A Silent Reckoning: Sinner's Empire by Nikita Slater (world best books to read .TXT) 📕

“I dressed for you, master,” she murmured in a low voice.

At one time it had galled her to call him master. Now it felt like she was mocking him when she spoke the word. The man was no master, especially not over her.

“You know how I prefer you to dress,” he snapped angrily.

“I forgot.”

“That’s because you’re a stupid cunt, aren’t you? Can’t remember to wear the white silk.” He spoke scornfully, genuinely believing she was stupid enough to forget eight years of the same demand.

He walked swiftly to his dresser and picked up a bottle, shaking a handful of pills into his palm.

She cringed.

He only took Viagra when he was planning on fucking her, and the amount he was taking told her he hadn’t had a good fuck in a while. She’d hoped he would just beat her, maybe humiliate her a little and send her back to her room. It looked like he wanted more. Hot bile rose up in her throat as she remembered similar nights. He wouldn’t let her sleep. He would tie her up and fuck her for hours, only stopping for the occasional drink, while he deprived her, making her watch as he prepared for another round.

She could handle the beatings. Hell, she could even handle a round or two of his perverted idea of sex, but she despised those tiny blue pills. He used them like a weapon, fucking her until she was nothing but the used-up doll he really wanted.

It was the one thing she’d never been able to think her way through. She knew the trauma of his repeated rapes would be the thing that finally broke her. She supposed she would murder him eventually, then maybe herself, once she ensured Kristoph’s future. She wasn’t sure exactly how she’d do it, but her vengeful fantasies occasionally horrified even her.

“On your knees, whore.”

Leeza sank to her knees on the plush carpet, placing her hands on her thighs and bowing her head demurely, just the way he liked it.

The blow came from behind, sending her sprawling against the side of the bed before she could catch herself. She scrambled back into position knowing she would catch it twice as hard if she wasn’t back on her knees within seconds. Her back and shoulder throbbed but she didn’t think he’d broken the skin. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. He was holding a length of hard rubber pipe, not a weapon he’d used on her before. Smart. It would hurt like a motherfucker, but it wouldn’t break the skin unless he really tried.

He was upping his game. As the blows rained down on her back and shoulders, she made a mental note to tell her martial arts instructor that they would also need to train using different types of pipe. She would first learn how to defend herself, then she would learn how to turn the weapon on her opponent.

As the blows increased in intensity, she took a deep breath and settled into the place in her mind that would allow her to accept the pain and use it for her own purposes. A smile curved her lips, hidden by the silken fall of her dark hair.

Chapter Fifteen

The drive back to the apartment was silent. Out of necessity for Jozef whose hands had to be on the wheel, but Shaun could have spoken. Instead, she gazed out the passenger side window without saying a single word to him.

Jozef was frustrated by the gulf separating them. The feelings were all still there, but the situation had changed. The power dynamic had shifted. Jozef could use physical force to keep her with him, but she didn’t have to comply. She could resist his efforts to keep her in line and he wouldn’t lift a finger against her.

She was wrong about one thing though. The misery wouldn’t last. In time she would settle into the life he wanted for her. She’d started to come around a year ago. The last thing she’d told him before being taken to the hospital was that she loved him. He knew from her counselling sessions that he’d been constantly on her mind during their separation. She wore his mother’s ring during their time apart, only taking it off for surgery, and she continued to wear it now.

He wished he could speak to her, which only increased his frustration. Shaun was the only person he’d ever met who he wished he had a voice for. He wanted to reassure her but couldn’t. Not while he was driving and not while she was looking away from him.

So strong was his assumption that she was miserable, that he was surprised when she turned to face him, a grin stretching her lips.

“Your Aunt’s face when Saskia told us she was taking sports medicine as an elective. I don’t think Saskia was telling the truth, but it was funny.”

Jozef barked in laughter, relieved that Shaun wasn’t actively angry with him. She had every right, but she could still bend enough to enjoy the small things. This was how he knew for sure that she would eventually settle down. She was too resilient not to.

He reached across the console, picked up her hand and kissed her fingertips. She allowed him to retain her hand, which he placed on his thigh, covering it with his own.

Their peaceful moment lasted less than a minute.

The chirp of Jozef’s phone coincided with a message flashing on his dashboard screen. A digital voice said, “Message from Havel: You’re being flagged by the authorities. Someone wants to talk to you.”

Jozef glanced in his rearview mirror, frowning.

Following his gaze, Shaun twisted around in her seat and stared into the darkness.

At first, the only thing visible was the headlights belonging to the bodyguard vehicle. Then, a set of headlights swung out from behind Havel’s vehicle and drove up alongside Jozef’s car. He immediately recognized it as a government town car. Someone high up wanted