Sin of Silence (Sinner's Empire Book 1)

by Nikita Slater

  Havel stepped forward, addressing his words to the woman, speaking on Jozef’s behalf. "You and your friends will stay away from this woman. If you don't, Jozef will bury you. This is your only chance to comply. Consider yourself warned, Giselle.”

  Giselle’s terrified eyes fell on Jozef and she gave a quick nod. Her perfectly arranged hair was now in disarray and her cheeks were bright red from the slaps Jozef administered. Rather than letting her go, Jozef pulled his gun from beneath his leather jacket, flipped the safety off and held it up to her forehead, emphasizing Havel's point. The woman whimpered in fear, her fingers scrambling against Jozef’s wrist where he held her up by the neck.

  Unable to do anything to help, Shaun backed quickly away from them, the sight of the gun terrorizing her all over again. The deaths of the two men she’d witnessed at Jozef’s hands flashed through her brain as well as the many times he'd held that same gun to her head.

  She let out a cry and whirled on her heels, fleeing into the hallway. She looked around her, desperate for an exit. She just needed a couple of seconds of fresh air to calm her panicked heart and spinning head.

  She spotted an exit at the far end of the hallway toward the back of the club. She ignored the shouts from behind her and ran for all she was worth, her entire being focused on the exit door. She had to get away from that gun, had to get away from the situation and Jozef. If she didn't, there was no doubt in her mind that Jozef would turn the gun on her next and this time actually pull the trigger and put a bullet in her brain.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  “Shaun, stop!”

  She didn’t know who was calling her and she didn’t care. The voice gave her the impetus to move faster, pump her arms harder.

  Shaun had never felt anything like the driving desire she had to escape her current situation. It gave her the ability to run in heels, to run faster and farther than she'd ever run in her life. She ran straight out the back door of the club and into a throng of happy partygoers. She shoved her way past them and continued running through Prague’s busy, touristy downtown. It never once occurred to her to stop and beg for help, she just had to run.

  Shaun could hear shouts coming from behind her, but she didn't look back. She ran until the shouts grew fainter. It took her a moment to realize that there were sobs spilling from her mouth; deep gut-wrenching sobs. Tears wet her face, ruining her make up. Nothing mattered except getting away from Jozef, the bodyguards, the Koba influence.

  She ran until everything hurt, until her lungs burned, her legs ached, her feet begged for mercy and a stitch in her side became so bad that she had to stop and bend over, clutching at her stomach. As she doubled over, hands on her knees, she sucked in deep breaths, filling her lungs with air before releasing the toxic panic that had built up inside her. She used the back of her hand to swipe at the tears on her cheeks.

  Finally, she straightened and looked around. She was standing in some kind of alleyway, a dead end. Dismally, she crouched, leaning her back against a rough brick wall and sucking in air, trying to calm herself while she waited. She had no doubt Jozef and his men would find her very soon. In the meantime, she needed to figure out what she was going to say to Jozef to get her out of another possible punishment.

  Would he look at this is another escape attempt? She hadn’t really been trying to escape. She just needed to get out of there, away from the guns and the drugs and the thugs. None of them made sense to her. None of them fit in with her worldview.

  "She's here!"

  Shaun straightened, pulling herself shakily back to her feet, her hands pressed against the wall to steady herself. She was determined to face her persecutors head on. Her desire to run might have been visceral, coming from a place of panic and anxiety, but now she was calm. Now she could think.

  Except, the three men who piled into the alley with her were complete strangers. She squinted into the gloom, attempting to make out a familiar face in the dim lighting coming from the street. It quickly became clear that she knew none of them. They advanced on her, their faces reflecting eager surprise, as though she were some kind of unexpected prize.

  One of them spoke, his eyes roving down Shaun's body in appreciation. She couldn’t understand what they were saying, the language foreign to her ears. It wasn’t Czech, Russian, or Ukrainian, but similar.

  “I need help,” she tried pleading with them.

  They continued to advance; their body language aggressive. Shaun cringed away from them, glancing around for a way out, but there was none. She'd truly managed to find herself in a dead end.

  "Who are you?" she asked shakily.

  They ignored her. The man who seemed to be their leader spoke rapidly to the other two, pointing at a car parked at the end of the alley. The others nodded and one reached for her.

  Shaun slapped at the man and pressed herself against the alley wall. He took her arm in a tight grip, yanking her forward with one hand and slapping her across the face with the other. Shaun went sideways into the brick building, the rough surface scraping against the skin of her back. She gasped and reached for her face.

  The men didn't say anything to her but started hauling her out of the alley. Shaun opened her mouth to scream, but the man who grabbed her back-handed her. He growled something at her that she didn’t understand, but she suspected he was trying to get her to comply.

  Shaun's face was on fire, but she knew that he hadn't done much damage. His slaps were light compared to what they could've been. She was lucky. If he decided to use his entire strength, he could've knocked her teeth out.

  Before they could get her out of the alley though, several dark shadows appeared, stalking down the alley toward the trio. A chilling growl made everyone freeze. It was low and guttural but loud enough that it reverberated in the alleyway, raising the hairs on Shaun’s arms. It took a second for her to realize that the growl had come from the depths of Jozef’s throat.

  One of the men surrounding Shaun said something, laughed unpleasantly, then took hold of her and swung her out in front of the trio. The man pulled a gun from his holster and held it to Shaun’s head. Hot bile rose up in her throat. Before the man could speak, or so much as blink, Jozef pulled his own gun and put a bullet through his head. The man went straight backwards, releasing his grip on Shaun's arm.

  Shaun tottered on her heels, then whirled around to watch as the man tumbled to the pavement. She dropped to her knees next to him, automatically reaching for his throat, checking for a pulse. It was there for a few seconds, beating strong as his heart continued to pump, then nothing. Shots rang through the alley and Shaun crouched next to the body, covering her head with her arms.

  She had no idea how long the shooting went on for, but it felt like an eternity. She flinched with every sound, expecting to feel the agony of a bullet ripping through her flesh at any moment. When the alley finally went silent, she carefully raised her head, peeking through her arms at the carnage surrounding her.

  "Oh my god," she gasped.

  The three men who'd threatened her in the alley now lay on the ground unmoving. After determining that the first man was dead, she reached for the next, trying to find his neck in the darkness. Before she could locate his pulse, Jozef took her by the arm and dragged her off the pavement, pulling her into his chest. His piercing eyes gleamed down at her as he surveyed her.

  "Boss, time to get out of here," Havel said from behind them.

  "But…" Shaun twisted around to stare at the dark shapes on the ground in the alley. She was certain all three were dead, but she should make sure, help if she could.

  Jozef dragged her out of the alley and looked around. Spotting their vehicle, he pulled Shaun toward it. He flung the door open and shoved Shaun inside. She scrambled in, her dress riding up her thighs. She didn't care though. She clung to the door on the opposite side of the car, her terrified gaze on Jozef as he slid inside. He didn't look at her, but calmly buckled his seatbelt.

  Shaun was shaking so bad she could
n’t manage her own seatbelt. She was covered in blood. It was all over her dress, her arms and in her hair. Panic rose up inside her and she began trying to rub the blood away. Trying to erase the violence.

  She let out a panicked shriek as Jozef reached across the car and took hold of her. He shoved the seatbelt out of her shaking hands and pulled her across the back seat until she was sitting on his lap. He wrapped an arm around her head and pressed it against his chest while reaching out to tap Karl on the shoulder, indicating he should start driving.

  Jozef held her tight, pressing her hard against his chest as the vehicle pulled into traffic. He tipped her chin, forcing her to look up at him. He breathed deeply, taking several breaths through his nose and then releasing with his mouth. He tapped her mouth, indicating she should do the same.

  Shaun automatically complied, taking long shuddering breaths into her lungs and then releasing the air. Each deep breath released some of the panic threatening to choke her, until she found herself relaxing against Jozef, listening to his heartbeats and following his lead, breathing in and out in unison.

  She was still terrified, yes, and sick to her stomach from what she'd seen, but Jozef had saved her. He hadn't hesitated. He'd simply killed the men accosting her, for no other reason that she could see except that they were attacking her. It'd been automatic, as though he’d been doing it forever.

  The tears started to fall, but she ignored them. She dug her fists into his leather jacket, clinging to the only anchor she had in the choppy seas of the new life she was being forced into. Jozef wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly, telling her without words that he would be her anchor.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Once again, Jozef carried Shaun through the house to his suite. This time Shaun didn’t care who saw them. She was traumatized by what she’d experienced in the alley and Jozef was her only source of comfort. It didn’t matter to her that he was largely responsible for the trauma. She clung to him as though she’d die if he let go.

  He strode through the mansion, ignoring his aunt’s exclamation as she came hurrying down the stairs toward them.

  “What happened?” Dasha asked sharply.

  Jozef let out a ferocious growl and continued through the house to his apartment, ignoring Dasha, who rushed after them. Jozef set Shaun down long enough to unlock the door to his suite and then pushed her inside, slamming the door shut behind them and locking it. He ignored his aunt’s frustrated exclamation from the other side, took Shaun’s hand and pulled her through the sitting room into the bedroom. He slammed the door shut and locked it.

  Shaun backed away from him, her previous desire for his comfort quickly evaporating into fear. She’d run away from him again, and as a result he’d killed three men. He was going to be furious. What if he decided to really punish her this time? Maybe he thought she hadn’t learned her lesson in the shed.

  But when he turned to look at her, his expression was one she hadn’t seen before. He looked… contrite.

  I’m sorry, this shouldn’t have happened. His hand movements were angry and jerky. I shouldn’t have scared you. I allowed my anger with Giselle to eclipse my better judgment.

  She shook her head. “It was my fault,” she said dismally, her eyes on his hands because they were easier to look at than his frightening granite expression. “I shouldn’t have run like that without thinking about where I was going. I should have realized you might have enemies.”

  Indeed, I do have enemies, but it’s my job to protect you from them. We should have been prepared. You should not have been able to leave the club.

  Shaun suspected as much. She’d taken them all by surprise when she bolted out the back door of the club. It was probably sheer luck and adrenalin that carried her as far away from Jozef and his men as she’d managed to get.

  She stared at him in despair. This was yet another reminder of how much she didn’t fit into Jozef’s world. She couldn’t go more than a few hours without getting herself into trouble.

  “Do you… do you know those men?”

  He frowned and shook his head. I didn’t recognize them, but it was dark in the alley. Havel will get back to me with identifications.

  She glanced down at her arms and saw the little flecks of rust red blood drops staining her skin. She automatically began scrubbing at it with her nails. It was a weird sensation being so freaked out by blood. She’d seen plenty of blood, probably far more than the average human, yet she’d never seen it spilled in violence until she met Jozef.

  “I need to take a shower.” She tried to keep the edge of panic from her tone.

  Jozef nodded. I will have some tea sent up. It will warm you.

  She realized that she was shivering. The shock of the past hour was rushing through her veins and giving her the shakes.

  “Can you have them send up something a little stronger?” she asked.

  A small smile stretched Jozef’s lips and he nodded. Of course.

  Shaun turned away and headed toward the bathroom, reaching behind her to unzip the dress as she walked. She jumped when Jozef’s fingers brushed hers aside. He placed one hand on her hip while drawing the zipper down to the small of her back with the other. His fingers lingered against her skin, warming her and sending tiny sparks through her body. He gently pushed her away, encouraging her to step into the bathroom.

  Shaun closed the door and allowed the dress to fall down her arms, pooling on her hips before it dropped to the floor in a beautiful, bloody silver waterfall. She bent in half, reaching down to unbuckle each sandal before stepping out of the mess of dress and shoes. She groaned out loud in relief as she stepped onto the cool bathroom tiles. She slipped her thong off and tossed it on the pile. She was going to burn every item once she figured out how to work Jozef’s fireplace.

  She turned the taps on in the shower and waited for the water to heat before stepping under the spray. The shower was one of the things she appreciated most in her bizarre situation with Jozef. It was a huge earth tiled monstrosity with four heads; one that sprayed directly over her head in a rainfall, another that hit her body at an angle and two more on the other side of the shower for someone else to wash at the same time.

  The glass door quickly steamed up, which meant Shaun didn’t initially see Jozef through the clouds of steam as he opened the door and stepped into the bathroom with her. She lifted her face into the spray and allowed the soothing feeling of hot water to drain some of the gut-wrenching fear from her. During a normal week she would be careful not to get her hair wet unless she had time to deal with the chaos that would ensue. Today, she didn’t care. She just wanted to feel clean.

  She felt a rush of cool air skitter over her body, raising goosebumps all up and down her legs. She pulled her face out of the stream and blinked the water from her eyes. When she turned her head, she saw Jozef standing on the other side of the glass door, his frowning gaze on her naked body.

  “Jozef!” Shaun gasped and took a step back, out of the spray. She wrapped her arms around herself. “What do you want?”

  He opened the door and stepped into the shower with her. He’d taken his leather jacket, shoes and socks off, but otherwise he was still fully clothed. He didn’t seem to notice as he stood on the other side of the water from her, watching her through the clouds of steam.

  Shaun stood frozen, unsure what to do. Her heart was pounding in both anticipation and fear. Was he here because he wanted her, or was something else going on? She couldn’t think of a reason for him being in the shower with her.

  He reached up to touch her face and she flinched away. He stood patiently with his hand out, the sleeve of his shirt getting soaked as he reached through the water. Shaun stood completely still as he closed the last few inches between them, brushing his fingers over her cheek. A sharp pain radiated through her face and she realized he was touching the bruise the guys in the alley had given her.

  “It doesn’t hurt,” she whispered.

  He nodded slightly,
then dropped his hand to her arm. His fingertips very briefly caressing the side of her breast. She sucked in a breath as her nipple peaked in reaction.

  He lifted her arm, turning it over in the water. Shaun let out a gasp of pain as she realized there were long deep scratches all up her forearm. She’d been so distracted that she hadn’t remembered the wound where Giselle had grabbed her and dug her talons in. Jozef gently rubbed the specks of blood from her arm, turning the water pink as it went down the drain.

  The move was so sweet, so uncharacteristic of his bad guy persona that it melted Shaun. She couldn’t help but stare at him as his light blue shirt grew wetter and wetter and became plastered to his chest. She could see every muscular ridge through the fabric of his shirt. When she dropped her gaze lower, she could make out the outline of a sizeable cock behind the zip of his pants.

  Her mouth grew dry and when she lifted her gaze to his, his expression had changed from concern over her injuries to pure lust. Warmth spread through her belly as his gaze dropped down her body, leisurely taking in every part of her. She wondered what he saw. Were her smallish breasts with their wide black areoles a turn on for him? She burned with embarrassment as his perusal continued down.

  Shaun didn’t have a lot of time for grooming, so she only shaved her bikini area when she anticipated a sexual partner. She hadn’t thought once about sex with Jozef. There was a definite attraction between them, but she’d been in survival mode from the moment Jozef kidnapped her from the hospital. Now, he was caring for her, showing her another side.

  “Jozef…” she whispered uncertainly.

  She wasn’t sure what she was about to say, and she didn’t get a chance. Jozef rushed at her through the water, pushing her back against the shower wall and covering her lips with his. Shaun reached up and gripped his shirt, which was about all she could grab hold of during the tempest of Jozef’s kiss. To say he devoured her was putting it lightly.