Sin of Silence (Sinner's Empire Book 1)

by Nikita Slater

  Shaun blinked and shook her head. The last thing she wanted was to miss a chance to go into the city. There were far more opportunities for escape there than at the heavily guarded mansion.

  "Sorry," she murmured and attempted a smile. "I drifted away for a moment. I'm fine, all set to go."

  Leeza looked relieved while Saskia let out a short cackle of laughter. Dasha frowned at her youngest daughter.

  "She said sorry and she's Canadian," Saskia giggled. "I've always wanted to hear a Canadian say that. She had the accent and everything, it was perfect.”

  Leeza laughed too but reached out to swat her sister's arm. "You're so immature; be polite to our guest."

  Shaun's lips curled up at the exchange and she surprised herself by wanting to laugh with the sisters. It was so strange to watch the Koba family interact. They seemed so… normal. Not what she would've expected from a ruthless mafia family, though she didn't know exactly what she expected. Maybe guns at the dinner table, snide comments, backstabbing, a graveyard in the garden. She certainly hadn't expected the warmth and caring she was experiencing from them.

  Shaun jumped when someone touched her arm and she looked down at the strong fingers wrapping around her. Jozef tugged her to the side, away from everyone else. Her gaze travelled up his fingers to his veined hands, past the tattoos to the rolled-up sleeves of his dress shirt and finally to his face.

  His deep blue eyes were solemn as he looked down at her, the scar across his lips a stark reminder of the violence surrounding these people. Everything about him was tense and serious. Shaun hadn’t actually seen him in any other mood yet. He always looked grim, as though he expected the worst. Maybe he had to be that way in order to be an effective enforcer. If he prepared for the worst, then he would always be ready for whatever came at him. Shaun had personal experience with the terrible decisions this man had to make.

  She thought about how deftly he’d handled his uncle's kidnapping. How he'd found the one woman in that area of Ukraine who was both a doctor and could understand sign language. The way he’d gotten the information he needed out of his hostage, despite the setback of his victim having a heart attack, and then proceeded to release his uncle from imprisonment. Like clockwork, everything he did was smooth and well-planned.

  Everything except her. He hadn’t planned on keeping her alive.

  He gave her a little shake and Shaun realized he was trying to communicate with her, but she’d been gazing blankly at his face. She blinked rapidly and dropped her eyes to his hands, interpreting what he was telling her. He slowed his movements so she could easily follow.

  You will not try to escape while you are in the city. Purchase anything you need or want, regardless of cost. You will listen to your bodyguards and follow my cousins’ lead.

  Shaun nodded. She wanted to ask what would happen if she did try to run or if she refused to listen to her bodyguards, but they were surrounded by people, both family and security. She didn't want to hint that she was going to do her level best to figure out a way to get away from her escort.

  Perhaps he could read her mind, or maybe her intentions were written on her face. Either way Jozef gripped her chin and tilted her face up to his. His eyes darkened and he frowned down at her, warning her without a word what would happen if she tried to escape. She shivered under his fierce glare and took a step back, her gaze fixed on his scarred throat.

  Jozef guided her back to his men and introduced her to one of them. This is K-A-R-L, he’s in charge of family security. He will act as your personal bodyguard.

  Shaun shook Karl’s hand and wondered if he was in charge of making sure she didn’t escape or in charge of keeping her safe. She wondered if he was being permanently assigned to her or if it was just for the day, and how he felt about having to protect a foreign captive. She didn’t ask any of her questions though. Karl had a large bulge under his jacket that could only be a gun and his face was carved from a boulder.

  After the preparations were made, the three women were escorted to the vehicles. Leeza chose to ride in the dark SUV with Shaun while two bodyguards occupied the front seats. Saskia chose to take the vehicle behind theirs, with the other three guards.

  Shaun was about to climb inside the SUV when Jozef caught her arm and swung her around, pulling her into his chest. He shoved his fingers into her hair, pinching her scalp. He tipped her head back and placed a quick, stinging kiss on her lips.

  Before Shaun could react, he was pushing her into the vehicle and slamming the door shut. She stared at him through the window as the car fired to life under the hands of their driver. A small smile creased his scarred lips as she lifted her fingers to her mouth.

  As they travelled into Prague, Leeza chattered happily about all the shops they would visit and where they might eat lunch.

  Shaun’s gaze remained out the window, though she murmured her agreement whenever Leeza fell silent, seeming to expect an answer from her companion. It was telling that Jozef was okay with Shaun leaving the property without a blindfold or anything. The mansion was on the edge of Prague, on its own sprawling piece of land. The drive into downtown took about forty minutes, but Shaun was able to memorize every twist and turn.

  Jozef must be really serious about marrying her if he was buying her a new wardrobe and was okay with her knowing her way to and from the mansion. If she were somehow to escape, she could easily send the authorities after the Koba family. They must be very confident in their ability to contain Shaun.

  Leeza let out a trill of laughter that drew Shaun’s attention. The other woman looked carefree and happy, which gave Shaun a pang as she realized that Leeza would likely be arrested too if Shaun accused the family of kidnapping. She was an accessory. Shaun wasn't naïve enough to believe that any single member of the family didn't know the circumstances surrounding her engagement to Jozef.

  She wondered if they were okay with it though. Shaun couldn't imagine any circumstance under which she would be okay with the illegal imprisonment of another woman. Maybe this was life as usual for them, but since she hadn't seen any other captive women in the mansion, she somehow doubted that this was a normal circumstance.

  Shaun was growing tired of pretending that she wasn't a kidnap victim, of going along with the Koba family who thought nothing of stealing a person and handing her over the marriage.

  "Why are you being nice to me?" Shaun asked bluntly.

  Leeza looked taken aback. A shutter dropped over her face and her expression smoothed into blankness. Shaun felt guilty that she was ruining what was likely a rare day in the city for Leeza. At breakfast she’d indicated that her son was a handful and she spent most of her time with him.

  "I just… you know why I'm here, right?" Shaun’s voice was hushed so that they wouldn't be overheard by the men in the front of the car.

  Leeza stared at her for a moment as though gathering her thoughts. When she spoke, her voice was slow and cool. "Tell me, why are you here?"

  Shaun frowned. Maybe the eldest Koba daughter didn't know about her situation. "Jozef abducted me out of the hospital in Luhansk while I was mid-procedure. He pointed his gun at a child and then killed one of the RN’s in front of me.” When Leeza’s expression remained the same, Shaun continued, her voice low and urgent, her eyes darting to the front seat, “He wanted me to save someone’s life just so he could kill them. Now, he's forcing me to marry him. You can’t be okay with that."

  Shaun stared at the other woman pleadingly, hoping maybe she would be shocked by what Shaun was saying, maybe help her escape. Leeza’s next words confirmed Shaun’s earlier assumption, the entire family knew what was going on.

  "My cousin is saving your life," Leeza said coldly. "If I were you, I would accept his gift and never again speak of your reason for becoming a part of our family. You will live a longer, happier life if you forget your reasons for marrying Jozef."

  Shaun turned in her seat to face Leeza, speaking with a desperate passion, attracting a glance in the rearvie
w mirror from Karl, who was sitting in the front passenger seat. "You don't understand, I didn't choose this. A choice between life and death isn't really a choice, is it?"

  Leeza let out a sharp laugh. "If you believe that, then you've never been hurt so bad that you wished you could die."

  Shaun was taken aback by the other woman's words. Had Leeza experienced something so terrible she wished to die? Or was she talking about someone else?

  "You're right, I haven't," Shaun said quietly, acknowledging that there were things in the world worse than death. "But I'm a surgeon, a good one too. I worked hard to get to where I am, I can't just give that up. My life has meaning."

  Leeza stiffened, her gaze becoming even more glacial. She glanced out the window on her side of the car, her jaw tense. After a few minutes, the tension ebbed and when she looked at Shaun her face was once again bright and smiley. She reached out to squeeze Shaun’s hand.

  "And so your life will continue to have meaning. It might just be another kind of meaning than you planned on." Her words were warm, though her gaze was vaguely threatening. "You’ll be fine, you just need to dig deep and find a way to accept your new life."

  "And if I don't?" Shaun’s voice was barely above a whisper.

  Leeza shook her head, her gaze softening as she stared at Shaun. "You don't want to know."

  Chapter Sixteen

  "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, and Shaun was becoming progressively more tired. She fulfilled Jozef’s wish by purchasing enough items to fill a wardrobe. She also picked up some toiletries and accessories. After each tour through a new store, one of the bodyguards was sent back to a vehicle, his arms laden with packages.

  Though constantly vigilant for an opportunity to escape, Shaun hadn't once come up with a reasonable way to ditch her escort. The guards were always near. Even when she was in a change room, she could see the polished shoes of a man on the other side of the curtain.

  Leeza constantly hovered near her, never entering the change rooms herself. It was as though she thought the moment she turned her back, Shaun would bolt. Shaun was going to give the other woman the benefit of the doubt though and say that she was hovering out of concern rather than a desire to keep an eye on Shaun.

  "It's almost five.” Leeza looked down at the time on her phone. "We'll have to hustle back to the house so we can get ready for our evening meal."

  "Does the entire family eat all together, like this morning?"

  It was Saskia who spoke from the other side of the curtain, where she was changing out of a burlap inspired dress. "Every single evening. Daddy insists. Though we don't usually do breakfast together. Today was a special occasion just for you." The last part was spoken in a snarky tone.

  Leeza rolled her eyes toward Shaun, but Shaun shook her head. It didn't matter if Saskia was slow to warm up to her. She wasn't going to be around for long anyway.

  If they were headed back to the mansion after the shop, this was her last chance to act. She glanced around and snatched up the first item she saw, then reached out for a pair of shoes.

  "I think I'll try these on," she said quickly. Too quickly. Dammit.

  Leeza gave her a penetrating look but then smiled and nodded. "Come out when you're done so we can see what it looks like."

  "Judging from what she's already bought today, I can tell you what it'll look like," Saskia piped up from the other side of the curtain.

  "Okay, brat, not all of us want to look like homeless tramps." Leeza shook her head and stepped to the side as Shaun walked around her toward the changing room.

  Shaun chose one on the end, but she knew she wasn't going to be able to escape from it. There were people everywhere and even though the change rooms were off to the side, the whole row of cubicles were in the main part of the store.

  She frantically looked around the tiny room, trying desperately to come up with a plan. She could smash the glass mirror and cause a distraction, maybe enough of one to run past everyone. But she knew that wouldn't work. Even if she managed to distract a few people, not all of the guards would react slowly. They acted as security for an elite crime family for a reason. Their reflexes would be fast and they likely never let their guard down.

  She quickly changed out of her borrowed skirt and shirt and tugged on the dress she’d grabbed off the rack. She didn't even look in the mirror, she was so frantic to find a way to escape.

  Shaun snatched up her purse, one that she'd bought earlier in the day, and grabbed a tube of red lipstick, purchased at a pharmacy. She tried to be as quiet as she could while taking off the cellophane wrapper. Then she dug through her purse for anything she could use for notepaper. She came up with nothing.

  She bit her lip and stared at the curtain, wondering how long she could stay in there before they came looking for her. No doubt Leeza would be concerned in less than a minute. She was the one who’d stayed closest to Shaun throughout the day, either out of a sense of loyalty to her family or concern for Shaun.

  An idea hit her as she was staring blankly at the white curtain. She jumped to her feet, took the edge of the curtain and gently peeled it back, pressing it against the wall beside the opening. Hopefully the guard on the other side wouldn’t notice the rustling of fabric. She took the tube of red lipstick and quickly wrote a message along the seam of the curtain. When she allowed it to fall back into place, the lipstick smears were barely visible.

  Her heart was racing and her palms were sweaty. She’d never done anything like this. Then again, she’d never been kidnapped before. The whole scenario was all new to her.

  She shoved the items back in her purse and stepped out of the cubicle.

  A long low whistle greeted her, snapping Shaun out of her momentary panic over being caught. She stared at Saskia uncomprehending.

  "Damn, girl," Saskia said excitedly, her eyes roving over Shaun’s body. "I take it back; your fashion sense doesn't suck as bad as I thought. Holy shit, I've never seen anything so gorgeous."

  Shaun was startled. Considering this compliment came from Saskia, the dress really must be something. She glanced down at herself and saw a waterfall of clinging silver fabric. Leeza took her by the shoulder and turned her toward the floor length mirror beside the dressing rooms.

  Shaun gasped and took a tentative step closer to the mirror. Saskia hadn't been kidding. Shaun had never looked so good. Nor she had she ever been transformed so completely by a single item of clothing. The silver fabric had different shades to it which worked to trick the eye into believing that the dress came to life, flowing across her body every time she moved. It was a bias cut at the thigh, with the slit high enough that if she wore low-cut panties everyone would see. On the other side the fabric draped to her feet. The top was practically nonexistent, plunging in a cowl neck to her bellybutton with spaghetti straps going over her shoulders and ending midway down her back.

  "Wow," Shaun whispered.

  "Wow,” Leeza said from beside her.

  "I wouldn't kick you out of my bed if you were wearing that dress," Saskia joined in.

  Leeza looked over at Saskia
with exasperation. Saskia shrugged, scooped up her purchases and headed toward the hovering salesclerk, who happily took them from her, ringing them up and bagging them.

  "I'll just change out of this." Shaun moved reluctantly away from the mirror. While she had no desire to remain a captive, she couldn't pretend it wasn't fun to use Jozef’s credit card on some pretty extravagant purchases.

  She reached for the changing room curtain, but a salesclerk got there before her.

  “Please, allow me." He peeled the curtain back, exposing the bright red lipstick to everyone in the room.

  The message was out in the open for everyone to read: I’ve been kidnapped by Jozef Koba. Contact the authorities.

  Shaun squeezed her eyes shut as Leeza let out a gasp.

  "What it this?" The clerk looked confused as he stretched the message out.

  Shaun opened her eyes in time to see two of the guards bent over the message. Saskia was staring at her from the front desk, her gaze speculative. Two guards stood at the entrance of the store, their arms crossed, cold gazes fixed in front of them and the last guard was just outside the store window talking on his cell phone.

  Shaun realized the guard who had been at the back door of the shop was no longer there. It was a long shot. A really, really long shot, but she didn't have a choice. She wasn't wearing shoes and her dress wasn't exactly meant for running, but now was her only chance. She had to go.

  With a final glance at Saskia, who was closest to her, she bolted, running as fast as she could toward the back door of the shop. Maybe if she could fling it open and throw herself into the crowded market alley, she might be able to lose herself. Maybe duck into another shop. She was banking on the element of surprise.

  She could hear the guards crashing around behind her and decided to knock over as many displays as she could on her way through the shop, hoping to slow them down. She leapt over a rack and knocked over a pile of sweaters. As the guards stumbled after her, she heard Saskia shouting instructions to them.