Page 79 of Goodnight, Sinners

Jozef set Shaun back on her feet, sliding an arm behind her back to steady her when she swayed. He helped her into the car and took the seat next to her. He picked up her hand and kissed the knuckles.

The bridal car left the mansion with the groom, the bride, the best man and a bodyguard. The car behind them held several more guards. Jozef wouldn’t take a chance on Shaun’s safety, especially not on their wedding day.

“My mother?” Shaun asked as Havel maneuvered the car onto the freeway.

Her bodyguard has informed her of our upcoming union. She’s agreed to meet us at the church.

Shaun sighed. “Well, I suppose that’s something. What about Saskia?”

I texted her. If she makes it to the church, then she makes it.

“I don’t want to get married without her in attendance,” Shaun argued.

Jozef took her face in his hands and kissed her lips before dropping his hands.Then I will have her guard pick her up and bring her to the church.

He picked up his phone and started texting. Shaun snatched his phone away from him. “Would you stop kidnapping people!”

Shaun unlocked his phone, using the passcode he’d given her. He suspected she didn’t want to use her own phone because she was worried Saskia, who had been avoiding her, was still angry over the incident with Adam.

Jozef had kept out of their relationship and wasn’t sure where they stood with each other. He was pleased by their attachment though and hoped they would work it out.

Shaun texted:Please come to the church to attend our wedding. Sorry for the short notice.

A few seconds later Saskia sent her response.

I know this is Shaun. If it were Jozef, he’d have just demanded I show up, then send his bodyguards to make sure I complied.

“She knows you well,” Shaun said with a laugh.

Okay, yes, this is Shaun. Please come. I want you to stand up with me.

Her response was quick:really?

Of course. We love you and want you with us when we get married.

If it was an important occasion, you wouldn’t be doing it last minute. I’m on my way. Don’t get hitched without me.

“She has a point.” Shaun looked over at Jozef who was reading the texts along with her.

No, she doesn’t,he signed.Our wedding was always going to be like this. I would never put you in the vulnerable position of being out in the open at my side during an important event.

Shaun stared at him. He suspected she was thinking over the past month and realizing he hadn’t been going out in public with her. When he left the house, Shaun was at home. When she was at the hospital or her mother’s, he was at home.

Jozef had learned the tactic from his uncle, who rarely left the house with his family members, except Jozef. Jozef had taken the risk with Shaun when they’d first gotten together, before he realized the depth of his attachment to her. He’d wanted her to love Prague as her attachment to him grew, so he’d taken the chance of taking her out on a date and to the club.

Jozef explained,I am a target. My uncle was a target. When he was taken by V-A-S-I-L-I-Y’s people, had my aunt been with him, she might have been killed or taken along with him. In my heart I want to be with you at all times, ensuring your protection. In reality, I put you in more danger when I’m seen with you. You are far safer with your bodyguards than with me.

Shaun blinked rapidly. She switched to sign language.Is this it then, the rest of our lives? Married, but never able to leave the house together? What about children? I can’t imagine never going out together as a family. No picnics, no restaurants, no shopping. I don’t know if I’m ready for this.

She dropped her head into her hands.

Jozef rubbed her back, waiting for her to think her way through this fresh problem. She had grown in leaps and bounds over the past few months, in her knowledge, understanding and acceptance of his mafia life. But sometimes, like now, she learned something that was more difficult to accept.

He understood. He wanted all those things. Picnics, restaurants, shopping, vacations. He wanted everything. But from the moment he became old enough to understand his place in the world, he knew he was different.

Unlike Shaun, he’d never known the things she mentioned. He’d never in his life gone on a picnic, except for the one he arranged for her on the floor of his apartment, a suggestion he’d gotten from her mother.

But Shaun made him want picnics. She made him want everything he’d never known before.

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