Page 77 of Goodnight, Sinners

He flinched, but he didn’t calm down.

He pointed at her.You are not in control here. I am master and you will listen.

“Is this really how you want our relationship to go?” she answered back, furious. “Because I refuse to participate in a household where only one voice counts.”

You have no choice.

“I always have choices.”

You either choose to follow the path I lay at your feet or you will live in a gilded cage. No hospital, no trips into the city to visit your mother. Nothing but the safety of the mansion.

“You wouldn’t do that to me.”

He stalked toward her.

Shaun did her best to hold her ground. She knew he wouldn’t hurt her, but the storm of anger surging towards her was terrifying. She could imagine what his enemies saw when he attacked.

I will always do what is best for your safety, whether you like it or not.

Shaun’s heart melted a little. She was in the wrong and she knew it. She’d put herself in a dangerous position by not immediately telling Jozef about Interpol.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the agent who came to see me.” She sat on the bed, her hands twisting in her lap. “I thought it would be better if your aunt was arrested. I didn’t want you to have to deal with a woman you thought of as a mother.”

You took the decision from me. You didn’t allow me the chance of deciding what I would do with the woman who betrayed this family.Jozef sank down to one knee in front of Shaun. The position should have put him at a disadvantage, but it didn’t. He almost looked scarier. Like the tiger who looked relaxed before biting down on the neck of his prey.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, not knowing what else to say. She saw his perspective and understood the magnitude of her secret. Would she do it again if given the opportunity? She didn’t know. Regardless of what her keeping a secret meant to Jozef, she stood by her reasoning.

She’d seen the look on his face, the utter devastation after he’d been forced to kill Krystoff. The heartbreak had been visceral and unbearable. She’d shared the moment with him and it had shredded her heart. She wanted to save him from having to go through that all over again with his aunt.

She blinked as she realized he was signing.

… just a word. Words do not prove loyalty.

She’d missed something, but it sounded like he was rejecting her apology.

“Then what proves loyalty.”

Actions.

He stood and stalked to her closet, jerking the door open.

Shaun quickly swiped at her eyes, drying them. Jozef hadn’t been very harsh with her. He was incapable of it. But still… it hurt that she’d lost his trust.

Jozef walked out of her closet with a handful of clothes, tossing them on the bed.

She looked from the clothes up into his lake blue eyes, drowning in the anger she saw there. Living in the mafia world, in Jozef’s world, felt like learning how to swim all over again and she kept sinking below the surface of the water. Maybe she would never learn how to navigate Jozef’s world. Much as she tried, she kept screwing up.

She was living in a place that felt cold and oppressive with a contingent of bodyguards who were always in her space. Cooper shadowed her constantly while Atlas announced guests like he was the royal crier. She’d been harassed by Interpol and had to live knowing there was a woman out there, too close for comfort, who wanted to murder Shaun. In short, her life had become a big mess from the moment she'd met Jozef.

Yet, even now, with him looking at her through a lens of betrayal, she couldn’t bring herself to regret a single moment with him. She didn’t want out. She didn’t want to leave. She just wanted him.

“What do I have to do to prove my loyalty?”

Pick a dress. He pointed at the pile of clothes on the bed and left the room without another word.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Jozef shook his head as he strode away from the master suite, trying to cast off the anger. He knew his response was over the top, but he couldn’t help the sense of betrayal that he got every time he thought of Shaun deliberately placing herself in danger to trap his aunt.

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