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

had since she found herself kidnapped for a second time. Though the future was still uncertain, it felt a lot less bleak.

Chapter Eighteen

After a brief discussion, it was decided that Fitzy would stay with Shaun. Though he tolerated Fatima, he had only ever bonded with Shaun, making his care difficult for anyone else. Jozef didn’t seem to mind having the cat in his apartment, though when Fitzy hissed at him, Jozef growled back. After the exchange, the two seemed to settle into keeping a wary and mutual distance.

The next few days passed quickly for Shaun who spent most of her time with her mother. Shaun had been given permission to go between the floors any time she wanted as long as she had Karl with her. He seemed to take his new babysitting duties in stride, diligently passing on all of Shaun’s requests.

Unlike their apartment, the one Fatima now inhabited was quite sparse. Shaun suspected it was originally meant to house another of Jozef’s men but was currently empty. It was a smaller version of Jozef’s suite with an open kitchen, dining room and living room. While Jozef and Shaun’s place had two bedrooms, Fatima’s only had one.

“It’s fine, I don’t need any extra rooms.” Fatima had shrugged off the smaller apartment and set about inspecting her new home.

Shaun made a list of things Fatima would need immediately and then the two women started on lists for food and supplies. Fatima loved to cook and would need a kitchen complete with all the accessories and food staples. As they worked, the reality of where they were faded, and they enjoyed the time spent together.

Fatima, on her hands and knees dusting out the bottom cupboards so she could put away the supplies that had started to trickle in, said to Shaun, “You seem more relaxed than I’ve seen you in a long time.”

Shaun, who was preparing two cups of tea, stopped what she was doing. Was she more relaxed? She took stock of herself and realized she was. She felt as though a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. It took another minute of thought before she realized it was because the two worlds she had been attempting to inhabit were finally merging.

The one truth she had carried with her up to this point was that she couldn’t have Jozef in her life. No matter what, their separate lives couldn’t be reconciled. Yet here was her mother and her cat. Before Fatima left Montréal, she’d talked to Shaun’s boss at the hospital and explained that Shaun had to leave suddenly for personal reasons. Her boss had given her the leave but told Fatima he would require a phone call and a letter from Shaun explaining if she didn’t want to lose her job.

Shaun would have to talk to Jozef about her next step. She didn’t feel like a captive anymore, yet she was acting like one by needing Jozef’s permission whenever she wanted something, especially contact with the outside world. She supposed she would have to work with him on creating a more mutually respectful relationship. Perhaps if she told him she would accept his security measures if he allowed her to pursue her career, he might consider it.

Her profession was the one thing she wasn’t willing to compromise on. She would relocate to Prague; she would move her mother and her cat. She wouldn’t ask questions about his job; not yet anyway. But she refused to give up everything she’d worked so hard to achieve. Being a surgeon defined her and she knew without a doubt that she would never be able to live with the loss if Jozef took that away from her. She just needed to find a way to tell him.

After several hours of working diligently to put Fatima’s apartment in order, the two women flopped on the bed together with contented sighs. There was no couch yet, so they would have to relax in the bedroom until one arrived.

“I always wanted to travel,” Fatima murmured. “Never really got around to it.”

“You went to the Dominican Republic,” Shaun pointed out. “And Hawaii. Oh, and you visited Kiev last year.”

“Dominican and Hawaii were vacations, and in Kiev, I didn’t leave my hotel room. I was too busy waiting for news of you to explore.” Fatima rolled onto her side, propping her head up with the palm of her hand, her silver-streaked black hair swirling over her arm. “I never in my life imagined travelling to the Czech Republic. Shaun, we’re in Prague.”

Shaun was helpless against the look of wonder on her mother’s face. Some of Fatima’s excitement filtered through to Shaun and she finally thought about the city she would call home as more than the place of her captivity. It was a gorgeous old city with so much history.

“I’ll see if Karl will take us out to explore tomorrow,” Shaun offered.

Fatima pushed herself up into a sitting position and sat with her back against the headboard. “Do you think Jozef will allow you to go out?”

They looked at each other, some of their pleasure draining away as they contemplated the restrictions involved in Shaun’s new life.

“You know you can’t live like that,” Fatima said quietly. “You’ll slowly die inside if you have to ask him for every crumb. You were raised to be a tough independent woman, not the cowed wife of a man who makes all of your decisions for you. When he says jump, you shouldn’t be asking how high. What would your father think?”

Shaun blinked back tears at the harsh words. She didn’t think her mother meant them to be unkind, but they pierced her heart. Shaun knew her father would never approve of the kind of life being pushed on Shaun. Yet, once again when she thought about leaving, she couldn’t imagine a life without Jozef.

She swallowed, trying to dispel the constriction in her throat. “Are you disappointed in me?”

“Oh no, baby,” Fatima reached over to cup Shaun’s face. Shaun looked