The Taming of the Thief Read Free Page B

swallow. “Why did you agree to meet me,
Sophie?”
          Wow. He spoke her name like a caress. It
whispered dark promises over her skin.
          “I wasn’t going to, but then I thought of a
Maxwell Sauvage that just endowed the British Museum with more than three
million pounds as well as a sculpture reportedly done by Da Vinci and I began
to wonder if you were related to him and, if you were, why you would then want
to meet with me.”
          “Ahh, the Da Vinci Man. I told Max we should keep him for the house in Majorca, but I fear his fiancé
has had a profound effect on his random acts of altruism.” Pietr grinned.
          “Then maybe it’s his fiancé that I want to
meet.”
          “Alas, they are planning a wedding and what
brings me to your door.”
          “You mean inside my door, right?”
          Pietr’s lips parted with another devastating
grin and Sophie fought the urge to fan herself. Definitely warm, despite the
fans circling lazily overhead and the air conditioning running.
          “ Oui. Inside your door.” He leaned forward, elbows on the table,
the aged-whisky color of his eyes more intoxicating than the drink. “Will you
forgive me for how we met and let me make it up to you?”
          Sophie swayed forward, and caught herself as
her elbow banged against the table. “I’m here, aren’t I?”
          “Yes, but I would still have your
forgiveness. I suspect you are someone who does not care to be surprised, much
less by a stranger in your home.”
          “No, I’m not. And would you like to explain
how you got into my apartment and around my alarm? I know I activated it before
I left.”
          “If you will agree to forgive, I could be
persuaded to explain.” Pietr waggled his eyebrows, the impish reaction totally
at odds with his chiseled features.
          Heaven help her, she was charmed.
          “Well if forgiveness is only a step towards
the persuasion, perhaps we should skip it and get down to why you wanted to see
me specifically.” It took all her willpower not to laugh at the frown that
chased away his waggle. This man was far too used to getting what he wanted
when he wanted.
          “As you wish. I am
working on tracing a series of stolen artifacts, some of which may be moved
through museum back channels.”
          “And you know they are stolen how?” Her
playfulness dried up at the sober words.
          “Their provenance will be tainted, but they
are unlikely to be passing through the museum collections for display, but only
for authentication or appraisel.”
          “If the provenance is tainted or they are
stolen, we will have been alerted by your friends at Interpol.”
          Pietr’s nose wrinkled at the mention of
Interpol and he seemed to take it as more of a slight than a compliment to be
compared to the international police force. The noise level in the pub climbed
and Pietr shifted his chair, pulling it closer, his voice pitching lower as though he didn’t want to be overhead.
          “If the artifact has been reported, you’d
receive that notice from Interpol or your FBI.”
          “And why wouldn’t the items be reported to begin with?” Sophie frowned. This sounded
remarkably fishy to her. The only people who would hesitate to report a theft
of an item valuable enough to even boast of a tainted provenance would be
someone who stole it in the first place.
          “There are many reasons why someone would
not report the loss of an artifact.” His knee butted against hers and the
warmth of his breath teased the hairs along her arm.
          “Verification of ownership
being one reason.” Sophie wanted to look away, but addition of new
arrivals added to the noise level and she found herself nose to nose with the
sultry Frenchman. This close, the last thing on her mind was a tainted
provenance.
          “ Oui. It is
sometimes hard to verify ownership