Chapter 31
Polly is nervous. As soon as we woke up, I could sense the fear radiating from her. I never said anything as we changed and are now eating breakfast in the small dining room overlooking the garden.
Simon has excelled himself by serving smoked salmon bagels with hollandaise sauce and a poached egg. Perfect in seasoning and exactly what is needed right now.
Polly’s plate is hardly touched and I say sharply, “Don’t you like your food?”
“I’m sorry.” She tears her gaze from the window and then glances at her plate.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I was, well, thinking.”
“About the meeting with Marsha Steele.”
“Kind of.”
I stare at her with a hard expression.
“What does that mean?”
“Well, um–”
She is nervous, which tells me she has something on her mind, so I fix my imperious gaze on her and say deeply, “Tell me Polly. No secrets, remember.”
“Oh, well.” She sighs and looks down at her plate and then lifts her eyes to mine and says simply, “I should have told you this already.”
I bite back my furious response to that because if she is keeping something important from me, I’m liable to spank her pretty ass red raw.
“Then tell me now.” I try to keep my voice neutral and she sighs, before pushing her untouched plate away.
“Do you remember David Marchant, the man we met when we came here?”
“Of course.” I’m guessing this has something to do with the conversation he engineered outside and I was waiting for her to mention it.
“He told me I was to make an appointment to visit him.”
I say nothing and she blushes as she whispers, “It was under my aunt’s instruction. Apparently, there are safety deposit boxes that I must open away from the house and nobody but me must know of them.”
The anger bubbles inside me like an imminent erupting volcano, but I maintain my composure. “So, why are you telling me this now?”
Her eyes widen and she appears so afraid I keep my temper in check.
“Because whatever is in there may be everything you need and then, well–” She lowers her eyes. “Then you would leave.”
I’m stunned. I never expected that and as I stare at her forlorn figure, I couldn’t be angry if I tried. She kept it to herself to keep me here. For some reason, that touches me in a place I never realized existed and I experience rare emotion. Polly is afraid that I’ll leave her when this mystery is solved. I’ve never given her any reason to doubt that and yet as I stare at her dejected figure, a huge overwhelming burst of possessiveness spreads through my soul.
I’m used to walking away from women. I do it all the time, but since meeting her I have questioned that and already understand exactly how she is feeling now.
Despite the secret, she never kept it for long and probably hasn’t set us unnecessarily back, so I say firmly, “Look at me, malyshka.”
She raises her eyes and I smile softly. “If you think you’ll get rid of me that easily, think again.”
I love the hope that sparks in her eyes and I shake my head. “You owe me a lot of kind and I’m not leaving until you’ve paid me in full.”
“But you said it could take a lifetime.”
Her eyes widen and I watch her breath hitch as the tears fill her eyes and I don’t think she has ever looked as beautiful as she does in this moment.
“I’m going nowhere, Polly. Not all the time you breathe, not when I desire every part of you and need your soft smile to get me through the day. I will not leave until I’ve worked this desire from you out of my system and the biggest problem of all is its only growing, not diminishing. So–” I nod toward the plate.
“Eat your breakfast to preserve your strength because you are definitely going to need that and we will face this together as a team.”
“A team.” Her brilliant smile could light up London and as she raises her fork, I smile to myself because it appears my English Rose is on the exact same page as me.
The morning is spentwith Artem in the den, while Polly prepares for her lunch date with Marsha Steele. We work hard gathering all the information we can on the woman and as we near the time to leave, I wonder if we have enough.
Unknown to Polly, Artem installed a listening device inside her necklace. My job is to make sure she wears it and Artem will be by my side in a convenient location nearby. I am leaving nothing to chance because this is too important to mess things up and as I leave Artem to finalize the arrangements, I head off in search of Polly to apply the final touch.
She is in the dressing room deciding on a pair of shoes and her smile is bright when I walk inside.
“I love the clothes you randomly selected.” She rolls her eyes and I chuckle softly.
“Next time we will visit Bond Street. There are several designers worthy of your attention.”
Her eyes widen and the expression of horror on her face makes me grin.
“No, Valentin. I owe you for the rest of my life as it is. I can’t afford more.”
“Then accept them as my gift to you for–” I cock my brow. “Services rendered, as they say.”
Her gasp of incredulity feeds my inner devil and I can’t resist casting an appraising gaze over her body and saying darkly, “I will accept payment tonight as per our agreement.”
She opens her mouth to speak, but the lustful gaze she directs at me belies her words.
“I owe you nothing.”
She turns her attention back to the shoes with a sweet grin on her face that she fails to conceal and I watch her choose between them with a soft, “These will do.”
She slips on the designer shoes and at times like this, I’m glad she never saw the price tag. She would never wear them if she knew how much they cost and yet watching her get ready is a unique experience for me that I’m enjoying more than I thought I would.
There is an intimacy with Polly I never guessed would be so fulfilling, and as she casts her sweet smile in my direction, it scores a direct hit in my heart. I’m staggering on unfamiliar ground and certain to fall, which is the most surprising thing of all about this entire situation.
As soon as she is ready, I produce the necklace from my pocket set in a velvet box and her eyes widen when I hand it to her.
“What’s this?”
“A gift.”
“But it’s not my birthday.”
“If I’m in your life, every day will be your birthday, malyshka. Get used to it.”
“Idiot.” Her face blushes crimson when she accepts the box from my hand and I watch eagerly as she opens it and gasps at the gold pendant with a ruby set in the center.
“It’s beautiful, Valentin.”
Her eyes shine as she stares at in awe and I whisper, “It doesn’t compare to you, malyshka.”
I’m surprised when she flings her arms around my neck and kisses me with a passion I wasn’t expecting and as I wrap my arms around her and pull her in tight, unfamiliar emotion is clawing at my heart.