Page 22 of Gangster's Empire: Leeza & Havel

Havel released Leeza and placed his fists against the floor, his gaze never leaving Leeza’s as he pushed himself up. “No punishment,” he said, then added, “Be ready to leave in an hour.”

“Where are we going?”

But he was already on his way out. Leeza wanted to call out to him, demand he tell her what was happening, but there was no point. She wouldn’t get any answers until he was ready.

As the door slammed behind him, Leeza collapsed back onto the mattress, covering her face with her hands. “I hate that man.”

Kris was moving around beside her, reaching for the dolls Saskia had set out for him the night before.

“You don’t hate him,” Saskia said, climbing over the back of the couch and settling down. “He is really intense though, especially around you. I think when you ran off, he took it personally, which is weird because why would he? Also, Jozef doesn’t seem nearly as upset about it. When you were gone, he was mostly concerned about finding you and making sure you were safe.”

It pleased Leeza to know that her cousin cared. Took some of the sting out of his earlier plan to have her killed so he would have a clear path to the Koba seat of power.

“I suspect Havel will be this way until after the wedding,” she said, running her fingers through the tangles in her hair.

“Wedding? What wedding?” Saskia asked in confusion. “Is Havel getting married?” She paused, staring off into space, then added, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him with a woman. I thought maybe he was asexual or something.”

Leeza burst out laughing. Havel was definitely not asexual. She’d felt the proof of his lust when they’d made out in her ex-husband’s bed.

The thought of Adam sent a shudder of distaste down her spine. Thank goodness she’d burnt everything in that house, including a bed she’d spent too many humiliating nights in.

Never again.

“It’s me he intends to marry,” Leeza said grimly, curling onto her side to watch Kris as he maneuvered the legs on a doll to make it seem like it was walking.

Saskia laughed, then sat up straighter when Leeza didn’t laugh with her. “You’re joking, right? Why would Havel want to marry you?”

Ouch.

Saskia hadn’t known that Havel and Leeza were seeing each other before Krystoff gave Leeza to Adam in marriage. She’d been too young to see the flirtations, to notice the way Havel dogged Leeza’s steps, protecting her to the point of overdoing it.

She and Havel had been in love… or so she thought, but after she and Adam were married, he became cold and distant. She never understood his resentment, but maybe he never understood that she'd had no choice.

“I wish I was joking,” Leeza said sadly, “but he’s told me to prepare for the wedding. He even has Jozef’s blessing.”

“I hate to be a wedding pooper, but aren’t you already married?” Saskia pointed out.

“Havel and Jozef got me a divorce while I was on the run,” Leeza confided. “Apparently, it’s real. I’m free to marry again.”

Saskia gaped at her. “Sometimes I forget how much money we have. It’s insane the things we can do.”

Saskia meant ‘we’ as in the family, but Leeza understood. “You mean the illegal things we can do,” she replied with a small frown.

Saskia shrugged. “We do what we gotta do to get things done.”

“Spoken like a true mafia princess.”

Saskia laughed. “I thought we weren’t supposed to say that part out loud.”

“Self-awareness isn’t illegal,” Leeza quipped, which made Saskia laugh harder.

“I would bet Shaun would agree,” she said once she’d calmed down.

Leeza thought Saskia was right. Shaun had a kind of self-awareness that she’d brought to the family when she arrived. She knew exactly who the Kobas were and what they did for a living and she bucked the system, getting herself into hot water with her captors. Jozef kept her from being hurt though, because he'd fallen in love with her and wouldn't let anyone harm a hair on her head.

“You better get ready to go before Havel comes looking for you,” Saskia urged.

Leeza rolled off the mattress and stood up. “Yeah, I don’t really want to know what he’ll do if I’m not ready.”

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