32

After the three of us exited the elevator with Nero, we found ourselves in a wide, white-tiled hallway with several doors on either side.

I followed the brothers who unlocked one of the front doors and when Odran switched on the light I was amazed.

In the center of the large room was a boxing ring that really looked like the ones from the movies, while around the perimeter were equipment cabinets and benches to sit on.

Punching bags, on which you could probably get rid of your anger, hung from the ceiling and literally laughed at me.

That will be fun!

"So," Rian said and put something similar to a helmet on my head, which was so uncomfortable that I wanted to get rid of it right away.

"What's that about?" I asked annoyed, but when I put my hands on it, he took it decisively in his hands.

"You don't do that because I don't want to hurt you."

huh????

"I thought we were boxing against the sacks?" I said questioningly and threw a look at Odran, who had already taken off his t-shirt and placed himself in front of one of the sacks.

"No," Rian smirked, taking my chin to make me look up at him. "You will now prove to me personally whether there is something behind your big mouth."

ohhh...

As Rian took a few steps away, he also took off his shirt and looking at his perfect body, I regretted not just staying in bed.

I didn't stand a chance against him anyway!

"Okay, let's go then.

He stepped into the ring in front of me, jumping up and down a few times and I hesitantly climbed in with my weird hard hat to stare at him questioningly.

"And now?" I wanted to know, completely overwhelmed, which made him grin dirty.

"Now try to overpower me."

Great!

I glanced at Odran, who was already beating the punching bag like a madman and would have loved to trade places with him.

After turning my gaze back to Rian, I took a deep breath and walked right up to him. I stopped right in front of him and, smiling, put my hand on his cheek and secretly clasped his arm with the other.

"I didn't mean overpower in that way," he smirked, and just as I was about to twist his arm, he grabbed my waist, rolling me around and pinning my back to his chest while holding my hands tightly together in front of my chest.

"And now?" he asked and immediately I thought back to the golf course.

"If you don't want me to break your nose with the back of my head, I would advise you to let me go right now, sweetheart!"

He laughed out loud and laid his head on my shoulder, leaving me really with no plan at all to get out of here.

His hands let go of mine, but I barely noticed anything. I enjoyed his closeness far too much and closed my eyes while his breath hit my neck and gave me goosebumps.

"Keva?"

"Yes?" I breathed and snuggled my buttocks closer to his pelvis, which made his grip on my abdomen even tighter.

"So that's your tactic," he whispered amused in my ear, but immediately cleared his throat and took a deep breath. "I'll concentrate now, please."

My God!

Frustrated, I opened my eyes again and looked down at myself where his arms were wrapped tightly around my abdomen.

"I'll even let your arms free," he pointed out, but that still didn't do me much good.

First, I tried to remove his hands from my abdomen, but no chance. Then I wriggled ashore like a fish, but his grip was rock solid and by now I was so frustrated that I wanted to give up.

"Rian! Can't we just box?" I demanded in a pleading voice, but he just laughed behind me.

"Sure, once you've freed yourself."

"I can't," I admitted, and he calmly explained one of the many techniques I could use to break out of such a situation.

Drop...

"What do you mean by that?"

"You have to try to get your elbow between your side and my arm. Look like that."

He loosened his arm a bit on one side so I actually got my elbow in between.

"Of course, no attacker will let you do that, but if you're struggling like you're doing right now, you can get the attacker to sway back and forth with you, and that's a good opportunity to get your elbow in that position."

I nodded, keeping my arm tense as he pulled me closer again.

"And now you let yourself fall, but not just like that. Take momentum and try to get a stable footing."

"OK."

I got on my tiptoes and took a deep breath, then jumped up a bit and pushed back down with all my strength.

And he was really right!

With my elbow firmly between his arm and my side, the pressure of the fall allowed me to force his arm away from my body so that I was now standing free and immediately took a step away from him to turn around and look at him proudly.

"You see. You can learn something after all."

He walked up to me, planted a kiss on my forehead and I immediately wrapped my arms around his neck.

"I don't think I'll ever need to use it while you're by my side," I whispered, and he immediately brushed a strand of my hair away from my face.

"I hope so."

As soon as I wanted to kiss him, the door was suddenly flung open and when I looked curiously, Juri, another tall man and a woman with exactly the same hair color as me came in.

"Good morning," said the Russian, and he seemed in good spirits as always. He actually looked really good today. Instead of a kimono, he wore black trousers and a tight white shirt, which really showed that he also liked to train. Of course, he was nothing compared to Odran, who could still be heard punching and puffing.

"What are you doing here?", Rian wanted to know and when I suddenly noticed how the brown-haired girl was staring at my husband, I took his hand and took off this stupid helmet with the other.

"I wanted to clarify something with you," said Juri with a smile to Rian, but then he suddenly looked back and forth between me and the brown-haired woman. "Oh, you don't even know each other yet. Anjelika, that's Keeva, Rian's wife."

Juri pointed at me and I literally felt Rian tense up next to me.

"Keeva, this is Anjelika. The woman who wanted your husband's cock."

As I angrily wanted to go to Anjelika, I suddenly felt Rian's hand holding mine tighter than ever before and looked up at him with clenched teeth.

"Let go of me right now!" I hissed like a snake, which luckily he actually let go of me while I felt the adrenaline rushing through my veins.

I fixed this floozy whose eyes seemed panicked. She nervously played with her hands and kept looking back and forth between Rian and Juri for help, the latter grinning in amusement.

I carefully climbed out of the boxing ring, jumped down, then pushed up the sleeves of my white sweater and went towards her, determined to punch her, but as soon as there were only a few meters between us, Yuri suddenly blocked my way.

His aftershave was totally pungent, searing into my mind and I wrinkled my nose and looked up at him with narrowed eyes.

"Get out of my way immediately!" I demanded decisively, clenching my hands into fists. I was so angry it scared me myself. Normally I would certainly have reacted differently, but the mere idea that Rian was involved with other women only made me see red and the hardly controlling jealousy literally clawed into everything that made me special.

"Oh, Keeva. I can't let that happen," Yuri said with a provocative smile and stood next to me to look at the anxious-looking Anjelika just like me. "You gypsies really are a vengeful people and I don't think with your irascibility determined by your genes that there will be anything left of my whore, and I make so much money from her. That would be really unfortunate..."

The anger slowly left me at his words, because now I understood what it was. I opened my fists again and looked at Yuri instead of her, who returned my gaze triumphantly.

"You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about," I let him know and looked back at Anjelika. I became aware of something through Yuri's words. She was a whore, probably not even willingly, and her approaching Rian was probably just her fucking job.

But it still gnawed at me!

I turned to Rian, who was watching me closely, and then turned to this woman again while taking a deep breath.

"Did you know he has a wife?" I asked without showing emotion. She immediately shook her head in the negative and started to say something, but I held up my hand and didn't let her speak. That was enough for me. "Now you know and if something like this happens again, this Russian won't stop me either!"

She nodded and looked down ashamed while I turned back to Juri, who suddenly laughed out loud and put his arm around my shoulders.

"You really are a surprise, dearest Keeva. You don't usually react that calmly," he babbled and I became more and more aware that he probably didn't know gypsies at all.

"Maybe you shouldn't lump people together. After all, I don't know a single Russian who walks around like a homeless person in a kimono and sandals."

Juri's look was slightly stunned and I could literally hear Anjelika gasping for breath and somehow everything tensed up at that moment. Not just my chest where my heart was pounding against my ribs, but everything else. Even the air around me seemed tense.

While no one said anything else, I bit my tongue slightly and almost regretted my big mouth, until Juri looked at Rian and started to laugh, which didn't relieve my tension.

"If you had enough of her, I would take her immediately!", he said to my husband and then looked at me again. "You're going to have to shut up someone and I'd only gi-"

"Shut your fucking face immediately!", I heard Rian's cold voice, who quickly stood next to me and angrily fixed on Juri. "One more word about her and it will be your last!"

Yuri raised his hands with a grin and looked back and forth between us.

"Calm down. I just wanted to have some fun. You're already obsessed with each other," he laughed, but somehow I didn't feel like joining in his stupid laughter. Somehow he was mentally unpredictable and such people were dangerous. "And now kids, please leave Rian and me alone. We have some things to sort out."

The two looked at each other, Rian still seemed tense and my gaze flew behind him to Odran, who was walking towards us with Nero.

"Keeva," Rian addressed me and gave me a soft kiss on my forehead. "Go with Odran. I'll be right behind you."

Something struck me as odd just from the deadpan way he spoke and I really didn't want to leave without him but I knew how he was in front of others. He didn't tolerate any arguments and I therefore only reluctantly nodded and ran out of the room after Odran, followed by Anjelika, who apparently wanted to come with us.

I was apparently too nice to her. Did she think I would want to spend my day with her?

As we walked down the bright hallway, I turned to her when I got to the back, and she immediately jumped slightly.

Actually, I wanted to make a fool of her and chase her away, but this fucking pity came up again in me, which made me look annoyed at Odran.

Of course he just shrugged his shoulders too and I just decided to ignore her presence completely. If she does follow us, I don't care...

"So, here we are," said Odran into the silence and obligingly held the door open for me, through which I walked together with Nero and my mood immediately brightened from the ground up.

Cool!

I ran to one of the places where you could shoot cardboard cutouts and inside my heart was dancing because at least I could prove to Odran how good my shooting was. With the ulterior motive, of course, that he would tell Rian and my husband would be proud of me.

Anjelika should also see it calmly, so that she would know what threatened her if she didn't take my words seriously.

"Here," Odran snapped me out of my thoughts and handed me earmuffs and goggles. While I was getting dressed he loaded a really nice black pistol and then grinned and handed it to me to take another one for himself.

"Then show me what you learned with your cousins in the forest."

He raised an eyebrow at me and immediately I positioned myself the way Padraig had taught me.

Stable hold! That was almost more important to my oldest cousin than the shooting itself.

Then guide the weapon with the right hand and place the left under the right to stabilize it.

"Where should I meet her?" I asked Odran challengingly and looked at the black cardboard figure very closely.

It had several circles and of course a very small cross on the heart, which literally made me laugh.

"Well," said the big one and I could almost hear the amusement in his voice. "Would be good if you meet the cardboard cutout at all."

I looked at him in disbelief and bit my lower lip angrily.

Did he seriously think I'd have any trouble hitting that fucking cardboard cutout?

"Say where!" I demanded again, and he just grinned stupidly.

"Head."

I looked back at the cardboard, took a deep breath, and while I stopped breathing and just focused on my target, I counted down from 3 to 0 and pulled the trigger with concentration.

What did I hit.

A big grin spread across my face and I looked at Odran with pride, whose eyes were still glued to the cardboard cutout while his mouth was slightly open.

"Bullshot," I said contentedly and looked again at the black figure that I had shot right in the head.

"Or lucky strike," Odran said suddenly and I glared at him angrily.

"Why should it be luck? Because I'm a woman?"

I raised an eyebrow questioningly as he straightened up and aimed at his figure. He shot faster than me, didn't really concentrate and of course still hit the head, which was hardly a miracle.

Who knew how many times they trained here.

"Pascal?!" he shouted at a guy I hadn't even seen before, but who must have been standing behind us the whole time at a small counter where various pistols were lying. "Set the targets three meters back!"

The blond nodded and flipped a switch, causing me to hear a noise that echoed loudly through the small hall.

I looked curiously at the cardboard cutouts, which both disappeared further back.

Now he really wanted to know!

"Heart," Odran asked me, and challengingly I stood up and again, calmly and holding my breath, aimed at the small, white cross that was clearly visible on the black cardboard.

Inhale, hold your breath, count down and the next bullet flew, which shot straight through the small of the back, which made me smile again.

“Thank you Padraig!”

"Lucky hit then?" I turned to Odran with a proud expression, who seemed genuinely impressed.

I felt like Lucky Luke himself!

He also aimed again and when I watched very closely how he certainly missed his target by a hand, my joy only increased. Of course, the great man felt his honor had been insulted.

"You know!" he started, looking down at me. "No matter how good you are, if you don't pull the trigger when it matters, your bloody aim won't do you any good!"

Wow! Men and their egos.

I rolled my eyes and didn't even blame him. Sure it really sucked to be beaten at shooting by a little gypsy. But still his words hit me, because they were true...

"Good, then left hand!", he demanded and shot first. He hit and put his gun down on the table in front of us to study me, arms crossed.

I nodded and took aim, but something inside me suddenly forced me to miss. I didn't want him to feel robbed of his manhood just by showing him off here.

After taking a deep breath, I aimed right next to the cardboard cutout and pulled the trigger.

The bullet went nowhere and although I knew I would have hit it, I felt better now that I saw Odran's grin again.

"I guess it's just luck," he said confidently, causing me to shrug unknowingly.

"May be."

"That was more of a sign of how much she appreciates you, Odran," I suddenly heard Rian behind me and turned to him. He stood at the door together with Yuri and looked at me proudly, which made me blush slightly.

"What do you mean by that?", the tall one next to me wanted to know immediately and Rian walked to my side with a smile.

"You shot extra wide," he stated, pointing to the cardboard cutout. "Shoot again."

"I didn't," I wanted to defend myself, but I could see that Rian had already seen through my lie.

"Again," he grew louder and I did. Of course, this time I hit my target and looked apologetically at Odran, who just rolled his eyes.

"Happiness!" he said sternly, but I suddenly saw that a tiny, proud smile spread across his lips.

"I said yes, I'd be happy to take it," said Juri, but Rian immediately gave him an angry look and took my gun from my hand.

"Didn't I tell you to shut up!", Rian yelled and the whole atmosphere tensed up again.

“I just wanted to make my husband proud!”

"You just don't know how to have fun anymore," Juri said with a grin and he didn't seem to mind at all that Rian aimed right at his head.

"The fun's over as soon as it's about my wife! Get that one!!!"

The two of them fixed each other and while I was holding my breath under high tension and could hear my fast beating heart very clearly, the two suddenly started to laugh out loud.

"You shit wanker" Rian said and put the gun aside to show Juri his middle finger. "But I'm serious. I don't want to hear anything more about Keeva!"

Yuri nodded and came up to me.

"I'm sorry. We always tease ourselves about our conquests, but of course it wasn't my right to talk about you like that."

Was he schizophrenic?

"It's okay," I replied and then looked up at Rian. "Can we go home please?"

I was fed up with the Russian and no matter how much fun I had in the ring with Rian and shooting with Odran, all I wanted now was to be at home with them by the pool, away from Yuri and his hypocrisy.

"Okay," Rian replied, kissing my cheek to take my hand while Odran grabbed Nero's leash.

"We'll accompany you out," said Yuri suddenly, and by God, I'd definitely put a bullet in him at some point.

Didn't he have any other hobbies than following us everywhere?

So we all got into the elevator together and I didn't like being so close to each other with Anjelika, Juri and his gorilla, but I just held my breath and was the first to storm out of the elevator into the large entrance hall together with Odran, while Rian and Juri chatted about old times...

They probably just hadn't killed each other yet because they had so much history that united them. I knew Rian by now... He would have punished even Senan for talking to me like that, but he and Yuri were sort of best friends, which struck me as utterly absurd considering how crazy this Russian guy was.

Before Odran, Nero and I could go out into the sun through the glass door, Rian held my hand back for a moment. "I'll be right there."

I nodded reluctantly and ran out together with Odran, where Nero immediately relieved himself on a bush and we then strolled to the car.

Arriving at the BMW we leaned against each other and I watched the entrance impatiently, which somehow made me more and more nervous because I knew that Anjelika was inside with the two of them.

"They only deal with business," Odran said suddenly, as if he had read my mind.

"I know," I said confidently and then briefly stretched my face up to feel the glorious sun on my skin until I heard loud laughter and let my eyes wander to the door again.

Juri was standing there with Rian, between them Anjelika, who ran her hands along her loose brown hair. They really were the same color as mine, but otherwise she didn't resemble me. The tight black dress only showed again that she probably wasn't even allowed to decide for herself what she wanted to wear.

It was damn short...

I was about to get even more excited about how close she was to Rian, when suddenly there was a loud crack, which immediately made me cling to Odran for protection, who flinched badly from my attack.

"What was that?!" I asked in disbelief and since it almost sounded like a shot, I hysterically felt myself everywhere and then wide-eyed at Odran, who looked just as shocked as I did, but he just looked straight ahead in a daze ...to Rian...

My whole body was shaking and I couldn't feel my heart anymore when I turned back to the door as if in slow motion, but to my relief Rian was still standing there like before... Except for Anjelika...

"Oh my god!" I breathed when I saw her lying on the floor and even from here it sent a shiver down my spine to know that the red liquid around her was blood.

I immediately wanted to go to her and help, but Odran grabbed my arm rudely and pushed me behind him so forcefully that I was wedged between him and the car, which made me panic even more.

"Let me see her!" I screamed hysterically and felt tears running down my cheeks, but before I could get overwhelmed any further, Rian suddenly stood by us and almost in panic ripped open the doors of the BMW to let Nero jump in immediately to let.

Odran finally moved away from me and I immediately looked back at Anjelika. Even Yuri seemed to have run away because she was lying there all alone and I suddenly started crying in agony, even though I didn't even like her.

What happened anyway?

"Keeva, get in!" Rian yelled at me, but I just stuttered and pointed at her lifeless body.

"You... We can't leave her like that!!!", I tried to resist running away, but Rian grabbed my waist and just pushed me into the car, where I immediately put my hands in front of my face stopped while he slammed the door and ran to the driver's side to get in as well.

He started the engine and started spinning the tires far too quickly. Normally I would have complained about his fast driving, but I was in shock.

"What happened?!", Odran wanted to know from the back seat and Rian took a deep breath.

"Maybe a mix-up," he whispered without expression in his voice and I looked over at him questioningly while slowly removing my hands from my face.

"A mix-up?" I wanted to know and at that moment Rian looked at me as if for the first time he didn't know how to answer a simple question.

At the time, we didn't know that it wasn't a mix-up. Nor what else was behind it.