Sin of Silence (Sinner's Empire #1) - Nikita Slater Page 0,117
clear that Jozef felt nothing for Giselle now, except maybe annoyance.
Despite his obvious rejection, Giselle wrapped her arm around his and wedged herself between Shaun and Jozef. Shaun stifled a laugh at the blatant desperation of the other woman. Saskia was less diplomatic.
“Bitch… gross,” she drawled, wrinkling her nose at Giselle. “Why don’t you go hump something a little closer to your league.”
Shaun choked on her laughter while Giselle looked like she was about to launch herself at them, claws out. Shaun decided to salvage the situation before they ruined Dasha’s fancy party by brawling next to the champagne fountain.
“I need to have a private talk with Saskia,” she said, her gaze caressing Jozef. “Will you get me a drink?”
Jozef dipped his head, his blue eyes sliding from Shaun to Saskia. He knew what she was up to. Shaun was worried he would try to stop them, but he simply watching as Shaun and Saskia slipped from the room together. Shaun looked around and caught sight of a storage closet.
“In here.”
“Ohhh…. I’m intrigued,” Saskia said with a laugh, following Shaun.
The ‘closet’ was more of a utility room, stretching so far back that Shaun wondered where it ended. It was filled with spare furniture in a wide variety of colours and materials. Clearly Dasha’s party reject closet.
Saskia hopped up on a pile of chairs and crossed her legs, showing Shaun that she was wearing a pair of knee length tights beneath her tulle-heavy pink ball gown.
“What’s up, doc?” Saskia asked, then burst into a fit of giggles.
Shaun raised an eyebrow in amusement. “Have you been waiting long with that one?”
“Pretty much since the moment you arrived.”
Shaun smiled at the joke, then grew serious. “I need to know where you got that burner phone from.”
Saskia’s face straightened as well. “I told you, I can’t say.”
“I know you did, and I hate to ask. I know how much of a risk you took getting me the phone.” Shaun paced the room, wondering how to get the information she needed without pushing Saskia into disclosing something she didn’t want to. “Okay, let’s try this another way. You don’t have to tell me who gave you the phone, but can you tell me, is it someone who works here?”
Saskia chewed her lip, thinking about Shaun’s question. She must have decided it wouldn’t hurt to give Shaun what she was asking. “Yeah, I have a friend who works here, for my father. He’d be in really big trouble if it got out that he gave me a burner phone, so I won’t say who he is.”
“I understand,” Shaun reassured her. “You don’t need to say anything else.”
Saskia tilted her head, her sharp gaze on Shaun’s face. “Why are you asking me? Did something happen?”
Now it was Shaun’s turn to decide how much to give the younger woman. She didn’t want Saskia to be left in the dark when she’d gone out on a limb to help Shaun, but she also didn’t want to pull Saskia further into her mess. Finally, Shaun decided that Saskia should be warned.
“Jozef knows about the phone.” When Saskia gasped and looked alarmed, Shaun rushed to reassure the young woman. “He’s not angry, but he did talk to your father and found out the phone was a plant. Krystoff was trying to trap me with that phone call I made.”
Saskia jumped down from the chairs and grabbed Shaun by the arms. “Did you say anything incriminating during the call?”
The line could’ve been part of a bad detective film, yet it was directed at Shaun in earnest because both women knew if Shaun had taken a misstep in her recorded conversation she would be in big trouble. They likely wouldn’t be chatting cozily in a closet together.
Shaun shook her head.
“Thank god.” Saskia released Shaun. She frowned and paced up and down the storage room, her arms crossed over her chest. “It doesn’t make any sense though. The guy who gave me the phone wouldn’t betray me.” Her eyes lifted guiltily to Shaun. She’d said more than she intended to. “He… he cares about me.”
Shaun’s understanding of the situation grew. Saskia had gotten the phone from an admirer, a man she trusted, but Shaun wasn’t so sure the young woman should trust a man under her father’s employ. She didn’t want to scare Saskia, but she wanted her to be careful around the person willing to give her a burner phone. A man who may or may not have manipulated her.