Page 10 of Vienna Bliss

“You don’t often allow yourself to be a sadist, do you?”

“No. It’s too dark.”

“There’s nothing wrong with being a little, or a lot, fucked up.”

At that, he laughed, finally turning to face her.

“Should we sit down and try again?” Alena asked.

Alexander nodded, then sat on the blanket. As she lowered herself, he put his hands on her waist, guiding her down.

Alena stretched out on her side, facing him, and propped her head up with one hand. Alexander’s gaze slid over her, lingering for a moment on his collar, which was still around her neck.

Neither one of them had mentioned it.

“Absolon,” Alexander said slowly, “is a thief?”

“Yes. And he might be funding terrorism.”

Alexander’s eyes closed. Alena reached out and took his hand, lacing her fingers in his. “Where do you want me to start the story—chronologically with what Interpol knows, or where I come in?”

Alexander squeezed her hand and opened his eyes. “Tell me how you came to be involved.”

“Well, that starts, as all good stories do, with a dagger, a ruby, and a five million dollar bounty.”

Chapter 3

Alexander relaxed as Alena started to speak. She was enchanting when she smiled. He wanted to release every reservation he held, forget all the reasons he had not to trust her, and simply enjoy this.

Pretend that they were just two people in love.

When she’d hugged him, many of those dark feelings had faded away, but they weren’t entirely gone. Yesterday had been a single day that contained enough emotion and change that he felt as if weeks had passed, instead of only twenty-four hours.

Yesterday morning she’d been naked in his play room.

This morning he’d woken up in bed beside her.

In both cases, she wore his collar.

“The ruby is held in the mouth of an intricate and beautifully detailed leopard head. The big cat head is the pommel of a decorated dagger from late 18th century India. Mughal Empire. And this particular dagger went missing from a private collection in the UAE four months ago.”

“Wagner Global doesn’t operate in or around the Arabian Gulf.”

“True, but I tracked this particular dagger from the UAE to Georgia, where it changed hands.”

Georgia, located on the eastern end of the Black Sea, had several Wagner Global operated ports.

Alena waited as if giving him time to comment, but his thoughts were far too jumbled for him to risk speaking.

“I went to retrieve the dagger from its crate. Inside a Wagner Global sorting site.”

“You stole it.” He arched a brow. “From one of my warehouses.”

“Yes, but since I’m on the side of truth and justice, I get to say ‘retrieve’ rather than ‘steal’.”

“Dangerous.”

“Highly.”