ESTRELA
So here I am. As the only woman in this room, and with a thousand questions on my mind. I have a martini in front of me, half of it down, while Gabriel Callahan questions me. My father and Kian stand apart from us in a corner, having a heated discussion. Sometimes snippets of their conversation come across to me. And I know my dad is making Kian pretty small right now. Kian's gaze keeps wandering to me and Gabriel. I'm sitting right next to him. I still have no idea who Gabriel Callahan is, and what my father is doing for him. That's why I'm turning to him now. I noticed that Gabriel liked me. And the expression my father gives him doesn't think it's great at all. But whatever. So far Gabriel seems nice and a true gentleman. I'm sure he can answer a few questions for me. "May I ask you something?" Gabriel smiles smugly.
"You can ask me anything, my beauty."
"What do you do?" Gabriel's blue eyes sparkle with amusement before he dons his impenetrable mask.
"You don't know that?" he says in surprise and throws a look at my father, who is still arguing with Kian. I shake my head. "I see, your father seems to want to protect you..." he laughs.
"Excuse me? Is it something bad?"
"That's a matter of opinion, my beauty." He curls his lips in a sexy grin. The women must be lining up for him. Surely all he has to do is snap his fingers for the women to come to him.
"I don't quite understand..." I reply, a little confused.
"Let's put it this way, I'm a powerful man here in Nevada."
"Now do you want me to guess who you are?" I ask him when he doesn't continue.
"No. But I don't want to incite your father's anger on me." He laughs before leaning back and taking a sip of his whiskey. "Harrison, Kian! Stop this kindergarten and come here," he calls out to those named. My dad and Kian clench their jaws at the same time before actually coming over. While my dad takes a seat across from me, Kian sits down on a sofa before fetching a condition that is just as unwearable as the other women outside the door. He says something to her that I don't understand. She nods and smiles lasciviously at him before walking out of the room. Kian catches my eyes on him, which is why he returns it with a raised eyebrow. "Estrela?" Gabriel's voice makes me tear my eyes away from Kian. "Your father has a lot to explain to you. Doesn't he, Harrison?" He grins provocatively at my father.
"I'm not going to drag my daughter into this. It's enough that she's here because a certain idiot couldn't stop her," my dad growls.
"Harrison, your daughter is just curious, that's natural. And I'm glad Kian was an idiot and couldn't stop her from coming. Look at your daughter - such a beautiful woman, shouldn't be hidden from me ." My father stands up with a jerk and slams his fists on the table while glaring at Gabriel. I get a little uncomfortable with the words Gabriel just said to my father. Gabriel just seems to be enjoying it all, as he casually leans back as if he's watching a movie. Kian, still sitting in the back, stares at me stubbornly. The condition appears next to him and places a bottle of beer in front of him. He doesn't look at her because his is still on me.
"Leave my daughter alone." My father's voice sounds menacing. Gabriel grins and then looks over at Kian, who doesn't seem to care that he's not sitting at the table like all the other men who have been silently watching the spectacle.
"You don't have to worry about me getting too close to your daughter. Because women come to me like that, all alone..." I guess I misjudged Gabriel. Now he's acting like a conceited ass. "I'd rather keep an eye on someone else," he adds, giving Kian a meaningful look. Oh no! Does he suspect something? Coming here is proving to be a huge mistake right now. Why do I always have to be so curious!
Suddenly I get angry because the men are talking about me as if I wasn't there. I finish the martini on Ex before I stand up like my father. Immediately all pairs of eyes are on me. "I want to know immediately what's going on here!"
"Estrela, shut up!" my father hisses.
"No!" I turn to Gabriel, who is holding back his laughter. "Tell me right now who you are!"
"I'm a mafia boss. The underworld of Nevada is mine," he explains seriously, the grin now completely gone.
"Ha-ha," I do. "Really very funny." As I scan the faces of all the relatives, I see them dead serious.
"It wasn't a joke, Estrela," explains Gabriel in a hard tone. I stare at him in disbelief.
"T-that... can't be!" I reply, shocked. I think there was drugs mixed in the drink, which has me hearing things that are complete insanity.
"Estrela?" my father asks worriedly, who has come to my side and is touching my arm, but I tear myself away from him as if I had burned myself on him.
"Don't tell me you work for a M-mafia boss?" I stare into my father's eyes - the man I thought I believed to be who he really is. No, instead he's the henchman of a... mafia boss? "I... II am calling the police!" I say hysterically.
Laughter rings out from the other men who have so far made no sound. Gabriel also laughs before he says on one condition: "Bring her some water with ice. I think she's going a bit crazy right now. And Harrison, sit in your seat," he demands sternly from my father, who accepts his request like... like he's his puppy. What the hell? "Estrela, the best thing would be for you to calm down. How about spending the night here at the hotel. In a suite, with the best view of the city?" I'm way too shocked to reply. "Kian, take Estrela to a room!", he orders him. "We'll talk tomorrow, but first she needs a night's sleep... Your father will also be there tomorrow." The last one is addressed to me. Gabriel rises. "If you don't follow my request immediately, there will be consequences!" His voice is so cold that it's gone dead quiet. Kian is the first to move and pull me towards him. I'm letting it happen because I'm frozen in place right now. "Men." Gabriel nods to the others, who get up and leave the room with a "Boss." Now I find myself alone with my father, Kian and the damn mafia boss. The women also seem to have disappeared. "I'm going to sit down with your father now, while Kian leads you to a room. Tomorrow morning we'll have breakfast together," he explains casually, but his eyes are firmly fixed on me, who doesn't accept any contradiction. And honestly, I don't want to contradict him either,
Kian starts moving and takes me with him. I stare at the floor, not giving Gabriel or my father another look. I stay still, only look at the ground and hardly notice my surroundings. I only notice how we get into an elevator that goes up. Then we stop in front of a door that Kian opens with a keycard. I look up. In front of me stretches a large room with a fantastic view. But I'm still far too shocked to take a closer look at everything now. Kian, who hasn't said a word either, leads me to the bed. He pushes my shoulders down so I can sit down. I watch in silence as he moves across the large room, pours something at a bar, and returns to me with it.
"I want to go to my apartment," I whisper.
"No," says Kian sternly. "You can't. You wanted to know what your father does, here it is and it's ugly. Now you have to live with it."
"Why?" I mumble, ignoring his previous sentence. I no longer have the strength to argue with him now.
"Drink this and go to sleep." He hands me a glass that's just water and doesn't respond to my why.
"And where are you going?" I ask.
"I stay here." I take a closer look. The room is huge but apart from a bathroom there is no other room here. My eyes wander to the bed I'm sitting on. "I sleep on the couch," he explains, looking away at me.
"Should I sleep in my dress?" I ask grumpily and cross my arms over my chest. Kian walks over to a closet I haven't noticed before and opens it. To my surprise, there are clothes inside. He throws me a long, large shirt that would probably reach my knees.
"Fresh toothbrushes are in the bathroom," he explains coolly.
"Thank you," I say and quickly scurry next door. The bathroom is like that damn hotel room, pure luxury. I take off my dress and can finally free my feet from the high heels. I also take off my bra and then slip on only panties, into the white shirt that smells fresh of detergent. Then I brush my teeth. Finished, I walk out of the bathroom, almost tripping over my own legs as Kian paces back and forth in his shirt open, phone clutched to his ear. He seems to be in a heated discussion again, but I don't pay any attention to it and just lie down in the much too big bed. Sleeping is out of the question, which is why I used my cell phone, which I had in a clutch bag, out and enter the name Gabriel Callahan on the internet. Many pages are immediately displayed to me. I read through a few. He is repeatedly described as a hero and he would make Nevada safer... I then scroll through some images of him shaking hands with significant people.
"What are you doing?" Kian snaps at me, who suddenly stands in front of the bed and looks down at me.
"Nothing," I mumble, turning off my cell phone and putting it aside, avoiding Kian's gaze decisively.
"Sleep," he demands. I roll my eyes, roll onto my side and draw my legs up. My eyes are fixed on Las Vegas and I'm thinking about what the hell I learned today.