Chapter 31: Chapter 31

KIAN

As soon as I got confirmation from Estrela that her parents will keep quiet, I can finally start to put the "plan" into action. I put my phone back in my back pocket and turn to Gabriel. "Is everything ready?" I ask him.

"However." He grins.

"Good. I'll be on my way. I would then be here with him in the evening." Gabriel scans the private airfield before putting his hand on my shoulder.

"I guess you'll do anything for her." It doesn't sound like a question from him.

"It's no big deal, man." He laughs like he doesn't believe me one bit.

"Yeah, if everything goes according to plan, then yes. I'll help you because I care about the little one and I enjoy seeing the guy suffer."

I roll my eyes before getting serious again. "You know I'm grateful to you for helping me with this. And I realize that I owe you something again." Gabriel waves it off.

"Not this time, Kian." I look at him questioningly. "We had our differences. But I really want to help you with that. Neither of us are good people, but at least we can put the bad things out of the world."

"Man, you're a mafia boss, not a superhero." Gabriel laughs.

"There are no heroes... You have to get your hands dirty to survive in this world."

"It's clear." I get on the jet that owns Gabriel. I nod to the pilot to confirm we're ready to take off. Gabriel watches me check my gun before he taps the jet's sheet metal and turns away so the pilot can take off.

During the four hour flight from Nevada to Louisiana, I go over the information I have from Matthew McKenzie. He lives in a dorm, which makes it a little harder to get him out unnoticed. So I have to be careful. Of course I got some support from Gabriel. Two of his men are flying separately from me, also to Louisiana.

We eventually arrive at a place called Hammond. Without wasting any time, I get off the plane, which has landed in an open field. "We'll take off from here in an hour and a half. So hurry up," says the pilot and I nod to him before I hear the engine of a car stopping next to the jet. It's a black Chevrolet SUV with tinted black windows. One of the window panes goes down and I recognize one of Gabriel's men.

After a half hour drive we arrive in front of the dorm where this Matthew lives. I look over at one of Gabriel's hackers who sorted that motherfucker's cell phone. "He's in the house," he confirms, looking away from me.

"Good." I reload the gun, even though it's not necessary. Because it's just a deterrent.

"Room 209. You're lucky, it's a single room, so no nuisance. Let's just hope he doesn't have visitors," he tells me for more information. "We'll stay in touch with you via radio, if there are any complications, get in touch." I nod to him before I get out of the car.

I ring the doorbell of the dorm. It takes a while before his voice comes through the intercom. "Yes, who is there?" Your worst nightmare.

"Post," I say matter-of-factly. Immediately afterwards, the noise sounds, which signals to me that I can open the door. Good, it's going according to plan. I sprint up the stairs until I'm in front of his room. I pull the black baseball cap further down over my forehead before knocking on his door. It looks like he doesn't have any visitors. Good. This time, too, it takes him a while to open the door for me. When it finally opens, he only opens the door so wide that I can't even see him properly. Only his hand, which he sticks out through the open gap.

"Where should I sign? And just put the package down." I frown. What the fuck is he doing, or rather, why is he hiding like this? I look around both sides of the aisle before grasping his wrist tightly, twisting it so that he makes a noise contorted in pain. I push open the door to get into the apartment, then push him aside and close the door behind us. "Dude, what the hell!" he moans. I look into his eyes, whose pupils are dilated and reddened, so that I can immediately imagine what is really going on with him.

"Are you Matthew McKenzie?" I ask him, pressing my arm against his neck so he has no chance of escaping my grip.

"Do you still have them all? Let go of me!" he howls around and tries to free himself from me in a panic. But he has no chance.

"I asked you a question!" I growl angrily, tightening my grip so that he gasps. "Answer me. Now!"

"Y-yes I... I'm M-matthew," he tries to say as I continue to choke him. Satisfied with his answer, I loosen my grip. Panting, he gasps for oxygen. Damn wimp. "What do you want from me? ... drugs?" he asks me after he's calmed down. I give a cold laugh before looking around his shack. My eyes immediately fall on the table, where there are pills of all kinds. "You can have it all. Really!" I look at his face again.

"I don't want your fucking drugs!" He frowns. "You'd better do as I tell you now..." I reach behind me and pull out the gun before bringing it to his head.

"Woah, slow down!" He puts both hands up and looks at me in panic.

"Where is your room?" He nods in his direction. "Go ahead and don't you try anything. The bullet hits you faster than you can count to three." He goes ahead and opens the door of his bedroom. My eyes fall on the laptop, which is on a desk. "Give me the laptop!" I command.

"You want my laptop? No problem, you can have it, I-"

"Shut up and do what I tell you!" I interrupt him. "Give me your mobile." I hold out my other hand and he gives it to me without a word. "Do you have any other electronics I need to know about?" He shakes his head. "If I find out you're lying to me, I'll kill you."

"I swear these are my only ones!"

"Good. Now listen to me! We're going out of here now and you follow me. If you try to scream for help I'll put a bullet in your head. If you run away you won't get far. Two more men are waiting for you to catch you if you flee and they don't hesitate to shoot either. You try to get out of the building with me as unobtrusively as possible. There's a black Chevrolet outside which you get into immediately... Now get moving, asshole !" He just nods frantically. I hold the gun against him until he opens the door and steps into the hallway. I stay close behind him, gun always ready. "Come on!" We pass a person who is too busy with his cell phone to even notice us. Without complications, let's step outside. " Run to the car!" I growl. Unnoticed, I press the gun against his lower back as we get to the car and open the car door. "Get in. Now!" Luckily for him, he does as I say. I get in behind him and after I've closed the door behind us, the car drives off.

"Did everything go according to plan?" asks one of Gabriel's men, who gives Matthew a quick look.

"Yes." I turn to Matt and take a closer look at him now. His eyes are bloodshot, his dark blonde hair is tousled and his clothes look like they've been in them for a few days. What did Estrela find in him? I pull out Matt's cell phone and hand it to the hacker. "Tell all his contacts that he is going away for a few days."

"Will be done." I turn back to the junkie.

"So anyone who knows you won't wonder where you are." I grin at him and lean back.

"Fuck you!"

We arrive back at the field where the jet is located. I get out, take the phone and laptop with me and pull Matt with me, who reluctantly follows me onto the plane. "We can take off immediately!" I explain to the pilot. "Sit down!" I order Matt, who settles into a seat before I handcuff him so he doesn't get any silly ideas during the flight. During the damn flight, Matt throws up at least ten times. "Why are you putting this shit on yourself?" I eventually ask him after he's wiped his mouth on his shoulder and I'm looking at the mess on the floor. Gabriel will freak out when he sees he puked all over his jet.

"What do you care!"

"Honestly, shit. I'm just wondering why you put that shit on." He says nothing more about it.

"Where are you taking me?" he asks halfway through the flight. I don't answer him. Just before we land in Nevada, I blindfold him. After all, I don't want to take any risks.

***

Gabriel approaches me with a huge grin as he sees me drag Matt out of the jet and I pull his blindfold off as he doesn't need it right now because he can't see where we are. "Oh shit, what does he look like," he remarks as he stands close enough in front of Matt to take a look at him.

"He'll probably give himself the edge in Louisiana," I answer him soberly.

"Interesting. You dope your bad deeds, huh?"

"What the hell are you talking about and who are you guys anyway?" Matt asks before writhing on the floor one more time.

"Shit man! If you keep throwing up in my Palace, you can clean it up yourself after we're done with you!" he says in disgust. "Kian, I didn't want a junkie throwing up all over my Palace!"

"What Palace?"

"Eat!" Gabriel and I say at the same time.

***

"Come on! I have no idea what you want from me!" Matt says while driving to the Dark Palace. "Do you need money? I don't have much, but..."

"Do I look like I need your money?" Gabriel asks him seriously, pointing to himself and his expensive suit. I roll my eyes

"Fuck!" Doubtfully, he puts his head against the window pane and finally calms down. After all, I had to listen to his whining for the whole flight.

Arriving at the hotel we stop at the back entrance which will lead us down to the Dark Palace. Gabriel leads the way while Matt, who is still blindfolded, drags me behind.

"Get comfy!" Gabriel says to Matt, who frowns at him and then surveys the room as I lead him. I push Matt's shoulders down so he sits in the chair in the bare room.

"What the hell are you planning to do with me?" he asks in a desperate voice. I don't answer him, just cross my arms over my chest and stare at him. The anger takes over more and more the longer I look at him. That motherfucker hurt my girl and now he has to pay for it!

"Kian." Gabriel reappears behind me and puts a hand on my shoulder. He notices my tension, which is why he now repeats my name in a forceful voice. I turn to him angrily. "I know that you want revenge for what he did to the little one, but you have to be patient!"

"Wait, who are you talking about? I haven't done anything to anyone!" the junkie shouts in panic. I clench my fists and try to ignore his comment. He's still playing dumb, but he'll realize soon enough what he's done.

"Then let's plan how to proceed," I say to Gabriel and leave the bare and cold room where so many souls have begged for their lives.

"Bring her here," Gabriel says close behind me. I know immediately who he means, which is why I immediately stop and turn to him.

"No!"

"Kian, that's her choice. Call her and tell her we've got him. Let her decide whether she wants to come or not. But come on, who doesn't want to see their ex suffer?" Gabriel grins and pats me on the shoulder before continuing down the bare hallway and my eyes return to the steel door Matt is behind. Of course there are two men in there who guard him and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. Although he won't find anything in this room that could help him. I tear my hair and think about what to do.

***

ESTRELA

After talking to my parents, I let Kian know that my mother would keep quiet. I haven't heard from him since I wrote to him. I'm just a bundle of nerves sitting in his apartment thinking about what Kian is actually doing there. I have no idea what he's up to with my ex. This uncertainty is driving me insane. I'm not a person who likes to sit still. I need to know what Kian is doing there. Damned! What have I gotten myself into? What if trouble arises?

Late in the evening, the doorbell rings and I immediately run to her and open the door for the person. When I see it's Kian, I can't help but throw myself into his arms. I'll admit I was a little scared for him, even though I know he must be good at whatever he was doing. Kian seems a bit taken aback by my stormy hug, but then he returns it and wraps his arms around my body as well. I inhale his scent and enjoy feeling his strong body. To my regret, he slowly pulls away from me and pulls me into my apartment with him.

"We've got him," he says, before continuing, "You don't have to come if you don't want to see him. It won't be nice to watch if he doesn't follow what we tell him. But I wanted you to know that we have him and that I'm giving you the choice of whether you want to see him or not." At first I look at him a bit speechless, because that was quite a lot of information at once.

"So you're holding him captive where?" I ask uncertainly.

"It's in the Dark Palace."

"In the Dark Palace? So Gabriel helped you with that?" He nods and I try to process all the information first before I think about what to do now. Of course it's hard for me to look back into the face of the man who made life difficult for me for years and still makes it so. But on the one hand I have to finally be able to face him. And now that I know he can't hurt me anymore, I don't have to be afraid. Or?

"Okay. I'll come with you," I decide.

"Are you sure?" Kian asks, who seems to sense my insecurity.

"Yes, I am," I say resolutely.

"Okay. But I warn you, it could get ugly." I just nod and look at my feet. Kian takes my chin in his hand, lifts my head and looks deep into my eyes. "You don't have to do this, okay? To be honest, I'd rather you stay here," he whispers.

"Yes...I have to do this, for myself, to get this over with. I have to look him in the eye one more time before he can finally get out of my life." Kian clenches his jaw before saying, "Okay, whatever you say. Let's go and get this over with then." He steps back from me and already has the door handle in his hand.

But before he opens them completely, I stop him. "Kian?" He turns to me. "I haven't thanked you properly yet, well, for doing this for me..." A small smile touches his lips.

"I want you to feel safe again. You don't need to say thank you. Because like I said, I protect what's mine." I shyly lower my eyes before smiling and looking up at the man I've fallen in love with. "Ready?" Kian asks me, who has no idea how I really feel about him.

"Sure," I lie, because can you even be ready for what's coming? I do not think so.

***

I really didn't think of coming back to the Dark Palace. Even though the club - or whatever this place is - is owned by Gabriel, I feel very uncomfortable here. While we don't have to go straight through the club this time, where I've already noticed frightening things, it's certainly no better where I'm walking along with Kian right now. The hallway we're walking through is so dark I can barely see and it's so cold in here that I wrap my sweatshirt jacket tighter around my body. Kian, walking in front of me, seems to know his way around very well. There are steel doors on both the right and left sides. They look a little like prison doors. And Kian stops by one of them now. With a deep sigh, he turns to me. "

"Kian, really. It's okay. I'll be fine." – I hope at least. He nods and pushes open the door. With shaky legs and a heart beating much too fast, I enter the room after Kian. My gaze falls straight to the man in front of me, seated in a chair, his head bowed as if asleep. Gabriel, standing in the room with another man, looks up when he sees Kian and me and smiles at me with his trademark charming smile. Matthew, who looks clearly bad, hasn't noticed me as he's still sitting there hunched over and just looking at the floor. This is clearly not the man I remember. It looks bad. The dark blond hair that he used to slick back so neatly is just a mess on his head now. The clothes he wears consist of a fringed shirt and the jeans also look like they've seen the good days. Matt had always been a slim guy. But now he looks almost skinny. What happened to him?

"Junkie, we have visitors for you!" says Gabriel. Matt raises his head, his gaze catching me off guard. I back away from him a little as I look into his eyes. His blue eyes are bloodshot and I can see his pupils dilate a bit, which is clearly not normal.

"Ela?" Matt breathes in disbelief, blinking a few times to make sure I'm really standing in front of him.

"Hello, Matthew," is the only thing I can manage with my cracked voice. Matt lets his gaze drift to Kian and then back to me before repeating it one more time.

"W-what... What are you doing here? Who are these guys? Y-do you know them?" Matt gives me a stunned look before scrutinizing me closely.

"II..." I can't get a word out. I didn't expect to face a completely beat-up looking mate. Then I remember Gabriel's words again. He called him junkie. He doesn't take drugs, does he? Sure, Matt has done a lot of stupid things. But drugs? No, that's hard to imagine with him.

"What the fuck is going on here?" he suddenly yells at me and I back away, startled, bumping into Kian, who gently grabs my arm and turns me to face him.

"You okay, baby?" he asks me worried. I look into his gray eyes, which make me take a deep breath.

"Yeah...I just wasn't prepared for the sight of him. There's a whole different mate sitting in front of me," I murmur softly.

"I saw pills in his apartment. It looks like he's taking them," Kian explains quietly enough for only me to hear. I glance over my shoulder to find Matt's. I exhale deeply before turning to my ex, a little more confidently this time.

"You're here for a reason, Matthew," I say, amazed at the coldness that's in my voice now.

"Are you kidding me?" My ex narrows his eyes. "You don't seriously want to tell me that I'm sitting here because my hand accidentally slipped? I've apologized a thousand times. You're making such a big drama out of it," he growls angrily, admitting his act . Tears well up in my eyes, but I hold them back because I've already shed too many tears for him.

"Watch what you say, asshole!" Kian growls, glaring at him angrily.

"Who are you anyway? The new one from Ela. It fits perfectly, a thug!" Matt's tone is dripping with sarcasm. A glance at Kian tells me that Matt is treading on thin ice.

"You call me a thug? Who's the one raising his hand at a woman!" Kian growls dangerously.

"My God! That can happen anytime! I was mad at the time, damn it! Come on, show a little more understanding. Never has a woman made you so mad with rage that you..." Matt doesn't get to his To finish the sentence, Kian's fist hits him with full force. The hit is so hard that Matt falls off the chair and finds himself writhing on the floor with his nose bleeding. I'm trying not to be scared of it. But to be honest, he just more than deserved it. Because what just came out of his mouth is just disgusting. How could I be with someone like that?

"Only shit comes out of your mouth!", Kian presses out through clenched teeth. He kneels down in front of Matt and grabs the collar of his shirt.

"For your attitude, you should get a bullet in your head," comes Gabriel's voice, much calmer but no less frightening.

"Then you're a killer - all of you !" Matt snaps. Gabriel also gets on his knees in front of him, gripping his jaw so tightly that Matt groans in pain. "W-what do you want from me?"

"We know that you threaten Estrela and have something against her... So if you don't obey, we'll make your life hell, you disgusting asshole!" Kian's voice is so cold that it even sends shivers down my spine.

"You're just barking!"

"Oh yeah, really, you motherfucker?" Gabriel motions to the man, who is holding a notebook, and places it on the floor in front of Matt so he can look inside. All color drains from his face.

"W-how?..."

Gabriel enlightens him: "My men kindly went into your apartment and made some great discoveries. These photos here can ruin your life. So if you don't want to end up in jail and jeopardize your studies, you obey better what we ask of you. After that we'll send you back to the hole you came from. You're welcome to run to the police. But I don't think they'll give much credit to a drug addict, or anyone else who sees you Also, there's no evidence of your kidnapping," Gabriel and Kian stand up, stepping away from him, leaving Matt still curled up on the floor.

"We've already searched your laptop and phone... We found the video and photos you have of Estrela." The man before picks up the notebook again and leaves the room. The blush rises to the cheek, at the same time I'm so relieved that they found it, that the years of burden falls from me. I feel like I can finally catch my breath and... Suddenly a hand grabs my neck and pushes me against the wall, hitting my head against it.

"You bitch! This is all your fault!" he yells.