Page 21 of Gangster's Empire: Leeza & Havel

“Are you okay with us not sharing a father?” Leeza asked her sister.

Saskia laughed. “There’s not much we can do about your birth circumstances now, is there?”

“I guess not,” Leeza agreed ruefully.

Saskia pushed herself up on the mattress, leaning against the back of the couch, her eyes growing distant. “We’ve never shared much, have we? We’re completely different, so it doesn’t matter if we share fifty percent less blood.”

Leeza giggled at her sister’s description but agreed. “I’m sorry we drifted apart after I got married.”

“You’re sorry a lot tonight, aren’t you?” Saskia said dryly, then added, “I’m starting to see why you distanced yourself from everyone after you got married. I mean, I guess I should probably know more about Adam since he was part of our family for almost a decade, but he was hard to get to know. He wasn’t a good man, was he?”

“No, he wasn’t,” Leeza agreed grimly. “And you were better off not knowing much about him.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Saskia quietly offered.

Leeza hesitated, then shook her head. “No, not yet.” Maybe never. She didn’t know if there would ever be a time that she could force the confessions of what he’d done to her past her lips.

She thought of Havel and his insistence that one day she would talk to him about it and didn’t know what to feel. Short of torture, he couldn't make her talk about her past with Adam. And he wouldn't torture her, of that she was sure. A warmth spread through her body as the thought of him and who he used to be. Of who they used to be together. It made her full of longing and regret for a past they never had.

She banished her thoughts. The past couldn't be changed and Havel was no longer the man he once was. Yes, he was still sexy, still had a magnetic powerful presence, but he was also a kidnapping mercenary with too many tattoos to be considered decent. “How’s school going?” Leeza asked, changing the subject.

Saskia was taking linguistic studies at the University of Prague. She’d just finished her second year. “Great!” she replied. “I had this one professor who tried to give me a B in Ancient Languages, but I set him straight.”

“Did you threaten to send Havel after him?” Leeza asked with a laugh. Havel was always quick to take care of any issue that Leeza and Saskia had.

“No, I’m learning how to take care of my own problems these days,” Saskia said proudly. “I handed him a copy of his own book on ancient Mediterranean languages with all the typos marked in red. He was very appreciative and agreed to adjust my mark.”

Leeza laughed. “You’re such a know-it-all brat.”

“I learned from the best.”

They talked late into the night and eventually fell asleep with Kris snuggled between them, the light from the TV playing across the room.

CHAPTER TEN

A loud hammering startled Leeza and she woke instantly, adrenaline rushing through her as her hand automatically sought the weapon she always left beneath her mattress.

Only she wasn’t at home or in one of her hideouts and there was no gun under her mattress. She took a deep breath as the panic subsided. Her months on the run had definitely destroyed her sense of calm.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got it,” Saskia said with a giant yawn. She rolled out of their makeshift bed and stood, her nightshirt rumpled and her ponytail a riot of flyaway hairs. She jerked the door open and muttered, “Whadda ya wan’?”

Havel stood on the other side, massive arms crossed over an equally massive chest, muscles and tattoos rippling in a way that had Leeza’s morning libido heating up.

Havel’s eyes sought her out. He pushed past Saskia and strode into the room.

Kris rolled sleepily against Leeza’s side, wrapping his arm around her middle. She placed a hand protectively on his shoulder, her heart hammering as Havel crouched next to her.

He gripped her chin and tilted her face up to his. “If I ever again find you somewhere other than where I put you, I will lock you up and throw away the key.”

Anger surged through her and she shoved his hand away. “Don’t touch me.”

He ignored her, grabbing her chin again, this time so hard Leeza feared he’d leave finger marks. He glanced at Kris, then lowered his voice as he forced her to look at him again. “Tell me you understand.”

“I understand basic English, if that’s what you mean,” she snapped.

Saskia interrupted, her voice high with anxiety. “I let her out of the Shed, so please don’t take your anger out on her. It was my fault, so whatever you’re going to do to her, do it to me instead.”

Because Leeza was forced to keep looking at Havel, she saw the emotion flickering behind his deadly gaze. He had a soft spot when it came to the younger Koba sister, which meant he couldn’t punish Leeza without punishing her rescuer.

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