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

are and we’re on our way. We’re about fifteen minutes out. Sit tight until we get there.”

“Thank you,” Shaun murmured. “I’ll talk to you later then.”

Chapter Thirty-Four

Relief rushed through Shaun. It was stupid. She really shouldn’t be in any danger sharing a meal with Dasha. Jozef had allowed Shaun to go to the women’s luncheon at the mansion several weeks earlier. At the time, Shaun had been surrounded by bodyguards and it was unlikely that the Kobas would attack in their own home, if their intention was to harm Shaun.

She wondered if she was being paranoid, then shrugged the thought away. She was mafia now, or at least mafia affiliated. She had to be paranoid. It was how she was going to survive.

With that in mind, Shaun excused herself and stood to walk to the washroom. She would waste a few minutes in there so she wouldn’t have to eat or drink anything before Jozef arrived. Karl moved to follow her, but Shaun shook her head, placing her hand on his arm. “I’ll just be a minute. I’ll be fine, promise.”

He seemed to agree that Shaun couldn’t get into much trouble in the washroom by herself. He remained by the table, speaking politely to Dasha as she turned her focus on her former family bodyguard. Shaun wished she could stay and protect him from Dasha’s sharp tongue, but she needed a few minutes to herself.

She made her way to the washroom, pushing the door open and going inside. She took several deep breaths, trying to stop her shaking. She felt like she was on the verge of a panic attack, which was ridiculous considering nothing bad had happened.

She felt uneasy though and she couldn’t shake the feeling.

Why had Dasha come to the market to find her? It was too much of a coincidence to believe the older woman had run into her without prior knowledge of Shaun’s whereabouts. Shaun wasn’t sure what the population of Prague was, but she guessed it was high enough that an accidental meeting was unlikely.

“You’re okay,” she told her reflection, practicing her breathing technique.

When she felt calmer, she turned the tap on cold and leaned over to splash water on her face. She blinked the water droplets away as she straightened and reached for the paper towel in a basket on the counter. As she was wiping the water from her face, she realized someone was standing behind her.

Her brain had just enough time to register Dasha’s presence when the older woman whipped her arm around Shaun’s neck and swung a blade toward her.

Shaun acted on instinct, hurling herself backward at the same time as bringing her booted foot down on Dasha’s.

Dasha yelled and jerked the knife away from Shaun’s throat up toward her face.

Shaun twisted in Dasha’s hold, swinging her elbow back into Dasha’s solar plexus. As she threw herself from Dasha’s grip she felt a searing pain down the side of her face.

Dasha gasped as the wind rushed out of her, but she quickly recovered, jumping to cover the door so Shaun couldn’t run past her.

Shaun stared in shock. She’d been told repeatedly by both Jozef and Saskia that it had been one of the Kobas who’d tried to kill her, but she hadn’t actually believed the accusation. She couldn’t. They’d been good to her, accepted her as a member of the family.

Dasha had always treated her with kindness, even if it had been cold and formal.

“Why?” Shaun demanded as she was backed against the wall by Dasha’s advance.

Shaun’s cheek was on fire and blood dripped freely down her face, soaking into her sweater.

Dasha didn’t answer, but lunged again, completely focused on her task of killing Shaun.

Shaun tried to dive away, but Dasha was faster, managing to sink her blade into Shaun’s forearm. Shaun let out a scream of pain as she jerked away from the blade.

Dasha didn’t give her time to recover as she took another swing. Shaun threw herself back against the wall and brought her arms up protectively. This time the blade scored her wrist, slicing through the skin until it hit bone.

Dasha yanked it back.

Shaun had to do something, and she had to do it fast or Dasha was going to slice her up until nothing was left.

“Karl!” Shaun screamed at the top of her lungs.

As Dasha swung the blade again, Shaun flung herself to the side, crashing through a stall door and dropping to the floor. She rolled onto her back and kicked the door at Dasha who was running toward her.

The door hit Dasha, throwing her backwards. She stumbled on her heels, hit the counter and fell to the floor, the knife clattering away from her.

Shaun pulled herself to her feet, cradling her bleeding wrist and ran for the washroom door. She yanked the handle, but the door was locked. As she tried to unlock the latch, Dasha gripped Shaun’s ankle and jerked her off her feet. When Shaun hit the floor, Dasha’s booted leg crashed down onto her chest.

Pain radiated throughout Shaun’s chest and it felt like she was swallowing needles when she tried to take a breath.

Dasha knew exactly what she was doing. The woman had clearly trained in combat.

As Shaun lay on her back trying to catch her breath, Dasha rolled away, reaching for the knife. When Shaun realized what Dasha was after she forced herself off the floor and did the last thing she wanted to do. Every instinct inside her told her to get the door open and run, but she doubted she could open the door before Dasha got her hands on the knife again.

So instead, Shaun threw herself on Dasha’s back, slamming her to the floor. Dasha went down with a grunt.

The knife was a few inches from Dasha’s fingers.

Shaun leapt for it, grabbing it triumphantly and rolling away from Dasha.

Realizing Shaun had the knife, Dasha rolled in the opposite direction, using a stall door to drag herself to her feet.

“Stay back!” Shaun yelled when it looked like Dasha