The Russian's Tenacious Lover Read Online Free PDF Page A

robbery.

CHAPTER 6

    “Just keep on walking. And make no mistake, Mr. Spencer, one wrong move and you’re a dead man.”
    She pressed the gun into his back as she gave him a shove. She’d concealed the weapon in a handkerchief, so as to hide it from bystanders—she didn’t want to be the subject of a citizen’s arrest. Too much depended on this.
    “Why don’t you simply tell me what’s going on?” he suggested reasonably.
    They were walking past the subway now that he’d wanted to take, and were moving toward the mini-van she’d left parked around the corner.
    “Don’t talk. Just walk,” she ordered curtly, eyes darting left and right for any sign of trouble.
    As they moved faster, she was relieved to find Thomas Spencer such an easy mark. Last night, when she’d relieved him of the fruits of his latest burglary, it had surprised her how easy he’d allowed himself to be mugged. And now, again, she was surprised to see him acquiesce to her every request without so much as a murmur of protest. The man was a professional, but then why did he behave like an amateur?
    His movements were too predictable, she decided. The same jeweler for going on ten years now. The same superficial disguise. The same route to and from his hotel. Did he think he was invincible? Unbeatable?
    She’d initially suspected a trap of some kind. Maybe Thomas Spencer didn’t really exist but was a carefully planted guinea pig for the Yard, a way to attract other bad elements and draw them out.
    Following him closely these last few weeks had made her decide otherwise. The man worked alone. He was simply confident nothing could harm him—no one could come even close. Well, now she had, and she was going to make his life a living hell.
    “Step inside,” she grunted, pressing the gun into his back and steering him toward the black mini-van. She swung open the sliding door and gave him a shove that landed him in the back, then slammed the door shut.
    The bird was in its cage, and leaving wasn’t an option.
    Walking over to the driver’s side, she stepped in, and when she drove away, an astonished Thomas in the back, she allowed a brief smile of victory to grace her lips. Part two of her mission was a resounding success. Part three would be a little trickier. She’d have to convince him to play along. But she had the feeling even that wouldn’t be as hard as she’d originally anticipated.
    Mr. Shadow was definitely not the man she’d thought he was.
    Thomas wondered where she was taking him. This was definitely not what he’d planned for his ‘day off’. And the worst thing? He was still carrying the Duchess’s bracelet in his pocket. If the woman retrieved it from his person, it would mark the second time she did so. Iosif Kurchin wouldn’t be too happy, and neither would his new bride.
    Veronika Kurchin had seen the Duchess parade the bracelet at the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s annual gala last month and had fallen in love with it, demanding Iosif buy it for her.
    When the oligarch had explained the Duchess would never part with the gem, as it was a family heirloom, Veronika had threatened divorce. Thomas had been called in, and he’d gone to work. The job had taken him a mere few hours the week before, and then the message had arrived Veronika also wanted the Crocker diamond added to the booty.
    Now the covetous former model would have neither. He winced at the prospect of having to explain to Iosif his demanding new bride would have to forgo on the gems, a pesky blonde having managed to procure them instead. Ballsy. Very ballsy. And quite rude.
    He sighed as he thought of the way his nemesis had shoved him into the van. His profession not being an overly violent one, he’d never taken up karate or kung fu, figuring if he was induced to fight the homeowners he targeted, he was a very bad burglar indeed.
    Besides, he abhorred violence. He depended on lissomness and skill, gracefulness and economy of movement, not