When Shaun was satisfied that she didn’t need to rush off to call her mother, Jozef had pressed the envelope back into her hands. It was an extremely generous donation to Doctors Without Borders. The letter explained that Shaun was to be the one to decide where the funds were distributed.
She’d flung her arms around his neck and kissed him like she’d never kissed him before. He hadn’t done it out of a sense of generosity, he’d done it for her. Maybe she wasn’t changing who he was fundamentally, but he was becoming the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. She would take his precious gift and hold it close to her heart. It was better than diamonds.
They made love on the floor of their suite, taking time to explore each other, to laugh and to simply be. There was no mafia, no bodyguards, no outside world. Just them.
Jozef lingered over her body, worshipping her with his hands and mouth, playing with her erogenous zones. He nearly made her come when he took her nipple into his mouth and laved it with attention. He refused to let go, driving her higher and higher until finally slipping a finger into her wetness and carrying her home on the wings of a beautiful orgasm.
As she’d drifted back, he found other parts of her body to tease and torture. He spent several minutes on each ear until all she could hear, all she could feel was the rushing of her blood through her veins, the sound of his harsh breathing as he denied himself in his quest to give her as many orgasms as he could before he took his own. He slid his rough fingers over her clitoris, forcing her over the edge with a keening cry.
Finally, after more orgasms than she could count, he took his own. He gripped her face and held her, watching her, as he drove himself home, filling her completely. He kissed her, using his tongue to simulate what his cock was doing. Before she could catch her breath, she was once more thrown headlong over the edge. This time he followed her, pumping into her, filling her with his seed.
They’d spent most of the night on that blanket on the floor, making love, eating, talking to each other in their silent language. The delicious ache Shaun felt in her limbs this morning was testament to the perfection of Jozef’s date night planning.
Shaun had never imagined feeling so content with a partner. She’d always thought of herself as too career-driven to satisfy another person in the long term. She hadn’t wanted to divide her attention between the hospital and a man.
But now, with Jozef, he made it easy. He slipped into her life, laying anything she could want at her feet. Even the opportunity for this upcoming surgery was because he’d brought her to Prague.
The bittersweet feeling she was experiencing was because the time they had together was few and far between. The more Jozef seemed to settle into his new role as head of the Koba organization, the more demands on his time there were.
Shaun didn’t want to distract him, so she bit her tongue and took whatever precious time he could spare. She’s seen what could happen when a mobster became distracted. Jozef had been distracted by Shaun and as a result his entire life had blown up. Krystoff had been distracted by Dasha, and now he was dead. One mistake could bring down an entire organization.
Her gaze strayed across the lawn, landing on a building just out of the corner of her periphery.
“What is that?” she whispered, standing.
She moved to the edge of the balcony and leaned over, squinting at the building in the distance. A stone path led from the garden toward a cottage. She wondered if it had been Leeza’s home.
A pang hit Shaun as a wave of sadness crashed over her. She hadn’t known Leeza well, but the other woman had always been kind to her, if somewhat cool. Perhaps if the family had stayed together, the two women might have become friends. Now, Leeza was on the run for her life, fighting to protect herself and her child. Though none of it was Shaun’s fault, she felt responsible.
Setting down her finished coffee mug, Shaun made her way back inside. She picked up her purse and left the suite.
“Morning.” Cooper was standing across the hall from her door, leaning negligently between two gaudy paintings and looking down at his phone. When she turned to lock the door, he straightened and slid his phone into his pocket.
“Where are we headed this beautiful morning?”
Cooper was more of a morning person than Shaun. Sometimes his tendency toward chipperness drove her insane, while other times it allowed her to have her morning grumps without the pressure of having to speak.
“We’re inspecting the premises.”
“That sounds like… fun?”
She laughed when he ended his sentence on a question. “This is my home now; I think it’s time I reconcile myself to the situation.”
“The renovations to your old apartment should be done in the next few days.” Cooper strode down the hall next to Shaun. “Why don’t you tell Jozef you want to move back in?”
Shaun stopped and looked at her companion. “I don’t think Jozef can move back to the apartment. Appearances are important right now.”
“Shame, he had it fixed up exactly the way you wanted.” He tilted his head to the side. “If you don’t move back in, he’ll have to install a mistress in there, and then things will just get messy when you visit your mom.”
Laughter burst from Shaun before she could recall it. It felt good to laugh, though. Things had been too serious for too long. She needed to see the lighter side of things or she’d become the nervous wreck she’d been in Montreal.
“Could you imagine that poor man trying to maintain a mistress while he’s under all this pressure? Not a chance. He’d have a coronary.”
They laughed over the idea together and continued down the hall. Not only did Jozef not have time for a mistress, but his whole being seemed focused on his obsession with Shaun.
At first, his possessive manner had been off-putting, but as she got to know him, it now felt comfortable, like a security blanket. She knew he wouldn’t make a single decision without keeping her in mind. He would always put her first, which meant she would always be safe. Having that knowledge was power, one that she intended to keep safe in her heart. She wouldn’t take advantage of him, but she would appreciate how much he fought to make her world perfect.
“The stairs are this way.” Cooper stopped at the top of the wide staircase leading down to the first floor, while Shaun breezed past him.
“I know,” she told him, making her way down the corridor toward Saskia’s suite. “We need a tour guide for our inspection.”
She smiled at the guard standing stoically next to Saskia’s door. Shaun knocked softly and waited. Saskia opened the door a minute later. She looked dishevelled, but not sleepy.
“Am I disturbing you?” Shaun asked, stepping into the suite.
Saskia shook her head. “No, I was watching TV.”
Sure enough, the TV was playing, though the volume was so low it could barely be heard.
Shaun took in the suite. It looked like the Cookie Monster had flipped the place in his search for cookies. Saskia had only been back a few days, but her suite suggested she’d been living in her own filth for months.
“Is everything okay?” Shaun asked, concerned.
Saskia shrugged. “What could be wrong? My dad is dead, my mom is in the wind, my sister is god knows where and my grades are plummeting because I’m not allowed to leave the house or even contact any of my professors.” She threw herself angrily on the couch. “I wish I’d never been brought back here.”
Shaun sat gingerly on the couch, moving a porcelain doll so she wouldn’t sit on it. She rubbed Saskia’s arm. “It’s only for a few more days, until Jozef can make sure it’s safe for you to return to campus. He has to make sure the deal your father brokered with the dean of the university is still going to be honoured.”
“That’s what he says,” Saskia charged. “But I think he’s keeping me here because I’m a flight risk.”
Saskia’s frustration was real, but Shaun suspected it wasn’t entirely directed at Jozef. Saskia had tast
ed a moment of freedom and had looked forward to finally having the world at her fingertips. Now, she was right back where she started, but her entire family dynamic had changed.
“Are you a flight risk?” Shaun asked gently.
Saskia chewed on her lip and then swallowed hard, her eyelashes fluttering so the tears wouldn’t spill.
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “Maybe.” She exhaled. “Things just feel so different now. It was never awesome living in this house, but at least I knew what to expect when my dad was running things. Now… I don’t know what’s going to happen. Not to me, or my mom, or Leeza. I hate being back in this stupid house. I feel like I’m suffocating at the same time as being surrounded by memories of my dead father.”
Shaun felt guilty at her own preoccupation with not wanting to live in the mansion. It must be so much worse for Saskia and Jozef. Maybe she should do them all a favour and burn the place to the ground.
“It’s okay to feel conflicted,” Shaun said gently. “You’re angry with Jozef and need some time to come to terms with what happened. I don’t blame you.”
Saskia shook her head. “You’re wrong. As much as I hate being cooped up, I don’t blame Jozef for any of this. He’s a victim. He was always a victim. Right from when his parents were killed.”
Shaun felt a rush of love toward Saskia, who could show Jozef compassion, even after he killed her father.
“Come on.” Shaun patted Saskia’s leg and stood. “We’re going for a walk.”
Saskia looked skeptical, like she’d had a day of pizza and TV planned and wasn’t going to give it up easily.
“Where are we going?”
“I want to go check out your sister’s cottage.”
Myriad expressions flickered across Saskia’s lovely pixie face before she settled on curious. “Why do you want to know what’s in there? My sister is pretty one-dimensional. She likes bleach and yoga, which her house definitely reflects.”
Shaun shook her head, trying not to laugh at Saskia’s description. “I’m sure your sister is more interesting than that.”
“Oh, I know she is, but her house is boring.” Saskia stood and reached for her coat, which was hung on an ornate coatrack by the door. “Did you know we don’t share a father?”
Of course, Shaun already knew that, but she wondered how Saskia knew something that must’ve been a monumental secret in the Koba family. “Who’s her father if not Krystoff?”
“I don’t really know.” Saskia shrugged. “If I had to guess, then an old business associate of my dad’s. My mom would’ve had more access to someone my dad was working with, and apparently their marriage wasn’t a happy one way back then. I don’t remember though. As long as I’ve known my parents, they were thick as thieves.” She snickered at her own joke. “But according to Leeza, they used to fight like cats and dogs when she was younger. I can’t imagine them fucking around if they hated each other.”
“Saskia!” Shaun couldn’t help the admonishment, nor the laughter that followed at Saskia’s description of her parent’s marriage.
“Well, it’s true.” She grinned, looking happier than she had when Shaun arrived. The two women left the suite and headed down to the main floor, Cooper and Saskia’s guard following them.
“Why do you suspect your sister had a different father? You two look pretty similar.”
“Yeah,” Saskia agreed. “We look like my mom’s side of the family.” The chill morning air hit them as they stepped outside the kitchen door, waving at the cook as they wandered through. She didn’t wave back. Shaun had offended her during her first week in charge of the mansion by asking for more vegetables with their meals. “I overheard Leeza call someone ‘dad’ on the phone and tell him she loved him. Leeza never called Krystoff ‘dad’, and she definitely never told him she loved him.”
“Did your sister know you were listening in on her private call?” Shaun asked disapprovingly, easily able to see the younger woman eavesdropping. She probably did it to everyone who lived in the mansion, not just her sister.
“No, she had no idea.” Saskia’s face grew dark. “It doesn’t matter now; I don’t even know where she is.”
Shaun wrapped an arm around Saskia’s shoulders as they picked their way across the stone path toward Leeza’s cottage. “Are you worried about her?”
Saskia nodded and blinked rapidly, her voice higher than normal when she spoke. “I’m worried about both of them, Leeza and little Kristoph. Leeza can protect herself, but she has to take care of my nephew too. I don’t know what chance she’ll have if she’s worried about him while fighting to save their lives.”
“I’m sure they aren’t at risk,” Shaun tried to reassure her.
Saskia stopped walking. “Don’t you see? In order for Jozef to take this organization free and clear, he needs to get rid of Leeza.”
Shaun frowned. “But wouldn’t that mean you’re a threat too?”
“No. Jozef has more to worry about from Leeza than he does from me. I’m not married, I don’t have children, I’m easy to control.”
Shaun couldn’t help the chuckle that spilled from her lips. “You are not easy to control.”
Saskia flashed a brittle smile. “No, maybe not, but I’m easy to find or I wouldn’t be here.”
“I don’t think Jozef intends to hurt your sister. It’s not like him.”
Saskia looked at her pityingly and Shaun wondered if her lack of understanding of the mafia world was showing again.
“I hope you’re right,” she said grimly.
Shaun vowed to talk to Jozef about Leeza. See if he could do for her what he was doing for Saskia. Bring her back into the family… what was left of it and protect her and her little boy.
Shaun’s belly did a backflip as the small dark voice inside her head reminded her of his mafia heritage. If what Saskia was telling her was the truth, maybe Jozef really was trying to kill his cousin. Shaun knew without a doubt she couldn’t live with a man who murdered an innocent woman.
A flash of her colleague jumped into Shaun’s mind, shot in cold blood by the man Shaun now loved. She was a hypocrite. She’d fallen in love with that murderer and now she was trying to convince herself he was a different person from that man, one with enough compassion not to kill innocents.
She took a deep breath and shook the thoughts away.
As they approached the front door of the cottage, Shaun realized they didn’t have a key. “Shoot, we’ll have to go back.”
Saskia dug in her little purse and came up with a set of keys that would put a caretaker to shame.
“You really have your fingers in everything around here, don’t you?” Shaun asked as Saskia unlocked the door and pushed it open.
“I like to stay informed; it keeps me alive.” When Saskia attempted to step through the door, Cooper pushed between the two women and shook his head, going ahead of them. They looked at each other, then followed him in.
Cooper did a quick search of the house, while the other guard stayed at the door. “Okay, looks like the place is empty.”
“What are you looking for?” Saskia asked, swiping her finger across the large dining table, smearing the dust.
“I don’t know,” Shaun admitted. “I wanted to see the place and see if there was anything that could help find your sister.”
“I doubt it. Leeza’s not one to leave paperwork lying around, but if she did have something, it would be in her upstairs safe.”
The two women made their way to the second floor, Cooper trailing behind them. Shaun turned to him and asked that he remain in the hall as they entered Leeza’s bedroom. It was silly, but she felt like it would be further invading Leeza’s privacy if they allowed a man in her bedroom.
He hung back but left the door open, his eyes on them as they looked around.
“In here.” Saskia opened the door to the closet.
There was enough room for both of them inside. Saskia sank to her knees on the carpet, shoving hangers with clothing
aside.
Shaun sat on the floor next to her and watched in fascination as Saskia opened the safe on her first try.
“Done this before?” Shaun asked sarcastically.
Saskia flashed her a grin and opened the small metal door. It was empty.
Saskia’s grin turned into a frown. “She must’ve emptied it before she took off. I was here right before things blew up and it was filled with cash, passports and a gun.”
Shaun wasn’t surprised about the gun. Leeza had pointed one at her when she’d tried to run away from a clothing store, shortly after the two women had met.
Shaun and Saskia were so engrossed in their conversation that they missed the panel at the back of the closet sliding open. It wasn’t until the smell hit them, sweaty human flesh and rotting food, that they realized there was someone looming over them.
Saskia noticed him first and screamed, diving for her purse and gun. Shaun threw herself in front of Saskia, determined to protect the younger woman when the man lunged for them.
He didn’t make it.
Hearing the commotion, Cooper flung himself into the room and got a shot off before the man could touch either woman. The bullet hit him and he went crashing backwards into the hidden room behind him.
Shaun scrambled after him, though Cooper yelled at her to stay back.
“He’s hurt,” she snapped, crawling up the length of the man and reaching for his neck, relieved to find a steady pulse. “He’s alive.”
“Yeah, but who is it?” Saskia flicked the light switch on in the safe room and gasped. “Adam.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
“She’s here.”
Jozef looked up as Havel entered his office. He’d been pouring through his uncle’s appointment diary and records. He was about ready for a change of pace. He sincerely hoped the life of a mob boss didn’t always include this much paperwork and politics. He was itching to get back into the field with his men. Not just men anymore, not if this meeting went well.
Jozef nodded at Havel to show her in.
Havel hesitated. “Are you sure about this, man? She’s… she looks so delicate. Sure, she’s got some training, but what does that mean when we’re in a combat situation and she can’t keep up? I think you’re making a mistake.”
Goodnight, Sinners (Sinner's Empire Book 3) Page 15