Havel was the fastest man on their team. He was bigger than the rest of them, but able to move like a speed demon when he needed to. Vasiliy complied. Once he was standing in the middle up the room, his arms up and out to the side, Jozef relaxed enough to sign while Havel translated. What do you want to tell me? "Thank you for trusting me." Vasiliy caught the look on Jozef's face and added, "Yes, of course you don't trust me. What I mean is, thank you for trusting me enough not to shoot before I get the chance to speak." Jozef gave him the universal 'hurry up' signal, which Havel didn't need to translate. "Right, right, of course," Vasiliy said hurriedly. "You'll be in a rush to leave." He didn't sound at all like a man who was facing death. Where was the begging? The bribery? Jozef wondered if he was less frightening than he thought. He glanced at Havel. Nope, the fatigue-clad crew, loaded with weaponry, would look scary as fuck coming through a do

Every head in the room turned and the orchestra fell silent as Jozef led Shaun into the ballroom, pausing in the doorway for the occupants to look their fill. Shaun clung tighter to Jozef's arm, while he squeezed her hand reassuringly. Being the object of such focused attention made her nervous and reminded her all over again of how different she was from these people. Though Shaun had helped prepare the house for the party, she was still shocked by the transformation of the ballroom. It was dripping in glittering crystal, gold and black accents and the most expensive settings money could buy. Shaun stared at the tablecloths covering the buffet tables. If she wasn't mistaken, they were the exact same shade as her gown. She stared open-mouthed at Dasha, who was standing near the front of the crowd with her hand on Krystoff's arm. The woman had outdone herself. When Shaun caught Dasha's eye, the older woman lifted her champagne glass in salute. Shaun was truly impressed.

Jozef's arms wrapped around Shaun as she fell to the patio deck, her body going limp against him. He kneeled with her, setting her gently on the ground. He couldn't tell what was wrong and her eyes were closed so he couldn't ask her. He'd never been so frustrated at his lack of voice before. Shaun moaned and a trickle of white foam spilled from her lips. An unfamiliar sensation hit Jozef at the sight. Burning fear. He glanced frantically around and, spotting Havel striding toward them, quickly signed, help her. Havel dropped to his knees on Shaun's other side, his concerned gaze running down her prone body. He lifted her wrist and felt for a pulse. Havel was the only man on his team with more than basic First Aid knowledge. He'd been forced to patch up their men on several occasions. "Got it. Steady but slowing down." He touched her face, leaning in for a closer look. "Poison, I think." Their eyes met in a moment of mutual understanding. It made sense: the

The People's Republic of Luhansk - The first time Jozef saw Shaun Jozef watched his target leave the bookstore and walk north on Pavlivska Street. He followed the man as he headed toward the Optovyy Rynok market. It was mid-afternoon on a Wednesday. The streets weren't deserted but they weren't filled with people either. Jozef and his team could easily grab Gustav now, as he cut through a side street on his way to pick up groceries, but that wasn't the plan. Jozef refused to do a job without the proper surveillance and equipment. It was something he and his team had become well known for throughout the mafia underworld. They were unparalleled when it came to completing operations to their client's satisfaction. Though this particular mission was personal, Jozef wouldn't fuck it up by snatching his target too early. He was in Luhansk for surveillance only. As he walked, he started to give Gustav more space, not wanting to spook the man. In the five days since Joze

"Move the light about an inch to my left and tilt 45 degrees." Shaun lifted her shoulder to catch a bead of sweat pooling against her neck, then rolled her shoulders to ease the strain. Shaun and her team had been in surgery for three hours working to remove a glioblastoma from a 62-year-old female patient. There was an estimated three more hours left in the surgery. They would take a ten-minute break to drink something and walk off the muscular tension before returning to surgery. The surgery itself wasn't complex for someone of Shaun's experience, but she had to be incredibly careful not to do any damage while removing the mass from her patient's brain. Doctor Olivia King, one of the resident surgeons moved the light as requested, then glanced up at the clock on the wall. "Fifteen minutes until break." Shaun blinked several times and took a few deep breaths before easing the scalpel back into her patient's brain. "Make it twenty and we should be able to remove