Chapter 43: Chapter 43

I got into the shower and then quickly got dressed again. Esteban was still sitting on my bed when I came out and he noticed that I was wearing light colored jeans and a black blouse and immediately stood up in irritation.

"Are you kidding me?" he yelled angrily, looking at me in bewilderment. "Don't tell me you want to go to space now??? Have you actually lost your mind?"

He took a step toward me, but I knew better than him. Knew Josh was in danger. Knew that Pablo would not hesitate to fulfill his promises.

"I have to," I said in frustration and ran past him to grab my black coat, but Esteban just snatched it out of my hand with such force that I staggered slightly.

"You won't go! I'll tie you to your fucking bed before that!" he said angrily, pointing to the frame of the bed while I reached for my coat in his hand, but he backed away.

"Give me my coat!" I demanded, but he hid it behind his back.

"Love, I'm sorry for what I said about Reahlyn. You deserve him! I only said that because I'm so desperate myself and I don't know how I'm ever going to live with the certainty of not having you with me again have, but believe me, I'd rather drive you personally to him and burn down the all-in with Pablo than let you out of this door now!"

He took my chin and looked at me intently and no matter how nice that flash of thought was to be happy with Reahlyn, I had to go all in. I couldn't help myself.

"You don't understand!" I hissed at him and my only way out was to somehow get him to let me go there at least for a moment. I would have the option to just take Josh with me. "I have something to do there. I wasn't planning to stay. Just drive me there and pick me up again in two hours."

"Whatever you have to do there, fuck it," he said, but I shook my head and then, in one quick movement, managed to grab my coat.

"Either you drive me or I walk, but I have to get there either way."

His eyes were filled with desperation, but then he let out a raging breath and grabbed his coat.

"I'll give you two hours in the all in."

I ran ahead of him out of the apartment, all the time thinking about how I could possibly persuade Josh to come with me and if I did, what then?

Could I leave Esteban and be happy with Reahlyn?

One look at Esteban was enough and I was sure at that moment that after such a short time I loved both of them in such different ways that it would certainly not have been possible for outsiders to explain it.

I thought I was crazy feeling this way after only three days, but the time felt like ages and every single moment was so intense that time for my feelings had become relative.

He opened the passenger door of his car for me, then got in himself and I closed my eyes again for this short drive to listen to the quiet radio and the monotonous noise of the tires, until the car came to a standstill again after a time that seemed far too short for me .

"Two hours, love. After that I'll drive you wherever you want, as long as you're happy," Esteban said softly and gave me a kiss on my slightly trembling hand before I nodded and got out.

I would have loved to kiss him again, but I just didn't. I felt bad enough after what I did to my supernatural soulmate, even if my regrets came too late.

Esteban drove off and after a last deep breath I opened the door of the all-in.

The smell of alcohol and cigars flew towards me and as soon as I entered this shop, my heart stumbled to itself.

"Josh?" I called out loudly as I walked down the dark stairs step by step, but I didn't get an answer.

The tables and chairs were all still empty, just like the bar, and my eyes fell irritated to the clock that hung over the narrow hallway.

It was still too early...

I was about to sit down on one of the stools at the bar when I suddenly heard a woman scream and my eyes widened in shock. It came from behind the stage and hesitantly I started to creep slowly down the dark hallway.

Sheer fear shot through me, but I didn't stop. I was never a person who could see others suffer, and certainly not a woman who seemed to be in danger.

There were no more screams, but I kept hearing gagging noises, as if someone was suffocating miserably.

My pulse was racing and I was holding my breath as I looked around the corner and realized the noise was coming from Pablo's office.

"Oh god," I breathed, imagining him killing someone.

I wasted no more time and ran to the door, only to open it wide-eyed and freeze in shock.

"Fuck," Pablo moaned, leaning against his table while a blonde sat on her knees in front of him and he tangled his hands in her long hair.

When his eyes met mine, he pushed the blonde away and immediately came towards me, but I just wanted to get away.

"No, no, no. Not so fast," he held my arm and pulled me back into the office, where the blonde was now on her feet again and one look into her green eyes was enough to know that she wasn't was here voluntarily. She was probably underage.

"Love, let me explain my darling," Pablo said to me and pushed my shoulders onto the chair while I only thought about the fact that I didn't want an explanation at all. I just wanted to leave. "This is Natalia. She'll be working here with you, since lately you're not making the income I expect from you."

I looked again at Natalia's face, who just looked down in embarrassment, and then stood up to glare at Pablo angrily.

"She's underage. You can-"

"Shhhhshshhshh," he interrupted, grinning while holding his disgusting finger to my lips. "Natalia. Please go to the bar and wait for Josh. He'll be here in a moment," he smiled at this cowed girl, who then left the office without saying anything.

"So, and now to you."

He walked to the door, locked it, and then paced around his desk as panic choked my throat.

"Sit down," he demanded, grinning, and took off his vest to undo two buttons of his red shirt. "Don't worry. I just want to talk, my queen."

"Where have you been last night?"

I sat nervously in the chair directly across from him and briefly stared into his brown eyes before focusing on the dark table top between us.

"At a customer's," I lied, then put my hand to my head. "Pablo, I have a bad headache. I'd like-"

"What customer?" he interrupted, raising an eyebrow and ruffling his black hair before giving me his psycho gaze again.

I didn't know what to say at all and played with my fingers nervously.

"I forgot his name."

Pablo nodded thoughtfully, opening the drawer to his right to rummage through it, which made me look up curiously.

"Love?" he drew my attention back, but not looking at me. "Why are you lying to me? You know I can't stand this and yet you do it."

I didn't reply to him, I was way too nervous for that and I didn't even know what to answer.

Then, as I watched him take out a spoon and put it on the table in front of him, smiling, I looked into his eyes questioningly.

"You can trust me. We've known each other for so long. So where were you last night?"

His eyes darted to my lips, waiting for what I had to say, but again nothing came.

"You keep disappointing me lately. I honestly don't know what I did to deserve this."

He avoided my gaze, and when he suddenly pulled a small packet of white powder and a syringe out of the drawer, I knew exactly what he was trying to do to me.

"Pablo," I said, my voice shaking, jumping out of my chair while he just looked at me with a calm that showed me just how sick his mind games were. "Please don't do that."

He just smiled and pointed to the chair, but I didn't even bother to sit down. I ran to the door in a panic and shook it, but this bastard had taken the key off. House music was playing outside, which meant screaming wouldn't do me any good, even though Josh wasn't far away.

When I turned back to Pablo, he was about to spoon up the heroin and then lit a lighter with his other hand.

"I was with a man for no pay!" I then blurted out, nervously pacing back and forth.

"Name?"

"Reahlyn," I said softly and apparently he knew him too, because he immediately caught my eye and put the lighter aside.

"Reahlyn?" he then repeated my statement as if he couldn't believe it, to which I just nodded in agreement. "And can you also tell me why my brother is attacking me with a gun?"

I hesitated, wiping my sweaty hands on my jeans until he lit the lighter again and held it to the spoon.

"I told him that you had abused me," I then admitted in panic and again he looked at me confused.

"And what does he have against it?"

Did he seriously ask that?

"Oh my God," he suddenly laughed and got up from his chair, wide-eyed, as if he had made the discovery of a lifetime. "Love, you make my life really worth living," he said proudly and then, despite his cheerful mood, took the syringe to draw out the contents of the spoon.

"You know, Reahlyn and Esteban used to be best friends. Every day as children they played in the woods while my mother drove me crazy to take care of them. They were inseparable. Esteban saw him more as a brother than me," said He told me the past of the two men who meant so much to me and while I didn't know why he was talking to me about it, I was so interested that I even forgot that Pablo was busy with the syringe.

"But then, Esteban fell madly in love with Alice, Reahlyn's sister, and the first arguments ensued. Esteban and Alice wanted to elope and Reahlyn didn't like that, nor did I. I needed my brother here to build my business. Needed a man in the police force, but with him it was just Alice here, Alice there. It was awful."