Goodnight, Sinners (Sinner's Empire Book 3)

by Nikita Slater

  Jozef appreciated Havel’s blunt assessment. It was part of the reason he was Jozef’s second-in-command. He voiced his thoughts, whether or not Jozef wanted to hear them. The two men tempered each other. While Jozef was calm and measured, Havel could be a hothead. But the big, bald enforcer also had a sense of when to pull back, when to leave a deal on the table. He was protective and good at his job.

  In this case, he was wrong. A woman on the team would be an asset. She would give them access to spaces and people that the men on his team couldn’t access. The more Jozef thought about it, the firmer in his decision he felt.

  He wasn’t surprised by Havel’s hesitation, though. The other man tended to disregard women. He was one of those people who wanted his woman in the kitchen, barefoot and pregnant. It was the way he grew up. First, in a traditional household with a father who oppressed the mother. Havel eventually ended up driving his father away, liberating his mother, but he couldn’t unlearn what he’d seen. Then, on the Koba estate he saw the traditional roles the women in the family took. What he didn’t see was how much power each woman had held. He hadn’t lived in the house with them, hadn’t seen the conversations that took place where the women’s voices were heard. Krystoff might have been head of the house, but Dasha was his voice, and his daughters were given the freedom to speak their minds.

  I’m not making a mistake, Jozef signed, standing up. You’ll see.

  “By why her?” Havel argued. “She’s too connected. She could get us all killed just by standing in this house, let alone by joining our team. Let’s pick another woman.”

  I will handle her family.

  Havel shook his head, still not convinced. “I hope you don’t live to regret this.”

  Jozef smiled grimly. I suspect if I’m making a mistake, I probably won’t live to regret it.

  Havel laughed, the sound rusty but jovial. “Fair enough.”

  He left the room, returning with their guest in tow.

  “Jozef,” she cried, rushing toward him. “I’m so glad to see you again.”

  Jozef caught her as she threw herself into his arms, hugging him. His thoughts on Shaun, he quickly shoved her away. She resisted, tangling her arms around his neck and attempting to kiss his chin. He would have to put a stop to her flirtations if she was going to work for him.

  He set her away from him and put the desk between them. She flopped into one of his guest chairs.

  “I thought maybe I was in trouble when you sent your guys to come get me, but this one,” she jerked her thumb at Havel, who narrowed his eyes in annoyance, “assured me I was still safe. Hey, does my brother know I’m here?”

  As she chattered, Ayaan looked around Jozef’s office, her sharp intelligent eyes taking in everything in a sweeping glance. When her gaze settled on Jozef once more, he saw the inner workings of her mind flashing through her dark brown eyes. She was curious, but comfortable. She was exactly as Jozef remembered her when they rescued her from Central Africa and flew her to Nice.

  Your brother doesn’t know that you’re here, Jozef signed.

  Why? She signed back. Are you hiding me for some reason? He won’t like that, you know.

  Jozef was so startled by the revelation that Ayaan knew sign language that he couldn’t help his expression of surprise. Satisfaction lit Ayaan’s features as she watched him.

  The brat was enjoying herself.

  I had nothing to do while I was in F-R-A-N-C-E, she signed, so I hired a tutor and learned how to communicate with you.

  Her signs were basic and clumsy, but easily read.

  Jozef became even more sure about his decision to make her part of his team. It was a requirement that the members learn sign language. Not just so they could communicate with their leader, but to give them an advantage in the field. They could move through enemy territory in silence, using sign language to communicate. The method was extremely effective.

  You thought you would see me again? Jozef asked, wondering what the young woman was up to.

  She flashed him a cheeky grin, I hoped.

  Jozef shook his head at her audacity. He would definitely have to curb her tendency toward the outrageous.

  I want you to speak verbally while we conduct this interview.

  “Interview for what?” She switched easily back into verbal speech patterns, glancing over her shoulder at Havel. “He didn’t tell me why I was here.”

  I requested he keep my reasons private until I spoke with you.

  She nodded.

  Tell me about your training. Your brother made you a soldier as a child?

  “No, I made myself a soldier when I was a child,” she corrected him. “Muhammed had nothing to do with that choice. He tried to dissuade me, but I was determined to follow him and his men into battle. He decided it would be safer to have me properly trained and supervised.”

  How old were you when you began training?

  “Six.”

  Jozef was shocked. A six-year-old had made the decision to go to battle with her brother? Her expression was shuttered, closing him off from the open young woman who’d walked into his office. He suspected she was like him. She’d experienced some kind of violence at a young age that had shaped her decisions, made her determined to follow in Radik’s footsteps.

  As a child, Jozef had experienced violence. Had watched his parents die, had been stabbed in the throat. He remembered little surrounding the events, but he did remember the desperate desire to avenge his parents. His uncle had used that desire to shape Jozef into the feral dog he later became. Looking back, he realized he’d been traumatized, had perhaps needed coddling rather than the gun his uncle had given him. Regardless, the experience, like Ayaan’s, was the catalyst for who he was today.

  If you’re accepted on my team, you will be expected to follow orders at all times. You will not be given the freedom you were given while working for your brother.

  Excitement lit her eyes, chasing away the lingering shadows. “I knew you were considering me for your team! I saw the way you looked when you realized I could handle myself. When’s my first job? When can we leave? Are you coming with us?”

  Jozef couldn’t help the chuckle that spilled from his lips. She was irrepressible. He enjoyed seeing the quality in a young person, but he worried it could get her killed.

  New members of my team aren’t deployed until they are trained and ready.

  “I’m trained,” she said excitedly. “I’m ready now.”

  Jozef shook his head. It doesn’t matter how much training you’ve had. You must fit seamlessly in with my men. You must have the right attitude and you must understand the way we work. First, you will work closely with H-A-V-E-L, then you will train with the entire team. If you pass inspection, then you will be given a job.

  She glanced frowningly over her shoulder at Havel, who was leaning against the fireplace with his arms crossed, then back at Jozef. “I’d rather work with you.”

  N-O, I don’t work with new recruits, he signed sharply, nodding toward Havel. He will be your teacher and mentor. He is not an easy man to work with, so I know anyone coming out of his training program will be tough enough to take the rigorous parts of our job.

  “I’m tough enough,” she said defensively.

  N-O, you aren’t. Jozef was blunt, but he needed her to understand how difficult the coming months would be. You will be beaten repeatedly, with no concession to your size or gender. Ayaan wasn’t a large person at around 5’4”, fine-boned and graceful. You will be forced to sleep in deplorable conditions. You will be woken in the middle of the night and repeatedly put through drills that will make the Russian special forces look weak. You will be sleep deprived, food-deprived and you will reach your breaking point. It is then that we will see if you have what it takes to work with my people.

  She stared at him, her face unreadable. She was a chameleon with her expressions. She carefully orchestrated each one depending on the situation and when she didn’t want anyone to know what she
was thinking, she hid her feelings. Another asset.

  “No,” she finally said.

  Jozef raised his eyebrows. No, you don’t want to be part of the team? You want us to take you back to N-I-C-E?

  “No,” she said again, rolling her eyes. “You are mistaken. I won’t be the one taking a beating.” She looked at Havel, an irrepressible grin shaping her mouth. “He will. If you prefer your second-in-command unharmed, then let me know the parameters of the beating I am to give him. Should I pull back or break some bones?”

  Jozef glanced at Havel who was staring at Ayaan like she was some kind of an alien creature. Then his expression gradually changed to one that told Jozef Ayaan was in for the beating of a lifetime. Jozef wondered if maybe it would be the other way around. He didn’t sense false confidence in the young woman. She fully appreciated her combat skills.

  Despite his admiration for her, Jozef needed Ayaan to understand how things worked. You will listen to your mentor and do what he says without question. Hesitation can get you killed. I suspect you were allowed to question your brother. That won’t happen here. This isn’t a democracy.

  “I understand.” She stared at Jozef steadily, allowing him to see her eagerness. “I can listen to orders.” She looked at Havel again. “Even if I don’t agree with them.”

  If you are allowed to sign onto my team, then what you think will no longer matter. You will become a cog in the machine. You understand? Now is the time to leave if you wish to leave. Once your training begins, the only way out is death.

  “I’m ready,” she said without hesitation.

  Then your training begins immediately.

  Havel straightened. “Come with me, recruit.”

  Ayaan stood and turned to leave, then hesitated. “What about my brother? He won’t be happy that you took me from Nice, and he’s going to be even less pleased when he finds out where I am and what I’m doing.”

  Jozef flashed her a feral grin. I will take care of your brother; you concentrate on your training.

  She looked at him suspiciously before leaving.

  She was right to be suspicious. Jozef hated being cooped up, forced to read through paperwork and restructure an entire organization. He was ready to get back into the field, to lead his men into battle. Though he truly believed Ayaan would make a decent asset to his team, he wasn’t sorry he was poking her brother. If he couldn’t go out and find a fight, then he would bring one to him.

  Jozef stood and stretched, working out the kinks in his neck and shoulders. Too much time spent sitting. He could use a good training session. He was almost jealous that Havel would be the one to work with Ayaan. He could use a good sparring match. Perhaps he would engage Havel for a fight later.

  Before Jozef could leave his office, a sharp knock sounded and Cooper let himself in without waiting for permission. Jozef frowned at the other man. He was always in a rush, sometimes forgetting to observe house rules.

  “Sorry, boss,” Cooper said, catching Jozef’s look. “We have a situation down at the shed.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Shaun was annoyed with her bodyguard. He’d insisted on bringing Adam to the shed, rather than allowing her to take him to either the hospital, or at the very least, the infirmary up at the house.

  She hated the shed. It brought back memories of her first few days with Jozef, which were fraught with fear and anxiety. When she’d been convinced he’d eventually kill her. He’d forced her to spend the night in one of the cells after she tried to escape. The only thing that stopped that memory from being completely traumatic was Jozef coming in during the night and sleeping with her. That was the first moment she believed he truly cared for her. The next morning he’d been cold and unapproachable again.

  Adam was laid out on a wooden pallet with his shirt stripped off. He moaned in pain while Shaun treated his wound. He’d been shot, he was lucky; the bullet had grazed him, going in his side and right back out, without hitting anything important. It was a flesh wound, but it would still need sutures and he would have to take antibiotics to stave off infection.

  Surrounding Shaun were four guards and Saskia who was staring down at her brother-in-law with a cold calculating expression. Shaun thought it was overkill, considering Adam’s condition. And she didn’t just mean his wound. He wasn’t in peak physical shape. She’d long suspected he struggled with untreated diabetes.

  His face was ashen and he was shaking. His skin had a grey tone that shouldn’t be present in a healthy person.

  “I need my medical kit.” Shaun turned to look pointedly at the guards. No one moved. “Now please.”

  They looked at each other and one finally left to do her bidding.

  Saskia raised an eyebrow at Shaun before turning back to Adam.

  “Tell me why my sister hated you.”

  “Saskia,” Shaun said sharply. “He’s injured. Now is not the time.”

  When Saskia looked at Shaun, her eyes were glacial, as if she were in some kind of private zone, rather than talking to a woman she’d befriended. “Now is the perfect time. Why do you think he was brought to the shed? He’s here for interrogation. It’s why the men don’t care if you get your med kit or not. You can patch him up, but he’ll probably be bleeding again in a few hours.”

  Both Shaun and Adam flinched, and Shaun’s fingers froze over Adam’s prone body. “But he was part of the family. Why would Jozef want to hurt him?”

  “Don’t be so naïve,” Saskia said scornfully, then looked down at Adam, who was eyeing her as though she were a viper. “And you, answer the question.”

  For the first time since they'd discovered Adam hiding in the panic room of his wife’s bedroom, he spoke. His voice was surprisingly cool considering he was being threatened.

  “I don’t know why your sister hated me.”

  “But you don’t deny it?” Saskia hissed, pacing closer.

  He shrugged, then winced as his wound stretched.

  Shaun pushed harder against the shirt she was holding to his side. She’d snatched it from Leeza’s closet, thinking the other woman wouldn’t mind. Now she wasn’t so sure. Leeza hated her husband? It was clear the two hadn’t been in love, but hate?

  “I think you do know why she hated you,” Saskia pushed. “And you know what?”

  Adam stared steadily back at her.

  “As soon as I find out, I’m coming back here and cutting your nuts off with a pair of rusty shears.”

  Oddly, Adam’s expression didn’t grow fearful or contemptuous. Instead, he looked at Saskia with a new kind of interest. As though she’d gone from someone who didn’t register as existing in his world to suddenly worth his notice. Shaun didn’t like that look.

  “Saskia, please stop talking.”

  Saskia glared at Shaun. “This man made my sister’s life a misery and I want to find out why.”

  “It doesn’t matter right now.”

  “Yes, it does!” Saskia insisted. “He’s the reason…” She trailed off without finishing the sentence.

  Adam was still staring at Saskia fixedly.

  “Saskia, it’s time for you to leave,” Shaun said calmly. When Saskia didn’t move, Shaun looked over her shoulder at the men. “Please escort her out.” When Saskia protested, Shaun added, “You aren’t needed here. I’ll come find you later.”

  Saskia sputtered something that Shaun knew she didn’t mean. Still, it bothered Shaun that Saskia was now angry with her. It also bothered Shaun that she had so easily switched gears to take charge of what was clearly a mafia situation. It struck her that she’d gone from being unsure in this shadowy underworld to gradually finding her footing.

  Probably not that surprising, considering how many life and death situations she’d faced since meeting Jozef. She was learning to think on her feet in these situations.

  Still, she was relieved to see Jozef when he walked in the door. The air in the room changed dramatically as his dark-suited figure moved to stand next to her. He placed a tattooe
d hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently.

  Suddenly, despite her hand pressing against a bloody wound and the four extra men in the room, it was just the two of them. Shaun looked up at him, drowning in his velvet blue eyes. He allowed the shutters to fall, allowed her to see his intense love for her.

  He lifted his hand from her shoulder and she felt instantly bereft. You wish to treat his wound? Jozef signed.

  Shaun nodded. “He’s injured. He’ll need sutures and some antibiotics. I asked for them, but I don’t know if they’re coming.”

  A medical kit landed on the floor next to her. Shaun glanced up at Cooper, who’d brought it for her. “I’ve sent someone for the antibiotics.”

  Shaun smiled at him and then looked back at Jozef. She licked her lips and hesitated before speaking what was on her mind, switching to sign language so her patient wouldn’t be upset. Do you intend to hurt him?

  Yes, Jozef signed quickly and decisively.

  Saskia had been right.

  Will it make a difference if I ask you not to?

  Jozef stared steadily down at her. Yes, it will make a difference.

  But you intend to hurt him anyway, don’t you?

  Jozef didn’t speak. He rarely spoke when the person asking already knew the answer.

  Shaun sighed. “Well, I’d still like to treat his wound.”

  Go ahead, Jozef signed. When you finish, you’ll be escorted back to the house.

  Shaun got to work, patching up the wound in Adam’s side. She pulled on a pair of gloves and used hydrogen peroxide to wash her hands and for a quick clean of the wound to remove debris. She used soap and water for a more thorough cleaning.

  Adam flinched, but otherwise didn’t move as she worked on him. He was staring at the ceiling now, perhaps mentally preparing himself for torture.

  Torture.

  Shaun was going to be complicit in torturing a person. She would know it was happening and wouldn’t do anything about it.