A Silent Reckoning: Sinner's Empire by Nikita Slater (ereader iphone .txt) 📗

agreed. “Marriages and alliances are made throughout the families. Dasha is the daughter of a Vor. She was then married to a Vor to strengthen the family connections. Businesses combine and even more wealth is created.”

“Can women become Vory?” Shaun asked, suspecting she already knew the answer. “As his eldest daughter, will Leeza one day take over the Koba organization?”

“Though there are exceptions, women are not usually Vory,” Karl said. “The system is an old one and they don’t accept change easily unless there’s a lucrative reason for it.”

“Leeza?” Shaun prompted.

“No, she’s not in line to take over for her father. Though she is a capable woman, things aren’t done that way. Jozef was next in line to take over from Krystoff. Now…” Karl shook his head, “I don’t know. Jozef is likely still Krystoff’s heir until a better replacement comes along. Perhaps Saskia’s husband when she marries. There is now more pressure for her to choose a husband from among the Vory and their sons.”

Shaun’s heart ached for her young friend that she could be facing such a decision. Saskia was intelligent and energetic. She had so much more to give than an arranged marriage to a mobster so the family wealth could be protected.

“What about Leeza’s husband?” Shaun pushed. “Can’t he take over the organization?”

Karl’s professional mask dropped. Anger flashed in his eyes and he scowled. “That man will never head the organization.”

“Why?” Shaun asked, then added, “I don’t understand how or why Leeza is married to Adam. They don’t seem to like each other, and he doesn’t have any interest in the family that I’ve seen. He’s like a ghost; he’s there but no one sees him or pays any attention to him.”

“I don’t wish to engage in idle gossip,” Karl said in admonishment. “It’s one thing to want to learn about Jozef and his job. We shouldn’t be discussing the private lives of the family, other than to draw the connections for you.”

Shaun felt chastened, but his answer didn’t dim her curiosity. She wanted to know what was going on behind closed doors with Leeza and her husband. The bruise on Leeza’s arm told Shaun things were not as innocent as the pair projected to the outside world.

“Sorry,” Shaun said. “We’ll keep it to business. Can you tell me about the jobs Jozef and his team accept?”

Karl and Shaun continued to talk for most of the afternoon, until Karl was relieved by the evening security guard who would stand outside Shaun and Jozef’s door overnight. Karl agreed to continue Shaun’s ‘mafia’ lessons until she was satisfied. He’d told her that after their chat he’d decided the lessons were a good idea. If Shaun knew the ins and outs of the mafia, she would better be able to protect herself and her family. He also told her he thought it was appropriate for a future mafia wife to understand her place within the organization.

Shaun had wanted to correct him and tell him that a woman’s place was wherever she placed herself, but she’d kept her mouth shut, thanked him and, after saying hello to her nighttime security guard, closed the door and sat down with her shiny new laptop. She had no idea what Jozef was going to say when he got his next credit card bill, but something inside her thought he would be pleased rather than annoyed.

Chapter Twenty-Five

“I don’t like this,” Shaun repeated, her arms crossed tightly over her chest.

She was watching Jozef fill a hiker’s backpack with his necessities: jeans, T-shirts, socks, underwear, toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, razor, Tylenol. It seemed so normal, the things he was putting in the pack. The same sort of things any traveler might pack. She assumed he would pick up his weapons and bulletproof vest from the operations center, two floors beneath theirs.

She didn’t know what else to say so she kept saying the same thing. She didn’t like it; didn’t like that he was leaving her alone in a city that wasn’t home to her yet. Leaving her vulnerable. She didn’t like that he was placing himself in danger by going to one of the scariest places on the planet. Didn’t like that he was doing it for money. Didn’t like that he would likely have to use violence to stay safe.

The whole idea of willingly walking into a potentially violent situation seemed absurd. Only adrenaline junkies did stupid things like that. Of course, she knew she was wrong. She’d done the same thing by working with Doctors Without Borders. She could say she was doing it for far more noble reasons than Jozef, but it boiled down to the same thing; walking into a war zone knowing they would likely experience violence.

Since meeting Jozef, Shaun’s perception of violence had shifted. She’d always seen it as black and white. Violence was bad and so were the people who committed violent acts. By working with Doctors Without Borders, she had been actively fighting against that violence. Or so she thought. Being directly faced with Jozef’s motivations for working in war zones forced her to look at her own motivations, which wasn’t an easy thing to do.

She could say she’d been doing it for altruistic reasons, but what were the motivations behind altruism? She couldn’t bring herself to regret working in war zones. She had learned many things about herself and others. She’d discovered different ways of practicing medicine, while teaching others her methods and the methods practiced by her Canadian colleagues.

Shaun wasn’t sure if she would ever go back to Doctors Without Borders. She certainly wouldn’t be if Jozef had anything to say about it, but it was a question she would need to examine closer if she regained control of her life again.

I’ll be fine, you have nothing to worry about, Jozef signed as he finished packing his bag.

Shaun snorted. Said every dead soldier ever as he left for war.

She’d gotten so used to switching back and forth between signing and speaking that it seemed natural depending