Chapter 17: Chapter 17

ESTRELA

Sighing, Kian finally gets up when the knocking sounds again. I'll stay in bed and wait. "What is it?" Kian snaps at the person standing in front of the door. Since the door is around the corner, I can't tell who it is.

"The boss is expecting you both," says a male voice that sounds cold.

"Yes yes," Kian says bored. "We'll be right there." I jump up quickly because I think of something. The man, arms crossed in a jet black suit, stands in the doorway and stares blankly at Kian.

"I don't have anything to wear!" I say to Kian, blinking over at this burly man who's taking up the whole doorway.

"I have clothes for you, miss," comes the voice of the man holding a bag and holding it out to me. I take it hesitantly. "Hurry up." With these words he disappears again.

"What a limp!" says Kian and slams the door before going into the bathroom. I open the bag to find pants, a thin sweater and even shoes. Things don't look familiar to me. Well, that doesn't matter for now. The main thing is that I have something to wear and don't have to squeeze myself into the dress I wore yesterday. A few minutes later, Kian emerges from the bathroom with a towel tied around his waist. I catch my breath. Drops of water fall from his hair onto his chest and wriggle down the valley of muscles on his torso to the towel perched dangerously low. Kian stops very close to me. I look into his face and his gray eyes. He glares at me in amusement. "Pity, before leaning towards my ear. "Would you like me to help you get dressed?" I can feel his dirty grin in my ear. I slowly shake my head and take a step back from him. before leaning towards my ear. "Would you like me to help you get dressed?" I can feel his dirty grin in my ear. I slowly shake my head and take a step back from him.

"I-I have to go to the...B-bathroom," I stutter, quickly turning away from him. Kian laughs and I glance back, gasping as he just drops the towel and I catch a glimpse of his butt. Oh. My. God. I turn on my heel and storm into the bathroom. Heaven! I quickly banish the image of his naked, tight ass and get into the shower. Then I slip into the clothes. I wonder whoever picked my clothes knew what size I was. Because the trousers fit perfectly and the sweater is neither too wide nor too small. The shoes are also my size. Who knew all this? It couldn't have been my father. I doubt he knows that for sure. As I step out of the bathroom Kian is already fully dressed, leaning against the wall. He's wearing his black trousers from yesterday, only the gray shirt is new.

"Finished?" I nod and he gives me a quick look. We go to the elevator together. I'm relieved when I notice that this time the lift doesn't go all the way down, but stops on the ground floor. As soon as the doors open, a man in a suit and a headset will appear. I suspect that the men belong to Gabriel and are probably his bodyguards or whatever you call them.

"Come with me." Kian follows him and I guess I have no choice but to follow them. We walk through a large lobby to the back. A few people cavort around here, but it is remarkably empty here. We go through more doors until outside where we walk through a garden planted with beautiful plants. I can already recognize Gabriel and my father at a pavilion. There are four men around the pavilion – I'm sure they also belong to Gabriel. Everyone stands in the same position and watches the area with eagle eyes. I'm a little intimidated by the whole thing.

"Estrela, my beauty!" Gabriel greets me happily. He's wearing a suit again, this time in light gray but without a tie. The blond hair is neatly pulled back and his blue eyes really shine. Kian ignores Gabriel and my father and sits silently at the table, which also has all kinds of delicacies. Gabriel also doesn't seem to care that Kian doesn't greet him or notice him in any way. Gabriel kisses me on both cheeks as a greeting and I let it happen. He lingers on my ear for a moment. "I knew the clothes would fit you," he whispers. I back away from him, startled.

"You chose the clothes?" I therefore ask him. He smiles so wide that his gleaming white teeth almost blind me.

"Yes, you are the same height as Jennifer." Who the hell is Jennifer? Just as I was about to ask him that, he turned away from me and sat down at the set table. My gaze wanders to my father, with whom I haven't exchanged a word since I found out what he does. "Hit it!" Gabriel announces and points to the breakfast buffet in front of us. Kian has already started and is biting into a bun while watching me. Meanwhile, Gabriel talks about things on the way, but to be honest, I don't even really listen to him. My father, on the other hand, is mute. Not a single word leaves his lips. And still, I can't quite believe that I'm sitting here at a table with a mafia boss and everyone is pretending it's a comfortable breakfast in the morning.

Kian's gaze, which was previously on me, wanders behind my shoulder, his eyes widen a bit. I hear footsteps behind me and the clacking of heels suggests a woman.

"Jennifer!" Gabriel jumps up and smiles widely. I turn to the intended Jennifer. My mouth hangs open. An incredible beauty, just going up the steps of the pavilion. Long legs tucked into a short skirt and V-neck shirt showing off her ample breasts. Not only does her body seem perfect, her face is flawless - piercing, green eyes with a tinge of blue, a thin, pointed nose, and luscious lips. Her blonde, shiny hair is tied in a ponytail that bobs up and down on her shoulder. I don't miss the slight resemblance to Gabriel. "May I introduce my sister Jennifer." Gabriel only applies what has been said to me. My father and Kian already seem to know her. Jennifer's green-blue eyes slide onto me. She looks at me suspiciously before her gaze falls on the sweater I'm wearing.

"Isn't that my old sweater?" She tugs at the sleeves with her perfectly manicured nails.

"Um... Gabriel gave me the clothes." She raises her eyebrows before looking at Gabriel questioningly.

"Well, I wore the sweater in front of my breast surgery anyway, so you can have it," she says happily and is not even ashamed that she just revealed here that she had her breasts done. Gabriel laughs.

"Oh yes, my sister is adorable." Yes, she is, and imaginary at that.

"Kian!" This Jennifer suddenly screeches so loudly that my ears hurt for a moment. "I haven't seen you for so long!" Her crush on him is unmistakable.

"Hello, Jennifer," Kian greets her soberly. I can't tell if he's happy or not. Because there is no emotion in his voice. She throws herself into his arms, actually taking a seat on his lap and as soon as I know it, her lips suddenly land on his. Even though it hurts, I can't look away. But the worst part is that Kian sees no reason to push her away. No, you could almost say he likes it. Smiling broadly - exactly the same smile as her brother - she beams at him after breaking away from him.

"God, Jennifer, I don't want to see you making out with Kian," Gabriel says, a little disgusted. He looks at me and seems to notice something that makes his brow furrow before he looks back at his sister and Kian and grimaces. Gabriel is very observant. Because he probably has a faint premonition of what's really going on between Kian and me. "Harrison," calls the boss and reminds me that my father is still there. The spectacle seems to leave everything cold to him, as if he were already used to it. He just stares at his plate. In general, he looks like he's somewhere else, thinking. "Take your daughter for a walk. You have a lot to talk about!" A clear command from Gabriel. I look back at Kian and Jennifer who is still sitting on his lap and is trying to feed him a strawberry. To my astonishment, Kian ignores this. Shrugging her shoulders, she then throws herself, putting the strawberry in her mouth herself.

Suddenly I'm so mad with anger that I stand up abruptly and turn to my father. "You have a lot to explain to me!" I ignore Kian's look at me as I disappear into the garden with my father. We walk in silence. Even though my head is busy with other things, I still need to know why my father is a henchman of a mafia boss. "Why?" I break the silence. He takes a deep sigh before answering me.

"You're never supposed to know," he says guiltily. I stop, my father also stops before slowly turning to face me.

"Oh yes? So you wanted to keep lying to me?" I hiss.

"Yes, if I use it to protect your safety," he explains seriously, stepping towards me. I haven't seen it like that before, but I still can't believe that my father of all people is doing something like this. "Estrela, listen to me. I've known Gabriel since he was a kid and I made a promise to his father that I can't break. Please understand me, okay? It's bad enough that you got involved, although that's exactly what I wanted to prevent." He sounds sincere and frustrated.

"What did you promise?" I ask more gently now. Silent from him. I snort and turn away from him when he doesn't answer me.

"Listen! Please go home and forget all this. Stay away from Gabriel. Please, promise me that you won't dig into this any further." My father's despairing voice really makes me think about it. But how am I supposed to forget something like that?

"One more question." He looks at me sadly. "Why did Mom really break up with you and take me with her?" The look he lowers is answer enough. "She knew?" I ask anyway. He nods. "Okay...I'll go. But I can't forget all this," I say, turning around.

"Estrela?" calls my father. I stop but don't turn around. "I love you." I know he loves me, I've never doubted that, but right now I can't tell what to think of him - what to think of all this here. My father tried to protect me from that. But every secret eventually comes out, even the darkest.

KIAN

"Mmm...You smell so good," Jennifer whispers in my ear. She is getting on my nerves. Just because we've shagged a few times, she jumps at me every time we see each other. Jennifer is hot, no question, but it's the same as Karin. I do not want her. No longer. The only woman I'm interested in is Estrela and I'm sure she's pretty pissed off with me now. I saw her expression as she looked at Jennifer and me. She wasn't particularly enthusiastic about Jen's attack on me. When she comes back with her father, I have to make things clear to her. I don't know what's coming over me all of a sudden, but I don't want to be the fuckboy in their eyes.

"Jen!" I push her away as she whispers dirty things in my ear. She looks surprised at my rejection.

"Jennifer, sit down in a chair!" Her brother's sharp voice sounds next to us. I don't say that often, but for once I'm glad he chimed in. Stunned, she stares at her brother, then at me.

"Off-" she begins.

"Now. Jennifer!" he interrupts her. Her brother seems to be losing patience. And that rarely happens. Except for his sister. It often drives him insane. Jennifer sighs loudly before obeying Gabe's request and getting off my lap.

"Kristov!" she calls. Kristov is one of Gabriel's men. He turns to her. The mischievous twinkle in his eyes as she walks up to him and strokes his chest shows how much he likes Jennifer. "I'll be off then, boys. And I'll take Kristov with me!" She pulls the guy by the tie and walks away, hips swinging.

"Wow. You can really count on your men," I say sarcastically to Gabriel, who's jaw clenched.

"He'll still experience his miracle when he comes back." I laugh. "How's the training going?" Gabriel quickly changes the subject.

"About do you want to talk to me?" I rather thought he was going to ask me about Estrela. Because I had long since noticed that he was after her. But he'll never get her the way I want her. Gabriel raises his eyebrows at me as he pulls a pack of cigarettes out of his inside jacket pocket, where I also catch a glimpse of the revolvers he always carries. He lights one up, takes a deep drag, and then tosses the pack to me. Of course I don't hesitate and light up as well. I lean back and close my eyes for a moment.

"You like the little one?" I open one eye and wink over at him before groaning deeply and taking another hit. "Kian Warren, who fucks around the world and doesn't give a damn, has fallen in love with a woman!" He laughs heartily.

"In love?" I laugh out loud. Our conversation and laughter dies down when Harrison rejoins us - without her.

"So how did the conversation go?" Gabriel asks him. I study Harrison. He doesn't look as down as he used to. But I don't think it's cool that his daughter isn't with him anymore.

"As you can see ... I'll be on my way then. Gabriel, if anything happens, you know what to do," he says soberly.

"Hey, Harrison! ... Where's Estrela?" I jump up and want to go after him. He spins around, grabs my shirt collar and looks me in the eyes angrily.

"Kian! You better stay away from my daughter. You are to blame that she found out about this in the first place and it's better if you keep your distance from her from now on. Do you understand that?" he voices menacingly. Shit!

"Your daughter isn't stupid. She would have found out for herself at some point," I say seriously. Harrison shakes his head angrily and pushes me back.

"Yes, probably." He turns and disappears.

"Fuck," I curse under my breath. Gabriel, who suddenly stands behind me, pats me on the shoulder. His eyes on Harrison as he strides away, shoulders slumped.

"Kian, you screwed it up so badly. But I know you and you'll still run after the little one, even though you know full well that she's taboo for you." I'd love to buff him right now, but I don't want to mess with his men.

"You don't know shit!" I growl. Gabriel laughs, as always, because this arrogant ass always has a good sense for when something is going wrong.

"God, I've been amused by all the bitching around for the past few hours..." He pulls out his smartphone, which he's typing away on. "But let's get down to the serious stuff in life... There's something I need you to do." Gabriel is now the ice-cold businessman again. There's nothing left to have fun with.

"What's the matter?" I ask.

"Come on. I'll tell you the details in the car."

***

When I get home, I immediately go to the boxing club. It's important to just focus on the training and not get distracted. Neither by a Gabriel and least of all by Estrela. To my amazement, Harrison is also in the studio. We train together, luckily we don't talk about what happened. He knows how important the fight between Kayden and I is and I'm glad he continues to train me despite the circumstances. Without him, I would never be as good as I am today. I have always admired and respected him. To be honest, he's the only person I really look up to. It was never my intention to upset him for leading his daughter to Gabriel. I hope he knows that too. I can't blame him for advising me to to keep away from her. she is his daughter He probably just wants to protect her. I have no idea what it's like when a parent worries about their child. So I guess I'm not entitled to show him anything. But he can't protect her from the whole world either.

***

Since Estrela gave me her number for the party, I'm about to call her. But as expected, she doesn't answer.

CALL ME. I HAVE TO TALK TO YOU.

I write to her. Fuck, I sound like a fucking pussy. Since when have I been chasing after a woman just to explain to her that another woman doesn't give a damn about me? The need to enlighten her about it, however, takes over my doubts. I got an idea how I might lure her here.

I DO' YOU A DEAL! YOU COME TO ME AND WE'LL TALK, THEN YOU WILL ALSO GET THE LAPTOP. I'M WAITING FOR YOU. ADDRESS YOU KNOW!

It's not cool of me, but I can't think of anything else with the best will in the world. I just hope she bites too. Even if she didn't come, I would of course have made my laptop available to her.

THIS IS BLACKMAIL, ASSHOLE!

Wow. She's really angry with me and now I've probably made her even angrier. She will never come. I screwed that up completely with this message. I'm all the more surprised that she's at my door about half an hour later. I endure the look with which she fixes me when I open the door with a grin. She's going to be sulking for a while before I can get her mind off things... But I can already tell that the evening is definitely going to be very interesting.

"Look around. While I order us something to eat," I explain. She hesitates, then finally enters my house.

"I'm not hungry!" she says coolly.

"I do." She rolls her eyes. I turn to fill two glasses with water in the kitchen before calling a delivery service and ordering two pizzas, just in case she decides to eat something. Just as I'm hanging up, she comes into the living area, which is also where the kitchen is. Her admirable gaze cannot be overlooked. Yes, my house is not bad.

"And you can afford that from boxing alone?" she says curiously, not noticing the anger at me for a moment.

"Mmm," I just answer her. She looks at me. "Sit down," I instruct her. She follows my request and takes a seat on one of the bar stools at the counter. I hand her the glass of water.

"Fine, now talk!" I look at her perplexed, whereupon she says: "You wanted to talk to me?"

"Yes, of course... I wanted to tell you that I don't date Jennifer – not anymore," I reply honestly. Estrela narrows her eyes.

"Not anymore? It looked different this morning." Inside I'm grinning. Because someone is clearly jealous.

"I was totally stunned when she pressed her lips to mine," I truthfully explain.

"Aha." Her head turns red, the subject seems to make her angry. "You know what, Kian. I don't care who you're with either. You don't owe me an explanation or accountability. There's nothing between us - we're not together. So you can do whatever you want. " She is lying. Of course there is something between us. I walk around the counter towards her, stand right in front of her and look down at her.

"Kitty, you don't have to be jealous of Jennifer." I just can't resist this teasing.

"Um what? ... I'm not jealous!" She jumps up from the bar stool and takes a few steps away from me. "It hurt me, Kian!" she says suddenly, calmer this time. I frown. "Oh, right, you don't care about other people's feelings anyway!... So you think I was jealous of her? Yes, maybe you're right. But the worst part was that you kissed me before and then I have to watch you make out with another woman in front of me." Didn't she just say she doesn't care who I do what with? And that there would be nothing between us anyway? The whole thing probably gnaws at her more than she cares to admit. And I had no idea that it hurt her. Fuck! I'm an idiot.

"You're right, I wasn't thinking. I'm sorry," I say apologetically. Surprise flashes in her eyes, after all I'm not the type of person who apologizes often.

"Kian, what's that supposed to mean? And ... and what am I even doing here!" She breathes a sigh of frustration and crosses her arms over her chest. Fuck! I don't know myself. I can only think of her. The thought of ever fucking another woman doesn't turn me on. The only woman I want is her! Even though she's so damn curious, stubborn, innocent and basically taboo to me, I want her more than anything.