Page 66 of Sin of Silence

Jozef frowned. Shaun hadn’t said anything about meeting up with Krystoff.

Krystoff studied his nephew with a keen eye. “I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. She won’t settle easily into this life, son.”

Jozef nodded his head in agreement. There was no point in arguing the obvious.She won’t have a choice.

“How do you intend to control her?” Krystoff leaned back in his seat, his sharp eyes on his nephew.

Jozef didn’t like what his uncle was implying. As if Shaun was some kind of dog that needed to be leashed and controlled. She was a kind and intelligent woman with a quick brain and a compassionate nature.

This is not your concern, Jozef signed, trying to shut down the topic.

A frown deepened the grooves between Krystoff’s thick grey eyebrows. “I disagree. Her actions will have an effect on this family. I had hoped the lures of our lifestyle would have helped her settle down, but the conversation she and I had this morning has left me concerned. She won’t be happy here.”

Jozef wanted to growl at his uncle to stay the fuck out of his business. Jozef was an independent man. He stayed in the family home at the request of his aunt, but he owned a building in downtown Prague, the same building the club was in. Many of his men stayed on the middle floors above the club when they were in between jobs. It was times like this, when his family became overly involved in his life, that Jozef wanted to move away from the family estate.

“She called her mother earlier today,” Krystoff said quietly, his sharp gaze on Jozef’s face, as though trying to decide if Jozef knew.

How do you know?Jozef demanded.

Krystoff’s gaze softened. “My apologies, son, but I fear I did something you won’t approve of.” It was unusual for Krystoff to apologize for anything, but then, he didn’t often involve himself in Jozef’s personal life. “I made sure she would have access to a phone.”

Jozef frowned, anger and disappointment rising within him. His uncle was supposed to be his greatest ally, the man who always had his back. And he was trying to set up Jozef’s woman? Unacceptable.

You were testing her?

“Testing you,” Krystoff admitted. “You told me you would control the woman, but the first thing she did when given the opportunity was make a call out.”

You have the recording?Jozef demanded.Give it to me.

Krystoff pulled his phone from his pocket, tapped for a few seconds then held it up as Shaun’s voice filled the space around them. Jozef and Krystoff listened to the entire conversation in silence. Some of Jozef’s tension eased as he heard Shaun repeatedly deny her mother’s inquiries. Whether to keep her mother safe, or because she didn’t want to cause problems for the Kobas, Shaun had refused to give up her location. The parts where she and her mother cried together tore at Jozef’s heart. He was the cause of such misery.

When the recording finished, Krystoff put his phone away.

“I must admit,” Krystoff said thoughtfully, “I thought she would have given us up as her kidnappers. Her refusal is a point in her favour.”

Jozef was seething.What would you have done if she’d given her mother the information?

Krystoff looked at him steadily, his expression telling Jozef everything he needed to know. Krystoff would’ve had Shaun removed, any evidence of her contact with the Koba family erased and he likely would’ve done it without Jozef’s permission or knowledge. It would have been as though she never existed to them.

She needs more time, Jozef insisted.

Shaun’s compassionate personality was already softening her toward him, and he could tell she was bonding with Saskia. Given more time, Jozef was positive Shaun wouldn’t want to do anything that could harm Jozef or his family. She may never fully reconcile herself to Jozef’s lifestyle, but she wouldn’t wish to hurt him either.

“We don’t have the luxury of time,” Krystoff said, his voice hardening. “Do what you must, but if you wish to keep this woman, you need to crush her spirit and ensure her loyalty.”

Jozef’s gaze hardened and he leaned forward in his seat, pinning his uncle with the heat of his anger.Do not make the mistake of thinking you can have Shaun hurt or killed and expect no retaliation from me.

Krystoff looked taken aback by Jozef’s aggression. He wasn’t used to anything less than complete loyalty from his guard dog. Yet both men knew who held the real power in the Koba family. Jozef could walk away from his family and take most of their business. He was the man on the ground, the person their contacts trusted.

Are you threatening me?Krystoff asked, using Jozef’s preferred method of communication.

Jozef recognized what his uncle was doing by speaking in sign language. The older man was trying to draw Jozef’s sympathy, remind him of their shared history. Krystoff had learned sign language so he could communicate with his nephew at any time, though he tended to use verbal communication. Jozef hadn’t thought about it before, but he wondered if Krystoff did it as a power move. He had something Jozef didn’t: a voice.

If that was Krystoff’s tactic, then it was pointless. Jozef had never felt powerless from his lack of voice, because he didn’t lack for anything. He could make himself heard. Sometimes his bullets, knives or fists did the talking, but in the end, people knew what he was trying to say.

I am no threat unless something happens to my fiancé.

And if something happens to her?Krystoff pushed.

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