Page 68 of Goodnight, Sinners

She turned, but instead of looking at Cooper, her gaze zeroed in on the man standing opposite her, in the corner between the cabinet and the windows. The only spot in the office where he wouldn’t be visible to Cooper.

“Hello again, Shaun.”

It was the Interpol agent, Francois Moreau. Jozef had told her his name, told her to watch out for him and to contact Jozef immediately if he turned up and tried to talk to her. Jozef had certainly predicted this moment.

“My name is Dr. Patterson; I would appreciate if you do not refer to me on familiar terms. We are not friends.” She wanted to set her boundaries before finding out what this man wanted. She was curious, but not enough to allow him to manipulate her.

Men often pegged women of her profession and experience as a soft touch. They saw her as a helper, compassionate and caring. While she was all those things, she was also a surgeon. She was egotistical, obstinate, and stubborn. She’d learned to use the misjudgment of men to her advantage. If they undervalued her work ethic, they would be left in the dust as she rose through the ranks of the world’s best surgeons.

Rather than showing insult at her comment, he dipped his head in acknowledgment. “Dr. Patterson.”

Her eye caught on a movement as the door to Elisa’s office opened and Cooper’s head popped inside. “Everything okay?”

“Yes,” she blurted. “I’m on the phone with my mom, just telling her about the surgery. She wanted to know.”

A shaft of guilt forced her to drop her gaze. She’d been building trust with her bodyguard for weeks, and now she was lying to him. She hoped the information she could get from Moreau would be worth the lie.

“Be sure to tell her what a rockstar you are for saving the Prime Minister from his brain tumour.” She smiled as he pulled his head from the office and turned his back to give her privacy.

Shit, now she would have to tell Fatima about the surgery before Cooper saw her again. This was the problem with lies, they were too easily unraveled.

Her annoyance at Moreau made her voice sharp when she spoke to him. “Tell me what you want and make it good, or I will call Cooper in, which you obviously don’t want.”

He shrugged. “Getting to you is like breaking into the Louvre. Very difficult and a little dangerous. If your bodyguard allowed you to have a conversation with me, he wouldn’t be doing his job.”

Fair enough, though Shaun still didn’t like his methods. “If I’d wanted to talk to Interpol, I would’ve contacted you myself. I have nothing to say.”

“You may have nothing to say to us, but we have plenty to say to you, particularly on the subject of your future husband.”

Red hot fury rushed through her, along with the instinct to protect Jozef. “I have nothing to say to you, Mr. Moreau. If you want to speak with myhusband,” she stressed the word, daring him to point out her lack of marriage certificate, “then you can talk to him yourself.”

“Your husband is mafia; he’s been taught since birth not to talk to the police. I want to talk to you because I think you will be more open to negotiation.”

“Then you’re wrong,” she snapped. “I won’t speak with anyone without first talking to Jozef.”

“I thought you were more independent than that,” he chided. “Pity. I was looking forward to having an intelligent conversation with an intelligent woman.”

“If you think insulting me through fake flattery will work, then you haven’t done your homework on me at all.” She picked up her purse and dropped her phone inside. She was done and she was done with pretending. She headed for the door, intent on capturing Cooper’s attention and telling him about her shady visitor.

“Even if it saves your husband from a long prison sentence? Or even death?”

She stopped walking and turned a ferocious glare on the man. “If you had anything on Jozef, you wouldn’t be here talking to me. You’d have him in custody already.”

He smiled grimly. “That is a naïve position to take. While I admit we don’t have a lot of evidence linking your husband to illegal foreign operations, we have enough to bring him in for questioning. We probably have enough to hold him for a while, which could cripple his takeover of the Koba organization. He’s in a delicate position at the moment, it wouldn’t take a lot to destabilize him.”

Now Moreau had her attention. Jozef rarely talked to her about his takeover. She thought it was sort of an unspoken agreement between them. Jozef didn’t want her involved in his criminal activities, and she didn’t particularly want to hear the grisly details. Yet, she was curious. Especially because she saw the recent changes in him. He was becoming more serious and he disappeared at all hours of day and night.

“I won’t help you bring in my husband, if that’s what you’re looking for.”

He shook his head. “Actually, Jozef’s work has caused more good than harm. Though he’s definitely involved in illegal activities, some of which we can prove, he’s also responsible for helping stabilize the governments in this region of Europe.”

Shaun was surprised to hear that Jozef had anything to do with politics. But then, maybe she shouldn’t be. She knew the Prime Minister wanted Jozef on his side. Perhaps this was what Moreau meant.

“If you don’t want to arrest Jozef, then what do you want?”

“His aunt.” The answer was blunt, and it took Shaun a moment to realize who he meant.

“You want Dasha?”

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