Page 23 of Sin of Silence

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 rearview 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.

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