The Taming of the Thief (17 page)

 
   
 
“How
do you say – oh yes, you say po-tay-to, I say po-tah-to.”

 
   
 
Sophie laughed.

 
   
 
“Now,
since we can do nothing else here, let us leave and find some lunch.”

 
   
 
“Pietr, you're forgetting something.”

 
   
 
“You
wish to skip lunch and head straight back to the hotel? I will happily order
room service for later.”

 
   
 
“No.”
Sophie flushed. The last place she wanted to go was his hotel room. What little
resistance she managed to muster would flee. Particularly with all the erotic
images his words conjured.

 
   
 
“Here?” Pietr eyed her desk skeptically. “I
prefer a more luxurious accomdation for you and that desk will not be at all
comfortable for what I have in mind.”

 
   
 
Her
vision blurred and her ears roared. Like flipping a dial, her desire bloomed
from simmer to boil.

 
   
 
“Work,” she strangled the word out. “I have to
work.”

 
   
 
“Boring.”

 
   
 
Sophie opened her mouth, but her retort died
unspoken when her phone rang. Desperate, she grabbed it before Pietr could
move.

 
   
 
“Yes?” She retreated behind the desk, Pietr in
pursuit. “Lady Hardwicke is here?” Their game stuttered to a halt. Pietr's gaze
narrowed and Sophie met his questioning look with a quick shake of her head.

 
   
 
“No,
that's fine. We'll come up to meet her – a tour?”

 
   
 
Pietr
shook his head sharply.

 
   
 
“Could you let Lady Hardwicke know I will do
what I can?”

 
   
 
Pietr
scowled.

 
   
 
Sophie swallowed a smile.

 
   
 
They
wouldn't be going back to the hotel yet.
So
why doesn’t that make me feel better?

 
   
 
S
ophie walked quickly up the hall, her
museum badge in hand to key them out of the secure wing and back into the
museum lobby. Pietr stalked along at her heels. The disapproval radiating off
him lapped against her, surging forward, as though pushing her ahead of him. He
wanted her to put Lady Katherine off or reschedule, but Sophie had insisted.

 
   
 
It
helped that she liked the woman earlier and the distraction was a welcome one
from the chaos intersecting with her life. At the main exit to the lobby, Pietr
braced the door closed with his hand.

 
   
 
“Pietr.”
Sophie sighed. “We forwarded the message to
Detective Bryant and informed him of the missing items.”

 
   
 
“I
know and I'm not going to stop you if you're going to insist.”

 
   
 
“Which I am.”

 
   
 
“Accepted.”
Pietr ducked his head down, holding her gaze.
“So we'll go out there and we'll give her a tour, but ask yourself this … how
did Lady Katherine know you worked here?”

 
   
 
Shock
skittered up her spine.

 
   
 
Pietr
lifted his brows, suspicion and doubt in his expression.

 
   
 
“I
didn't tell her I worked here.”

 
   
 
“Nor
did
I
.”

 
   
 
Sophie reviewed their earlier encounter at
Pietr's hotel room. Butterflies flurried in her stomach and bile tasted sour at
the back of her throat.
“But isn't Lady Katherine a friend of
yours?”

 
   
 
“Acquaintance does not make her a friend and
before this morning, I haven't seen Katherine in about three years, now twice
in the same day? Yes, it makes me question her motives.”

 
   
 
Pressing a hand against her stomach, Sophie
backed up a pace. “I don't want to live like this. She's
connected,
maybe she just looked me up after she left your hotel.”

 
   
 
The
reasoning echoed feebly to her ears.

 
   
 
“Maybe,” Pietr nodded agreeably. “And maybe
you should question the timing and convenience of her appearance.”

 
   
 
Sophie
nodded,
self-doubt tart on her tongue. “Pietr, why would she – how could she be
involved?”

 
   
 
“The
best artifice is so stunningly beautiful, so much so that you don't realize
it's there until it's too late. Never mistake anything Katherine does for
simple motives.”

 
   
 
“Do
you have simple motives?” She gave voice to the question plaguing her
internally. She'd been so off center and Pietr had insinuated himself deeply
into her life in such a short time. It seemed as though she'd known him for
years and then a single nuance of his expression changed and she realized she
didn't know him at all.

 
   
 
“It
would be so easy to say yes,” Pietr sighed, leaning down to brush a kiss
against her forehead. The gentle action touched her to the core. “I swear that
I would never hurt you, but maybe you should reconsider how easily you trust,
bien-aimee
.”

 
   
 
The
stark honesty of that confession shook her. She studied his gaze and saw an
earnest sincerity that belied his earlier teasing and playfulness.
Was she trusting
Pietr too easily?

 
   
 
She
rolled the thought around in her mind, studying it from the different angles.
He'd broken into her apartment, but he'd also saved her life, taken care of
her, given her a place of refuge and seemed willing to stand as her shield
against this unseen threat. He didn’t flinch in his support.

 
   
 
“I
want to trust you,” she said softly.

 
   
 
“And
I want to be worthy of that trust.”

 
   
 
The
hallway around them filled with a hushed sense of expectation. Time suspended.
Sophie held Pietr's gaze, locked in the internal struggle. She wanted to trust
him and a part of her already did. It was more than just leaning on him or
letting him make decisions, he listened to her, really listened to her in a way
that was both unfamiliar and intoxicating.

 
   
 
“Thank you,” she whispered.

 
   
 
“For?”

 
   
 
“I
don't know – maybe just for being you. I can't believe this is all happening,
but I'm really glad you're here.” A small band snapped around her heart. She
was glad to know Pietr. Amongst the chaos, the uncertainty and the fear,
existed
delight. Delight to know him and his smile echoed
hers.

 
   
 
“
Oui,
bien-aimee
,
I am glad I am here also. Now, let us go see what it is that Lady Katherine
wants, shall we?” He released his grip on the door and crooked his elbow to her
invitingly.

 
   
 
“Now that I'm a nervous wreck.”
She laughed and slipped her
hand onto his arm.
“Absolutely.
Let's do it.”

 
   
 
Pietr
chuckled, pulling the door open after she unlocked it with her badge. “Just
remember, she is pursuing you. So play hard to get.”

 
   
 
“Is
she pursuing me?” She murmured as they stepped into the lobby. The post-lunch
crowd was even thicker than their earlier arrival with several school children
lining up in matching t-shirts and being sorted into tour groups, parents,
teachers and docents shepherding.

 
   
 
“Well, I'm afraid that if it is I she is
pursuing then she is doomed to disappointment.” Pietr winked, but Sophie
couldn't respond as the lady in question swooped towards them.

 
   
 
Lady
Katherine had changed into tapered slacks, with flared hems that swirled as she
walked. Her shoes were black, matching the slacks, but her canary yellow
skintight top set off the black bolero jacket smashingly.

 
   
 
Sophie tried not to compare herself to
Katherine's statuesque runway model physique and appearance. Her ripples of red
hair were tamed into a half-chignon, the loose ends trailing over one shoulder.
Simple gold hoops decorated her ears and a dazzling onyx and diamond necklace
glittered with sparks of sunlight shining through the front windows.

 
   
 
“Sophie, darling!”
Katherine air-kissed her cheeks and
seized her free hand in a quick squeeze.

 
   
 
“Lady
Katherine…”

 
   
 
“Kit.” The woman admonished with a playful
grin. “Remember, we are going to be wonderful friends and shouldn't stand on
such formality.”

 
   
 
“Katherine,” Pietr drolled and received a
quick buss on the cheek and an airy little wave.

 
   
 
“You
are just everywhere Pietr, but I insist you share Sophie this afternoon. I had
some
time,
the boys are off for their 'golf' and I
wanted to get a look at the new exhibit they've been advertising.”

 
   
 
“Oh,
Treasures of the Middle and Far-Eastern World?” Sophie blinked. She hadn't
known what she'd expected Katherine to say, but that wasn't it. “It's not open
yet.”

 
   
 
“I
know.” Katherine winked, leaning into both of them, conspiracy igniting in her
tone. “Which is why I was thrilled to find out that one of the researchers
employed here was one Sophie Kingston, the paramour of my dear friend Pietr and
my soon-to-be bestest friend. I'm afraid I'll already be in Europe when they
have the opening scheduled and maybe you could do your friend a favor and let
me steal a peek?”

 
   
 
“I
don't kn—”

 
   
 
“Of
course you can, you wouldn't want to disappoint me. I know Pietr is a huge fan
of the arts and a sneak peek may be just what you need to earn a generous
donation and I'm sure I can enthuse about it to all of Daddy's bankers and just
think what a coup that could be for you.”

 
   
 
Sophie shot Pietr a helpless look. He watched
Katherine with narrow-eyed speculation.

 
   
 
“Katherine, what are you up to?” Sophie envied
the bold directness of Pietr's question.

 
   
 
Katherine threw her head back and
laughed,
a flirty smile quirking up one corner of her mouth.
“I'm trading a favor for a favor. I really do want to see the exhibit and I
want to get to know Sophie because you're notoriously selfish with your possessions.”
She arched eyebrow at Sophie's hand on Pietr's arm as though saying 'see.'

 
   
 
“And
you don't have a dozen other favors you could cultivate? You just had to visit
Sophie here?” Pietr tsked. “You're slipping.”