Goodnight, Sinners (Sinner's Empire Book 3) Page 18

  But they are paid employees, Jozef argued.

  She pressed her lips together and frowned at him.

  You’re missing the point.

  He leaned over and kissed her, then signed, no I’m not. I understand what you’re saying, and I understand why you’re having difficulty. L-E-E-Z-A had the same problem with her personal bodyguard. They became close and she couldn’t stand the idea that he would be in danger.

  What happened to the bodyguard? She asked.

  He works for me now. H-A-V-E-L.

  Shaun was surprised, but she supposed it made sense. Havel had been with the family for a long time. It would make sense that he would’ve taken on different roles.

  Jozef continued, this is why you need to learn to shoot.

  So I can protect my bodyguard? She laughed when he gave her an exasperated look.

  No, he signed back, so you can protect yourself, which will free up your bodyguard to eliminate the threat.

  Shaun sighed. It made sense. Her life was with Jozef now, and whether or not she liked it, he was a mob boss. She would become a target. Was already a target.

  “Okay, let’s do this.”

  He nodded his satisfaction and put the car in gear.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  The gun range was on the property, but Shaun found out that it was easier to get to it by leaving the property and driving around to the other side of the estate. She truly did not know exactly how large the Koba lands were, but she should probably find out so she wouldn’t be constantly shocked. Maybe find out if there was a map.

  They drove through the guarded gates on the other side of the property, drove up a hill and came to a stop next to a large wooden building. Outside the building was something that looked like an obstacle course with targets set up at strategic points.

  The competitor in Shaun sat up and took notice. She might hate the idea of weapons and the destructive implications behind them, but she enjoyed excelling at everything she tried. Each new skill she developed was carefully honed until she was as close to perfect as possible.

  Jozef showed her around the building, starting with a truly impressive armoury. Every weapon imaginable filled the storage room, many of them behind locked and coded cages. She appreciated the safety precautions.

  We’ll start you off small, Jozef signed as he led her toward one cage. He tapped a code into the panel and opened it. You’ll get the codes to these cages so when you feel like shooting, you can come up here without me. You’re always welcome. All staff, including my men, have to book their time in the range, but family can come and go as they please.

  Shaun’s heart picked up the pace as Jozef started examining weapons, picking each one up and weighing it in his palm before replacing it. She wasn’t sure she wanted to become comfortable enough with the gun range to come and go at will.

  Finally, Jozef chose a weapon. He handed it to her, and she reached for it, hesitating, her hand hovering over his for a moment before taking it.

  It felt strange to her. She’d held exactly three guns in her entire life, all on the same day. One when Karl had been killed, and she’d been forced to defend herself and then again when she took one from the locker of the panic room and tried to defend Jozef. And last, when she picked up Havel’s gun to protect them while he recovered. But those times were different. She’d been in panic mode and reaching for those weapons had been automatic, like a reflex. Now, she was willingly choosing to use a weapon.

  “I don’t like it,” she told Jozef, looking at him and hoping he could see the indecision.

  He caressed her cheek, then dropped his hand to sign, you’ll do fine. Imagine it’s a scalpel and you need to make very precise cuts in your target. With practice, you’ll grow more comfortable and gain confidence. It will become more of an accessory than a monster that weighs on your mind.

  She was relieved that he understood, but she wasn’t sure she believed him.

  He must have read her continued indecision. When I first held a gun, it felt foreign. It brought back flashes of my parents’ deaths. It took time, but eventually I grew comfortable. Now, it’s an extension of myself. Like a limb.

  Shaun had seen the way he was around weapons. They were definitely a part of him. Like he said, an accessory.

  “Okay,” she agreed. “I’ll try.”

  You won’t try, you’ll succeed.

  She knew he wasn’t giving her a pep talk when he said she would succeed. He was telling her she didn’t have a choice. She would learn to shoot and she would learn to shoot well because he was going to make damn sure she could.

  Unfortunately for Jozef, it turned out that Shaun had absolutely no natural ability.

  Twenty minutes later, she growled in frustration. “This is nothing like cutting with a scalpel!”

  Jozef chuckled and took the gun from her, setting it on the platform in front of her. He hit the button next to the wall, which called her target forward, then removed the earmuffs from her head.

  You weren’t any good with a scalpel the first time you picked one up.

  She crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. “How do you know?”

  No one is good the first time they try something.

  “Maybe I’m a prodigy.”

  Maybe, but you’re definitely not a shooting prodigy. He unhooked the target and held it up. She’d used an entire clip and hit her target twice, neither bullet actually hitting the person’s outline on the target.

  “I think you got mine too.”

  Shaun turned to find Saskia standing behind her. Her pulse picked up as she noticed the gun held low at Saskia’s side. She looked more mature than usual, standing there in ripped blue jeans and a pink hoodie, blue earmuffs around her neck and her gun at her side.

  She handed Shaun her paper target. Shaun took it from her and winced as she saw the stray bullet hole in the paper's edge. Saskia’s shots had all landed within the outline.

  “You’re not very good at this.”

  “It’s my first time,” Shaun argued.

  “It shows.”

  Before Shaun could say anything else, Saskia stalked away, heading for the armoury. Maybe to check her gun in.

  Shaun sighed and turned to look at Jozef. “She’s mad at me because I kicked her out of Adam’s cell earlier.”

  Jozef looked at her speculatively. Why?

  “She was interfering, and she refused to listen when I asked her to stop questioning him.” She chewed her lip before confessing her thoughts, “I didn’t like the way he was looking at her. Sort of predatory.”

  Jozef nodded, but his gaze was still on her. It was speculative. Finally, he signed, keep away from him. I’ll tell S-A-S-K-I-A the same.

  They continued practicing until the gun range emptied and it was just Shaun, Jozef and Cooper left. Out of the corner of her eye she caught Jozef knock on the barrier between them and Cooper. When Cooper looked over, Jozef jerked his head toward the door.

  Cooper immediately re-holstered his weapon and strode away.

  Shaun’s heart picked up in speed. She pretended she hadn’t seen the interaction and turned back to her target, lifting her gun.

  Jozef slipped behind her, pressing his erection against her ass. She was wearing leggings, so she felt every inch of him.

  Her breathing became heavy as he wrapped his arms around her, his long reach easily able to cover her hands over the gun. Together they lifted it. He took aim and then kissed her beneath her ear, sending a shower of tingles down her neck. He nodded, and she squeezed the trigger.

  She was surprised when her bullet hit the target dead center in the head. He adjusted their aim and nodded again. She took another shot and hit the target in the heart.

  “Oh my god!” she exclaimed, turning in his arms. “I hit the target!”

  He chuckled, slipping the gun from her fingers. She’d accidentally pointed it at him. She opened her mouth to apologize, but he slid his hand around her neck, capturing her and dragging her into h
is chest. He took her lips in a ferocious kiss. One that was unmistakably sexual.

  He pressed his cock into the cradle of her thighs, telling her without words exactly what he wanted.

  He set the gun on a shelf next to them and enveloped her in his arms, his lips coaxing her mouth open. He swept her mouth with his tongue, his growl of pleasure reverberating between the two of them.

  Scorching heat cascaded through her as he swept her with his hands. Then she shivered as a chill hit her when he took the hem of her T-shirt and lifted it, baring her stomach and chest. She wasn’t wearing a bra and the shirt caught briefly on her nipples, tweaking them, before Jozef pulled it firmly over her head.

  He broke their kiss and dipped his head to take her nipple in his mouth. She moaned and leaned back against the shelf behind her, giving him better access as she drove her hands into his hair, gripping his silky strands.

  She loved the way Jozef made love. All in, no hesitation. He knew what he wanted and he took it. His entire focus was on their mutual pleasure. There was no better aphrodisiac than a man who took pleasure in the pleasure of his woman.

  He pulled at her nipple, rolling it against his tongue then using the edge of his teeth to prick. The sweet aching burn turned rapidly into an inferno of need that sent her hands diving between them, scrambling for his belt buckle. He chuckled against her breast, not helping her as he switched to her other nipple, driving her insane with his play.

  “Jozef!” she said desperately.

  He released her nipples and reached between them, pushing her fingers aside and undoing his belt. Heat slammed into her at the metallic sound of Jozef’s belt as he unbuckled, followed closely by the sound of a zipper.

  Their gasping breaths mingled as he lifted her, setting her ass on the shelf, then gripping her neck and devouring her mouth. She met him tongue for tongue, teeth for teeth. She gripped his cock, squeezing and stroking as he tugged at her leggings.

  She giggled into his mouth when he struggled. He should’ve shoved them down her legs before he set her on the shelf. He broke the kiss, glared at her for daring to laugh at him, then pulled her down so she was standing again.

  He didn’t waste any time. A loud rending sound filled the range as he tore her leggings at the seams.

  Shaun’s pulse leapt at the sound. His eagerness was taking her own libido to new heights. She couldn’t stop touching him, sliding her hands under his shirt and digging her nails into his mouth-watering slabs of muscle.

  He gripped her by the waist and turned her around, tearing her panties down her legs. She gasped and looked over her shoulder as he bent down behind her. He bit her ass, hard enough to hurt but not hard enough to break her skin.

  She squealed, then moaned as he pushed her ass cheeks apart and dove in face first.

  Shaun had never had her ass eaten before, but she’d heard about it and seen enough porn to be intrigued. Jozef showed her just how right she was to be curious.

  Sensations shot through her, leaving her shaking and gasping as he used his lips and tongue on her ass while fingering her pussy. She bent herself over the shelf she was clutching and spread her legs wider.

  It was like being loved by a storm. Electric, powerful, unpredictable.

  Jozef stood and whirled her around, picking her up and setting her back on the shelf. With a hand behind her neck, holding her steady, he slammed into her. He didn’t wait for her to adjust, but started pumping, pushing harder and harder, faster and faster.

  Sounds spilled from her lips, but she wasn’t sure what they were. She felt incapable of controlling herself. He was too much, too hard. He was everywhere at once, touching her inside and out, driving her toward her orgasm.

  Out of nowhere, with very little buildup, it slammed into her.

  Shaun let out a scream as her orgasm hit like a tsunami, wave after wave. She couldn’t breathe, she was drowning in pleasure.

  She barely noticed Jozef finish.

  He gripped her hips so hard it would have hurt if she’d been even remotely cognizant of what was happening around her.

  Finally, she was able to draw in a breath as his semen shot into her, flooding her with his warmth.

  She would have collapsed backwards, but he grabbed hold of her and held her against him.

  When they both landed from their respective orgasms, Shaun looked at him with what she knew was a stupid grin plastered across her face. There was an answering one on his.

  “I think I’m definitely going to need more shooting lessons.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Shaun arrived at the hospital right on time with her team of bodyguards. Cooper had been cleared to stand outside of the surgical room, while the others would patrol the corridors outside of the surgery ward.

  Walking into the hospital, knowing she was about to do the thing she loved most in the world was both heady and nerve-wracking. It was a different hospital, but the same feeling of exhilaration.

  She knocked on Elisa’s office door and was greeted with a bright smile.

  “Come in, I’m just finishing up a few things and then we can go to the patient’s room.” Cooper tried to follow Shaun through the door, but Elisa stopped him. “I’m sorry, you can’t come in. We’ll be discussing the details of this patient’s surgery, which is private.”

  “I go where she goes,” he said gruffly, crossing his arms over his chest and showing off his impressive biceps.

  Elisa didn’t look particularly impressed. “The door is made of glass. I’ll leave it unlocked. If, somehow, Dr. Patterson is attacked while she’s in my office, you can be by her side in under two seconds. Or shoot through the door. Whatever’s easiest.”

  She didn’t wait for an answer, but closed the door in his face. Shaun smothered a laugh at his disgruntled expression.

  “Have a seat.” Elisa waved Shaun to the guest chair. “I have a few things for you to sign.”

  Shaun sat down, setting her purse on the floor. She’d assumed she would have to sign a non-disclosure agreement given the sensitive nature of the case. Elisa placed several documents in front of her with tabs where she needed to sign.

  The two women worked together in comfortable silence. Elisa was concentrating on several files in front of her. As head of neurology, it was her responsibility to review the case files for the staff working under her.

  Shaun read carefully through each document Elisa had given her before signing. Sure enough, one was an NDA from the patient. There was another from the hospital, as well as liability waiver. The hospital was not to be responsible for any injury to her person while on the hospital grounds. The last document was for the transfer of her fee for the procedure. She raised her eyebrows and looked up at Elisa.

  “We didn’t discuss a fee. This is a sizeable sum that I don’t particularly need. Given that my fiancé is donating money to the hospital, it feels a little unnecessary.”

  Elisa smiled. “We have to pay you. Paid staff are covered by our insurance. We don’t really have a volunteer program for surgeons.”

  “But the amount.”

  “Yes, I negotiated for that on your behalf.” When Shaun opened her mouth to argue, Elisa held a hand up and cut her off. “All women should be independent. This is your work, and you should be paid for it. You’re one of the best surgeons in the world. Had we borrowed you from your hospital in Montreal, this is what you would have been paid.”

  Embarrassment flooded Shaun and she quickly signed the last document. Of course, she should accept the money. She was independent of Jozef. It rattled her that she was thinking in terms of a kept woman. She needed to have a stern talking-to with herself when she got home.

  When Shaun finished, she pulled a file from her purse and passed it across the desk.

  “What’s this?” Elisa opened the file, then laughed when she saw Shaun’s resume with the cover letter asking for a permanent position at the hospital.

  “Consider this my formal request for employment.”

  E
lisa shook her head and set the file down. “This wasn’t necessary. We will consider it an honour if you accept a position with us. The hospital director is so pleased by the idea that I think he’s ready to offer you my position. He’s already printed your identification.”

  Elisa tossed the ID badge across the desk toward Shaun. On it was the picture the hospital had taken of her when she’d first gone through security one week earlier.

  Shaun looked carefully at Elisa. Her comment about Shaun taking her job was pointed. Though any position other than the head of the department would be a step down for Shaun, she had no intention of taking the other woman’s job. They inhabited an incredibly competitive field and there were few enough women who made it to the top that Shaun was unwilling to displace one as smart and driven as the woman sitting across from her.

  If Shaun were to take a long-term position in the hospital, she would have plenty of room for movement. She was almost twenty years younger than Elisa, who would eventually retire or move on to a director position.

  “Your job is safe around me,” Shaun assured her. “Honestly, it’ll be a relief to not have the responsibility of an entire department on my head. A new position will give me more time for lab work and research.”

  Elisa nodded, but didn’t comment. Until that moment, the natural competitive nature between surgeons had been pushed to the wayside as they forged their way through the planning of a difficult surgery. Now, they were hours away from conducting that surgery and their positions were shifting.

  Shaun would take lead on the surgery, but Elisa was technically her boss while she worked at the Prague hospital.

  Elisa pushed away from her desk and stood. “Let’s go see our patient.”

  “I thought you would never ask.”

  Shaun clipped her badge onto her shirt and followed Elisa from the room. She would finally find out who her mystery patient was. So far, all that had been disclosed to her was his age, medical history and current medical condition.