Page 13 of Goodnight, Sinners

He waited impatiently for her to clean up. She splashed water on her face and did what she could for her hair before accompanying him back to the car. As they walked across the lot, he made his displeasure at her disappearance clear.

You don’t leave my sight when we are on the road, understood?His signs were sharp and jerky.

Shaun responded, contorting her face in a frown to emphasize her own signs.You were the one who left my sight. What did you expect me to do, pee in the car?

He looked so horrified by the idea that Shaun had to stifle a laugh.I expected you to wait for me,he signed.I didn’t think you would wake up. You sleep like the dead. You were safe in a locked, bullet-proof car, but I can’t take care of you if I don’t know where you are.

A shiver ran through her. It was too soon to be mentioning the dead. It stole some of the warmth from their day.

Noticing her change in mood, Jozef stopped next to the car and pulled her against his chest, running his hands down her back, tracing her spine until her shivers of fear turned to shivers of pleasure. He gave her a lingering kiss.

It will get easier. The nightmares will stop and you will move past this.

“How do you know?” she whispered.

Because it happened to me. I used to get nightmares from the things that I saw and the things that I did. It will always stay with you, but you’ll learn how to handle the worst and move on.

She licked her lips and nodded, though she didn’t entirely agree with him. They were two different people, with two very different upbringings. Violence had been a peripheral in her life until she met Jozef, whereas he’d been immersed in a violent mafia world his entire life. As a child, his brain would have been formed by the world around him, making him better able to cope. Some of his coping mechanisms weren’t exactly healthy, though. Their argument was case in point. Jozef couldn’t allow Shaun out of his sight because he feared something would happen to her. That level of constant anxiety wasn’t good for a person.

She turned to open her door, but Jozef grabbed her arm and pulled her back around.

Please don’t leave my sight again,he signed.I will do a better job of caring for your needs, but I have to know that you’ll be where I left you.Catching her frown, he shook his head.I’m not trying to lock you away from the world. I’m worried about your safety. I would feel the same for anyone I loved. I feel the same for my cousins.

His face twisted in grief as he mentioned his family. They hadn’t talked about Leeza or Saskia since the attack. Both women had escaped the fallout and were in the wind.

Shaun was fairly certain Jozef was searching for them, but they’d avoided speaking of the two women. Shaun wasn’t sure she wanted to know what he had planned. If he told her he had to kill his cousins, Shaun didn’t know what she would do. Actually, that wasn’t true. She knew she wouldn’t be able to stay with him if he targeted two innocent women. And because she knew that about herself, she buried her head in the sand. For a few weeks, anyway. Once they returned from their trip, they would have a conversation.

Shaun nodded in response to Jozef’s plea and signed,I’ll do my best to keep you informed of my movements. You need to be patient, though. This is all still relatively new to me. Back home, I could come and go as I pleased.

Jozef leaned over to kiss her. It was a peck, the slight pressure of his lips against hers, but it sent a zing of pleasure through her. He reached around Shaun and opened her door.

She sank into her seat and then gasped as the smell hit her.

“Eggs!” she exclaimed and reached for the containers on Jozef’s seat. She was tearing into them before he opened his own door and climbed into the car with her.

“I hope this is all for me, because I’m not sharing,” she joked as he reached for the food and she held it away from him.

He tickled her ribs and she nearly dropped the food, but he deftly grabbed it before it hit the console.

She watched in admiration as he opened the packages and began splitting the food in two, giving her a bigger portion than she could eat, despite her insistence that she was hungry enough to eat it all by herself.

There was something extra sexy about a man who looked like Jozef, with his rippling muscles and plethora of tattoos as he did something as domestic as preparing food. Shaun smiled, the feeling of joy rising in her and spreading warmth.

She accepted the paper plate of food he handed to her and immediately started devouring the delicious eggs, smoked sausage, fresh fruit, cheese and jam filled pastries. Shaun surprised herself by eating everything on her plate. When she finished, a small burp escaped her.

Jozef laughed and took her plate, dropping a quick kiss on her lips. He got rid of their garbage and started the car, turning it back onto the highway.

Chapter Seven

Shaun soon realized that they were heading toward Poland. Her excitement grew with each passing hour. Jozef had told her they were going some place secluded, so she knew it wouldn’t be near any major cities. Though she would’ve loved to check out Warsaw. Perhaps another time.

They continued to drive for another three hours, crossing the border into Poland. With each passing kilometre, the weight that had settled on Shaun’s shoulders the past few weeks, lifted. She felt truly free for the first time in weeks. No, months!

She perked up as Jozef took the vehicle through a thickly wooded area, finally turning onto an unpaved road. He parked the Bugatti next to another car.

As Jozef climbed out of their vehicle, he approached the other one with a frown. He looked around and then leaned over to stare through the windows. Shaun joined him, slipping her hand into his.

“What’s wrong?” she asked anxiously.

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