Chapter 23: Chapter 23

KIAN

After taking Estrela home, I went straight to Caesar's Palace.

"Mr. Warren," I'm greeted as I park my car in front of the hotel and casino. I give him a curt nod and toss my car key to the porter. Since I already know the way, without waiting for the other guy, I run to the elevator that takes me to hell. The Dark Palace - as Gabriel called it - can only be entered by people who work with Gabriel or do business with him. The Dark Palace is the forbidden zone of the hotel. I have no idea how much Gabriel offered the owner to build under the building. Since the Caesars Palace is a popular and well-known hotel here in Las Vegas, I can't really imagine that the owner would have approved. But I know what Gabriel is capable of and he has a great talent for persuading and threatening others.

The henchman enters the code, which I don't know, before driving me downstairs. "I know the rest of the way," I say as the elevator comes to a stop and the doors open. As soon as I push open the door of the Dark Palace, the warm air hits me, as does the music and the smell of alcohol. I stare looking around and realizing what the shit is going on here in the afternoon old bastards get on edge and suck in white powder and fuck even though i do hang out here every now and then i never touched that white stuff and no way , I have ever fucked a woman and paid her to do it. I have too much pride for that. Besides, I have a reputation to lose. And above all, I must be focused and at my best in my fights.

"Kian!" Daisy, one of the strippers comes walking towards me on her high heels. "I missed you." She gives me a big kiss on the cheek, while I feel her disgusting lip gloss, which must have left an imprint. I wipe my cheek in disgust.

"I don't have time now," I growl, ignoring her by just walking past her.

"Okay, you know I'm always at your disposal!" she calls after me. I roll my eyes. I stop in front of the door that leads to Gabriel's Meeting Room. In the room where life and death are decided .

"Warren," I say to the colossuses standing outside the door. One nods, feels me as I stretch out my arms and legs. Then he nods and opens the door. The moaning of a woman penetrates my ears immediately. Annoyed, I walk further into the room. Gabriel sits at the head of the long table. Judging by the woman on his lap and the movements, he certainly has his cock inside her. I roll my eyes in boredom at this and pull out my phone to dwell on this until it wraps up. I know he noticed me, but knowing him, he doesn't finish until he comes. The moaning of the woman is almost unbearable. It sounds so high that it hurts my ears.

After his "Fuck, yeah!" I put my phone back in my back pocket and watch the woman get off him and look at me with a shock, then a big grin. Gabriel closes his pants and the woman walks away, hips swinging. But I don't give her much consideration. "Kian." Gabriel sits back, oblivious to the fuck he just had. What a miserable motherfucker. "You can certainly imagine why you are here." He glares at me angrily. "Sit down!" I stop and Gabriel's eyes continue to sparkle angrily. "You know what happens when you defy me or threaten me."

"You put a bullet in my head," I reply, unimpressed.

"Well, at least you noticed that." He gets up and walks towards me, slipping his hand under his jacket and pulling out his revolvers.

"So you really want to kill me because I threatened you?" I laugh sarcastically. Gabriel shook his head.

"You still have to learn a lot." He tilts his head to the side and looks at his gun, which he is very proud of because it came from his grandfather, who was also a mafia boss. Gabriel looks at me intently. "You know Kian..." he starts and walks away from me. "Harrison is one of my best men, and not just because he already knew my father. He's loyal. He saved my life and my sister's..." He pauses. "But he has one major vulnerability. A vulnerability that would allow him to destroy me instantly. He would have no hesitation in killing me if he had the means. He would not hesitate, not if his daughter's life was at stake stands." I walk up to him with quick steps and stand close in front of him, noticing the gun,

"Leave her out of it!" I growl under my breath.

"What? I would never want to harm her. But there are people out there who could and then who is willing to sacrifice their life for her?"

"What kind of shit are you talking about!" I ball my hands into fists.

"I want to make something clear to you, Kian." Gabriel puts his gun back. "Do not fall in love." I stare at him perplexed. What?

"What? What are you talking about, dude?" Honestly, what did he take?

"Harrison loves his daughter more than anything. He would do anything for her. Stand against me, betray me, risk his life just for his daughter... And you Kian, you would do the same. You've fallen for her, in everyone respect and that will be your undoing," he adds: "If the little one means something to you, stay away from her. That's the only way you can protect her from the horror. We weren't made to love someone, because we are putting people at risk."

"What are you babbling about? I'm not you, okay? I'm not a mafioso, I don't have enemies I can't count on my fingers, or I don't discuss who's topping the bucket over breakfast." Gabriel shakes his head.

"You do not understand it."

"You pushed me into her arms. Why are you suddenly telling me to stay away from her? Estrela is in no way, in danger!" I growl.

"Kian, look at you. You know what you're capable of. You can drag people into the crash. That's just well-intentioned advice. Just don't let Estrela get too close to you." I'm really debating whether I should just smack him or just get out and forget about the conversation we're actually having.

"Fuck you!" I hiss and turn onto my heel.

"You'll find out soon enough," he calls after me.

***

This day clearly sucks, instead of forgetting everything Gabriel said to me, I can't stop thinking about it. The worst part is, I have no idea what he's trying to tell me. I know myself that I'm definitely not the right guy for Estrela. She's too good for me! Yes, maybe Gabriel is right, and I'll really drag Estrela down if I don't stay away from her, but... damn it! I can not. Especially not after we've slept together. I get an oppressive feeling when I think about never being able to touch her or kiss her again. Fuck!

And now I'm sitting here in Jason's club where Estrela is working today and because the day isn't bad enough already, I'm killing from my seat, a guy with eyes that eyes my girl a little too hard for my liking, as soon as she comes to his table and serves him since he is sitting like me upstairs in the VIP lounge. I know that look very well that he gives her when she takes his order. Fuck, the guy glare fucks her and it makes me so mad that I really have to hold my seat before I do anything rash. Yes, I admit it myself, I'm jealous. I used to not care if I shagged a woman and other men looked at her or touched her first. Since the whole thing with them was just a one-time thing, I didn't give a fuck. But not with Estrela. No, I'd like to smack anyone if they stare at you for just a second too long. I want to make it clear to everyone that she belongs to me.

Every now and then Estrela glances at me and I swear she senses something is wrong with me. Because she frowns slightly when she looks at me. As soon as she comes near me, she would like to pull me onto my lap, kiss her deeply, take her to my house and fuck her in my bed all night until she falls asleep from sheer exhaustion. I want to wake her up with kisses in the morning , take a shower with her, spoil her... God, I'm turning into a wimp.

"Why are you interested in that? The little one has been turning me on the whole time. You don't get in my way." Now I glare at him.

"Are you blind? She doesn't want anything from you!" Kian pushes him back on the shoulders and I hold my breath. I look around for help because I have a feeling the situation is about to escalate. But only a few onlookers who don't look like they're going to intervene just watch. And since the bar is downstairs, neither Summer nor Silas can see what's going on up here and Jason is in the office. But if I go to get him now, the two of them will surely fight.

"Of course, the little one wants me and she will still be fucked by me today." The obnoxious guy laughs and as soon as I know it, Kian's fist lands in his face. Blood immediately spurts out of his nose and he holds his hand in front of it, groaning. "Are you still okay, asshole?" the guy blurts out and looks at him in bewilderment. Kian is so tense and angry that I'm almost afraid to approach him now to stop him. "Dude, you probably broke my nose!" The guy narrows his eyes and also leans on Kian to smack him, but his hit misses as Kian came to see it. With the right grip, Kian grabs him and pushes him to the ground. The guy clearly doesn't stand a chance against him as Kian is bigger and clearly stronger than him. Not to mention, Kian is a boxer. He clearly knows how to proceed.

"Kian!" I look around for help, but everyone seems unwilling to interfere. Typical! I see more blood running down the guy's face and I'm so shocked. Oh god, Kian is gonna knock him out if he keeps this up.

"If you look at her again, I won't just break your nose!" Kian growls from bent over him, then pulls away and spits at his feet. "By the way, you're now banned from the house!" Kian grabs my wrist and pulls me down with him and we leave the guy moaning and swearing. He goes to the back area where Jason's office is. He opens the door without knocking. Jason looks up at him, then at me, confused.

"What's going on?" he asks immediately, noticing the tense mood immediately.

Since I'm still too shocked, Kian replies: "There's one in the VIP area," Kian says as if he were talking about the weather. Jason understands what he means because he hisses in annoyance and gets up quickly.

"Dude, seriously, Kian?" He looks at him angrily. Wow, he already assumes it was him. "What happened?" He looks first at him, then at me questioningly.

"He made stupid jokes and bothered Estrela." Jason rubs his face tensely.

"I'll check and we..." Jason points sternly at Kian. "Let's talk!" Then he turns around, presumably to check on the injure. I'm still far too shocked to have followed him or even gotten a word out.

"Shit man!" I wince at Kian's words. He notices and looks at me worried. "Is everything alright?" His gray eyes scan me from top to bottom.

"I should ask you that, Kian. You... you just assaulted a guest." I look at him in horror.

"Yes, because he deserves a punch in the face." I shake my head.

"No, Kian. That could have been arranged differently. Yes, he made stupid jokes, but that doesn't give you a reason to punch him!" I explain angrily.