Page 16 of Goodnight, Sinners

There was amusement in Vasiliy’s voice, but Shaun also heard the longing for his child. She almost wished they hadn’t interrupted the small family. She was curious about why Jozef had brought her to the secluded cabin with the strange man, so she followed him, throwing Jozef a warning look over her shoulder.

When they entered the house, Shaun was pleasantly surprised to find cozily furnished rooms filled with books, paintings and little wooden dolls.

She stared her fill as Vasiliy led them into the kitchen where a teapot was indeed steaming on the counter. After setting out three teacups on a tray, a small pitcher of milk and a jar with honey, he added several cookies to the tray and led them back through to the living room.

The furniture was an interesting hodgepodge of chairs and a small couch. All were draped in handmade quilts and padded with pillows. Shaun sat on the small couch and Jozef crammed himself in next to her, his bulk making the squeeze somewhat difficult, while Vasiliy sat opposite them in a rocking chair.

“I hadn’t thought to see you again, Jozef,” Vasiliy said bluntly.

Shaun swung her gaze to Jozef, who signed,I hadn’t thought to come here again, but you invited me last time we saw each other, and I needed somewhere quiet to bring Shaun.

Vasiliy’s smile was bright with genuine warmth. “It pleases me that you thought of my humble home. I’m happy to have you here for as long as you’d like to stay. I rarely get company around here.”

Shaun returned his smile, then asked, “How do you and Jozef know each other?”

Though the smile faded from Vasiliy’s face, the sparkle in his eyes remained. He reminded Shaun of a mall Santa. Perpetually happy, jovial and kind. Of course, she had no idea if he really was kind, she’d only known him a few minutes, but she sensed a friendly spirit. Which is why she was shocked by Vasiliy’s next statement.

“Jozef was sent here to kill me.”

Her mouth fell open and her gaze swung toward Jozef. His expression was carefully blank, but he nodded at Shaun, agreeing with Vasiliy.

“Krystoff Koba believed I was involved in his kidnapping,” Vasiliy continued. “He sent Jozef to extract an explanation and to put me in the ground.”

Shaun was a little surprised at Vasiliy’s admission. Then she remembered his lack of fear when Jozef attacked him.

“Did you kidnap Krystoff?”

Vasiliy shook his head. “No, it was my daughter.”

Ah, that explained why Jozef was so hot to get his hands on the daughter.

“And who is your daughter?” she asked.

Vasiliy flashed her a grin. “Now isn’t that the million-dollar question.”

Jozef turned to Shaun, catching her attention.She calls herself the P-H-A-N-T-O-M. She’s been a thorn in my side for a few years now, scooping minor jobs out from under me, but the kidnapping was the catalyst to finally hunting her down.

Shaun was getting the picture. “You came here looking for the Phantom and discovered Vasiliy instead.”

Jozef nodded.We thought they were the same person, but I quickly realized V-A-S-I-L-I-Y had nothing to do with my uncle’s abduction.

“Is that why you chose not to kill him?”

Jozef nodded, then thought about it and shook his head, then signed,I don’t know. I just couldn’t.

Shaun’s heart squeezed in sympathy at Jozef’s confession. He’d met her shortly before he’d been ordered by Krystoff to kill Vasiliy. He hadn’t wanted to kill her either, hadn’t been able to bring himself to pull the trigger. Perhaps the Koba guard dog had already started questioning his uncle’s orders prior to meeting Shaun.

“You didn’t kill him because he didn’t deserve to die,” she said knowingly.

Both Jozef and Vasiliy laughed out loud while Shaun looked bewildered.

It was Vasiliy who told her the truth of who he was. “My dear, I was a Vor until about five years ago. I ran the Stanovich crime syndicate out of Kiev until I retired and moved here.”

Shaun’s mouth formed an ‘o’ as she tried to picture the pleasant, round man sitting across from her as one of the fearsome mobsters Karl had described to her when he taught her the word Vory. She didn’t know what to say.

Vasiliy sensed her discomfort and attempted to put her at ease.

“I was never very good at it,” he admitted. “Didn’t have the stomach for the job, unlike the Kobas. As I weakened in my resolve to remain at the top of the Bratva food chain, Krystoff sliced up my territory one piece at a time and seized it for his organization.”

---