Page 33 of Sin of Silence

"Thank you," she murmured and retreated, closing the door.

She looked at the lock for a moment and toyed with the idea of flipping it but decided it would make no difference. The door was thick enough, but she suspected the man on the other side, as well as Jozef and perhaps a few other people in the mansion had keys. She was probably the only one without a key.

Besides, though she knew better, the man on the other side seemed harmless. Or at least like he didn’t plan on hurting Shaun any time soon.

She glanced around the room, wondering what she should do with herself. She was still a little tired from her night spent on a wooden pallet, but not tired enough to lie down and go back to sleep. The apartment was already tidy, so there was no point in indulging her obsessive need to make sure that any area she inhabited was uncluttered. People teased her about having OCD, but she knew it came from her years spent as a surgeon. She had to know where each and every tool was before she cut into a person. She had to know that those tools were sterilized and in perfect condition. Those impulses bled into her regular life.

Shaun wasn't used to being idle and knew she would grow quickly bored in the mansion if she had no job to do. And at the moment, there wasn't a single thing she could think of to do in Jozef's suite, except rest and relax.

She wandered over to a shelf and picked up a book, glancing through the pages. The words were foreign to her and she wondered what language it was in. In her time with Doctors Without Borders she'd learned that households across the world, but especially in Eastern Europe, tended to have books in multiple languages. In fact, most people tended to speak more than one language.

Coming from Canada, Shaun could relate to some extent. She spoke English and Québec French and understood two types of sign language, and that was more than many Canadians. People in Eastern Europe, and she suspected Western Europe as well, tended to speak many languages.

Unable to read the books, Shaun settled herself on the couch in front of the TV. She picked up the remote and began flipping through channels. Even if she couldn't understand what the characters were saying, at least she would get some amusement from the action. She finally settled on an American drama that had been dubbed in another language.

Half an hour later there was a knock on the door. Shaun barely had time to twist around on the couch before the door was being pushed open and a tray carried through. She got to her feet and stood awkwardly as a young woman carried the tray in.

"Saskia," she said in surprise as she recognized Jozef's younger cousin, the one who hadn't warmed up to her. Although, after yesterday's debacle, the older cousin, Leeza, might hate her now too. The memory of the other woman holding a gun on Shaun made her shudder.

Saskia dropped the tray on a table behind the couch, making the cutlery rattle. The girl stepped back and looked around as though she'd never been in Jozef’s suite before. For all Shaun knew, she hadn't. Jozef seemed like a private man, not a person who entertained in his private suite.

"Pretty sweet place,” Saskia drawled, running her hand over the back of the plush leather couch.

"Never been here before?" Shaun asked dryly, picking up a plate of buttered toast and carrying it back to the couch where she sat down again.

Saskia shrugged. "Jozef doesn't entertain much."

"What are you doing here?" Shaun asked bluntly. "I didn't take you for someone who appreciated serving duties."

Saskia wrinkled her nose and dropped onto the couch beside Shaun. She reached out and snatched a half piece of toast from Shaun’s plate. Shaun raised an eyebrow. She hadn’t realized they were at the food-sharing stage of their relationship yet. Though Jozef was considered the feral dog of the family, his younger cousin certainly knew how to act like one too.

"I wanted to see how you're doing," she said casually. "I heard you spent the night out in the shed. That's pretty badass. You know how many people spend the night in the shed and come out alive?"

Shaun shook her head. "How many?"

Saskia swallowed the last of her toast and licked her fingers. "I don't actually know, but I would guess not many. I've definitely never seen a woman taken out to the shed."

"I guess I'm lucky then." Shaun was having trouble keeping the sarcasm from her voice.

"You are lucky," Saskia insisted earnestly. "After the move you pulled in the store yesterday, I thought for sure my dad would make Jozef get rid of you."

Both women fell silent as they contemplated what ‘getting rid of’ meant.

"It was a pretty badass move trying to run from the guards." Saskia glanced slyly at Shaun. "Didn't think you had it in you. You're so quiet, so compliant. I honestly thought you were just gonna settle into things and go with the flow. You proved us wrong."

"Don't sound so happy," Shaun said sarcastically, eating another piece of toast.

Saskia twisted around and reached over the back of the couch, digging through Shaun’s lunch. She turned back around with a piece of bacon clutched in her hand. "I am happy. Life can be pretty boring around here, but I suspect you're not as boring as you seem."

Shaun shook her head. "I really don't know what to say to that."

Saskia shrugged as though she didn't know what to say either. She ate her piece of bacon and licked her fingers. "I heard you're going out to the club tonight. You going to wear that dress that you tried on yesterday? The one you wore home?” She snickered.

"I hadn't really thought about it," Shaun admitted.

Saskia bounced excitedly on the couch. "You totally should. Not only will you look amazing, but you're gonna make all those club bitches green with jealousy. The ones who treat my cousin like shit but would still fuck him if he looked at them twice."

Shaun stared at Saskia silently. Now she really didn't know what to say. She didn't know why any woman would treat Jozef badly, other than his tendency toward kidnapping, and she really didn't want to hear about him fucking other women. She didn't want to examine why she didn't want to listen to that sort of thing too closely, but she knew that it made something inside her burn with jealousy.

---