33

A week had passed since the horrible day we had to watch an innocent woman die...

A week of waking up like clockwork every night and having to be soothed by Rian with tears in my eyes. These nightmares were nerve wracking, and not just for me. That's why Rian didn't get enough sleep at night...

But despite all these circumstances, he was a wonderful husband to me every day. He was there for me, primarily concerned only with my well-being and even if he had a lot to do, he hardly ever left me alone and if he had to leave urgently, Odran and Senan took care of me as if I were what is most important to them too.

Luckily, Rian wasn't gone too often. He did most of the work from home, which was fine with me. Odran was the one who left the house at exactly 8 a.m. every morning and returned home from Cathan at exactly 2 p.m., where of course a delicious lunch was already waiting for him.

Knowing full well what had happened in front of the club and that we thought it should have happened to me, Senan hadn't touched a drop of alcohol since that day and supported me and Rian as much as he could.

He went out a lot with Nero to relieve Rian of that, helped me with the cooking every day and because he was really courteous and helpful, the previously tense relationship with Rian became somehow more relaxed, but since that day he's been very trendy anyway turned away and generally seemed very calm...

It must have taken him as much as it did me, only he didn't want to show it.

"I was on the phone with my dad. Everything is fine with mom," I told Rian, who was sitting at the dining table, smiling at me as I walked towards him from the stairs.

"I'm glad," he said encouragingly, then quickly turned back to his laptop while I sat across from him and began to draw on my pad, as I did every time he worked here.

I delicately let the pencil dance on the white paper while glancing up at Rian, who, luckily for me, was not wearing a shirt or t-shirt at home most of the time. I enjoyed drawing him, especially the tattoos on his bare chest... I just wanted to draw him anyway...

On the day I clung to Odran in terror and the shot shattered my death, the last thing my mind showed me was Rian...

His beautiful grey-blue eyes and his so mesmerizing smile. that's why I only painted him and nothing else. Everything else suddenly seemed unimportant...

"Are you drawing me again?" he suddenly asked me, snapping me out of my memory of that horrible day. He didn't look at me, just stared at his laptop and I bit my bottom lip slightly at the sight of him.

"Yeah," I then admitted, turning back to the paper while he picked up his phone and typed something.

It was like that almost every day and I enjoyed every single second that we sat here together and I didn't have to feel afraid...

Time passed and when I looked over at the clock above the door, I realized that Odran would be coming home soon. I had promised him that I would make potato pancakes today. He loved those things, kept telling me that her mother used to make them, so I made them quite often now too.

"Senan!", I called then facing the stairs and got up from the chair, where Rian immediately wanted to grab my drawing pad, but I slapped his fingers menacingly.

"Hey!" I admonished him and pulled the pad to my chest. "You promised not to look until I allowed it!"

He raised an eyebrow questioningly and grinned stupidly at me.

"And when will that be?"

"If I allow it!" I retorted confidently, which prompted him to get up and come around the table to me.

He grabbed the sketch pad and threw it on the table behind me and put his hands on my butt to lift me onto the table without much effort. My heart was racing with excitement as he stood between my legs and I could already feel the heat engulfing everything inside me.

"You're irresistible when you're this bossy," he whispered, digging his hand into my hair to tug a little harder, exposing my larynx and letting me inhale hard...

Of course it was his way of showing me who was in charge again, but he was going to lose this fight.

He could be cold, arrogant, and downright spiteful, but I had a woman's natural weapons...

"Rian," I breathed in a trembling voice as he tenderly began to caress my neck, squeezing my hands lightly against his chest to put some distance between us. After all, I was sitting on the dining table and Senan could come down at any moment.

"Mhhhh?"

He just kept caressing my skin and ran his tongue along my collarbone, causing a soft moan to escape my lips trembling with excitement.

"We have to stop," I whispered excitedly, and by God, I would have carried on and couldn't have resisted if he hadn't detached himself from me at that moment.

Okay, maybe he had more power over me than I had over him.

"Why stop?" he grinned dirty and easily picked me up on his hips to walk me to the stairs.

"Rian!" I warned again and pointed to the kitchen with one hand. "Odran is coming soon."

Rian suddenly laughed out loud and looked into my eyes so full of lust that I held my breath and only noticed the strong tingling in my abdomen.

"Odran may appear, but I am the one who will come," he breathed, lowering me to pull me up by the hand.

He definitely won!

"That was amazing," Rian breathed, dropping down next to me as I clutched my fast beating heart and struggled to catch my breath.

"Oh yes," I replied with a trembling voice and turned sideways to him to snuggle up to his chest out of breath.

I closed my eyes, listening to his heart and thinking about the explosions he kept creating in me.

With every rhythmic thrust, my entire body vibrated... With each of his touches, I just melted away... And then his seductive looks!

I loved it when he was inside me and looked deep into my eyes.

It was as if we were one in those moments... it was just him and me... nothing else...

"Are you alright?" he asked into the silence and then kissed my forehead while gently stroking my back with his hand.

"It's getting better every day," I whispered gratefully for his care, standing up slightly to look at him. "And how are you?"

I ran my fingers tenderly through his slightly sweaty hair. He smiled mildly and pulled me so close by the neck that our lips touched and a renewed tingling was released in me.

"When you're with me, I'm always fine," he breathed and I knew just from his look that he meant it seriously. I pulled him into a passionate kiss again and was about to sit on his hip when there was a knock on the door, which made me sigh in disappointment into the kiss.

"Just ignore it," Rian grinned and pulled me onto him by my hips, feeling his cock hard again just below my midsection.

Unfortunately, there was another knock, this time louder.

"Yes." Rian yelled, rolling his eyes before getting up and caressing my breasts. I groaned softly, was swept away by his excitement like on a wave, until I suddenly heard Cathan's voice from outside and all the passion fizzled out instantly.

"We have to talk! Now!", Cathan ordered and immediately I climbed down from Rian to pick up my underwear from the floor.

Rian didn't say anything, but as I watched him get dressed, I could clearly see how annoyed and frustrated he was.

Just like me.

"We'll continue later," he informed me and with a smile on his lips he pulled me towards him with a jerk to plant several soft kisses on my cheek, from which I had to giggle softly because his three-day beard was tickling lightly over my skin.

"I hope so."

He quickly pulled on a fresh, gray shirt and then disappeared from the room while I almost fell over clumsily trying to slip into my black sweatpants.

But somehow I made it and put on one of his black t-shirts to quickly fix my hair and then look for the way down.

Odran must have been hungry!

When I arrived at the bottom, I saw Rian and Cathan looking out of the window front, they seemed to be talking at the edge of the terrace. Odran was there too, but didn't seem to be taking part in the conversation as he was tapping away on his cell phone and standing with his back to them both.

"Would you like me to help you cook?"

I turned around to Senan, who was standing in front of me in shorts, and nodded gratefully.

"But please put on a t-shirt," I asked him and he immediately grinned stupidly.

"Why? Do I make you nervous otherwise?"

Rolling my eyes, I raised an eyebrow and was about to say something when he raised his hands slightly and disappeared upstairs.

He really always had to provoke you slightly, but by now I knew that there was nothing serious about him. He was just like that...

In the kitchen I then found the mass of potato pancakes that I had already mixed together this morning and then put a pan on the stove while Senan came back downstairs.

"What are you talking about?" I asked curiously, pointing my ladle outside to then let the first pancake into the pan.

"I don't know," Senan said, glancing outside while shrugging his shoulders. "Something with Yuri and some business."

Oh whoa.

Rian had told me about the deal. Security guards against percentages. With everything still under his control, Cathan must have been less than pleased that so much money was being spent on my safety.

"Do you know anything about that?" Senan asked, but I immediately shook my head.

Rian had forbidden me to discuss business with Senan. Not because he didn't trust him, as I initially thought, but because he wanted to protect him. Due to his past and the severe depression that accompanied him for a long time, Senan was not exactly the most resilient person. So I kept my mouth shut too.

"Does it have to be that way!"

Rian stormed in the patio door behind Cathan, followed by Odran and I winced slightly as all three yelled at each other excitedly.

"Yes, it has to be!!! You give up shares in my company and think you don't have to do anything for it!?"

Cathan fixed Rian, who cursed and disappeared upstairs, while Odran turned to me and Cathan gave me and Senan a disapproving look.

"We've got some errands to do, but we'll be back soon," Odran explained with a fake smile, which made me pretty nervous.

"And you're coming too!" Cathan yelled at Senan and grabbed his arm to get out the front door with him, which made me gape at them.

"What's going on?" I asked excitedly to Odran. If all three of them left I would be alone and that's why I knew it had to be important or Rian wouldn't allow it.

"Nothing, don't worry," the tall one tried to calm me down, but it didn't work at all.

"Keeva," Rian then addressed me, who had just come back down the stairs and was dressed entirely in black. Only his silver watch was a different color. "I'll be back as soon as I can. Don't open the door for anyone and call me right away if you feel unwell."

I nodded, but somehow I was more concerned about him than myself at the moment. Especially since I had absolutely no idea what was going on.

"I love you," he whispered in my ear and gently kissed my cheek to leave the house with Odran.

And now I was completely alone.

Since I was quick to finish the potato pancakes, I piled them on a plate and shoved them in the fridge only to almost have a heart attack afterwards.

"Hello, Keeva."

Shit!

"Rian is not here!"

I automatically took a step backwards, while Juri looked at me curiously and started to grin dirty at the sight of me. That fake smile could really scare you...

"I didn't want to see Rian. You are exactly the person I was looking for and finally the day has come when my men have told me that you are here alone."

That doesn't bode well!

I wrinkled my forehead in irritation at his words and looked at him questioningly, while I could already tell from the slight trembling in my hands how much fear and panic was spreading through my body.

But he and Rian were friends. Why should he do anything to me?

"So," he then began, stroking his white shirt to straighten it, but before he could continue, my inner voice was yelling at me to flee, so I ran to the stairs without rhyme or reason but being stopped by him halfway before I could reach them.

It was probably a stupid knee-jerk reaction!

"You bastard!" I cursed and was about to free myself from his grip like Rian had taught me when Nero came running down the stairs growling and bit the Russian's ass, who then started screaming loudly.

"Damn filthy mutt!!!", Yuri roared and luckily let go of me so that I could finally catch my breath. I gasped for air and didn't know what to do when Yuri suddenly pulled out a gun and aimed it at Nero's head without batting an eyelash.

Crap!!!

"No!" I yelled assertively and Juri stared at me with a devastating look while Nero let go of him and stood between us, growling.

"Either you listen to me and the dog disappears upstairs, or I'll shoot him first and then you!!!"

Now that I knew how sick and crazy Yuri was, I also knew that he meant every word and that it would probably be best to just obey him.

"Nero, get up," I said calmly to my Doberman, who immediately stopped staring at Yuri, who was holding his injured ass and cursing in Russian.

Luckily, when Nero ran up the stairs, the Russian caught his anger and laughed stupidly at me.

"The dog understands you?" He amused himself and once again it was completely incomprehensible to me how Juri ticked at all. After all, he just got bitten on the cheek, why was he laughing again?

He definitely had one screw too loose.

"I'm a gypsy. I can get anyone to do what I ask," I replied confidently, not knowing at that moment if I might have gone crazy too.

Shouldn't I still be afraid of him and his appearance? But Rian trusted him, maybe I should just do the same. If he wanted something bad for me, he could have shot Nero, but he didn't do that...

"Good to know, because that's exactly the kind of person I need," he spoke seriously again, pointing to one of the chairs at the dining table. "Sit down, dearest Keeva."

While Yuri turned to the kitchen and then went to help himself from the freezer there, I sat down in one of the chairs with my skeptical eyes fixed on him and really had to suppress a giggle as I watched him dig into the freezer. Peas on the butt pressed and moaned softly.

That was too delicious a sight, literally!

"Well. First," he began, coming back to the table where he only glanced at the chair and then back at me while I still stifled a laugh.

He certainly wouldn't sit for a long time.

"If someone finds out what I'm about to tell you, you'll regret it bitterly. I like to warn my business partners."

Great! Immediately my mood was in the basement again... wait a minute.

"Business partner?" I asked skeptically, but he skillfully ignored me, which really annoyed me slightly.

"Second, I know who your weird stalker is."

Immediately, my pulse quickened and I stared at him with wide eyes, while my hands even started to sweat slightly.

"Who is it???", I wanted to know immediately, but Juri just shook his head with a grin.

"First you give me your word that you won't tell anyone about this conversation. You know, Keeva. Giving a word to a Russian is like an oath. If you break it, you won't die, but everything else you love. "

So I would take this conversation with me to my grave...

"I give you my word."

Yuri told me that someone had stolen his money. He assumed from witness testimony that it was Rian, that's why he was at the club, but he quickly realized that someone else was just laying false leads. After Anjelika's death, he had been tapping into all possible surveillance videos of the area for the whole last week, because even if she was just a whore to him, her death had to be avenged...

"And you're going to play the decoy... I want a confession and that's exactly why I don't want the brothers to know about it. They would act impulsively, especially Rian and I don't need that."

I nodded, understanding what he meant, but playing the decoy didn't sound all that exciting to me... but if I wanted a normal life with Rian, I had to do it.

"Then tell me who it is and I'll do it."