Page 25 of Goodnight, Sinners

“What makes you think I’m the one hesitating?”

He gave her a look. “We both know it’s not Jozef dragging his feet. If you gave him the word go, he’d have you in a chapel so fast your head would spin.”

“Okay, fine. But I’m not dragging my feet, not really. There’s too much for us to settle before I’ll feel really ready to commit myself.”

He gave her a skeptical look as he escorted her from the elevator. He shuffled Shaun to the side as he knocked on Fatima’s door.

“Let yourself in,” Fatima called, and Cooper opened the door.

“Lady, I think you can consider yourself committed. No way is that man letting you go.”

“Why does it always have to sound so kidnappy?” Shaun complained, reaching out to hug her mother. “Mom, you need to keep your door locked.”

“I knew you were on your way up.” She pointed to her TV screen, which showed the building’s cameras. “Havel gave me the channel for the security feed.”

Cooper and Shaun stood in front of the TV, watching the workers as they moved through the building.

“That one likes to take his shirt off when he gets hot.” Fatima tapped the screen over a black and white figure who was talking to someone. He wore a tool belt that rode low on his hips. “I think he’s the supervisor. He likes to boss the other ones around.”

Shaun slapped a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud while Cooper grinned.

The trio made their way to the top floor, to Shaun and Jozef’s apartment. It was Shaun’s first visit since the attack.

Cooper swept the apartment before allowing the two women inside.

She was nervous, but as she glanced around, she realized most of the broken furniture and other debris had been removed and there were no traces of death that she could see or smell. She felt… glad to be home. Sunlight filled the room from the two walls of windows.

“It feels small,” she murmured.

“Well, you have a mansion now,” Fatima said with a laugh. “This place is tiny in comparison.”

Shaun ran her hand over the shiny chrome finish of a brand-new fridge. Her gaze dropped to the floor.

Krystoff would have died right where she was standing. His body had been destroyed. At a glance, she’d known he couldn’t recover from his injuries. He’d died in pain, but he hadn’t been alone. Jozef had sat beside him, holding his hand.

Shaun didn’t notice her breathing becoming more erratic until she looked up and found herself surrounded by her mother and Cooper, both standing too close. She took a step back and waved them away.

“I’m fine, just a flashback.”

Cooper nodded knowingly and gave her the space she desired, taking his place by the door. Fatima continued to look concerned.

“Mom, I’m fine, really.” Shaun shook off the lingering sadness and panic and moved out of the kitchen. “Let’s decide what we want to do with the place. Jozef says we can use it as a weekend home when we want to get away from the mansion.”

Fatima laughed. “So you have a mansion for weekdays and a luxury apartment for weekends. Life is going to be difficult for you.”

Shaun forced a smile, but she had trouble sharing her mother’s humour. The tradeoff for luxury living wasn’t always worth it and there were days when she longed for the simple life Vasiliy led. Of course, she knew that kind of living would eventually drive her crazy too. It took a special person to hole up in the woods all alone, with his nearest neighbours a three-hour hike away.

“Will you be working here?” Fatima asked, looking around speculatively.

“I hope to,” Shaun admitted. “I’m going to at least continue my research.”

“Well, since it’s usually just the two of you, I think you should buy a smaller table and put in an office against these windows. You’ll get plenty of light and you can watch the city below while you work.”

Shaun moved to stand beside her mother. “I love that idea. Maybe I’ll ask the interior decorator to use brighter colours in here. Something that will really light up when the sun hits it.”

“And for your second bedroom, you should consider a nursery.”

The words were spoken so casually that Shaun almost missed them. “A nursery?” she sputtered and laughed at the same time. “Don’t you think that’s a little premature?”

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