Then Havel’s words struck Jozef like a punch to the chest, leaving him stunned, his mouth open and his hands clenched on the arms of his chair. He wanted Shaun more than he’d ever wanted anything.
He loved Shaun.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Shaun spent most of the afternoon avoiding Jozef, which wasn’t a difficult feat considering the size of the Koba mansion and the level of activity going on inside. The engagement party was in two days. Flowers were being brought in and placed in a special refrigerator to keep them fresh. The extra staff Dasha hired for the event were arriving in droves to join the fray. Shaun was amazed at their ability to immediately pick up their tasks and carry on like they’d been there for years. They looked as though they belonged far more than Shaun did.
Shaun trailed after Dasha for a while, who generously tossed a few party planning tidbits Shaun’s way. Dasha already had her mind made up about everything so Shaun’s opinion was often overridden or ignored entirely. It wasn’t out of maliciousness. Dasha knew what she was doing, and she was in her glory doing it. She was like a military general with armies of servants and boatloads of money at her disposal.
“Silver or gold for napkin rings?” Dasha held up two rings, which sparkled their shiny best in the lights of the formal dining room.
“Uh…” Shaun had heard of napkin rings, but she’d never seen one. “Silver?”
Dasha shook her head, her dark, perfectly arranged waves bouncing around her shoulders. “No, I think the gold will be more effective. We have a gold underplate with white china place settings, silver cutlery and silver lined teacups. A little more balance is needed.” She nodded sharply to herself. “Yes, the gold.”
She handed the gold ring to a hovering servant, who hurried away with it to presumably find more. Dasha turned on her heel and walked briskly to a wall lined with rows of windows and French balcony doors. The formal dining room and ballroom faced the gardens, with doors opening out onto the terrace, leading into the plush green paradise.
“I’m not convinced this drapery will do. It is perhaps too heavy for the season.” She fingered the heavy rich brown fabric with silver strands throughout. “I think something lighter, maybe saffron velvet with a sheer gold overlay. We’ll save white for the wedding day. What do you think?”
She turned to look expectantly at Shaun.
Shaun marvelled over how impossibly perfect the older woman looked while orchestrating an engagement party likely to become the event of the season. She wore a pencil skirt suit, with pink frills at the throat and sleeves. Instead of looking overly feminine, the delicate fabric somehow complemented the severity of the suit. Dasha’s dark hair was shot through with honey-coloured highlights and styled to perfection. Shaun wondered if the woman had a professional stylist on her payroll.
The amount of money flowing through the Koba empire was staggering. Being surrounded by that kind of unimaginable wealth was definitely a learning curve for Shaun, who still lived out of boxes three years after moving into a cute and modern condo townhouse situated between the hospital and her family home.
“Shaun, are you with me, dear?” Dasha said impatiently, snapping her manicured fingers.
Shaun blinked and looked up, trying to force her lips into a smile. “Sorry, I was daydreaming about Montréal.”
Dasha’s face reflected sympathy and she rejoined Shaun, leaving the problem of the drapery for a few minutes. She put her arm around Shaun and gave her a squeeze. It was an awkward perfume-filled half-hug, but Shaun was grateful for the sentiment.
“It’s only natural that you should be thinking about your homeland at such a time. You’re far from home during this very significant event in your life. Your friends and family aren’t here to support you and you probably feel at sea with all this.” Dasha smiled warmly at Shaun. “I hope you know you can come to me about anything. I’ve been a source of great comfort for my daughters and Jozef in their times of need. I can be the same to you.”
Shaun stared at Dasha in bewilderment. Was she delusional or was this her attempt at comfort? It was like Shaun had never been kidnapped and forced into their lives against her will. A significant part of her wanted to start shrieking like a banshee at the strange unfair turn her life had taken. She wanted to scream at the top of her lungs that she was their captive and no amount of golden plates and opulent parties was going to change that.
Then she caught the hard glitter to Dasha’s eyes. She was standing next to Shaun, her body carefully arranged in a picture of beauty and poise, but Shaun sensed the shark under the manicured exterior. Dasha would always say and do the correct thing, but her thoughts were carefully guarded.
Instead of shouting that she’d been kidnapped and of course she missed her friends, family and home, and no it had nothing to do with the upcoming sham of an engagement party, Shaun forced a smile and said, “Thank you, I really appreciate all that you’re doing.”
There was no point in alienating the people living under the Koba umbrella. She needed them if she was ever going to get back to her real life. They’d made sure escape was impossible and most likely dangerous. Shaun’s best play was to appeal to their human side. The family’s interactions with each other proved that they had finer emotions, even if they were cold and calculating toward the outside world. If they were prepared to embrace Shaun as part of their family, maybe she could eventually appeal to them to send her home.
It was long shot, but it was all she had at this point.
Dasha seemed to accept Shaun’s response, her face creasing into genuine happiness. “I just know you’re going to make an excellent part of the family.” She gave Shaun a quick hug. “Now, back to the drapery.”
Shaun would rather give stitches to an injured grizzly bear than try to choose drapery with Dasha. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ve had a long day. I’d like to go back to Jozef’s… to our suite.”
“Of course.” Dasha’s face took on a look of concern that Shaun was becoming quickly acquainted with. The woman was a master of her emotions, arranging them for whatever was most appropriate in the moment. “I’ll have a tea setting sent up for you. You just need a little snack and some caffeine, and you’ll feel fine.”
Shaun smiled wanly, backing toward the dining room entrance. “Thank you, you’re probably right.”
Shaun turned and left, relieved to be out of Dasha’s energetic presence. Shaun couldn’t pin down the other woman’s motives. Sometimes she seemed sweet and understanding and other times she was the hardened matriarch of a mafia dynasty. Was she both? Neither? The entire family made Shaun feel like she was standing on quicksand, shifting around and trying to find where she belonged.
She stopped walking when she realized she had no idea where she was going. She didn’t want to see Jozef, which meant their suite was out of the question. She smiled in amusement when she realized Jozef was about to get an unexpected tea setting. She thought about the garden, but there was little to do out there other than contemplate her strange new Alice in Wonderland life. Besides, she didn’t want to run into Krystoff.
She was standing in the hallway undecided, when the decision was taken from her hands. Saskia came rushing down the hall toward her, her pace so fast that Shaun took a step back, thinking the younger woman was about to walk right into her. Instead, Saskia took her arm and tugged.
“Come with me, I have something for you.” Her words were rushed, her face was flushed, and she was glancing around as though someone was after her.
Shaun was intrigued. “What do you have for me?”
“Come on, we can’t talk here.”
She dropped Shaun’s arm, spun around and walked rapidly in the direction she came from.
“Uh, sure…” Shaun followed after her, both confused and amused.
Saskia climbed the wide staircase, her high-top running shoes noiseless against the hardwood flooring. Shaun was wearing heels again, since it was expected that she dress appropriately for a meeting with Dasha. She str
uggled to keep up and almost lost sight of Saskia when they reached the top of the staircase. She looked both ways down wide opulent hallways, completely lost. She rarely came up to the second floor, as Jozef’s suite was on the main floor at the back of the house. She knew Dasha and Krystoff’s rooms were on the second floor, and Leeza’s family occupied a cottage on the estate grounds.
Shaun guessed that Saskia was leading her to her own suite.
She stopped abruptly at the top of the stairs, looking around and trying to figure out which way to go. Saskia’s head popped out from one of the doorways. “Come on!”
Shaun entered the suite and stared in bemusement. Considering Saskia tried to pass herself off as some kind of badass, Shaun was not expecting a suite that looked like the girly girl’s pink monster vomited all over it. Wherever she turned there were frills, pillows, stuffed animals, dolls and gold, white and pink striped wallpaper. The whole effect was chaotic, disorienting and over the top.
It felt human.
“This is your room?” Shaun asked as she stared around.
“Uh huh,” Saskia said, grabbing a stuffed unicorn and dropping onto a pink couch covered in so many frilly, flowery pillows that Shaun wasn’t sure where she should sit. “I know it looks like a little girl’s candy shop, but I like it. I feel comfortable in here.”
Shaun couldn’t image why. The creepy porcelain dolls were arranged in lifelike poses behind the glass walls of their cage, their soulless eyes following her every move. But what she thought didn’t matter; this was Saskia’s sanctuary, and after experiencing the chaos of the Koba family, Shaun didn’t blame her for creating her own version of paradise.
Shaun tried not to look at the dolls as she lifted a few pillows off the couch and carefully set them down next to the coffee table. She sat gingerly, lifting one of the oversize teddy bears and setting it on her lap. She tugged its ear, enjoying the super soft faux fur against her skin.
“What did you want to show me?” Shaun asked.
“You have to promise not to tell anyone.” Saskia’s words came out in a rush and she glanced guiltily at the door. “This house has ears and it’s impossible to keep anything a secret. My parents can’t know. Jozef definitely can’t know.”
Shaun frowned, her concern growing. “Maybe you shouldn’t show me then. I don’t want you to get in trouble.”
She looked at Shaun, her eyes wide with excitement. “It’s not me I’m worried about. Well, not as much.”
“You’re worried about me?”
“Yes, no, sort of. This surprise is definitely not allowed, but you deserve it and I don’t want to see you suffer anymore.”
Shaun blinked, trying desperately to decipher Saskia’s words. Oddly, she was comforted by Saskia’s declaration that she didn’t want Shaun to suffer. In a family whose staunch loyalty to each other made Shaun feel like an outsider, Saskia was the one she felt most comfortable with. Perhaps it was the other woman’s blunt honesty, her youth, or her ridiculously over-the-top suite, but Shaun didn’t think she would lie. She was not nearly as carefully calculated as the other members of the family.
Saskia projected herself as a world-weary adult. It was easy to forget her youth until she let her guard down. The nervous excitement surrounding her now made Shaun realize Saskia needed an adult to guide her. She was looking for permission, though she was attempting to control whatever surprise she had for Shaun.
“I think you’d better show me what you have,” Shaun said gently. She was careful not to promise not to tell Saskia’s parents. She didn’t know what the surprise was, and some things simply couldn’t be kept secret. If Saskia showed Shaun something potentially harmful to herself or others, Shaun would have to take the knowledge to Saskia’s family.
Saskia either didn’t notice or didn’t care about Shaun’s lack of promise. She bit her lip, glanced at the door one more time and then reached into her pocket, digging out an object. She extended her hand toward Shaun.
“A cell phone?” Shaun asked bewildered.
“A burner phone,” Saskia said gleefully. “Untraceable. I got it from a friend, but he doesn’t know why I wanted it.”
“And why do you want it?” Shaun asked carefully.
“It’s for you.” Saskia couldn’t help the grin that spread across her face as she gave Shaun the news. “So you can call your family and tell them you’re okay.”
Hope hit Shaun so hard she felt dizzy. Tears immediately rushed to her eyes and she had to dash them away as she reached to take the phone from Saskia, squeezing her hand as she took it. Emotion choked her voice as she tried to thank the younger woman. “I don’t know what to say. Thank you so much. This is… this is…”
Saskia’s bright eyes dimmed a little as she took in Shaun’s flustered stammering. “You don’t have to thank me. It’s the least I can do after what my family did to you.”
Shaun dipped her head and nodded, overcome. Clutched tight in her hands was the lifeline she’d been waiting for.
Saskia stood up. “Do you mind making the call in my bedroom closet? It’s big so you should have lots of room. I don’t want to risk anyone finding out.”
“Of course.” Shaun stood and dashed her tears away as she followed Saskia into the bedroom.
She let out a quickly stifled laugh as she saw that the insane pink frilled theme had spilled into the bedroom as well. There was a huge four-poster bed with pink and white striped hangings, covered in a shiny pink and purple bedspread and piled high with frilly pillows and stuffed animals.
Saskia opened her closet and stood back. It really was like stepping into Wonderland. Saskia’s clothes trended toward black with chains, skulls, rips and T-shirts with anarchist slogans. The difference in Saskia’s style preferences was so wild that Shaun determined to one day find out how Saskia had evolved into such a fascinating young woman.
“I’ll give you some privacy.” Saskia closed the door to the closet, leaving Shaun alone inside.
Shaun looked down at the phone.
Every instinct in her body told her to call her mom, but she had to be smart, think first, then make the call. She didn’t know how much time she had, didn’t know if she’d be able to make more than one call, and she had no idea what she was going to say. She could call the authorities, but how? She didn’t know the emergency number for the Czech Republic. It was usually different from country to country.
Then she’d have to hope the person who answered the call spoke enough English that she could communicate her predicament. After that she didn’t know. Would the authorities contact her consulate? Would they come into the mansion with guns blazing? The thought of anyone in the Koba family being killed sent a shaft of remorse through her.
She stared down at the phone with indecision, hyperaware of every second as it ticked by.
She had every right in the world to call the authorities. To bring hell down on a crime syndicate that thought nothing of murdering innocents. Jozef had shot Danilo without a second thought. He not only took away a life, but a future too. Anything Danilo would have accomplished. Wife, family, career, gone. Jozef deserved jail time. Yet she couldn’t imagine him living the rest of his life behind bars. He was like a wild animal, watching, prowling, hunting. He would die if he was caged.
Shaun never imagined this kind of heartbreaking indecision when she finally got her hands on a phone. It was gut-wrenching and she knew, no matter what choice she made, it would be life-altering. Finally, she decided to call the only person she really wanted to talk to.
Luckily, she had Fatima’s cell phone number memorized. It was the middle of the night in Montréal; Shaun hoped her mom would answer.
The phone rang once.
“Hello?”
Chapter Thirty-Five
“Mom?”
There was a long tension-filled pause. “Shaun! Oh my god, is that you?”
“It’s me, Mom.” Tears rushed to Shaun’s eyes as the sound of her mother’s voice reached out to her. It was like s
he’d been swimming in a dark void these past weeks, never knowing which way to turn, terrified for her survival, and hearing her mother was like a lifeline.
“Oh, my baby, oh my god!” Fatima’s words came out in a panicked rush. “Where are you? Are you hurt? What happened?”
“Mom, calm down, I’m okay.”
Shaun could hear fumbling in the background and something dropping. “Hang on, I’m calling the consulate.”
“No!” Shaun exclaimed, pacing inside the closet. “You can’t do that.”
“What the hell do you mean I can’t call? You were kidnapped from a hospital, for god sakes. Someone was killed! Of course, I’m going to call the authorities. Tell me where you are.”
Shaun smiled grimly. This was Fatima Patterson, a force to be reckoned with. When her daughter was threatened, she would go to war like an Amazon queen. “I know, Mom, I was there. But things are complicated. If you call in the authorities, things could get even messier.”
“Shaun, tell me where you are right now.” Fatima tried to use her authoritarian mom tone, but the strain and worry in her voice were impossible to hide.
“I can’t do that.” Shaun sank to the floor of the closet and slumped against a chest of drawers.
“Why?” Fatima demanded.
Shaun could hear the creak of bedsprings as Fatima sat down.
“The people who took me… they’re into some dangerous stuff.”
“No shit,” Fatima growled. “They killed that young man at the hospital and kidnapped you. God… I thought we were going to find your body somewhere.”
Sin of Silence (Sinner's Empire Book 1) Page 23