefly, watched the security guards who were all running towards the exit and then looked up at the roof.

"Eight," I said seriously, mentally dividing up the eight men. "And one should have no problem walking a dog."

"And until when?"

"Right away," I replied, hearing Yuri talking to someone in Russian while I impatiently started tapping my shoe on the floor.

"There are eight men at your gate tonight and Rian, remember that everything has a price," he reminded me of the payment and I nodded, even though I was aware that he couldn't see it. I didn't care how much money he wanted anyway. Keeva's safety was worth every fucking penny to me.

"Yes, I won't forget," I said, and again I heard him talking to someone.

"Saturday is a big party at my place. Great pussies, lots of cocaine and lots of fun. Will do your cock good. I'll expect you on time! Bring your mistress, I'd like to meet her if you already have all your security guards for her exchange, it is certainly very interesting."

I didn't say another word and just hung up. Yuri and Keeva in one room at a Russian party? Absolutely no way!

Before I ran back into the house, I looked around one last time and felt my cell phone vibrate where a message from my father appeared.

"If you throw away everything we've built because of that gypsy, I'll be only too happy to remind you of what I'm capable of!"

Lost in thought, I sat on the dark couch and stroked Nero's black fur while he kept staring at the front door, panting, just like me.

How could a day that started so well end so badly?

First the stranger and then Cathan, whose hateful look still sent a shiver down my spine...

"And he really didn't do anything but show you a finger gun?" Senan asked me for the third time since I sat here, placing two cups of coffee on the table in front of me.

"Yes," I answered as before, and then looked at him thoughtfully. "I know how that sounds. I wouldn't believe myself if I hadn't seen it myself."

His gaze immediately became more serious, which I wasn't used to from him at all. He was playing with his lip piercing, scratching his arm nervously, and pacing back and forth in front of the table so frantically that even I started getting jittery again.

"It's not about whether I believe you," he said frustrated and looked at me intently. "It's about evaluating him. I mean, what does he want? Why should he scare you so much if he doesn't pull the trigger anyway. That doesn't make any sense at all!"

I could literally feel how the whole thing took him away, although he actually had nothing to do with it...

"Well," I thought, rubbing my warm cheeks. "I don't think he's after me anymore either. Otherwise he wouldn't have shown up since I've been living here."

Senan nodded in agreement and sat down next to me on the couch to take a sip from his cup while stroking Nero's fur a few times.

"But if he was after Rian, why not just pull the trigger when he sees him on the beach. I mean, it's not like Rian never goes anywhere alone. It sure wouldn't be too hard to just put a bullet in him to bang in the head."

I immediately turned my gaze to him and glared at him in bewilderment, while just imagining what he was saying made my heart beat over painfully.

"Stop saying that!" I commanded in a trembling voice and immediately he raised his hands slightly in the air.

"It's okay. I was just saying," he murmured, ruffling his messy brown hair. "So?"

"So what?" I repeated and he stared at me questioningly.

"Then what does the guy want from you?"

I shrugged my shoulders and looked at Nero, who was still staring at the door and was probably quite nervous because he could smell Rian but couldn't see it... He was almost agitated as if it were tormenting him...

"He wants to torment Rian," the thought came to me and I immediately looked at Senan. "He doesn't want to kill him at all, he just wants him to go crazy with all the psychological terror."

"So a sadist," Senan said and then looked exactly like me at the front door, through which Rian entered at that moment.

As confused as he seemed, the stranger had probably already managed to crack him mentally.

"Go put something on immediately," he turned to Senan, who was still sitting next to me in his boxer shorts. I hadn't even paid attention. "I've also fired all the security guards and put John on leave."

"You what?!", Senan got upset and literally jumped up from the couch to go straight to Rian. "Are you still tight? Why don't we just have an open day?!"

Rian shot Senan a look that made it clear even to me that his brother should keep his mouth shut.

"Juri is sending us a few people," Rian commented coolly on his brother's excitement and then turned his gaze to me, which immediately softened his facial expressions. "Do you need-"

"Juri?!", Senan interrupted him hissing and I rolled my eyes, because it couldn't be long before the two would jump at each other's throats again.

Always the same!

"Yes, Juri!", Rian replied angrily and positioned himself right in front of Senan, whereupon he adopted a completely different posture.

"It's great that you're bringing the Russians into our house now, too!" Senan hissed and I didn't know at all why he was so upset, but it really wasn't any of my business. After all, I didn't know these Russians at all.

"Yes! Because I trust them, unlike-"

Rian arched himself and just glared at Senan, who then took a deep breath.

"Well, say it! Unlike me! That's what you wanted to say!"

"Yes, that's exactly what I wanted to say!!!"

"It's enough!!!!!", I intervened angrily and threw my coffee cup on the floor, so that it shattered into many small pieces on the dark wood in front of the two.

“At least I got her attention now!”

"There's someone who wants exactly this! Causing trouble in the family. Who knows who he is, or how long he's been watching us, or how good?! I feel like I'm being watched and uncomfortable all the time, at least now, and I want to, no, I even demand that you act as one in my presence! I could have died on the beach because of your constant bickering, do you even realize that!!???"

The two of them looked at me in surprise, but I also saw that they agreed with what I said and that's how it was.

You couldn't tear an intact family apart that easily, but you didn't even have to lift a finger with the two of them and they jumped at each other's throats and that gave a stranger advantages that he shouldn't really have.

Why do you think my cousins were always left alone, even by older ones? Because no matter what, they always stuck together and it had to be the same here and no matter what was between the two of them, it had to be settled once and for all, otherwise this would all end really badly.

"You're absolutely right," Rian approached me and pulled me tightly to his chest, gently patting my back.

"I know," I replied, returning his hug, which felt so good that I forgot my fear and everything else for a moment of silence.

Fortunately, after the men avoided each other thanks to my announcement, I set about making something to eat for them.

I sizzled eggs while slicing up peppers, then tossed them in the large skillet to sear and watched them both while I waited for the meal to be ready.

Rian was sitting in front of me at the dining table, his shirt on his arms rolled up to reveal his beautiful tattoos. His hair wasn't as styled as it was this morning, probably because he'd ruffled it several times in his excitement. He still looked incredibly sexy. It's a pity that we had so much else to do at the moment, otherwise I would wish to lie in bed with him all day.

When my eyes fell on Senan, I immediately noticed the t-shirt that he had put on because it showed a rock band and I realized again how much he liked this music.

He was leaning against the window, silently looking out into the sun and for a moment it occurred to me that the stranger could just shoot us through the pane if he wanted to. With no security guards left, it would be a piece of cake.

"Could you please move a bit away from the window front?", I said my request out loud, whereupon he looked at me irritated, just like Rian.

"Why?", Senan wanted to know, until he raised an eyebrow and grinned stupidly, since he probably only noticed from my worried look which fears were unsettling me at the moment. "All the windows in the house are bulletproof," he said, knocking on them several times as if to prove it to me.

I only grimaced slightly, but that was no consolation to me.

"Hey," I then heard Rian's voice, who got up from the dining table and came over to the stove to get close to me and put his hand on my back. "You don't have to be scared, okay?

“No, not at all! It's not like I've almost died of a heart attack several times just from my fear!”

"Yes," I replied quietly, trying not to seem too scared. I'd rather be as strong as her. Of course, they weren't afraid. why? They would shoot anyone who got in their way and I'm sure they'd seen far worse.

I should have pulled the trigger too! Then the stranger would now be lying face down in the sand and wouldn't still haunt my thoughts like a virus poisoning everything inside me.

"Keeva," Rian whispered, still standing close to me, lifting my chin so I pushed the pan aside and looked deep into his eyes. "I promise you, I certainly won't let anything happen to you."

“Yes, he was sure of that, but I wasn't, recalling the conversation I had with Senan.”

"You better take care that nothing happens to you," I replied to my husband, putting my hand on his cheek, whereupon he closed his eyes and seemed to enjoy my gentle touch.

"You can't get rid of me, don't worry," he breathed with a slight grin and pulled me close so that his soft lips touched my forehead, on which he gave me a gentle kiss.

"Rian!" Odran's voice suddenly sounded from the front door and he immediately broke away from me to look questioningly at Odran, just like Senan and I, who wasn't exactly making a friendly face. "Cathan is pissed off. Besides, I didn't find anything on the surveillance videos, nor in the guest book. He's like a phantom."

"Shit!" Rian cursed and slapped the kitchen counter angrily, causing me to step back in shock.

"We'll find him," Odran tried to calm him down and joined us both while I looked at Senan, who was pacing nervously.

"He could be anyone," Rian said and suddenly looked at Senan as well, while his eyes went ice cold. "Do you know where Jake was today?"

Senan's eyes widened and immediately his nervous posture changed into one as if he had to defend himself.

"Are you completely crazy now?" It came from Senan, who took a few steps toward us. "Jake would never do such a thing! Why would he?!"

"Because he's just such an unpredictable idiot like you!", Rian retorted and I rolled my eyes at Odran, who, just like me, felt the mood slowly rising.

"Oh yeah! We're just the stupid idiots who are good enough to carry out your fucking orders when you need us! Excuse me Mr. Gallagher!" Senan hissed angrily and then turned to the stairs, but Rian ran after him and held in his arm.

"So, where was Jake?" he asked again in a trembling voice, but Senan grabbed his arm and was about to say something when it was time for me to speak my mind again.

Slowly I was certain that I was in a kindergarten for mafiosi. Instead of shoveling, weapons were drawn.

"It wasn't Jake," I shouted loudly and then walked past Odran, who was already busy eating my eggs from the pan with a spoon, which I only commented with a warning look.

"I would have recognized Jake. The guy had a completely different build," I said, stepping next to Rian to take his hand in mine to comfort him. "So stop blaming each other."

The two fixed themselves, but said nothing more and just as Senan wanted to go to the stairs again and Rian turned to me, there was a loud knock on the front door several times.

Immediately, Rian shoved me behind him and drew his gun, my heart pounding in my throat just from that instantaneous change of mood.

I peeked past Rian's shoulder to Odran, who also drew his pistol and aimed it squarely at the door...

When I glanced behind me at Senan, he was looking at me just as nervously as I was at him and I could literally feel this fucking panic at something unknown taking over me completely.

My breathing was shallow, my hands were shaking slightly and when Rian called out "Who's there?!", I held my breath under tension.