Page 42 of Goodnight, Sinners

Shaun nodded. “Yes.”

Jozef let out a growl that sent the hairs on her arms and neck standing on end. Her fiancé sure knew how to use the few sounds he could make have impact. Shaun ignored him, focusing her glare on the tall man with sandy blond hair. The man she’d pegged as law enforcement.

Before she could get an answer, Jozef was on top of him, gripping him by the neck and shoving him into the wall behind them. Instead of fighting back, the man held his hands up. Jozef punched him, dropping him to the ground.

“Whoa, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” The other man, not Moreau, rushed to his friend’s side, helping him to his feet.

Havel’s shoulders were shaking with laugher, which made Shaun want to punch him. She reminded herself that she had surgery in less than a week and needed her hands unbroken.

“Jozef!” Shaun said sharply, drawing his attention. “I want to talk to him. Move your goon.”

Havel twisted around to glare at her. She’d called him that a few times and he’d made it clear he preferred second-in-command, security specialist, or even bodyguard, over goon.

Jozef nodded at Havel, and when the big man moved from her path, she was able to step forward and examine the object of her interest. She sighed heavily and reached into her purse for a fistful of tissues. She handed them Moreau, who was bleeding in her hallway.

He took them and pressed them under his nose, which was swelling.

“I think it might be broken.” Shaun reached for him, but Jozef jerked her away.

She turned a heated glare on her overprotective fiancé. “If you insist on punching strange men in the house, I will treat them. It’s not polite to send bleeding people from our home.”

Havel didn’t bother to conceal his laughter and, after a long moment, Jozef released Shaun’s arm and allowed her to examine her new patient.

“Come on, let’s get you sitting down in a chair.” She ushered Moreau back into Jozef’s office and gave him a small push, indicating he should sit by the fireplace.

He’ll bleed all over the place,Jozef complained.

“Then you shouldn’t have hit him, should you have?” She leaned over her patient. “Tilt your head up so I can see the damage.”

She felt the heat of Jozef’s body as he hovered against her back. She wanted to tell him to give her space, but the tingles zinging up and down her spine in a dance of pleasure at his nearness held her tongue.

“Yes, it’s broken.”

She pulled her first aid kit from her purse, opened it and grabbed a handful of gauze and a roll of medical tape. She picked up a garbage can. “Throw the tissues in here.”

Her patient did as she instructed, his light blue eyes following her movements. His expression was neutral, despite the pain he had to have been feeling.

Shaun wondered if he was used to pain. He barely reacted, even as Jozef was punching him. Maybe he was a mercenary, like Jozef and his men. She’d discovered they could take a lot of pain. Of course, once she turned her attention on them, they whined like puppies with hurt paws.

She packed the gauze against his nose and taped it.

“You should go to the hospital. You might need a splint and they can give you pain meds and antibiotics. They’ll also let you know if you need a procedure to correct the misalignment.”

His expression finally changed, becoming derisive.

“I don’t need a hospital.” His words were muffled, as though he had a cold.

Shaun shrugged. “That’s up to you, but if you want to breathe through those nostrils, you should make sure there isn’t permanent damage.” She sat in the chair opposite him, shoving her first aid kit back in her purse. “Now, tell me why you were following me.”

Jozef growled once again and Shaun threw her arm out, stopping him from attacking their guest. He would be able to easily break her hold, but he allowed her to continue.

“You followed me twice that I saw, though it was probably more. Once when I was leaving Prague after I was poisoned and once more a month ago at the Christmas market. Right before… before…” her gaze sharpened as her mind whirred. “Were you there for the shootout? Were you on the street? If you were following me at the market, it stands to reason you might have followed me to the restaurant.”

He sighed, a slight gurgle to the sound from the blood likely dripping down the back of his throat.

“I wasn’t following you.”

Shaun narrowed her eyes at him. “I know what I saw.”

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