A Silent Reckoning: Sinner's Empire Read online

  It’s done. You have no choice but to accept the situation, and hopefully, one day, forgive me.

  He looked sad to be causing her pain but determined. He wasn’t going to change course. The plane lifted off the runway, startling Shaun. She turned in her seat to watch the Montréal airport falling away beneath them. The more distance they travelled, the higher they climbed, the more agitated Shaun felt. Like something was trying to claw its way up her throat.

  “No,” she moaned, shaking her head and trying to stop the rush of nausea that threatened. She turned accusing eyes to Jozef. “If you love me, you won’t do this.”

  He looked like she’d slapped him again, only worse. Guilt flashed across his face, followed by genuine remorse. But none of it replaced the determined set to his jaw and shoulders. No matter how she felt, he was still going to do this.

  “My mother,” she sobbed, the tears overflowing onto her cheeks.

  Thinking about her mother was a whole other layer of pain that threatened to cripple Shaun. She moaned and wrapped her arms around herself, rocking in her seat. Her mother was going to be devastated. Shaun’s first kidnapping and subsequent recovery had been as hard on Fatima as it had been on her daughter. She’d been there every step of the way with Shaun when she was forced to relearn how to live, how to survive without Jozef, how to resolve her feelings surrounding the kidnapping.

  Fatima had held Shaun while she cried, had listened to the words spilling from her daughter’s mouth. Had patiently lent an ear to all of Shaun’s misery. And now she would find out her daughter had been taken again.

  As if reading her distress, Jozef reached for her.

  Shaun pushed his hands away, not wanting him to touch her. He hadn’t earned the right to touch her, to comfort her.

  She had to get up. She couldn’t stay in her seat. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t settle down. Her world was falling away beneath her feet and the hardened soldiers who were the cause of her distress could do nothing except stare at the floor and try to swallow their shame. Well, she wasn’t going to let them. They would damn well know exactly what they were complicit in.

  Her fingers scrambled over her seatbelt until she was finally able to get it unbuckled. She leapt to her feet and flung herself away from Jozef, toward the front of the plane. He launched himself out of his seat, reaching for her, probably afraid she was going to do something stupid like open the door.

  Instead of fighting him, she stood stiffly in his embrace, forcing him to make the next move. Gradually his muscles relaxed and he eased his grip, allowing her to step away from him. He placed himself between her and the cabin door. She didn’t care. She might be angry, devastated, completely crushed, but she wasn’t suicidal.

  “Don’t you have mothers?” she demanded accusingly, staring around at Jozef’s team. “Do you have any idea what this will do to my mother? This will kill her.”

  At first no one said anything. She could feel the heat of Jozef’s body at her back.

  “It won’t kill her,” Havel finally answered, his eyes lifting to hers. “I’ve spent the past year observing both of you. She’s a strong woman. Persistent. She won’t give up on you.”

  “Is that what you think?” she snarled, impatiently swiping at the tears on her cheeks. “And she can’t have a heart attack while she’s holding out hope? She won’t collapse under the stress? Maybe bankrupt herself while she searches for me? You haven’t just ruined my life; you’ve taken hers as well.”

  Havel dropped his gaze, nodding his head slowly. “I’m sorry, Doc.”

  Shaun wanted to yell at him, but he wasn’t the right target. Havel was following orders. She was fairly certain that if it was up to him, she would’ve stayed in Canada and their paths would’ve never again crossed.

  She whirled to give Jozef the most accusing glare she could manage. “I want to call my mother. Right. Fucking. Now.”

  Jozef’s eyes were hard chips of ice. He wasn’t going to let her call. When he lifted his hands to sign his refusal to her, she stepped away from him, shaking her head. She wouldn’t listen. She didn’t have to. She didn’t care if she was being an asshole by ignoring his signs; didn’t care if she cut him off. He was the bigger asshole for kidnapping her. Again.

  “You either let me call my mother or I will spend every waking minute of my life trying to find a way to leave.”

  Anger flared in his eyes at her ultimatum. His muscles tightened, as though he was about to grab her. Shaun held her ground, glaring at him. This time she didn’t interrupt when he signed his response.

  You will not threaten me in front of my men.

  “Why?” she demanded, crossing her arms over her chest. “Are you going to kill me? Hold a gun to my head?”

  He didn’t answer. He couldn’t, because she was right; he wasn’t going to do any of the things she mentioned. He’d promised he wouldn’t, and he didn’t break his promises. At least, not to her.

  She poked her finger into his chest. “Unless you can come up with a consequence you can live with, you had better be prepared for life with a woman who hates you. I will make damn sure you never rest.”

  If you think death is the only consequence I can give you, then you would do well to remember who you are speaking to.

  Pure righteous indignation flared to life inside her.

  “Is this what you want, Jozef?” she demanded. “War between us? Is this what you imagined when you were locked up? Did you fantasize about our reunion? Because whenever I imagined seeing you again, this isn’t what I pictured.”

  He glared back at her.

  No, I did not imagine our reunion would be like this, he admitted.

  “Me neither.” Her voice was impassioned as she placed her hand over her chest. “I thought you cared about me enough not to put me through something like this again.”

  He flushed and glanced away, telling her she’d scored a hit. Her anger fled, leaving behind despair. She hadn’t wanted to hurt him. Not really. This wasn’t the meeting either of them wanted, but this was what they had. Seeing him again, seeing his face and feeling his arms wrapped around her, she knew she didn’t love him any less than she had a year ago.

  “Please let me call my mother,” she whispered, her eyes shimmering pools of sadness.

  Jozef stared at her for a minute without saying anything.

  It was Havel who finally broke the silence.

  “Give her a phone call,” he said quietly, looking up from his seat where he was bent forward with his hands slung between his knees. “We all have family. None of us would want them to suffer. It won’t hurt to let her explain.”

  Jozef’s hard gaze turned to his second-in-command. He didn’t look pleased. Explain what? Jozef signed, anger making his movements quick and jerky. That her daughter has been kidnapped for a second time? That she won’t be coming home? It’s better to leave her guessing.

  “No, it’s not.” Shaun jumped in, seizing on the tiny bit of hope Havel was giving her. “I promise, I’ll be careful. I won’t tell her anything. I just need her to hear my voice and know I’m okay. Once she hears about what happened at the hospital, she’ll freak out. I can calm her down.”

  Jozef swung his hard stare back to Shaun. Finally, after long seconds ticked by, he nodded his head. You can call, but make it brief, and don’t give her any information.

  “I won’t, I promise.”

  He pulled his phone from his back pocket and handed it to her. She took it gratefully. It was warm from his body heat. She sat back down and stared at it trying to gather her thoughts. What would she say? It didn’t really matter. She couldn’t tell her mother anything, other than that she was okay.

  Before she could lose her nerve, she tapped the phone. It was locked. She looked up at him expectantly.

  He signed, 0614.

  Her birthday.

  She ducked her head and entered the number, unlocking the phone. With shaking hands, she typed in Fatima’s cell phone number.

  Jozef to
ok the phone and hit the speakerphone button before handing it back. It rang twice before Fatima picked up.

  “Hello?” Her voice sounded out of breath, as though she’d been running.

  “Mom, it’s me.”

  There was a pause, and then Fatima burst into speech. “My god, Shaun, they’re saying you were taken from the hospital, like in Ukraine. Are you alright? What happened?”

  “I’m okay, mom,” Shaun was quick to reassure her. She glanced up at Jozef who was watching her steadily, his expression inscrutable. “I w-wasn’t taken.” She choked on the lie. “I left the hospital on my own.”

  Jozef’s brows drew down in a thunderous look and he shook his head, telling her not to lie. She suspected Jozef didn’t want her taking the fall too, if there were any charges laid after the incident with Simon.

  Fatima unknowingly answered the question for them. “Do you realize you’re wanted for questioning over the assault of a doctor at the hospital?”

  A flutter of guilt went through Shaun. “Is Simon okay?”

  “Of course,” Fatima said impatiently. “He was barely tapped on the head. I think he wants to press charges for his ego more than his head, but he said you were upset, that the man who accosted him was there for you.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Shaun lied again. She hated lying to anyone but lying to Fatima felt like she was trying to swallow a bagful of acrid rocks.

  “Don’t play with me, Shaun Soraya Patterson.” Fatima pulled out her mom voice and included Shaun’s middle name, which made Shaun smile in spite of her situation. “I know something’s going on and you’re going to tell me exactly what it is. I won’t have my daughter disappearing again without a word.”

  “I’m not disappearing without a word,” Shaun tried to assure her mother. “I’m calling so you know I’m okay. I have to go away for a while, but I don’t want you to worry.”

  “Where?” Fatima demanded.

  Shaun sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. She should’ve anticipated Fatima’s reaction. Her mother was a fierce defender of the people she loved. She wasn’t about to allow Shaun to disappear again without making damn sure she knew what was going on.

  “I can’t tell you where I’m going,” Shaun said quietly. “Please don’t ask me again or I will hang up.”

  When she glanced up at Jozef, he nodded his approval.

  Then Fatima threw a wrench into the conversation. “It’s him, isn’t it?” she asked. “The guy who kidnapped you before. Does Jozef Koba have you?”

  Shaun looked up at Jozef, but he didn’t give her any indication of what she should say. He simply looked at her grimly.

  As if she was able to divine the entire situation from the few facts she knew, Fatima guessed what was happening.

  “He wasn’t able to let you go, was he?” she demanded, anger making her voice louder. “He’s obsessed with you. He came back for you and now he’s taking you away forever, isn’t he? Answer me, Shaun. Tell me I’m wrong.”

  Tears filled Shaun’s eyes and she bowed her head, stifling a sob. “No, mom.” Her voice cracked as she spoke. “You’ve got it wrong.”

  “I don’t,” Fatima said sharply. “Somehow he got out of prison and came after you. I know it. God, Shaun, how is this possible?”

  Shaun couldn’t speak anymore, and Jozef, sensing her distress, took the phone from her limp fingers. Before he could hang up, Fatima addressed him directly.

  “Did he let you use a phone? Put him on,” she snapped, her rage igniting with every word. “Jozef Koba, if you’re listening, you bring my daughter back. She doesn’t deserve this. You’re destroying her life by doing this to her. Do you hear me?” Fatima’s voice cracked as the words rushed out in short desperate sentences. “Just bring her back to me.”

  Jozef hung up the phone and tucked it into his pocket. He reached for Shaun, but she shoved his hands away, the tears now streaming unchecked down her face.

  “Don’t touch me.” She pulled her legs up onto the seat and curled in on herself, letting the sobs flow free. “Don’t ever touch me again.”

  Chapter Seven

  Shaun spent the rest of the flight in silent misery, guilt eating her up every time she thought of her mother. Maybe she shouldn’t have called. But then, the call hadn’t been for Shaun, it had been for her mother. Fatima knew her daughter was alive, which was the only thing that mattered. If Shaun had to feel shame and guilt so her mother could rest easy, then so be it.

  She couldn’t explain why she was in love with a man who was more monster than human, and the tailspin of emotion was eating her up. The darkness that had shaped most of Jozef’s life had also shaped their relationship. For him, kidnapping, beating people, killing them, it was all part of his job. For her, it was unthinkable.

  How on earth did he think they could be compatible together? She would be utterly miserable if she were forced to accept the type of life he lived. She would become a shadow of herself. All her convictions, values, her life’s work, would mean nothing. She would be trading it all in for the wealth Jozef could provide. Which, in her opinion, wasn’t good enough.

  She could console herself with the fact that she had no choice. She hadn’t chosen to leave the Montréal hospital in the back of a tinted SUV, nor had she agreed to get on an airplane and leave immediately for Prague. Or at least that’s where she assumed they were going.

  How long could she use kidnapping as an excuse? When she stopped trying to run away? When she admitted that she loved her captor and couldn’t bring herself to turn him in or testify against him? Her guilt lay in Danilo’s coffin.

  The moment that she relaxed in Jozef’s presence and accepted the things he wanted for her, she would become an accessory to his criminal life. And she simply couldn’t agree to that kind of life. She was raised better than that.

  “Where are we going?” Her voice was hoarse.

  They’d been in the air for two hours, but she’d only recently stopped crying. Her head was swimming and she felt like she had a bad cold. She held a wad of crushed tissues in her hand. Jozef had quietly handed them to her while she cried.

  Home.

  She blinked the tears away so she could see his signs.

  “Where is home?” she asked quietly. “The mansion?”

  He shook his head. I no longer live with my aunt and uncle. I have a place in the city. An apartment building.

  The rest of their flight passed mostly in silence, but somewhere along the way the quiet went from tension-filled to relaxed. Shaun fell asleep at some point and when she woke up, her seat was reclined so that she was laying down and a blanket was tucked around her. She yawned and sat up, blinking as she looked for Jozef. He was behind her, giving his men instructions on what to do once they landed.

  It was then, as she tried to catch what he was telling them, that she realized he hadn’t been home at all. He had left prison and got on an airplane. To go see her. He hadn’t waited even a single day. He must be exhausted and eager to see his new home.

  Warmth crept into her as once again he proved the depth of his feelings. It didn’t help Shaun though. His love for her was creating a world of difficulties for them and the people around them. They would be so much better off if he let her go and they lived their separate lives. It was a devastating thought and her sadness lingered throughout the journey from the airport to her new home.

  Shaun thought Jozef meant a single apartment when he told her he had a place in the city, but it turned out he owned the entire building.

  Jozef’s home was in the building where the Koba-owned nightclub, Zmatek, was located. The old stone and brick building was sprawling, taking up nearly half the block. It was five floors high with windows on all sides.

  Jozef explained that the nightclub took up the first two floors, while the third floor housed the offices for his new organization, the fourth floor was living space for his men and the top floor was Jozef’s condo and a private gym for him and his men. He
told her there was a rooftop terrace, but it was unused.

  As they travelled to the top floor, Shaun shivered, prompting Jozef to put his arm around her. She thought about pulling away, setting the precedent that he wasn’t allowed to touch her.

  Maybe later.

  For now, she needed him too much to push him away. The déjà vu of being back in Prague made her feel vulnerable.

  It was 3:00 AM and between her long day and the time difference, Shaun was swaying on her feet.

  Jozef entered a code into the panel next to his apartment, then unlocked the door and pushed it open, waving her inside.

  Shaun glanced over her shoulder as two of Jozef’s men took up positions in the hallway. She didn’t recognize either of them. When she’d lived in the mansion, she’d gotten to know some of the security, but not all. One thing she had come to understand was that Jozef’s elite team didn’t do the menial security jobs. They certainly didn’t stand sentry next to apartment doors.

  Jozef closed the door, shutting out her view of the guards.

  She turned, curious about his apartment. Her mouth opened in surprise as she took in the beautifully decorated modern room. Two entire walls were dedicated to windows, showcasing most of downtown Prague, the Vltava river below and the districts surrounding it.

  Shaun couldn’t help herself. She was drawn to the stunning view, momentarily forgetting where she was and why she was there.

  Jozef followed her as she stood in front of the windows, gazing at the brightly lit buildings, the bridges, the dark winding river and the moving cars.

  “It’s really beautiful,” she murmured, looking at him in the glass.

  He didn’t touch her or try to say anything. Instead, he stood silently, watching her watch the rest of the city. It felt like she and Jozef were the only people on earth, the silence wrapping them in a frozen cocoon while the world went busily by on the other side of the glass.

  She turned to face him, her gaze travelling over the apartment. It was huge, with an industrial feel. Pipes lined the ceiling overhead, but they weren’t ugly. In fact, they’d been integrated into the artfully decorated space. Modern paintings decorated the walls, giving splashes of colour to the otherwise austere room. The stainless-steel appliances were shined to perfection and the furniture was plush and inviting. A large glass-top table stood between the kitchen and one wall of windows. The living room, on the other side of the room, was filled with plush leather furniture, a glass coffee table, a large fluffy white rug and a floor-to-ceiling fireplace.