A Silent Reckoning: Sinner's Empire Read online

Havel’s eyes softened as he looked at her. Perhaps he was seeing the desperate love for Jozef that was twisting Shaun up inside. Though she didn’t like Havel, she trusted him. They were bound by their love for the same man.

  “You can leave.” Havel pulled an envelope from his jacket pocket and handed it to Shaun. “Two tickets to Montréal; one for you and one for your mother. The plane takes off in five hours.”

  Shaun grasped the envelope, staring blankly at it while blinking back a fresh wave of tears. What had she thought was going to happen? That the authorities would forget the crimes Jozef committed and release him so he could marry her? It was ridiculous. Even if he somehow got out, Shaun had a life to get back to. She hadn’t worked every moment of every day for the past sixteen years just to walk away now. She was a surgeon, and her career was her life.

  “You don’t have to worry, we’ll take the flight.” She gave Havel a half-smile and reached for the door. “Thank you…” she wasn’t sure why she was thanking him. It took her a moment to settle on the reason. She was thanking him for being the family Jozef needed, for taking care of the man she loved when she couldn’t.

  “He’ll be fine,” Havel said as she got out of the car. She turned to look at him. He lowered his sunglasses, showing her the earnestness in his eyes. “Jozef has many friends inside the system, both behind bars and on the other side. He is elite in the underworld. He won’t be harmed.”

  Shaun nodded and closed the door. As she stepped back to the curb, the SUV pulled away. When she turned to go into the hotel, she caught sight of a man watching her. He had undercover policeman written all over him. He was tall, broad-shouldered, perfectly manicured hair, jeans, leather jacket, sunglasses. Not handsome, but not ugly. Non-descript. Yet something about him made him stand out more than Shaun thought he’d want to if he was surveilling her.

  She wondered if he recognized Jozef’s second-in-command, then decided she didn’t care. She was leaving all this behind. And though she might leave half her heart in Prague, she would be going home to the things she loved.

  As Shaun began scrubbing her hands and arms in the big metal sink next to her OR, she forced the memories back into the tidy little box in her mind where she kept all of her memories of Prague. They were a year old, starting to get fuzzy. They didn’t matter. The only memory that mattered was Jozef’s face, and she saved it for when she went to bed every night. She fell asleep with his image keeping her safe.

  One of the RNs helped Shaun with her gloves, gown, mask and goggles. Pushing all thoughts of her time in the Ukraine and Czech Republic out of her head, she walked into the operating room with confidence, determined to give her patient a few more years of life.

  Chapter Three

  Jozef accepted the bag that was handed to him from across the desk. He glanced inside. It contained clothes, a phone, his watch and wallet. He pulled Shaun’s gold chain from the bag, holding the heart in the palm of his hand before closing his fist and turning away. He changed in the dingy prison guest washroom, then emerged to join the officer who would walk him off the premises.

  He signed the release log and stepped through the doors into the open air. His first breath after spending a year in prison was sweet. Freedom. It didn’t matter that the prisoners got to spend an hour in the yard, working out and socializing. Prison air was more restrictive than the air breathed by a free man.

  Jozef didn’t know if he could call himself truly free. He was being released because palms had been greased, certain politicians had been threatened and, ultimately, they hadn’t wanted Jozef on the inside. He wreaked havoc, killing the top Vory and liquidating their assets all while locked behind bars.

  He’d worked his way to the top, determined to be the one man every single person in the Eastern European underworld feared. His name would be whispered like the bogeyman. With each death, Jozef sent his team of men out to ensure a smooth transition to his organization. Any resistance was dealt with swiftly and brutally. No one knew what he planned, and everyone was afraid. Jozef was shaking up the entire continent and, though he was behind bars, he’d become untouchable.

  It had taken Jozef a few months to sort out his reasons for systematically taking out one Vory after another and forcing their followers to bow to him. At first, he believed he was building an army so when he discovered who had betrayed him, he would be able to execute them with ease. But after many hours of internal introspection, time that was easy to come by during his incarceration, Jozef realized he was doing it for her.

  For Shaun.

  Before Shaun, he hadn’t cared if he lived or died. That day in the hospital when he’d given himself up to the police, he would have happily finished the whole thing in a shootout that ended in his death, except he had to stay alive. What if she needed him? What if the person who poisoned her tried again? He had to live long enough to give the order that she be watched at all times. Then he had to live long enough to ensure his orders were carried out.

  Eventually, he realized he had to live long enough to see her face again. Happy and healthy. Only the reports coming into him indicated she wasn’t happy or healthy. After returning to Montréal, she became a near recluse, refusing to leave her home. She’d admitted to her counsellor, whose records Jozef was easily able to access through a hacker on his payroll, that she was floating through life, unable to concentrate. Nightmares haunted her nights and anxiety had turned her days unbearable.

  When she finally returned to her work at the hospital, she allowed it to consume her. The only two places she went were the hospital and her home. Occasionally she would go to her mother’s house, but more often Fatima would come to her. The few times Shaun left her house to go to the store or an appointment, she rushed back home as if a demon was chasing her.

  Jozef wondered if he was her bogeyman.

  The prison guard left Jozef after escorting him through the final gate. As expected, Havel was parked on the road next to the prison. He stood leaning against his SUV, a cigarette clenched between his teeth. Though half his face was obscured by aviator sunglasses, Jozef could tell Havel was happy to see him.

  Havel rounded the vehicle and grabbed Jozef by the shoulders, pulling him in for bear hug.

  Jozef was surprised, having never gotten a hug from Havel before. It took a moment, but eventually he relaxed and hesitantly wrapped his arms around the bigger man, squeezing.

  You look good, old man, Jozef signed, stepping back.

  “You don’t seem too bad off for a stint in this place. You’re coming out a much richer man than you went in.” Havel waved his hand at the prison, a huge concrete and metal monstrosity. Then he turned his gaze back to Jozef. “I see you got some new ink.”

  Jozef touched the side of his neck and nodded. A Kizlyar blade had been seamlessly inked in among his other tattoos. It was the knife favoured by Russian Spetsnaz for its lightweight durability. Jozef had inherited one from his father, who had once worked for the Russian special forces.

  Jozef had used the blade, which had been illicitly mailed to him by Havel while guards looked the other way, to dispatch each of the three Vory he’d taken out in prison. Each man was represented by a drop of blood tattooed beneath the tip of the blade.

  Jozef reached for the passenger door and slid inside the car, sighing as his ass hit the plush leather seat. It would be a while before he took his life of privilege for granted again. He might be one of the toughest motherfuckers in that part of the world, but his ass liked a good cushiony seat.

  Havel didn’t have to ask where Jozef wanted to be taken. They were going to Ostrava airport, the nearest international airport to the prison.

  Jozef had been planning his and Shaun’s reunion since the moment he went in. There was a private jet waiting for them at the airport. They would leave once Jozef was on board. In less than twelve hours he would be landing in the city where his woman resided.

  He’d thought about leaving her alone, letting her heal so she could get on with her life, but he couldn
’t do it. His obsession was too compelling. It was unhealthy, it made no sense, but he knew that living without her would be like living without his own heart. He had transferred his loyalty from the family who had raised him but had also treated him like the family guard dog. He was raised to become their first line of defense against the dark and deadly underworld.

  No more. Now he lived for Shaun.

  Perhaps if there had been some proof that she was happy in Montréal without him, he would consider tearing out his own heart and living without her. The daily reports on her movements were consistent. She rarely smiled and walked with her head down and shoulders slumped. She was pale and jumpy, and she only left her house for work. She talked to her counsellor about feelings of hopelessness and depression.

  Jozef would take her back. He would take care of her and help her find joy again. He would make sure the sacrifice of her career and family were well compensated. She would want for nothing for the rest of her life, he would make sure of it.

  As though reading his thoughts, Havel verbalized the thing that Jozef couldn’t. “She’s going to hate you for this, man.”

  Chapter Four

  Shaun was exhausted in every conceivable way: mentally, physically, even her aura was dragging behind her on the floor. It had been a long surgery, but so far, her patient was recovering well. Tomorrow, Shaun would check in on her and determine if the tumour and subsequent surgery had caused any permanent damage. Though the surgery itself was fairly routine for Shaun, the placement of the tumour was not. It had been difficult to reach and had grown into normal brain tissue, making the resection more difficult.

  “Have a good night, Doctor.” One of the RN’s who had assisted in surgery picked up her lunch kit and coat and headed for the exit.

  “Same to you,” Shaun said warmly. “Good job in there today, Sam.”

  Shaun gathered her belongings, wrapping a thick jacket around her thin frame. She’d lost weight after returning from Europe even though her mother made all kinds of tempting dishes to perk up Shaun’s appetite. Despite her lack of appetite, Shaun loved going home to a warm home-cooked meal. It made her think she should eventually find a house husband who was content to stay home to cook and clean.

  A picture of Jozef in an apron teased her imagination and she laughed out loud, her first spontaneous laugh in almost a year. She stopped, pressing her fingers to her lips as the smile faded. The image of the hardened gangster wearing an apron was funny, but the fact that he was the first person who jumped into her brain when she thought about marriage was upsetting. She needed to let him go.

  Not him… his ghost. It had been haunting her for long enough. She needed to learn to live again, without the spectre of Jozef following her everywhere she went.

  Shaun was so engrossed in her own thoughts that she didn’t see a man step in front of her until she walked straight into him. He gripped her arms, steadying her. The scent of leather filled her head, and she tipped her head back, expectation filling her heart.

  The disappointment of seeing her colleague, Dr. Simon Lee, was so intense it stole her breath and sparked tears in her eyes. He continued to hold her, his expression turning from annoyance at having someone nearly knock him over to admiration as his eyes ran up and down Shaun’s body.

  The man was incorrigible, the playboy of the neurology department. Tall, smoothly handsome and talented. He’d slept with every female nurse who would let him, most of the female doctors and even a few patients. He considered himself an ethical man, so he poached other doctors’ patients to fill his dating pool, never his own.

  He’d asked Shaun out no less than a dozen times and if his expression was anything to go by, she was about to be asked out again. She sighed internally, preparing a polite but decisive refusal. If she was anything less than absolutely sure, he would push until she became annoyed. She didn’t want to risk her professional relationship with the man, especially because they occasionally worked the OR together.

  “Simon.” She smiled at him.

  “Hey, how’s it going, Doc?” He dropped his hands from her arms.

  Shaun took a step back to put some space between them. “I’m good. You?”

  She hoped he didn’t want to talk long, she wanted nothing more than to see what her mom was cooking for dinner, crack a bottle of Merlot and cuddle with her cat, Fitzy, on her comfortable couch. It was the same thing she did almost every night, but she appreciated the mundane predictable pattern her life had taken.

  “I’m good, really good.” His gaze crawled over her, prompting her to cross her arms over her chest.

  Once, a long time ago, she’d agreed to a date. He’d spent the night talking about himself and doing with his hands what his eyes were doing now. She’d made an excuse and walked out of the restaurant. If she hadn’t had to continue working with the man, she would have told him exactly what she thought of his handsiness and followed it up with an ice-cold glass of water in his lap for emphasis.

  “Hey, you think maybe you’d want to…” His voice drifted off as his gaze fixed on something over Shaun’s shoulder.

  Shaun glanced behind her and her vision filled with a leather jacket stretched over a broad chest, tattoos peeking out from the neckline of his T-shirt. Her heart started pumping blood through her body faster and faster until she felt faint. She hardly dared to breathe as she slowly turned on the spot and tipped her head back, her gaze travelling the tattooed throat to the perfectly chiseled features and the scar across his lips. Her heart stopped entirely.

  Jozef.

  Standing right there, in her hospital.

  It couldn’t be true. She saw him every single day, but he was never real. She would blink and he would go away, disappearing like the figment of her imagination he was. Tears filled her eyes as she waited for him to fade away, leaving her with the hollow loneliness that always followed.

  Only he didn’t disappear. He continued to block her path, his scent invading her nose, his beautiful dark blue eyes on her face.

  His expression gave nothing away. He looked bigger, more muscular than he had a year ago. His face was harder, more lined.

  He was real. Oh god, he was actually there.

  Shaun couldn’t breathe.

  “I don’t know who you are, but you can’t be in here,” Simon interjected, moving to stand beside Shaun, his shoulder brushing hers. “This area is for staff only.”

  Jozef’s eyes followed the movement and settled on the man standing next to Shaun. Touching her. Shaun tried to ease away from the doctor, but he just shuffled along with her, clearly trying to project a united front.

  “You’ll have to leave, or we’ll call security,” Simon continued, oblivious of the very real threat to his life.

  Shaun wanted to say something, to step between the two men. She could lie and tell Simon Jozef was her boyfriend, that she’d told him to come to the hospital, anything to ease the tension, but the words wouldn’t come. They were frozen in her throat, along with her breath. She was struggling for air, her world spinning, her entire being focused on the man who had taken her every waking thought, and some of her sleeping ones, for the past year.

  Simon frowned and eased himself further into Shaun’s comfort zone, his arm going around her lower back. “You have ten seconds to leave this floor or we’ll call security.”

  Jozef’s eyes followed every move Simon made, landing on the hand wrapped around her hip. Shaun knew what was coming. She didn’t know how Simon couldn’t sense the deadly rage rapidly overtaking the hulking man standing in front of them.

  Jozef moved so fast it was like watching lightning strike. He shoved Simon against the wall, pulling his gun from the holster under his jacket and pressing the muzzle to Simon’s head. The movement sent Shaun tumbling back and she had to catch herself before she fell to the floor.

  “No!” Shaun gasped, righting herself and grabbing Jozef’s arm, trying to pull him away from the other doctor. Dark spots were floating through her vision and she kne
w she had to try to breathe through her constricted airway or risk passing out. A very dangerous thing to do around a man like Jozef.

  Jozef turned his head to stare down at Shaun. His gaze softened and he allowed her to see some of the emotion raging inside. He couldn’t tell her, but she knew, from that look, that he still loved her, and he’d come to Montréal to collect her. Then his pointed gaze fell to her hip where Simon had touched her. Jozef didn’t give a shit about security arresting him, he cared about another man touching Shaun.

  Shaun’s heart sang while her brain screamed in panic. Not again, she couldn’t do this again. She couldn’t be the victim of another kidnapping. She couldn’t watch as another colleague died violently.

  “Please don’t hurt him, he didn’t do anything,” Shaun managed to gasp, sucking air into starved lungs, begging for Simon’s life, knowing how easily Jozef could and would pull the trigger if she didn’t stop him. The life of a man he never met would mean nothing to him. But as much as Simon was a terrible date, he didn’t deserve to die and the hospital needed him. “Please, Jozef, for me.”

  Jozef’s eyes narrowed and she realized she’d said the wrong thing. His finger tightened on the trigger. Shaun slid her hand up his arm, shivering at the sensation of his supple leather jacket, the muscle of his bicep hard beneath the material.

  “I don’t care about him,” she reassured Jozef, ignoring the throat clearing from the man pinned to the wall. “But I don’t want you to kill him either. Please, put the gun away.”

  She knew she’d gotten through to him when he dipped his head slightly, his shoulders relaxing. Shaun relaxed too and was unprepared for the strike when it came.

  Jozef swung his gun hand back and hit Simon in the temple with a sickening crunch. Shaun gasped as Jozef wrapped an arm around her waist and swung her away from her falling colleague.

  Shaun immediately reached for the fallen man, her fingers seeking the bloody wound, but Jozef dragged her back and walked swiftly down the corridor, his gun still in his hand. Shaun was forced to straighten and follow him or risk falling on her face. She twisted in his grasp trying to see if Simon was moving, but his body lay limp on the cold hospital tiles.