9

Caught in that passionate, all-encompassing kiss, I gently stroked the skin on his neck while his hands pulled my waist tightly, causing me to tingle in my abdomen.

I heard the sea rushing loudly next to us, felt his tongue playing wildly and demandingly with mine, eliciting a low moan from me and at that moment I felt as if I were floating above the soft sand, as if there was nothing around us anymore hereabouts...

Until he suddenly pulled away from my lips and looked down at me apologetically. There was no more cold in his irises, it's gone, leaving only warmth.

The expression he gave me sent a pleasant shiver down my spine and unconsciously I held my breath again while his fingers slowly brushed my lips and then, much to my disappointment, he pulled away from me completely.

"I can't do this," he apologized, and for a moment it looked like he couldn't decide whether to go or stay.

"What can't you do?" I wanted to know almost silently and suddenly felt an inner emptiness that pulled through every fiber of my body, so that I even got a slight pain in my heart, which stabbed me from any hope of being closer to him .

He didn't answer me... Instead he turned around, walked to his shoes and only stopped at the beginning of the stairs with his back to me.

Completely overwhelmed with all this chaos, I waited for a reaction. I wanted to know why he couldn't admit to himself that there was something between us. Was he afraid of getting hurt? Hardly, considering what and who he was...

Holding my breath, I took a few cautious steps toward him, but before I got to him, he ran up the stairs without even turning around.

"Shit," I mumbled, fighting back tears. It drove me insane to feel for someone who didn't seem to feel anything for me, or rather was too scared to admit it. I felt torn enough for that as it felt completely abnormal to even feel attracted to someone after such a few days.

I stood there alone on this dark beach and sat down on the sand again in despair with a view of the dark sea.

He was probably right about one thing. I didn't have to compete with anyone. Just because he didn't want me didn't mean those other women were any better...

When I suddenly remembered his kind words that he saw the true beauty in me, as I was sitting here now, my heart beat a beat faster and goosebumps came down on my arms, which I didn't want at all .

"Ohhhh Keeva," I whispered, shaking my head in frustration at myself, only to fall on my back and look up at the stars, which looked truly mesmerizing.

They were hard to spot in town, but here on the deserted beach they seemed closer than ever.

I closed my tired eyes, felt his lips on mine again and let myself in on the memory, until Nero suddenly paced nervously next to me, causing me to get up again as well.

"Nero," I called him, but he didn't pay any attention to me.

He stared petrified next to us along the beach in the total darkness and suddenly all his hairs stood on end.

My eyes then followed his, but I saw nothing but deep black. It was probably a cat or something that demanded his attention.

But when he suddenly started loudly and took a step forward, I got a queasy stomach and quickly stood up to look in the direction again, but again I saw nothing at all.

The wind blew lightly through my hair, the sea was still rushing softly and everything seemed so peaceful to me until Nero barked menacingly several times, I opened my eyes wide in shock and reached for his collar.

"Come Nero," I commanded softly and quickly pulled him to the stairs with me while he tried to fight back and growled louder and louder.

"Stop and come!"

I grew louder and louder in the panic that took over me from one moment to the next, then ran ahead of him up the stairs, my heart pounding against my chest so hard it ached.

"Good night, Mrs. Gallagher," said one of the guards who was standing at the top of the stairs and I briefly considered telling him about Nero's behavior, but it was probably really just an animal and I made a monkey of myself for nothing.

Now that I've arrived at the house, surrounded by lights and security guards, thankfully the fear and panic slowly disappeared and together with Nero I made my way to my floor.

But before that I discovered Odran in the living room, who must have fallen asleep while watching TV.

I tiptoed over to him, then hit the remote control to turn off the flickering that would surely have disturbed his sleep.

A quick glimpse of his peaceful face made me smile and I carefully picked up the blanket and pulled it over him to make him at least a little more comfortable. He definitely deserved it after all the shopping hustle and bustle...

When I then wanted to go to the stairs, I suddenly heard him mumble "Good night, Kev" and had to smile reluctantly, while I then took the stairs up and stopped briefly on Rian's floor.

I saw the light still burning under his door and fought an inner struggle with myself, but when I realized that I had already taken the first step on the beach, I continued up the stairs and resolved to give him the time to leave what he seemed to need...

It was dark in my room and before I could throw myself into bed exhausted, Nero suddenly growled again and stared out the window front, which looked directly at the beach.

"What's that about?" I mumbled and stood right next to him to look into the darkness.

I saw nothing, only the dark sea and the slightly lighter sand, but quite unexpectedly I suddenly had the feeling that someone was watching me and an uncomfortable shiver ran through my whole body.

****

It must have been late morning when I opened my eyes with a slight pounding in my head.

The sun shone brightly through the window front and I was glad that this strange night was behind me, because I had experienced fear, connection, weakness, despair and so much more in just a few hours and had to deal with this chaos in peace first.

With difficulty I put my feet on the white carpet and then yawned into the bathroom to undress and take a long shower. The little sand that was on my skin and in my hair disappeared down the drain and all that was left was the pleasant scent of my new shampoo, which smelled pleasantly of pomegranate...

Clean and surrounded by soothing warmth, I quickly dried off, put on underwear, short jeans and a black T-shirt, and then tied my wet hair in a white towel...

"I'll quickly brush my teeth and then we'll go for a walk," I smiled with my toothbrush in my mouth at Nero, who seemed to be watching me curiously.

As I looked at myself in the mirror, my thoughts suddenly wandered back to that queasy feeling in my stomach and I glanced down at Nero again, who fortunately seemed completely calm and balanced again.

It must have been a cat, I thought, rinsing my mouth out with cold water as I made my way downstairs barefoot.

Arriving in the living room, I padded straight to Nero's bowl to pour him fresh water and put some dry food in the bowl.

"Morning," I heard Senan standing behind me, rubbing his eyes and glancing at me briefly.

"Morning," I replied quietly, avoiding his eyes in embarrassment.

I remembered how I had behaved. I thought of Jake rubbing against my body and getting a bullet thanks to my intrusiveness. Sure Senan was mad at me about it, but when I looked at him again, he smiled mildly and squeezed the coffee maker in front of us.

He was either not angry at all, or he was just as good an actor as his brothers.

"How's Jake?" I still wanted to know uncertainly and he just waved his hand away while pulling two cups out of the cupboard.

"He's seen worse. Besides, it's his own fault," Senan shrugged while placing the cups on the counter in front of us.

"Worse than getting shot in the hand?" I asked skeptically, but he just laughed and put his arm around my shoulders.

"Keeva, this situation isn't your fault, I'm really thankful it was just his hand. He's too, and believe me, nobody blames you for this, so don't worry," he explained, pinching me slightly my cheek, which made me grin in relief.

He was able to take away some of my guilt and when he started to pour us coffee, I breathed a sigh of relief and glanced out at the terrace.

"Tell me. Are there a lot of people on the beach here at night?" I asked him, turning my gaze back to him to carefully accept the full cup, the smell of which alone made me a little awake.

"Not that I know of. Hardly any tourists come here, especially not at night and the neighbors don't really care about Rian and his reputation. Hard to believe that they walk around here in front of the house at night."

I nodded to him thoughtfully and took a sip of the hot coffee before turning back to the patio.

"Why do you ask?"

"Just like that," I ended the topic and he didn't dig deeper either. Cup in hand, he disappeared in front of the TV and then turned it on while I was still preoccupied watching Nero feed.

When he was done panting and staring at me, I hurriedly finished my coffee and then ran with him to the terrace to open the glass door for him.

The heat hit me immediately and the hangover made me slightly dizzy, but I still followed Nero down the stairs quickly and burned my feet slightly in the much too hot sand.

"Nero," I called, but he ran left along the beach, exactly to where he had smelled something yesterday.

Now, in the light, I was sure that no one was around. The beach was deserted and so I followed him and wasn't afraid.

It wasn't until I got to him that my blood froze in my veins and I stared dizzily at some footprints that looked exactly as if someone had been standing there looking in the direction I was sitting on the sand last night.

Nero sniffed around excitedly and suddenly he growled and looked right past me.

A shiver ran down my back, every little hair on my body stood up and when I looked at the ground in front of me with wide eyes, I recognized a second shadow next to mine, which seemed much larger and wider than mine own.

Damn crap!

Heart racing, I turned around and looked straight into the dark eyes of a man who was staring at me with a smile, nervously ruffling his blond hair.

"I didn't mean to scare you," he said apologetically and held out his hand.

I gaped at him for a while before I calmed down and hesitantly reached out my hand, but Nero suddenly stepped between us and growled at the stranger.

"Wow, calm down," the blonde said and pulled his hand back to put it in the pocket of his short black pants. "I have a cat, he needs to smell it," he explained to himself and I still stared at him skeptically.

"By the way, I'm Brandon. I live right up front," he let me know, pointing past me to one of the large mansions.

So he was a neighbor and probably did have a cat.

"Nero," I admonished him and pulled his collar a bit away from Brandon. "I'm really sorry. I've only had him a few days and I don't know what's wrong with him. He probably really doesn't like your cat," I said apologetically, having real trouble getting Nero to stop liking himself to act like a madman.

"And you are?" Brandon then wanted to know and I slapped my forehead lightly, rolling my eyes.

"Sorry. Keeva," I answered him and then held out my hand, which he shook hesitantly, looking at Nero.

"Hello, Keeva. Nice name," he winked and was about to pass me when he paused again. "If you feel like it, we could go for a walk together. The beach has nice corners."

Apparently he didn't know whose wife I was and since I didn't want to have to make another choice of foot or hand, I immediately shook my head in the negative. "I'd rather not, but thanks for the offer," I smiled at him and suddenly he laughed out loud.

"If it's about Rian, then you should know that nobody can do anything about coincidence or fate. I'm always out here in the evenings. Maybe we meet accidentally", he grinned and then pointed to Nero, who was still growling softly. "But please without him. I don't want to end up as a midnight snack."

I nodded and had to smile about the fact that apparently even nice people lived here. Not everyone was automatically part of the mafia, and not everyone was automatically cold and dismissive.

Brandon seemed really nice and open and I watched him for a while until I made our way back to the villa together with Nero.