A Silent Reckoning: Sinner's Empire by Nikita Slater

Author:Nikita Slater [Slater, Nikita]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-02-26T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Four

Jozef’s revelation was a turning point in Shaun’s thinking toward him and the life he led. If he was willing to put so much effort into understanding the things that Shaun loved and had worked so hard to achieve, then she could bend enough to try to understand his world.

It had taken some convincing, but she’d finally talked Karl into spending some time with her in the apartment. He was the only mobster on the premises she saw on a regular basis who was somewhat friendly toward her. Except for Jozef, of course, and he was too busy to help her.

“Would you like coffee or tea?” she asked, glancing over her shoulder at Karl, who stood in her living room looking like he was about to be shot for the infraction of spending time alone with the boss’s woman.

Shaun had cleared it with Jozef first. She hadn’t told him exactly why she wanted to spend time with Karl, just assured him that her intentions were entirely innocent. She’d been surprised when the usually hyper-possessive Jozef had allowed it without argument. Maybe he thought Karl was too old for Shaun? Karl couldn’t be more than 50, so she didn’t think so. She was 35. It wasn’t an insurmountable age gap.

She wasn’t interested in Karl though, and beyond the job, he didn’t seem interested in Shaun either.

“Coffee,” he said gruffly. “Black.”

Shaun brewed a single cup of coffee with the shiny new Keurig upgrade she’d ordered, taking a page from her mother’s book and spending some of Jozef’s money. She set the steaming cup on a coaster on the coffee table and curled up on the far end of the couch, holding one of the pillows against her stomach.

Karl continued to stand, his arms hanging at his sides, his expression clearly saying he’d rather be anywhere than in her apartment.

“You can sit down.” She tried to keep the humour from her voice.

He looked at the couch where she was pointing and moved to sit on one of the sofa chairs instead.

“What did you want to talk to me about?” he asked warily. “Your mother?”

She frowned. “No… what about my mother?”

“Uh, nothing,” he said quickly, clearing his throat and looking away.

“I’m not sure if you know how women work, but you can’t say something like that and expect that I’ll let it go.” She watched shrewdly as his face became flushed. “Do you have a crush on my mom?”

“No,” he denied quickly, his flush crawling down his throat. Then he sheepishly admitted, “Okay, yes. She’s a beautiful woman, but I don’t have any expectations from that quarter.”

Shaun couldn’t help herself, she grinned. “You like my mom. That’s so… so… kind of awesome.”

“You can keep it to yourself,” he said gruffly, scowling at the floor.

“Of course,” Shaun said solemnly, then added, “She likes movies. She’s a big-time classic movie buff; her favourite is Breakfast at Tiffany’s. She loves gardening too. I’m pretty sure that’s what she’ll miss most about living in an apartment. You could buy her a plant if you wanted to get your foot in the door.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.