Page 74 of Goodnight, Sinners
Cooper pushed away from the wall. He could finally get back to his actual job of tailing Shaun and setting up an impenetrable wall of security around her. He lived to protect. He’d worked as a secret service agent in the United States before quitting in disgust when politics overrode his ability to do his job. He’d been working as a mercenary-for-hire for several years before Havel picked him to fill out the team at Guard Dog Securities.
Cooper had finally found his home with the Koba organization. He had access to weapons, got paid quadruple what he’d been paid as an agent and had the freedom to make his own decisions as long as they aligned with Jozef’s idea of safety for his wife.
Cooper wasn’t going to do anything to fuck up this job.
Chapter Thirty-Two
“Interpol is taking her in now. I talked to Moreau and he’s assures me that she’ll be processed in country.”
Jozef grunted his acknowledgment and hung up. He preferred text, but this was one of those rare times he’d insisted on a phone call. He’d wanted to know the moment Dasha was taken into custody.
Instead of elation, he felt a heaviness that had been growing over the past few weeks. Not about having his aunt arrested. She was lucky to get off so lightly. If he’d gotten his hands on her first, she’d spend her incarceration in his shed, dying inch by inch, a little more each day.
The heaviness came from his disappointment in Shaun. She’d kept a secret from him. She’d arranged for Dasha’s arrest behind his back. Thanks to Cooper, Jozef had known from the inception of Moreau’s plan, his first meeting with Shaun.
Jozef had gone out that night to confront Moreau about his use of Shaun in what could be a potentially dangerous situation. Dasha had nothing to lose. Her life meant nothing to her without her husband, family, home or fortune. Jozef had no doubt that her plan was to take Shaun out, then put herself in the position to be killed quickly.
Moreau had backtracked quickly on his original plan and had agreed to work with Jozef instead of Shaun. Jozef hadn’t given the man a choice. Moreau was smart enough to realize that if he continued to contact Shaun, Jozef would make his broken nose look like a playground injury. The only thing stopping Jozef from putting a bullet in Moreau was his desire to use Interpol to trap Dasha.
But why hadn’t Shaun come to him when Moreau first contacted her? He had his suspicions, but she would have to answer the question herself.
Living in a world of intrigue and betrayal, Jozef should have been immune to Shaun’s betrayal, but it cut deep. She should trust him to take care of her, to listen to her and hold her opinion in high regard.
Jozef was tempted to search out his fiancé and demand the truth, but he knew he had to wait. Had to calm down so he wouldn’t terrorize her. He might say or do something he regretted, and he was learning to step carefully with the woman he loved.
He would be lost without her and he wouldn’t risk losing her. He would give himself time to calm down, then he would confront her.
He would also close the loophole to her escape from the life he’d pulled her into. She wouldn’t be happy, but he needed to tie her to him as tightly as he could before he was comfortable giving her more leash. She wanted a job at the hospital, then she would have to give up any escape from the mafia. She would have to learn to tell him the truth at all times.
Jozef settled into his office chair and continued to peruse the map in front of him. It was a layout of all the trade routes open to the Koba family. Some were marked out as they’d been closed off by rivals. Jozef studied these and calculated the loss in revenue if he couldn’t get the routes opened to him. Only two were valuable enough to negotiate over.
Jozef texted Havel, requesting his presence.
Jozef would send his team, with Havel leading, to ‘convince’ the men holding these routes hostage that it was in their best interests to work with Jozef. If they didn’t, then they would find their organizations liquidated and rolled into the Koba organization.
Jozef wouldn’t play nice, especially not now. He had too much to prove. If he came across as weak, the Bratva would have him killed and replaced, which he couldn’t allow. If he was killed, then Shaun’s existence would come into question.
Jozef rolled his shoulders back before reaching for the next file. He wasn’t used to being in the office this much. His role had shifted from the field to largely organizational. Once things settled, he intended to resume some of his out of country work with his team. In the meantime, he would take out his frustrations on Havel in the boxing ring.
Before he could open the file, his phone rang.
Jozef looked at the number to see the country code for the Central African Republic.
Radik.
Jozef was surprised it took the man this long to track his sister down.
Luckily, Havel arrived almost as soon as Jozef answered the call.
Jozef put the phone on speaker and set it on his desk.
Havel frowned as Radik’s booming, deep voice and unmistakable accent filled the office.
“Koba, are you there? Grunt or something, so I know you are listening. I hate to waste my time threatening some underling.”
Havel sat on the edge of the desk and leaned forward. “He’s here.”
“Ah, and you are his second-in-command, Havel.”
