Jozef decided that brooding, pacing and scowling at the hole he'd put in the wall wasn’t getting him anywhere. He needed to find Shaun and try to talk through some of their issues. It seemed like the sort of mature thing Shaun would do. Jozef would try his best to play by her rules without losing his temper. He would also find a servant to patch the hole in the wall, so Shaun didn’t find out he'd already lost his temper before going to find her.
He jerked the door to his suite open and was surprised to find Havel on the other side, his fist raised to knock on the door. The expression of surprise on Havel’s face was enough to draw a slight smirk from Jozef.
Jozef raised a brow in greeting and waved his hand inside, indicating Havel should come in. Havel dropped his hand and walked past Jozef, heading straight to the mini bar. “Got some news.” He picked up a bottle of Jozef’s Scotch and raised an eyebrow.
Jozef thought about it and shook his head. It was common for the two men to meet in the afternoons to discuss business and security. They usually had a few drinks while they talked, but today Jozef couldn’t get the image of Shaun out of his head. If he was going to find her after his meeting with Havel, then he should do it with a clear head. She hadn’t liked it when he took those lines of coke; her expression clearly shocked and disapproving before she’d run off to the restroom. Jozef didn’t usually care what people thought of him and his habits, but for some reason the look on her face, the disappointment, was enough to make him rethink a few life choices that had seemed so automatic before.
Havel poured himself a generous glass of Scotch, replaced the lid on the bottle and settled his large frame on the couch. Jozef joined him, sitting in the chair next to Havel.
Jozef opened the conversation. What news?
Havel took a long swallow of his drink and licked his lips appreciatively before setting it down on the table in front of him. He leaned back in his seat and crossed an ankle over his knee. He looked relaxed, as though the jobs of security specialist for the Koba family and Jozef’s second-in-command were a breeze. Jozef knew better. He knew how seriously Havel took his position.
Havel had been a rescue from another organization that had erroneously fingered him as a traitor. They’d beaten him to within an inch of his life and left him to die. Havel was stronger than death, though, and had made it out of the situation. Once he’d healed, he’d gone to the Koba family in retaliation and handed them their competitors on a silver platter. Jozef had been fourteen at the time and Krystoff had appointed Havel as his protector and mentor.
“Vasiliy wants a meeting with Krystoff. He says he has information that will explain his motives for kidnapping your uncle.”
What do you think of this development? Jozef asked his second-in-command. Part of their job was keeping Krystoff safe at all times. While Krystoff was head of the family, he made no real decisions without Jozef’s backing, since Jozef would provide the skill and muscle.
“I think it’s bullshit,” Havel announced, taking another sip of his Scotch and leaving a wet ring on the glass table. He never used the coasters, despite Jozef having plenty to go around. “Vasiliy hasn’t shown his face. It’s as though he wants to stay hidden while his men do the work. I would almost say it was his son acting in his name, rather than the old man pulling the strings, but the lad is a complete incompetent. He couldn’t plan his way out of the bottom of a pint glass. And now Vasiliy wants a meeting? I’m tempted to agree to one just so we can finally get him in a room. I want to ask him what the fuck he was thinking. Clearly whatever he was attempting to do when he took Krystoff didn’t pan out, as there were no demands.”
We still don’t know what he wanted with my uncle? Jozef asked, knowing the answer.
“No, we never figured out a motive. It’s like he came out of thin air to poke your family. There’s a lot of history though… with your mother.” Havel paused to see if Jozef would add anything, but he remained silent. Havel continued, “Over the past several years, Vasiliy has lain low and avoided your uncle. It seems strange that he would come out of nowhere to kidnap Krystoff, cut off his finger then allow him to be taken back without resistance.”
Jozef nodded. Everything Havel was saying jived with his impressions of the situation, right down to the ease in which they’d rescued Krystoff. There had been very little security on the property and Jozef would have been surprised if Vasiliy himself was at the house. He’d likely been tucked safely away at one of his vacation estates.
You think they knew we were coming?
Havel nodded. “They had to. Either that, or they’re by far the most incompetent kidnappers I’ve heard of. They let us walk right in unmolested and leave with the only leverage they had. It works with our theory that someone inside our circle was involved. We had Krystoff locked down tight; he should never have been taken while he was visiting Kiev.”
They fell silent for a few minutes as they contemplated the strange and bungled kidnapping. Finally, Jozef signed, I think I take the trophy for worst kidnapper. My victim hates me, is refusing to marry me and is now likely plotting her escape from the rose garden.
Havel looked somewhat taken aback at Jozef’s admission. They didn’t usually talk about their personal lives. Then, they didn’t exactly have personal lives, beyond the most recent piece of tail one of them was sampling. Shaun was different, she hovered between personal and business.
“Hate to say it, buddy,” Havel started, “But you should’ve – ”
Jozef held up a hand, stopping the other man from continuing. Don’t say it. I don’t want to make an enemy of my best friend.
Havel nodded slowly, digesting the implications of what Jozef was saying. He was telling his second-in-command that Shaun was more to him than just his kidnapping victim, or another piece of tail. She was his future wife. She was someone he was rapidly coming to care for.
“Then I won’t say what I think. Instead, I will say this.” He looked at Jozef seriously. “Classy bitches, like the one you have, are high fucking maintenance. And yours is worse than the usual. She has ethics. Prepare to spend your life grovelling, my friend, because every time you fuck up, she’ll expect you on your knees. And I have no doubt you’re going to fuck up a lot.”
Jozef reached over to slap Havel in the side of the head, but Havel dodged him, picking up his glass and downing the rest of his scotch.
When Havel was looking at him again, Jozef signed, one day you’ll find a woman who fucks with your head and I will take pleasure in your misery.
Instead of laughing and giving a snappy comeback, Havel’s face fell into serious lines and his thoughts wandered to somewhere else. He pushed himself off the couch and made his way to the door, only speaking as he was about to leave.
“If you love her, make sure you do everything in your power to keep her. Don’t fuck it up.” He left, closing the door behind him and locking it. He never left the family’s security up to chance.
Jozef was stunned by Havel’s parting words and not just because they were downright romantic, but because they were spoken by one of the toughest, most staunch bachelors Jozef knew. It was Havel’s position that Shaun should’ve been killed in the basement before ever getting to know any of them. It seemed strange that now Havel was advising Jozef to keep her. Had Havel loved and lost? And when had it happened? Havel had been with the family for decades, since Jozef was a teenager. Jozef didn’t remember any point at which a woman featured in the older man’s life.