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Chapter 42
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2022-10-19 14:19:34Related chapters
Sinner's Empire Series: Sin of Silence, A Silent Reckoning, Goodnight Sinners Chapter 43
Every head in the room turned and the orchestra fell silent as Jozef led Shaun into the ballroom, pausing in the doorway for the occupants to look their fill. Shaun clung tighter to Jozef's arm, while he squeezed her hand reassuringly. Being the object of such focused attention made her nervous and reminded her all over again of how different she was from these people. Though Shaun had helped prepare the house for the party, she was still shocked by the transformation of the ballroom. It was dripping in glittering crystal, gold and black accents and the most expensive settings money could buy. Shaun stared at the tablecloths covering the buffet tables. If she wasn't mistaken, they were the exact same shade as her gown. She stared open-mouthed at Dasha, who was standing near the front of the crowd with her hand on Krystoff's arm. The woman had outdone herself. When Shaun caught Dasha's eye, the older woman lifted her champagne glass in salute. Shaun was truly impressed.
Last Updated : 2022-10-19Sinner's Empire Series: Sin of Silence, A Silent Reckoning, Goodnight Sinners Chapter 44
"There you two are," Dasha scolded, though her tone was jovial. The party was turning into a spectacular success and it was clear she couldn't be happier. "Come meet the Croziers, they flew in from New York just to be here for your special day." Shaun and Jozef linked fingers, a united force, as they were paraded around the ballroom and introduced to a dizzying number of people. Shaun accepted a champagne glass somewhere along the way, and another as her empty one was replaced the instant the last drop slipped down her throat. She didn't drink often and was beginning to feel the effects of the champagne. She became more relaxed, her responses to whatever inquiries came her way far more candid than they would have been if she'd been sober. For a shining moment, Shaun felt as if she belonged to this glamorous and wealthy family. She was one of them. She was able to talk about her career with their guests as if it were simply on hold while she and Jozef figured out their fut
Last Updated : 2022-10-19Sinner's Empire Series: Sin of Silence, A Silent Reckoning, Goodnight Sinners Chapter 45
Jozef's arms wrapped around Shaun as she fell to the patio deck, her body going limp against him. He kneeled with her, setting her gently on the ground. He couldn't tell what was wrong and her eyes were closed so he couldn't ask her. He'd never been so frustrated at his lack of voice before. Shaun moaned and a trickle of white foam spilled from her lips. An unfamiliar sensation hit Jozef at the sight. Burning fear. He glanced frantically around and, spotting Havel striding toward them, quickly signed, help her. Havel dropped to his knees on Shaun's other side, his concerned gaze running down her prone body. He lifted her wrist and felt for a pulse. Havel was the only man on his team with more than basic First Aid knowledge. He'd been forced to patch up their men on several occasions. "Got it. Steady but slowing down." He touched her face, leaning in for a closer look. "Poison, I think." Their eyes met in a moment of mutual understanding. It made sense: the
Last Updated : 2022-10-19Sinner's Empire Series: Sin of Silence, A Silent Reckoning, Goodnight Sinners Chapter 46
Jozef did not get to see Shaun again before he was arrested for murder and kidnapping. True to Dasha's words, the police arrived shortly after a relieved doctor came into the waiting room to reassure Jozef and Havel that Shaun had pulled through and was currently in a medically induced coma while they assessed her condition and researched the poison. Jozef's relief was such that he barely noticed as several police officers stormed through the hospital corridors, clearing them as they made their way to Jozef's waiting room. Jozef received a message from Halil, who was watching the hospital for activity, warning them that the police were on their way. Jozef jerked his head toward the door, indicating Havel should leave. I need you on the outside acting as my eyes and ears. Havel shook his head, but backed toward the door, knowing Jozef was right. "I can't leave you, brother." Jozef gave him a grim look. It's my time to take this fall. We both knew this was co
Last Updated : 2022-10-19Sinner's Empire Series: Sin of Silence, A Silent Reckoning, Goodnight Sinners Chapter 47: A Silent Reckoning, Sinner's Empire Book 2
The People's Republic of Luhansk - The first time Jozef saw Shaun Jozef watched his target leave the bookstore and walk north on Pavlivska Street. He followed the man as he headed toward the Optovyy Rynok market. It was mid-afternoon on a Wednesday. The streets weren't deserted but they weren't filled with people either. Jozef and his team could easily grab Gustav now, as he cut through a side street on his way to pick up groceries, but that wasn't the plan. Jozef refused to do a job without the proper surveillance and equipment. It was something he and his team had become well known for throughout the mafia underworld. They were unparalleled when it came to completing operations to their client's satisfaction. Though this particular mission was personal, Jozef wouldn't fuck it up by snatching his target too early. He was in Luhansk for surveillance only. As he walked, he started to give Gustav more space, not wanting to spook the man. In the five days since Joze
Last Updated : 2022-10-19Sinner's Empire Series: Sin of Silence, A Silent Reckoning, Goodnight Sinners Chapter 48
1 Year Later "Koba, you have a visitor." Jozef's muscles strained with effort as he dragged his body up to the ceiling, tilting his head to the side as he lifted himself and held the pose for 40 seconds while the guard stood behind him, waiting quietly. Jozef let go, dropping to the floor of his cell. He'd intended to do four sets of ten pull-ups and was only halfway through. Who is it? he signed, reaching for the towel on his bed and mopping the sweat off his face and chest. Two of the guards at Prison Karvina had learned sign language after Jozef had been transferred from Prague after his sentencing. Within a month of imprisonment, it became clear to the authorities that Jozef had too much support in the Pankr‡c Remand Prison outside of Prague. During his first week he'd stabbed his cellmate. It'd been a calculated move. Inmates and guards alike who hadn't known of him and his reputation would have preyed on what they saw as a weakness; his inabil
Last Updated : 2022-10-19Sinner's Empire Series: Sin of Silence, A Silent Reckoning, Goodnight Sinners Chapter 49
"Move the light about an inch to my left and tilt 45 degrees." Shaun lifted her shoulder to catch a bead of sweat pooling against her neck, then rolled her shoulders to ease the strain. Shaun and her team had been in surgery for three hours working to remove a glioblastoma from a 62-year-old female patient. There was an estimated three more hours left in the surgery. They would take a ten-minute break to drink something and walk off the muscular tension before returning to surgery. The surgery itself wasn't complex for someone of Shaun's experience, but she had to be incredibly careful not to do any damage while removing the mass from her patient's brain. Doctor Olivia King, one of the resident surgeons moved the light as requested, then glanced up at the clock on the wall. "Fifteen minutes until break." Shaun blinked several times and took a few deep breaths before easing the scalpel back into her patient's brain. "Make it twenty and we should be able to remove
Last Updated : 2022-10-19Sinner's Empire Series: Sin of Silence, A Silent Reckoning, Goodnight Sinners Chapter 50
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 lock
Last Updated : 2022-10-19
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Sinner's Empire Series: Sin of Silence, A Silent Reckoning, Goodnight Sinners Chapter 149
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
Sinner's Empire Series: Sin of Silence, A Silent Reckoning, Goodnight Sinners Chapter 148
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
Sinner's Empire Series: Sin of Silence, A Silent Reckoning, Goodnight Sinners Chapter 147
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
Sinner's Empire Series: Sin of Silence, A Silent Reckoning, Goodnight Sinners Chapter 146
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
Sinner's Empire Series: Sin of Silence, A Silent Reckoning, Goodnight Sinners Chapter 145
"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
Sinner's Empire Series: Sin of Silence, A Silent Reckoning, Goodnight Sinners Chapter 144
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
Sinner's Empire Series: Sin of Silence, A Silent Reckoning, Goodnight Sinners Chapter 143
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
Sinner's Empire Series: Sin of Silence, A Silent Reckoning, Goodnight Sinners Chapter 142
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
Sinner's Empire Series: Sin of Silence, A Silent Reckoning, Goodnight Sinners Chapter 141
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."
