Keeping Thyme (Thyme Trilogy) (13 page)

CHAPTER 13

Along the edge
of the page, I notice writing subtly indenting in the paper. I hold the book to the side to read the indented writing and see a name.

Mama Poma

A waitress wanders around the tables then comes to take my order as soon as she makes eye contact with me. She speaks in Russian, so I quickly respond. “Sorry. I’m Australian. Do you speak English?” I hope I haven’t offended her by not speaking the language.

“Ah. Australian, like Mel Gibson?
I like him in Mad Max. He like Russian girls.” She giggles.

“Yes, like Mel Gibson. Do you know what Mama Poma is at all?” I look around her to watch out for Luka.

“Mama Poma is food place. Here.” She tears off a piece of her notebook. “This us here … Mama Poma here.” She draws a very rough diagram of the streets and scribbles an asterisk where the place is. “You want to go there or you want to eat here?” Her English is so crude that she sounds abrupt.

“Thank you, I will go find Mama Poma.” I smile and get up before Luka finds me. Hopefully he’s still absorbed in his constant phone calls.

I find another exit out of the building and look around quickly to see if I can see Luka. He’s nowhere to be found so I walk quickly up the street in the opposite direction to the main promenade. The streets become increasingly congested with sightseers as I get closer to the monumental church on the opposite of the river.

I sit on a bench and watch to see who might be following me. After a few moments of scouring through the sea of people, I don’t notice anyone stopping or looking like they’re not supposed to be there. I look down at the sketchy diagram of the streets and see that I should be on the street that’s running parallel to the
lane where Mama Poma is. Across from me there is a narrow alleyway that leads through to where I need to be. I take one more glance around me to make sure I don’t recognise anyone and duck into the alley. It spits me out into a lane that’s only accessible on foot. Next to me are the large red letters
Mama Poma
at the front of an Italian restaurant. I smile at my minor victory and quickly make my way inside. Searching around quickly, I scan over the clusters of people to see if I can find my brother. I can’t see him anywhere. Finally, I see a couple who look perfectly natural and in love with each other as they sit and giggle together. I grin wildly.

“Isn’t it amazing what an overseas adventure can do for love?”

Simon’s quickly pulled from Liz’s equally adoring stare and he gets up to hug me.

“Well done
, sissy. I told Liz you would know where to find us. It took you a while, though.”

Simon holds out a chair for me to sit next to him.

“Tench isn’t letting me out of his sight.”

“I thought that was the case
,” Liz adds.

I take a quick look around the restaurant
. “Where’s Mei-Mei?”

“She’s tracking Tench with some of the other agents
,” Liz assures me.

“Can she be trusted?” I frown.

Liz laughs. “Yes she’s worked with the agency for a very long time.”

I feel a weight lift off my shoulders and sigh autonomously at the news.

“Right, Mia.” Simon snaps back into his professional role. “I’ve been doing some searches on Kira Pemberton. There’s no one in Russia under that name at all. Are you sure she would still be in Russia?”

I shrug
. “I wouldn’t know. I guess when I didn’t hear from her again I just assumed she stayed in Russia with the ballet.”

My heart sinks a little when I wonder whatever happened to her
, all these years later. I did hope she’d had a happy-ever-after for herself.

“I managed to set up some bugs around the hotel room if you guys are monitoring conversations.”

“Good work. We’ll set up our signal tonight and listen to what they have to say about their business in this country.” Simon pauses. “How about we have our rendezvous point at the Bronze Horseman statue tomorrow? It’s a landmark of St Petersburg, and full of people. Tench will find it easy to let you go there. Go to the street stall selling Babushka dolls at twelve thirty. There will be a demonstration against the government’s recent changes to the university system at that location. Get lost amongst the protesters. There is a small café to the west of the park. Go there, and we’ll meet you in the café.”

I nod
. “Dmitri is in town. I don’t trust him as far as I can throw him, which is far. He’s a real piece of work! Okay. I had better go. Luka Chernikov will be lurking around here, looking for me soon. The guy’s a moron. Seriously. He has nothing going for him other than some good looks,” I say, to try and convince myself more than anyone else that I’m not remotely interested in Luka.

I make my
way back to the bookstore again. When I’m far enough away from Liz and Simon, I slow my pace right down to a very casual stroll. I decide to actually enjoy the magnificent architecture of the city. The canals and architectural influence does make the city very comparable to Venice. This is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen.

Suddenly
, arms wrap around my waist. I spin and see the blue of Luka’s eyes up close. I can smell his skin from here. I push back off him.

“Miranda. I went looking for you the moment I turned off my phone.” He sounds frantic.

I smile. “No, it was my fault. I went looking for you. Did you know there are a lot of guys who look like you in the city? I chased someone who looked exactly the same as you all the way to the church only to realise it wasn’t you at all. No wonder you didn’t answer whenever I called your name.” I laugh.

Luka laughs with me before he stops
. “What you saying about me? That I’m common?” He pulls down on his jacket.

I roll my eyes
. “Come on. I want to go back to the hotel to wait for Joe.”

“So you really like my cousin
, eh?” He nudges my arm with his elbow.

He realises that I’m not interested in him and the barrier finally drops and Luka stops trying to impress me.

I spend the
afternoon sitting in the hotel vodka bar chatting to Luka, in between his phone conversations. It’s actually been a really enjoyable afternoon and despite my first impressions of Luka, he’s not so bad after all.

Two hours later,
Tench comes up the stairs to greet me with open arms. It’s actually a nice sight, to see someone as familiar as Tench in this foreign land. It springs me to my feet and I rush over to him and wrap my arms around his neck, then kiss him all over. He chuckles.

“So
, you like your present then?”

“It’s fantastic and completely over the top … and wouldn’t be you if it wasn’t.” I beam.

He grips around my ass as I lean up onto my tippy-toes to kiss him. He softly pulls me to him, enough so that I can feel his hardening member against me. My eyes open just as his do.

I smile into hi
s kiss. I feel lost in the moment and wish I could tell him that I loved him. I hold him tight and wait for the moment of weakness to pass.

“I missed you today
,” I say, to avoid saying what’s really on my mind.

He smiles
. “Good, ’cause I’m all yours tonight. I have tickets for us to go to the ballet. We can’t come all the way to Russia and not watch
our
Swan Lake
.”

We walk arm in arm back to the table w
here Luka is once again talking on his phone.

“I swear that device should just be fixed to his head.”

Tench chuckles. “Yes Luka does a lot of the groundwork for our business here. But he’s probably talking with his string of girlfriends half the time, also.”

I roll my eyes
. “I gathered.”

“A friend of mine here has a dress up in the room
for you, ready for the ballet tonight.”

I grin
. He knows my ultimate weaknesses in life: couture and the ballet.

“Well
, I had better check out this frock to make sure it’s to my liking,” I tease.

“I’ll be up there shortly.” Tench kisses my hand as I pass.

The dress is
the first thing I see when I enter the suite. A vivid green full-length dress hangs from the window in front of me. It’s a beautiful garment. The material is a silk-taffeta blend that just asks to be touched. I take it from the hook and race into the bedroom to try it on.

It fits like a glove when I pull the zipper up at the back. The neckline plunges down low and I take the little white fur cape off the hanger also and slide it over my shoulders. I
spin from side to side and let the full skirt swing around me. It’s exquisite. I pull my hair loosely back and pin it into a bun at the back of my head. I brush my face with some bronzer, coat my lashes with mascara and apply a blush-pink gloss across my lips. Finally, I decide to brave it and wear the fake Shadow of Love diamond necklace that has a wire.

“Here goes nothing
,” I say under my breath as I clasp the back of the necklace around my neck.

“Gorgeous
, as always.” I turn to see Tench in the doorway.

He eyes the diamond straight away as he approaches me. He holds me in his arms and looks down at the
large jewel, then presses his forehead against mine. His eyes hold their gaze, staring into me. Tench’s finger runs up the plunging neckline and he takes hold of the black diamond.

“I never thought I was going to have you in my life like this when I first won this diamond
, and now it’s almost like I’m back in a full circle.”

“What do you mean?” I frown.

“I won this in Brussels, not Vegas, like I told you.”

“Yes
, I knew that … Google.” I wonder where he’s going with this.

“When I won this
, I was at a crossroad in my life. Firstly, I wanted to get out of this trade I’m in. And then I wanted to settle down.”

My mind races at the word
trade
.
What trade are you in, Tench?

“I always knew there was something special between us
, Miranda. From the very first moment I met you, I knew we had to be together one day. I was going to wait until after the ballet to do this … but it just feels right to do it now.”

Tench reaches into his jacket pocket and kneels down in front of me.
Oh. My. God!
My legs start to tremble and my heart feels like it’s cracking under the pressure of the moment.

“My gorgeous Miranda
, I’ve never been so sure of anything in my whole life as I am about you. I worked hard to keep you by my side, and now I finally have you.’ You are everything I could ever imagine having for the rest of my days. Miranda …”

He holds out the black box and opens it. A smaller version of my heart
-shaped Shadow of Love black diamond sparkles from inside.

“Will you do
me the honour of becoming my wife?” His breathing is solid, and quickens. He’s nervous.

I stand in total bewilderment and
deliberate over his words. Even in the most romantic moment of my life, Tench still manages to make it feel like I’m his possession. That’s all I’ll ever really be to him; this is not real love. His face drops inch by inch with every second I take to answer. There’s no turning back now.

“Yes!” I squeal.

CHAPTER 14

I can’t help
but stare at the enormous diamond ring dangling from my left ring finger. I’m engaged to Joe Tench … my target.

The limo slows as we pull up at the
Mariinsky Theatre, yet another grand building in the city. The colour scheme outside is green and white. Tench kisses me longingly before he exits the car when the door is opened for us. His grin is ear to ear, he is so happy. I’ve never seen him this overjoyed. I think about the word
trade
again. Why does he want to get out of his
trade
?

Luka and Dima step out of the limo behind us. Luka beams the same nauseating grin as Tench
, and stretches his arms out wide. He slaps Tench across the back repeatedly in congratulations of our pending nuptials. Not surprisingly, Dima gives Tench a subdue congratulation and fires of some frustrated Russian before he storms into the theatre. I watch Tench’s reaction; he remains deadpan in his expression. Luka comes to Tench’s aid and eases my mind.

“Don’t worry about him.”
Luka’s eyes are gentle. “He only thinks of business.”

“Dima is currently divorcing wife number four
,” Tench adds. “Marriage is a waste of time to him. Not for me, though.” He runs his thumb along my chin before giving me another soft kiss on the lips. “I found the right girl first.”