The woman rattled off several items, but her thick accent made it difficult to understand.
“Can you show me?”
The woman gestured at a large glass cabinet full of pastries and cakes, and Edwina rose to follow.She pointed at each item and spoke the name.
“Thank you,” Edwina said.“I’ll take this one.”She attempted to mimic the woman and made a hash of it, but the woman noted it on her order pad and darted behind the counter.She disappeared through a doorway, and Edwina meandered back to her table.“I have no idea what I ordered, but it looks delicious.”
“You’re intelligent, kitten.You’ll learn the local language and our ways in no time.”
A phone rang.“Yes,” Mikhail said.“All right.”
Ivan slid from the booth and took up a position nearby.He’d hear most of their conversation because of his feline nature.
The doorbell tinkled, and the waitress emerged from the kitchen.She froze for a second before she pinned on a bright expression and continued toward Edwina’s table.Her hands trembled when she set the teapot, cup, and saucer before Edwina.Tea sloshed on the tabletop, and she apologized, whisking it away with a cloth.
The waitress’s throat bobbled as she glanced at the four men who strode through the door and loitered at the entrance, their gazes full of tension.
Before the waitress greeted them, Ivan approached, his hands visible, and said, “Sir, Mr.Lermontov is waiting for you in a private booth.”He gestured toward the café’s rear and dipped his head, looking so subservient Edwina barely restrained her gasp.It made her realize the unusually close relationship between Mikhail, Ivan, and Gregory.She hadn’t considered the rareness of the association until she spotted the clear boss-employee vibes between Konstantine Smirnoff and his men.
Aware she needed to stay quiet and not attract attention, she poured milk into her cup and added tea.She studied the passersby in the square outside and acted as if she was resting her weary feet after a day of shopping.They’d even made some quick purchases on the way, so she had her two glossy bags from women’s fashion stores as props.
The waitress arrived with a delectable-looking cream cake covered with a drizzle of chocolate, and she smiled her thanks.
Her distinctive accent was one thing they hadn’t considered, and what if Smirnoff spoke in Russian rather than English?Not everyone understood English—she’d discovered that fact already while shopping.
From her peripheral vision, she caught Smirnoff’s abrupt hand signal, presumably for his men to search the cafe for signs of trouble.This made sense since Mikhail and Ivan had quickly scanned the occupants before approaching the rear booth.
Mikhail stood and showed himself.“There’s me and one of my men.”His actions implied Smirnoff was behaving with overkill, and the man knew it because his features tightened, and his lips disappeared in the flat line of his mouth.
He was older than Edwina had guessed, and when he walked past her table, she smelled the sickness on him, the decaying flesh.He was tall and, during his younger years, probably a fit man with an upright stature.Now everything about him sagged, and his black designer suit hung on him.Yet power still radiated from him, and the men with him remained attentive.
He murmured something in Russian, his quick gesture telling Edwina more.He wanted them to remain within hailing distance yet give him the perception of privacy.
“Where is the boy?”Mikhail asked.
“Outside in the car,” Smirnoff said without hesitation.
Edwina believed him.
“I want to see him,” Mikhail countered.
“He’ll get in the way.”
“Your men can look after him or mine can,” Mikhail said.“I’d like to reassure myself of his health.”
“I haven’t hurt him.”
“You’ve scared him, taken him from his mother.He’ll probably experience nightmares for years to come.”Mikhail’s voice was without inflection, but Smirnoff’s brows rose, anyway.
“I’d heard you are generous with your staff.”Smirnoff was mocking Mikhail, but her mate didn’t react.
Edwina poured more tea and used a fork to cut a mouth-sized piece of cake from her slice.Hmm, it was delicious and melted in her mouth.She idly watched two women stop outside and glance at the cafe as if they intended to enter.A man approached them and spoke rapidly.Seconds later, they scuttled away without a backward glance.
Interesting.Smirnoff had come with a retinue of men.Would they try to kidnap Mikhail and force him to work for them?Heck, anything was possible.Tension slid through her, and her second bite of cake didn’t taste as magical.Her muscles locked up, and she swallowed hard, her throat working as the lump descended to her stomach.Every muscle in her body hardened, and she fought the impulse to leap to her feet and inflict damage on these arrogant men who sought to use Mikhail and his talents.
“Very well,” Smirnoff said, jerking his head toward Ivan.“As a show of good faith, I will release him to your man here.”
Two obvious tourists stopped outside the cafe, conversed quickly, and entered.Humans, since they didn’t seem to notice anything off.The male and female pair stopped at the counter and asked for coffee and cake.Like her, they did the pointing thing, but their entrance seemed to relax Smirnoff’s men rather than ramp up their tension.
