31

Damn! Damn! Damn!

Damn crap!

Why did I have the urge to confess my feelings to him after such a short time and so much drama!? Silly me!

Now I was alone in bed again, completely naked, staring up at the ceiling again while Rian went back down to the others.

Did he think the harshness with which he had taken me to the end was too much? On the contrary! I loved being able to please him like this... but he still fled.

His startled look after my confession of love still sent chills down my spine, and as quickly as he got dressed and stormed out of the room, it was clear he didn't feel the same way about me...

I took several deep breaths and suddenly, without wanting to, warm tears of disappointment ran down my cheeks, which really showed me that this day with all the events was just too much for me and my psyche.

Sobbing, I rolled onto my side and where my confidence used to be, I was left with the devastating feeling of self-doubt.

But even though he apparently didn't really love me, but just wanted to possess me, I suddenly had to smile happily through my tears, because the feeling that he triggered in me was just beautiful, no matter whether he responded or not.

RIAN POV.

I stood leaning against the wall in the hallway for a while and kept thinking about just going back into the room to tell her how I felt, but everything was just too much for me at the moment.

In fact, I should have progressed politically, helping my father with business, and concentrating on myself and my future, but since Keeva was with me, all my thinking revolved around her...

"Shit," I cursed under my breath, buttoning my shirt while making my way downstairs, where Juri and Odran already had the next bottle of whisky.

"I told you that fucking relaxes," Yuri laughed and I just gave him a cold look while I sank back into the chair next to him.

"Don't talk like that about my wife," I retorted, taking my glass in my hands to take several sips before realizing they were both giving me stupid grins.

Did they still have them all?

"What?!" I asked, putting my glass down to look back and forth between the two of them questioningly.

"You're totally in love with the gypsy," Yuri stated with amusement. "I mean, back at the restaurant, I thought maybe you were having a bad day, but now that I see the way you're looking at her, things are becoming clear."

The Russian looked at Odran, who just nodded stupidly at his statement.

"But it also suits him," my brother said and Juri turned his gaze back to me with a smile.

"After all these years of grieving, be kind to you," he said quietly, patting my shoulder as if he were my fucking father.

"It's okay now," I tried to direct the two to another topic, but these lunatics just wouldn't stop.

"She even bakes muffins," Odran said with a swarming look, and I immediately kicked his leg under the table.

"Oh, you must be in love too," Yuri laughed, but Odran's gaze immediately became serious again.

"No! Only in her food!", he said defensively and the way he looked at it, I had to laugh out loud too.

It's been a long time since the three of us sat together like this because although we spent every free moment together as children and teenagers, somehow business and my mother's death tore us apart.

"But Rian, seriously. She seems to be really smart and normal," Yuri said and poured something into everyone's glass while I raised my eyebrow and looked at him questioningly.

"What does normal mean?"

"Well," he grinned, leaning back in his chair, glass in hand. "This Pirina is really a crazy bride," he laughed and looked at me in amusement. "She even came to my house and wanted me to cut your balls. What does she think I am? A fucking butcher?"

Odran suddenly laughed out loud and then told Yuri that Pirina was also here and had threatened Keeva with a gun.

How nice that she was so amused by all this!

"And what about you?" I interrupted the two, leaning forward provocatively. "Your ex is a shit duster and you Juri shot your ex while she was fucking because she liked having a gun in her pussy."

Now I laughed out loud, but the two joined in my laughter until it stopped after a while and Yuri looked at me seriously.

"So and now for the end," he said, pointing to the front door. "The guards stay as long as you need them. I want 20% of your guns and brothel income for the whole next year."

I nodded in agreement, pointing to Odran.

"Odran is doing these deals now, so you'll have to ask him."

We both looked at the tall man, who ran his fingers through his black hair and also nodded in agreement.

"Fine. And when you get the bastard, let me know. I'd love to meet a sick prick like that."

I nodded and got up from the table, which the two did after me.

"Oh yeah," Juri turned to me again while we walked slowly to the front door. "If you make it into politics, you'll wear this to your first speech."

He pointed to his kimono and immediately I shook my head no.

"Did Anjelika suck your brains out?!" I asked him in bewilderment and he threw his head back to laugh out loud.

"You Irish motherfucker," he grinned, fiddling with his kimono. "I'll have a tie made out of the fabric. I don't want the gentleman to make a fool of himself."

He held out his hand and after a moment's hesitation, I accepted. After saying goodbye to Odran, he laughed and disappeared out the front door.

"Do you think dad will agree to the donations to Juri?" Odran asked and I just shrugged.

"I don't give a fuck. It's for Keeva's safety, he doesn't mind and if he does, I'll put him out of business completely."

Odran nodded, but I could see that it was all weighing on him more than he wanted to admit.

"Now we're going to sleep first. We'll sort out everything else tomorrow."

I put my arm around his shoulders and together we ran with Nero to the stairs to run one after the other to the first floor.

"Good night," he murmured while I already had the doorknob in my hand.

"Good night."

I took one step to my room and immediately looked at Keeva, who appeared to be still naked under the covers. At least her clothes were still on the floor in front of the bed.

I opened my shirt with my eyes on her and immediately felt how comfortable I felt knowing that she was with me. This also increased my guilty conscience towards her for not having said anything about her confession of love.

I then carefully laid down next to her, only wearing boxer shorts, to pull her back against my chest, which caused her to suddenly smack her lips softly.

Fuck, that was cute!

"Are you awake?" I whispered softly, but there was no reaction from her. My hand wandered over her bare buttocks and then pulled her waist even closer to my pelvis, which made my cock hard again immediately. This woman really had a special effect on me.

Taking a deep breath, I then rested my face against her neck to take in her peach scent as I planted several gentle kisses on her soft skin and savored her warmth.

"I love you too."

When I woke up the next morning with a slight hangover, I opened my eyes exhausted and looked straight at Keeva, who was wearing light-colored jeans and a thin white sweater and was standing in front of the bed, while she eyed me with a raised eyebrow.

"Morning," I murmured, struggling to get up to sit on the edge of the bed right in front of her. I stretched extensively and then reached for her waist to pull her onto my lap, but she just backed away.

"What's wrong?" I asked confused, trying to remember something from last night, but before I could think of it, she took a deep breath.

My eyes fixed on her face, I immediately realized that she must have been angry, but there was a provocative smile on her lips, which irritated me even more than I already was.

"I should actually storm out of the room now," she suddenly said and now the point had come where I really didn't understand anything anymore.

How much had we actually drunk?!

"Why? What are you talking about?" I slowly wanted to know impatiently and got up to stand right in front of her. Her eyes darted briefly over the tattoos on my upper body, but she quickly returned her gaze to my face. The anger drained from her eyes and seeing her beautiful smile made my heart beat a beat again, even though I still didn't know what was going on.

"Well, after my 'I love you' you stormed out of the room and since you whispered the same words in my ear a few hours later, it's my job to run out of the room now, isn't it?"

She smiled so sweetly that I couldn't help but pull her tightly into my arms.

"You little beast," I whispered in her ear and she immediately clutched me even tighter, so I picked her up by her bottom and onto my hips, her giggles echoing throughout my room.

She really breathed life into this otherwise cold place.

"Would you please tell me again," she then demanded in a low voice, letting her arms loosen around my neck so that she could look deep into my eyes.

"I love you, Keeva," I breathed with sincerity, and I could almost feel her heart begin to dance at my words.

Her beautiful brown eyes fixed mine as she gently stroked the back of my neck and as if we had done nothing else in our lives, she gently placed her lips on mine to suckle lightly.

"I accept you too," she breathed, grinning, and I immediately pinched her buttocks, which made her squeak and I was able to enjoy her beautiful-sounding laugh again.

"But now you have to get dressed, dearest husband," she suddenly said, still smiling and I looked at her questioningly.

"What for?" I wanted to know, because with her sweet butt in my hands I thought of never leaving this room again.

"I made savory muffins this morning and if you still want some I'd hurry up," she said and I immediately shook my head and then started caressing her neck, making her moan softly.

"Fuck the muffins," I whispered, about to carry her to the bed, but she broke away from me again and pushed me slightly, so I let her down.

"And after dinner Odran promised me that we would go to the boxing club so I could learn to defend myself. So please get dressed."

"Oh, did he?"

I had to think about how Odran was otherwise if he had drunk a lot the night before. Actually, you didn't see him all day, but Keeva apparently already had him firmly in her hands with her muffins.

I looked down at her and suddenly noticed her pout, eyes wide.

“Are you serious now? How the fuck am I supposed to say no?!”

"All right then," I said, rolling my eyes and she immediately stood on tiptoe to kiss my cheek.

"But you can look forward to something tonight," she whispered seductively in my ear and yes, slowly I was really looking forward to this day!

"I'll wait downstairs and try to save you some muffins."

Just as she was about to leave my room, I held her back quickly.

"What are savory muffins anyway?"

She smiled and shook her head.

"Without sugar and instead with sheep's cheese. At least that's how I make them and Odran seems to like them."

Odran tasted everything...

"I'll be right downstairs," I replied and let her go to turn to my closet.

Shower, get dressed and hit the boxing club... I was hoping to make it through the day with this hangover, but at least I had something to look forward to.

KEEVA POV.

Ahhhhhhhh!!!!

I padded down the stairs with a big grin and still felt the butterflies fly through my whole body.

He had said it deep into my eyes. So it wasn't just my imagination!

This black haired perfect man loved me...

"And? What did he say?", Odran, who was sitting at the dining table, tore me out of my thoughts, which I just looked at with a smile and danced around like a madwoman.

"He's coming with me," I said happily and Odran was just about to grab a muffin when I hit his hand lightly. "Odran, there are only two left."

"Sorry," he mumbled, shrugging his shoulders.

"Would you like me to make you a fruit salad? We still have bananas and apples."

"But only if you don't mind," he retorted, but I just shook my head in the negative.

"I really like doing this."

That was the minimum. After all, he was also someone who would protect me and I was happy to be able to at least give something back to the boys.

"I'll go out with Nero for a while," I heard Odran and then glanced after him as he disappeared outside into the sun.

That he still looked so muscular. If I were to eat what he was craving, we would certainly need a quadruple front door.

"Hey", Senan greeted me and when I nodded to him and watched how he tampered with the muffins, I took a calming breath and pulled out new ingredients...

Apparently 15 muffins were not enough for 3 mafiosi...

"And thank you," he suddenly said, and I looked at him questioningly. "For still looking at me the same way you did before, despite everything."

I nodded and suddenly remembered the conversation with him. So much had happened that I had almost forgotten it, it hit me all the harder now...

I had to bring the two closer together again, because no matter how cruel it all was, Senan was already suffering enough.

Just as Rian was coming down the stairs, Odran and Nero re-entered the house while Senan was still sitting at the table and I had the fruit salad and the new muffins ready.

"Well, then we can start," I said enthusiastically and grabbed a muffin to hold my husband right in front of his mouth, who only looked at me skeptically.

"And do they taste good?" he asked with a raised eyebrow and when I glared at him angrily, he bit into it once and then took it from my hand contentedly.

"Acceptable?" I asked smiling.

"More than that," he replied with a wink and then looked at Odran, who was already shoveling down the fruit salad.

"If you keep eating that much, maybe you should exercise more often," Rian laughed dirty, whereupon Odran immediately went into his defense mode and pulled up his black shirt.

For the first time I really saw how fit he was. He certainly didn't have an ounce of fat on his body and muscles so defined that he could easily have modeled for a bodybuilder magazine.

"Do you like it?" Rian suddenly tore me out of my rigidity with a cold undertone, whereupon I blushed and shook my head in the negative.

"No."

"No?" Odran immediately turned to me and I looked at him with wide eyes.

"Well yes, but-"

"So you do like him," Rian whispered, and then as I looked back and forth between the two, those idiots started laughing stupidly while my heart was pounding in my throat.

"You guys are impossible!", I got a little upset, but I also had to laugh quickly about the situation and then turned to Rian, who had just finished my muffin. "Can we go then?"

He nodded to Odran and I was surprised that the big one put Nero on a leash.

"Are dogs even allowed in there?" I inquire and Rian immediately shook his head in the negative to my question.

"At least no dogs from ordinary customers."

It was kind of clear that the rules that somehow applied to everyone weren't meant for the Gallagher family.

"Let's go then," said Odran and walked out the front door with Nero, while I eyed Rian, whom I saw for the first time in gray sweatpants. The black t-shirt was tight around his torso and he looked so sexy that I actually had the idea of spending the whole day in bed with him, but before I could finish that thought he sat down in a black one sunglasses and pulled me out with her by the hand.

"See you later, Senan," I called and I was already standing under the bright sun and looking into the eyes of several Russian security guards who nodded at Rian and seemed more than suitable for the job.

"What car?", Odran asked Rian, who immediately pointed to his black BMW.

It was still a mystery to me why he only drove this car when there were several much swankier cars parked here.

After we all got in and I settled into the warm leather passenger seat, Rian turned on loud house music and we drove off at a fast pace.

The way he drove, we probably wouldn't even get there.

"Can you go slower?" I asked him while I had already rammed my fingernails into my thighs.

"Trust me," he smiled at me and put his hand on mine reassuringly. "That was my mother's car. I would never risk an accident. Especially not with you next to me."Aha! And then it clicked.

Full of regret I looked at him and although he had on the dark sunglasses and a smile on his lips, I saw the deep sorrow... actually I felt it and it hurt me too, although unfortunately I hadn't met this woman.

Nobody spoke a word for the rest of the short drive. I looked at the beautiful surroundings while Rian safely steered the car and Odran in the back, apparently half asleep, petted Nero who sat panting next to him.

And then we were finally there.

We parked directly in a parking lot in front of the entrance and after I had a quick look at the huge building, I turned questioningly to Rian.

"I thought we were boxing? This looks like a hotel."

He smiled, taking my hand and kissing it gently.

"The boxing club is in the basement. Upstairs there is a wellness area and a restaurant. There is also a hall where you can practice shooting."

When I heard the word "shoot" my eyes widened, which I guess Rian noticed too, and he immediately laughed.

"Yes, we can stop by there too."

We got out together and while Odran and Rian ran in front of me like two bodyguards, I had Nero at my side and a big grin on my face.

Finally a normal day again!

A bald man in a black suit stood at the wide door, which consisted only of glass, and when he spotted the brothers, he immediately stood up straight and bowed slightly.

"Good morning, Mr. Gallagher," he greeted them both one after the other and finally gave me a friendly look before he opened the door in front of us. "I wish a nice stay."

"Thank you," I replied sweetly and as soon as I said the words, I felt Rian's arm and my waist pulling me close to his side, which made me tingle.

"I should only see that smile," he whispered amused in my ear and I was even happy about his slight jealousy while I leaned my head contentedly on his arm and took a closer look at the large hall.

The high ceilings were really impressive and while there was a long reception desk in front of us, there were plenty of comfortable armchairs with small tables on either side, where men, as well as women, were busy with their laptops and cell phones.

"The key please," Odran turned to the blonde receptionist and the way she looked at Odran was somehow filled with passion. But when she then looked at Rian and I watched closely as she swallowed hard and let her irises sweep over his chest, I put my hand on his cheek and gave him a gentle kiss.

"What was that for?" he asked immediately amused and I just smiled stupidly.

"Had to be," I said and we followed Odran to the other side of the room, where there were three elevators.

Of course, I looked back and saw the blonde's venomous glare, but you should never stare at someone else's for too long.

And then the elevator went down.