I smiled in the darkness, aggravation giving way to more enjoyable thoughts of Ana in the shower, naked and streaming with slick lather. She’s touching herself, I thought, and my cock pushed hard against my zipper, straining for freedom. It took everything I had to stay where I was. It would be so easy to slip into the shower with her. She’d been so responsive in my hands…
“We won’t have to wait much longer, Ana. I promise you,” I said softly. “I know I can’t wait much fucking longer.”
I tossed restlessly on the couch until the water finally stopped. A long time later, I slipped into an uneasy sleep and dreamed of Ana.
I held her in my arms. She was naked except for the Blue, hanging from a ribbon around her neck. It nestled warmly between her bare breasts and as I pulled her to me, it began to glow brighter and brighter. Then she lifted her lips to mine and I heard her whisper, “Remember me, as she dissolved in my arms.
“Yekaterina...” I heard my own voice. My heart was pounding and I felt a strange emptiness deep inside. It seemed that someone far away was calling to me...
“Max… Max, please... wake up!” Ana was kneeling on the floor beside me. I shot upright, disoriented, images of the dream still blurring my thoughts. Then I saw her in the darkness.
“Ana… what is it? What’s wrong?” I took her into my arms as I stood, pulling her to her feet beside me. “Tell me.”
“I remembered,” she whispered. “Someone was in here last night, Max. It’s the photograph. It was in my computer bag, Max, and someone else must have taken it out.” I felt her trembling in her thin nightie. “When we left for the restaurant, it was still in my bag.”
“You’re cold Ana. Come, let’s get you back into bed.”
I walked her down the hall to her bedroom. Her bed was a huge old four-poster. I pulled the covers back and she climbed under. I sat down beside her.
“I did lock the door, Max. I knew I had. Someone was here and the only thing out of place was that photograph.”
“And nothing was taken…” My mind was racing. Who the fuck had moved that picture…?
“All the electronics are still here. Even the cash in my desk. They didn’t take a thing. But the door was unlocked and someone was here. Max, I think we should call the police…”
Savvin. That fuck Savvin. Who the hell else could it have been? I felt a surge of rage wash over me, at the thought of him in Ana’s home, touching her things.
“It’s two in the morning, Ana. Nothing’s been stolen and nothing else is going to happen while I’m here tonight.” Police were the last fucking thing I needed…
“I think you should sleep, if you can. We can make decisions in the morning, when we’re thinking more clearly.” I swept the hair back from her eyes. My emotions were a raging mix of desire, protectiveness and fucking guilt. She reached out and took my hand in her tiny ones.
“Max, I know I have no right to ask this… It’s just that I feel so much safer when you’re next to me…”
“I’m right here and I’m not going anywhere, Ana.” I stretched out next to her in bed, on top of the blankets. I tucked them up around her chin and wrapped my arms around her. “I promise you’re safe. I’ll take care of everything tomorrow and I’m not leaving you alone until I know you’ll be safe.”
I felt her relax in my arms. I stroked her hair, listening to her breathing as it eventually slowed.
Savvin was what I’d be taking care of in the morning. What the hell did he think he was doing? He could jeopardize everything by making Ana suspicious now.
I looked down at her as she slept. Her dark lashes fanned out delicately and her lips were softly parted. My body ached to take her, but I only held her as she slept.
I woke with the early morning light streaming in, alone in Ana’s bed. I stood, straightening my dishevelled clothes as her lovely face appeared around the corner, a steaming mug in her hand. She was wearing a soft, grey knit dress and shiny pink heels. Each time I saw her, she was even more beautiful.
“You were sleeping so soundly… I didn’t want to wake you.” She blushed as she walked over to me. “I have to be at work in half an hour.” She handed me the mug. “I haven’t called the police yet… I wanted to talk to you first.”
I drank from the mug. The coffee was excellent.
“I’m driving you to the museum today, Ana.” I saw her start to protest.
“It’s not open for discussion, sweetheart. I’ll drive you in, where I know you’ll be safe, and then I’ll come back and deal with making a police report.” I hated lying to her about the cops, but it was true, I was going to take care of the problem…
“I just can’t thank you enough, for this, for last night. The way you came to my rescue…”
I put the mug on the bedside table and took her in my arms. It felt so fucking good to hold her and I tried to think only of that. “You can thank me, Ana.” I teased her mouth with mine. “I’ll pick you up after work and I’m making you dinner.” I pulled her tiny, soft body against my tall, hard one. “I don’t want you alone here again. Tonight I’m taking you home with me.”
12
Ana
“Ten minutes, in my office.” Stuart was in a shitty mood this morning and it looked like I was going to pay the price.
“Of course, Stuart. Can I bring you anything?” He turned his back on me and headed down the hall.
I’d seen his face, watching from the window as Max had dropped me off. Max had opened the car door for me and held me in his arms, kissing me in the middle of the parking lot. I had a feeling that’s what Stu’s anger was really all about…
I dropped my laptop and purse on my desk, closed my office door and dropped into my chair. I only had a few minutes and my head was still spinning.
I’d packed an overnight bag quickly that morning and left it in the trunk of Max’s car. I put my cold hands to my hot cheeks. I’d spent last night in his arms and he’d been the perfect gentleman. Tonight I was going to sleep at his place. I felt my whole body tingle with anticipation. My own eagerness shocked me, but I knew deep inside that I was ready. Max had been so amazing. He’d protected me and kept me safe. He hadn’t pressured me for sex, even though we both wanted it. Even now, he was back at my place, meeting the police to report the break in. Maybe we’d only known each other a few short days, but I was ready to take the next step. I wanted Max and I wasn’t waiting any longer.
I stood, bracing myself for the boss. Nothing like Stu to bring me back down to earth, I thought, heading for his office. I was ice cold by the time I knocked on the door.
“Come,” Stuart mumbled. I opened the door and waited for him to finish his call. He waved me toward a chair. He banged down the phone and turned on me.
“Five minutes late, Ana. And you were out there in the parking lot, making a spectacle of yourself.”
“It was two minutes Stuart, and my personal life isn’t your concern,” I snapped, regretting it instantly.
“It is when it happens on Hillyard property, Ana.” Stu’s face was reddening and I didn’t like where this was headed.
“Stuart, I’m sorry. Really I am. It won’t happen again, I promise.” I leaned forward to put a hand gently on his. “I’m sorry that it didn’t work for us, Stu. But I want us to be able to work together. I’d like for us to still be friends.” I gave his hand a squeeze. “I’ve always considered you my friend.”
I paused as the flush left his cheeks. He gazed out the window, his eyes blinking. “It’s been almost a year, Stu.”
“And I was never what you wanted,” he said softly. Then his look hardened. “But this guy is? Who is he, Ana… how long have you even known him, and he’s dropping you off at work, in the morning.”
I pulled my hand back. “It’s not like that, Stuart, not that it’s any of your business. I had a problem at the apartment last night and he came to the rescue, is all.” I was defensive now. It was true I hadn’t known Max for long… and I really knew very little about him.
But he’d been there for me when I needed him, and he’d never tried to take advantage.
“He’s a gentleman, Stu. And this is my personal life.” I was tired of trying to keep the peace. “I won’t be late again and I’ll keep my private life away from the museum.” I looked him straight in the eye. “From now on, business will strictly be business.”
I watched the thick vein in Stuart’s neck beating too fast. He watched me a moment longer, and then dropped his gaze to the mess of papers on his desk.
“I have work to do. So do you, Ana.”
I turned my back, closing his office door behind me. I took an enormous breath and let it out. Stu was right. I had a lot of work to do.
Today was Friday. The Strastnyy diamond was scheduled to be transferred in thirteen short days. I needed to call Doris, head of outgoing loans at the Smithsonian. I punched in the numbers on my cell.
“Hey, Ana. I’m glad you called.” Doris was in her fifties, but had the energy of a woman half her age. “I was going to call you this afternoon. It’s all set for the transfer, but there’s been a change with security.”
My thoughts flashed back to my unlocked door and the photo of the stone…
“Has there been a problem, Doris? Is there some kind of concern?”
“Oh, no. Nothing like that. It’s just a routine change. The service we usually use has been overbooked for that week, so we’re going with a different one. We’ve used them lots of times and for higher value pieces than this one. It’ll be fine, Ana.” Doris sounded like she’d overdone the caffeine. “I’ll let you know if anything else changes, but I don’t expect anything to. I’ll give you a call the day before and we’ll confirm… Gotta go Annie. Call on another line…” The phone went silent and I looked at it in my hand.
Ally, I thought absently. It had been over two weeks since I’d talked to my sister, and there was so much to tell her, especially now. I tapped her number and waited as it rang. Finally it went to voicemail and I hung up. I’d try her later. I really did need to get back to work.
My mind shifted back to the Blue and I felt a deep sense of satisfaction. Everything was fine, and I’d have the diamond in plenty of time to examine it and subject the stone to ultraviolet testing. However, it was the setting I was most interested in…
I pulled up the file on the Strastnyy. The word meant passionate in Russian. The perfect name for for a diamond shared between lovers.
I examined the pictures for the hundredth time. The thousandth time. I’d memorized every detail and yet I was still sure, even now, that there was something I hadn’t seen. Something the photographs didn’t show. There just had to be.
I’d studied Catherine the Great in college, working on my history degree. I’d seen many of the jewels she’d owned and I knew a great deal about her passionate love life. She’d been a powerful woman in her time and had many loves. But Anton was the one she’d never forgotten, the one she’d loved until the end.
I’d put so much energy into learning about Catherine that I’d come to feel that I almost knew her. I had a strong sense of her personality and her desires. She’d given the Strastnyy to Anton to remember her by. I had no proof whatsoever, but deep in my gut, I was sure she’d left him something more than just the diamond. Any woman who loved as deeply as she would have done the same.
It was common practice in the eighteenth century to inscribe a gift of jewelry with a personal message or symbol, often hidden, with a meaning known only between the lovers. The more I had learned about Catherine, the more certain I’d become. “You wouldn’t have left Anton without that one last message,” I said aloud. “And I’m staking my reputation on it.”
I closed the file and turned to my email. It would take the better part of the afternoon to deal with those, and all the calls I needed to return. It was just as well. I had thirteen more days to wait until the Blue was in my hands, and it would prove or disprove my theory. I had far less time until Max would pick me up and take me home with him tonight…
“I won’t get anything done today if I let my mind go there,” I said under my breath, smiling. “But come five o’clock, Max, I’m going to be all yours.”
13
Max
“What the fuck kind of game are you playing, Savvin?” I burst into his hotel room and found him hunched over his computer, a half empty bottle of vodka on the desk. I grabbed him by the back of the collar and spun him to face me. “You’ve got no fucking business anywhere near Ana and if you so much as…”
“Get the fuck off me, Max.” Savvin’s voice was already slurred and it was only ten in the morning. The man was fucking disgusting as well as dangerous.
“I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about…”
“The hell you don’t,” I said, pulling him to his feet. “You were in Ana’s apartment last night. You left the fucking door open and the photo of the diamond on the goddamned table, you drunk fuck.” I slammed him back down in his chair and his head lolled. “You’re off the job, Savvin. We’re done, and you’re on a plane home tomorrow.”
“I said… I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He straightened and ran his hand over the top of his head. His voice became clearer as his own anger started to register. “I was here last night, Max. I ordered room service about the time you left to pick up Ana, and I was here when they came to get the tray. Check the fuck up if you want, but I was here. I tip well… the server will remember me.” Savvin stood and moved toward me. He was almost my height, thinner and wiry. He needed a shower.
“If someone was in that apartment, Max, you might want to find out who. I’d hate to think there’s someone out there who wants to take advantage of that sweet little girl,” Savvin said with a sneer. “Someone other than you, of course.”
I hit him hard, probably too hard, but I didn’t give a shit. I was here to do a job. One I was beginning to hate. I knew Sergei wanted the Strastnyy back home where it belonged. Fuck, so did I. But I was growing more and more uncomfortable with the part I had to play. It was my job to seduce Ana into letting me get my hands on the diamond. Once I’d seen the inscription for myself and I was sure it was Anton’s stone, it would be simple to disappear with it, back to Russia and out of Ana’s life forever. All along, I’d been counting on this plan to work. The alternative was even uglier… to threaten her into cooperation. Savvin had already planted enough information in her computer to suggest she’d been planning to replace the real diamond with a counterfeit one and then leave the country...
I’d agreed to the plan before I’d met Ana. Now I was hating the idea more every day. Ana was too lovely a woman to be hurt like this. To be seduced and betrayed by someone she was just learning to trust… To be betrayed by me. She deserved so much better.
Savvin groaned and sat up on the floor. He put a hand to his jaw and wiped a trickle of bloody spit from his lip. “Truth hard to hear, Max?” he asked, pulling himself to his feet. “I hope you feel better now. Taking out your frustration on me…”
He sat back down at the table and took a swallow from the bottle. “But the truth is, you fucking still need me. I’m the only one who can work the security end of this job, so that we both make it back to Russia in one piece. And with the stone Sergei wants so much.” He took another swig. “If there was someone in that apartment, I suggest you find out who. The last thing in hell either of us needs is an unknown complication now.”
I sat down, rubbing a hand across the back of my knuckles. For a moment I considered that Savvin might be telling the truth. That there could be someone else posing a threat to the stone… or to Ana. I hated the idea that he could be right. And I hated the fact that I did still need him.
“You know something else, Max? I’m getting a little tired of you making all the goddamn decisions for both of us. I’m family too, you know.” Savvin stood up and walked to the window. He pushed the drapes aside, his focus on the street below. “I’ve done a lot of work for Sergei, good work. And I’m smart enoug
h to know you two aren’t seeing this job for the opportunity it is. You’re both so focused on the fucking family jewels, you can’t see the fortune in front of you.”
Savvin turned to face me. “This could be the biggest fucking heist in history. Even if you and Serge can’t see that, I sure as shit can. There won’t ever be another chance like this, Max, and I fucking intend to take it. Even if you don’t.”
I was on him in an instant, my hand in his hair, pulling his face back. It would have been so fucking easy to snap his neck…
He began to laugh.
“You still don’t fucking get it, do you Max? You’re not the one in control anymore.”
I let go of his head and stared at him. There was something in his tone that made my gut turn cold.
“I’ve learned a fucking lot about your precious little girlfriend, Max. And I happen to know a few things about her sweet little sister Ally, too.” Savvin smiled and lifted the bottle to his lips. “You’re going to find a way to get all the shit, Max, and I think Ana had better be right there to help.” He took a swallow and sat down, putting his feet up on the table.
“Turns out, her little sister’s life just might depend on it.”
14
Ana
“Are you ready for me?”
I looked up to see Max in the doorway and I smiled. I let out the breath I was holding as he smiled back. He was perfect, just perfect.
“You got my message, I see,” I said, standing up and walking towards him. He nodded, reaching for me.
He was so damn hot, in jeans and a black cable knit sweater. His hair was ruffled and I ached to push my fingers through it. His green eyes were locked on me. He was smooth, agile, like a big black cat stalking its prey as he walked closer. Lucky, lucky me, I thought. I’m his prey tonight.
Steal Me Page 5
