"Do you think burlap will be in again next season?" Saskia asked, running her hand over a row of silk scarves. "I don't think burlap has ever been in." Leeza picked up a scarf with a price tag that made Shaun feel a little faint and slung it around her neck, turning to pose in the nearest mirror. "That's because you get your fashion sense from drugstore catalogues," Saskia said tartly, snatching a dress off a rack and stalking to the change rooms. As the day progressed, Shaun became more and more convinced that the Koba crime family was trying to break her will through shopping. They wouldn't have to kill her if she killed herself just to escape the tediousness of going to multiple stores and listening to the two sisters bicker constantly. At each store they visited, the bodyguards insisted on sweeping the premises before posting a man at every exit. Not a single one of them cracked a smile during the entire shopping trip. The process was tedious, an
"Saty is here," Krystoff said, flicking the ash from his cigar into an ashtray. Technically the club was non-smoking, but the rules didn't apply to the club owners. "I truly despise that little weasel." Jozef followed Krystoff's line of sight, his own gaze settling on a short, stocky man who was speaking to a muscular bouncer. Saty looked around, caught sight of Jozef, Krystoff, and Havel in the VIP section and began making his way to the back of the club. Jozef stiffened as the man approached. "Krystoff, my friend." Saty greeted the men heartily. "Good to see you alive and well." There was a pregnant pause before Krystoff drawled, "Is there a reason you should not be seeing me alive and well?" Saty looked uncomfortable and glanced around, likely taking stock of Krystoff's manpower if it came down to a fight. Though there were few people on the floor of the club, as it was only early afternoon, Krystoff had men at every entrance. His usual precaution
Dasha met Shaun, Leeza and Saskia in the mansion foyer. She was wearing a pink silk bathrobe over matching pajamas, as though she'd prepared for a lazy day at home. The four-inch heels and full makeup were completely incongruent with her outfit. Shaun watched in bemusement as the older woman rushed toward her and took her by the arm, pulling her inside. "Girls," Dasha said over her shoulder to her daughters. "Make sure her bags are brought in and taken to Jozef's suite." Without waiting for a response, Dasha rushed Shaun through the mansion. Shaun was impressed with how fast the older woman could walk, considering her choice of footwear. Shaun was still barefoot from when she'd kicked off her shoes in the dressing room before attempting to run through the shop. The two women walked at such a dizzying pace through the first floor of the mansion, Shaun had no idea where they were going until they arrived at Jozef's suite. Dasha pulled a set of keys from her pocket,
Jozef stared down at her, blinking until he was able to focus on her hands. She was saying, I don't want to die, over and over. He'd had tunnel vision when he'd entered the room. From the moment Karl had told him of her escape attempt, all he'd been able to think about was getting to her, setting eyes on her. He didn't know why, but he needed to make sure she was real and still under his care. Once he saw that she was safe, the fury had set in. Like an inferno raging through his body, he hadn't been able to douse the flames of his anger. He wanted to take hold of her, shake her, demand she tell him why she wanted to escape. He knew exactly why she would want to leave. He'd be deeply surprised if she actually wanted to stay. She was everything he was not. Her life was so different from his that they never would have met in the normal course of things. Yet, Jozef had found her and taken her; now she belonged to him. He wasn't going to kill her. After that moment in
It took a long time for Shaun to calm down. She cried for herself, for her mom, for Danilo, her dead colleague. Her sobs gradually become soft hiccups until she was finally able to look around and take stock of her situation. She was ashamed of herself. Since coming into Jozef's life she'd done nothing but fall apart. She had gone from a self-possessed, cool, collected surgeon to a woman who couldn't keep her shit together. Shaun was the type of doctor who could stand in an emergency room and calmly direct other medical personnel during a flood of patients. At a glance, she could easily assess injuries and severity, and know which way to send them based on need. She'd conducted surgeries while listening to gunfire outside of a hospital. Nothing had rattled her calm professionalism. Yet, when it came to her own situation, she simply wasn't able to cope. She'd lived in war zones, yet she had never experienced war herself. She was being faced with a situation that a week ago
After a quick shower and a change in his walk-in closet, Jozef left Shaun alone in his room. The first thing she did was try the door. As she suspected, there was a man standing on the other side. He was pretty rough looking, his head shaved, tattoos covering his body including his neck and head. He wore a suit though, similar to what Jozef wore, but less expensive she guessed. "Can I help you, ma'am?" His words were slow and heavily accented, as though he was new to English. "Dr. Patterson," she corrected him automatically. "Dr. Pay... der...son," he said respectfully, struggling to wrap his tongue around her name, the syllables halting with his heavy guttural accent. Shaun bit back a laugh at his attempt to say her name. She said it again, this time slower. He repeated it perfectly, finishing with a smile. Shaun had noticed that the family spoke flawless English, as though they'd been born to it. Yet most of the staff around the mansion, including the secu
Shaun was escorted to the club by the same guards who'd escorted her to the shops the day before. She smiled warmly at Karl as he held the door open. Before going inside, she stopped to ask him anxiously, "Did you get in trouble for my escape attempt yesterday?" He looked surprised at her concern. "No, ma'am. Your attempt was just that, an attempt. It was expected that you would try to leave us, so we were prepared for anything." She nodded sadly. "I see, so I was always doomed to failure." He patted her arm and tipped his head toward the vehicle, indicating that she should get inside. Before he closed the door, he said, "Don't let it bother you. The family surrounds themselves with more security than the Queen of England. Not even Houdini would be able to get out." The door closed on his words and Shaun was left wondering if she felt comforted or even more terrified. She'd only been with the family for a few days, but already she was realizing that,
A tense silence fell on the table. Shaun's wide gaze moved from Jozef to the man standing next to the table with two bodyguards behind him. She was relieved to see Havel off to the side of the VIP area, his hard gaze on the uninvited guests. She never thought she'd be happy to see Havel, but he was a familiar face who she knew was on Jozef's side should anything happen. Just as the tension grew so thick that Shaun wondered if somehow an enemy had managed to make his way to their table, Jozef's face split into a wide grin and he slapped the table with the palms of his hands, standing to greet the man. He reached out and they shook hands, then clasped shoulders. The man's eyes strayed to Shaun, his gaze lingering speculatively before swinging back to Jozef. "I heard that you have new sweetheart." The man had a thick accent, maybe Russian. Jozef tugged Shaun against his side and nodded at her. She took that as her cue to introduce herself to the stranger. Shaun
Jozef sat in the window of his hut, looking out at the incredible cerulean blue of the ocean beyond. When Shaun had found out that Jozef had never spent time near the ocean, except briefly when he was on mission, she'd insisted they choose an oceanside setting for their honeymoon. It had been four months since Jozef had murdered his aunt, and he still thought about that moment. Her confessions, her reaction to his being there. He felt intense anger when he thought of her killing his parents and her attacks on Shaun, but time had given him a better perspective. She'd grown up in the mafia. She'd been highly intelligent and motivated. Like Jozef, like his uncle, like the best in the business. Perhaps if she'd been born a man, given her own organization to play god with, she might have channeled her abilities into better use. Her death made him think long and hard about himself. He wasn't much different. He killed too. She used death and destruction to manipulate w
Saskia loved everything about school. She loved the books, she loved her laptop, she loved taking notes, she even loved exams. When Jozef deemed it safe enough for her to return to the University, she'd immediately registered for her winter classes. It took some cajoling to get into a few of them, given her late attendance, but she managed a full course load. Saskia loved university and opted to spend more time on campus than off. She ate in the cafeteria, she studied all over the place, wherever she could find a sunny nook. She spent time in the library almost every day, soaking in the atmosphere. It was the university that made her return to Prague bearable. The shining goal of finishing her linguistics degree. As a child she had grown up with tutors, only attending classes with other students in her two years of boarding school. That had been different from the university. The students were similar age and background, and class sizes were limited to a handful
Dasha woke with a start, the clicking of heels on the tiles of the hospital floor reminding her of muffled gunshots. She took several deep breaths, trying to calm her pounding heart. Slowly, painfully, she sat up, reaching for the water on her nightstand. The process was made awkward by her other hand being cuffed to the bed. She'd been transferred the day before. She'd waited as long as she could manage before finally giving away her condition. She'd been in so much pain, the poison twisting her guts; the fever raging through her that she'd raved with hallucinations. Screamed obscenities at the prison staff as they strapped her to a gurney and moved her. She took long sips of water, pulling it through the paper straw. It felt like heaven against a throat raw from days of vomiting. Her hand shook as she set the water down. Collapsing against the pillows, she forced herself to stay awake, to keep alert. She was here for a reason. Someone had poisoned her. Not some
Your mother is here, Jozef signed, crouching next to the bed. Shaun looked at him, tears bright in her eyes. She hadn't stopped crying in almost two days. She tried to tell herself to snap out of it, to stop feeling sorry for herself. But she couldn't. Of everything that had happened to her in the past few years, this felt the worst. It was the final straw. She couldn't take anymore. "I don't want to see her." Jozef frowned, thunderclouds growing in his eyes. You turned her away yesterday, which we allowed since you need time to heal, but you will not turn her away today. You need your mother, and you will see her. He was the epitome of patience when it came to Shaun and her feelings, but he wasn't going to allow Shaun to push her mother away. She could already see it on his face. He thought she needed her mother, and he wouldn't take no for an answer. She pushed herself up on the bed, feeling dizzy and nauseous. She hadn't left the bed si
"Krystoff..." He moved closer to the bed. Dasha squinted against the harsh glaring light, but he still looked like nothing more than a shadow, frustratingly insubstantial. She knew it was him, though. She knew his shape, his scent, his touch... She'd poisoned him. More than once. She hadn't regretted it at the time, but she regretted it now. She worshipped him. She shouldn't have manipulated his love. Soon she would be with him again, and she would have to explain her actions and hope he could forgive her. Dasha had poisoned her first victim when she was five years old. Miss Anya. She'd hated her nursemaid. The woman was sour, dour, and no fun at all. She insisted Dasha wear dresses and always have her hair brushed. She was never allowed out if the weather was bad, and she was always made to complete her studies. If she didn't learn her letters, then she would get a sharp smack across the knuckles. Dasha had overheard her mot
Jozef didn't know what to do. It was a strange sensation for him. He always knew what to do, but this time he was out of his element. He crouched next to Shaun's chair, holding her hands in his as she sobbed. He hated every tear that crawled down her face. He was usually the one to cause her tears, but this time, it wasn't him. It was the doctor who'd disappeared discreetly from the room. They were in the fertility clinic where Shaun had gotten her referral. They'd been called to the clinic for the results of their first round of testing. Her tears dripped onto his hands where they were clasping hers. He bowed his own head, blinking back his own tears. Her heart was breaking, and he couldn't do anything about it. He couldn't kill the thing without hurting the woman he loved more than anyone or anything in the world. He couldn't kill PCOS. Polycystic ovary syndrome. Shaun was infertile and the diagnosis was destroying her. He would have to take go
Nikolay had a bad feeling. He'd had it for months, but when no one accused him of betraying Jozef, he'd shoved the feeling aside. They didn't know. He was safe. Then why did he feel like the sword of Damocles was hanging over his head, awaiting the right moment to drop? "Saskia." He'd been standing in the shadows outside her suite, waiting for her to appear. She was coming down the hall toward him, her blue headphones wrapped around her neck, her wild brown hair a messy halo around her head. She wore tight ripped jeans, a black hoodie and running shoes. It hit him that she was really quite beautiful in her own way. He'd never found her particularly attractive when they'd dated. She was too wild and headstrong, and he preferred his women compliant. Submissive. Not words one could use in association with Saskia Koba. Yet, in this moment, with the light of the sun behind her, she looked ethereal. He felt a moment of loss, but quickly shook it away. His
Fatima giggled at Shaun's description of a drunk Jozef. "He must've been a bear the next morning," Fatima mused. "It seems so out of character for him to overindulge." Shaun laughed and sipped the rich burgundy liquid from her wine glass. "He was certainly growling like a bear. It took a lot of convincing before he would let me take care of him, but I finally got some painkillers and toast into him and he turned back into a human. Later, he told me he rarely drank that much and didn't plan on ever doing it again." "Famous last words." "Yes," Shaun agreed. "Though Jozef is usually pretty responsible. I think it was the excitement of meeting with the other Vor for the first time. I wonder if the other wives discovered drunk husbands in their rooms that night?" Shaun was filling her mother in on the details of her trip to Russia with Jozef. The five days spent at the palace were indeed the vacation Jozef had suggested they would be. Except for evening m
Shaun sucked in a breath as images from that day slammed through her. She had worked with her counsellor on mitigating their impact, but when the head of the Vor told her she was meant to be dead, it was like a fresh wound being ripped open again. "So I've been told," she murmured, bringing her teacup to her lips with a shaking hand. "You survived." He didn't sound either approving or disapproving, and Shaun wondered where the direction of the conversation was going. "You were poisoned, and you survived. You were attacked, stabbed, and you survived. Your husband was attacked, many within the building fell, yet you still survived." A chill ran through Shaun and she felt nauseous. She desperately wished she'd told Jozef where she was going. Was Ivan angry over the deaths that seemed to follow Shaun? Did he blame her for what happened to Krystoff? She didn't know what to say to Ivan, but he'd paused, seeming to expect some kind of response. "Yes, I survived."