The building had been penetrated.
Jozef lurched to his feet, dragging Shaun up too. He pushed her against the wall, covering her with his body. He could hear shouts in the stairwell below them and another detonation.
Smoke billowed up from below. Gunfire sounded in the lower levels of the building. If he hadn’t been on the opposite side, he’d be impressed with Krystoff’s new team. He hadn’t thought his uncle had pulled a team together who had the skills and efficiency to strike this quickly.
Jozef freed his hands, pressing Shaun against the wall so she wouldn’t collapse. He turned to his man and signed, cover us.
The other man nodded and took position on the landing as Jozef turned to grab Shaun who was coughing from the smoke. He suppressed the urge to cough, needing his ears to hear if the enemy had made it onto their floor.
He took Shaun’s good arm and dragged her back to the top floor, swinging her into the hallway. As he walked, he holstered his gun, dragged her into his arms and picked her up. He had to move faster.
He ran down the hall. Once he was back inside the apartment, he set Shaun down and locked the door. He moved swiftly into the bedroom and into Shaun’s closet, entering the code to the panic room.
“Jozef…” she said as he turned back to her.
He gripped her face and kissed her hard.
“No, no,” she moaned. “You’re coming with me.”
He couldn’t and she knew it. She clung to him, trying to drag him with her as he pushed her into the room.
He shook his head, unhooked her fingers from his shirt and shoved her hard. She stumbled back, a surprised look on her face as she fell. She landed on her butt, flinging her arms out to catch herself and then crying out as she jolted her injured arm.
She quickly turned to stare as Jozef took a last look at her before slamming the door shut and locking her inside. He hoped she was smart enough to stay put.
He made it as far as the kitchen island when an explosion rocked the apartment. The door flew off its hinges, hitting Jozef and sending him crashing into the living room. He leveled the glass coffee table as he fell.
He winced as a piece of glass sliced through his side.
He looked up in time to see Krystoff walk through the smoke, an arsenal of weapons strapped across his chest and waist.
Jozef reached for his gun and realized he’d dropped it in the kitchen when he’d been thrown off his feet. He tried to move, glass crunching underneath him as Krystoff strode toward him.
Chapter Forty-Four
As his uncle approached, Jozef had no choice but to lay still, his arms stretched wide, blood seeping from the cuts he’d gotten when he fell through the table.
“I loved you, boy,” Krystoff said gruffly, standing over Jozef. Tears dripped down his face, soaking into his beard. He either didn’t notice or didn’t care because he made no move to swipe them away. “I gave you everything and you chose this over your family.”
He waved his arm around the apartment as though to say, he didn’t understand the draw.
Jozef remained on his back but lifted his arms to sign. You would do the same for D-A-S-H-A. In fact, you have. You wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for her.
Krystoff nodded, and then did something Jozef wasn’t expecting. He sat heavily on the couch, his body collapsing under the weight of his responsibilities. His gun was still in his hand but not pointed at Jozef.
Jozef wondered why his uncle didn’t finish him. The more time that passed, the more Krystoff’s advantage became Jozef’s.
Jozef eased himself up, wincing as glass crunched beneath him. He slowly pulled himself out of the mess of broken coffee table and leaned against the couch on the opposite side of Krystoff.
“I love her,” Krystoff said simply. “She has caused both the worst moments and the best moments of my life.”
Jozef nodded his understanding. Shaun had done the same for him. The stunned emotion when he took in her beauty of soul and spirit – he couldn’t live without her. Yet, she was also the reason his family had splintered. Good or bad, she was reason he now looked at the world a little differently.
“I couldn’t allow you to kill her,” Krystoff continued, his voice taking on a pleading tone. “She’s all I have. Even if she gets me killed, at least I know I died defending her.”
Krystoff looked over at Jozef as though silently begging him to understand.
You could have called me, talked to me, negotiated for her life.
Krystoff shook his head. “I’ve worked with you for a long time, boy. Two decades. You don’t leave loose ends. She’s a danger to your woman; you won’t let her live.”
Jozef didn’t know how to answer his uncle’s charge. Maybe at one time Jozef would have agreed. He wouldn’t have left a loose end that could be a danger to himself or those he held dear. But Shaun had changed him, shown him how beautiful and fucked up love could be. He might be more willing to understand, to compromise.
So you decided to take out everything I love, take my life, the life of a man you treated like a son. You don’t understand loyalty or love if this is the only way you can resolve your shit.
Krystoff laughed bitterly.
“I’m starting to think you’re right,” he admitted, his voice betraying his exhaustion. “Both of my daughters would agree with you. Saskia said pretty much the same thing before she slipped her guard and disappeared.”
Krystoff looked at Jozef sharply. “Please Jozef, don’t go after her. She’s just a child. If you can’t recall your love for the rest of us, at least remember her.”
Jozef was
