The Lion in Russia (7 page)

She put the phone to her ear.

“Good morning my lovely goddess, I hope I
didn’t disturb anything,” Deringer said in tones so syrupy they
were bound to send her blood sugar rocketing sky high right along
with her current blood pressure and aggravation level.

“Good morning,” Vries said, knowing he knew
full well exactly what he’d disturbed. Dear God the man was
possessed by devils. “What can I do for you this morning?”

Leo sat up on the edge of the bed, then
stalked toward the bathroom.

“Just wanted to let you know that I’ve taken
care of that problem you told me about.”

“And you had to tell me about that at this
hour?”

“No, but I am supposed to be your lovesick
puppy, remember?”

Actually she hadn’t remembered. Leo had the
amazing effect of making her forget pretty much everything, but she
did recall wanting to make Leo jealous in order to ratchet up his
interest and to give Deringer an alibi. If the look on Leo’s face
was anything to go by she’d been more than successful. “Well, thank
you so much for calling. I’ll be in touch.” She disconnected the
call just as Leo walked out of the bathroom. Dressed in nothing but
a t-shirt and charcoal gray boxer briefs which clung to the curves
of his backside like a lover, the man was absolutely lethal. She
could still feel his mouth against her and more than anything she
wanted to invite him back to the bed, but he didn’t look as though
he was particularly interested at the moment. He’d sat down on the
edge of the bed and pulled on the trousers he’d worn the previous
evening.

“What would you like to do today?” he
said.

Vries licked her lips then almost groaned
aloud as she tasted him on her skin. “That was Deringer.”

“I gathered as much.”

“He didn’t want anything. He’s just a
friend.”

“You don’t owe me any explanations
Vries.”

“I know that. I just thought I should tell
you.”

“Alright. So what would you like to do
today?” he said again.

Vries sighed. Her plan was working just as
she’d wanted. So why was she so annoyed? Probably because he was so
goddamned annoying.

“I don’t have any plans for a couple of
days.” Just saying that felt weird. She’d never cleared her
calendar before, at least not to this extent. While it was
liberating, it was pretty scary too. Foreshadowing as it did her
probable future when her modeling career was over. “What do you
want to do?”

“I think I want to play tourist.”

Vries stared at him. Why did he keep
surprising her? She’d assumed he’d want to spend the day in
bed.

“You’ve spent nearly as much time in Milan as
I have. Isn’t it a bit late to go wandering about with a camera
around your neck?” she asked.

“I rarely come to Milan for anything but
business, unfortunately. I’ve never had time to really enjoy the
city, and today I’d like to do that. You’ve been here for twenty
years, my guess is you can show it to me.”

“Well, of course I can. I’m just surprised
you want to. You don’t have a change of clothes, are we going to
your place...”

“No. Pushka will bring my bag and we’ll go
from here. How about we stop at that charming little caffè you
like?”

Vries frowned. “How did you know...”

“I make it my business to know everything
about you.”

Not by a long shot, at least she hoped not.
“Well, since all the streets lead to the
Duomo
I suppose we
should start there. Have you ever been?”

“I’m embarrassed to say I have not. Like I
said, usually I’m too busy.”

“Of course. Why don’t I hop in the shower and
you give Pushka a call? I’m hungry and we need to be on our
way.”

***

As always when she approached the
Duomo
,
Vries felt a little shiver as she took in the amazing
architecture. The lacy exterior always reminded her of all things,
a wedding cake. It had taken more than six hundred years to
complete the cathedral, and there were several styles of
architecture incorporated into its allover design. Still, it had a
charm and elegance to it that made it the literal heart of
Milan.

She tugged on Leo’s hand to lead him over to
the little booth where they could pay to go up on the roof of the
building.

“You haven’t lived until you’ve seen this,”
she said. “Elevator, or stairs?”

“By all means lets take the stairs. Pietro
will be so proud.”

Vries smiled in response then, and still
holding Leo’s hand, began climbing the stairs to the top of the
building. It wasn’t a particularly arduous climb and before long
they were at the top, gazing down at the splendid vista below.
Milan, notorious for chilly, misty days had blessed them with rare
winter sunshine and they had an unfettered view of the city which
had been built around the cathedral. As always she was struck by
the incongruity of looking out at Milan’s business district with
its tall modern skyscrapers from the rooftop of a medieval
cathedral. Milan was like that; a city of intriguing contrasts.
Vries never tired of it, and she could tell by his expression that
Leo loved the city just as she did. He might have the heart of a
merchant, but somewhere in that Tartar soul was an artist. She
stood in his embrace, her back to his front, while they looked out
over the city.

“I remember seeing this when I came here as a
girl to work. I fell madly and passionately in love with this city
and knew I’d never leave. I didn’t tell my mother at the time; she
would’ve thought I was insane.”

“Amazing that you were so strong-willed at
such a young age.”

Vries shrugged. “I had to be. So I was.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard the story of
how you got into modeling, or came to be here,” he said.

“It’s a rather corny story, actually. I was
discovered, if you can believe it. Shopping for a prom dress at a
big mall in Atlanta. An agent gave me his card, I was so excited. I
loved clothes and fashion and this was a dream come true. My mama
didn’t believe it. She thought it was a scam, and almost threw the
card away.”

“I can understand how she felt, there’s a lot
of predators out there pursuing young girls.”

“Oh, I know. Fortunately, my aunt Sylvia was
a librarian and looked up the information on the card. It turned
out to be legitimate. The rest, as they say, is history.”

“So you just came to Milan?” he said.

“Well no. My parents were still against it. I
was so young. And their only child. They were terrified for me.
They would only agree if my mother could come with too. She took
early retirement from her teaching job, and moved to Milan with
me,”

“So your parents separated?”

Vries nodded. “For three years. We would go
home for most holidays and Daddy would come here too, but for the
most part, it was me and Mommy.”

“That’s incredible,” he said.

“I know. I was very fortunate. A lot of the
girls were jealous because I had my mom with me and they were
alone.” Vries said, brushing back a surprising tear from her cheek.
Her parents’ sacrifice still had the power to move her to tears.
She’d lost them both within a year of one another and still missed
them deeply. “Okay, next we have to go to Sforza Castle.” She
sighed. “I wish we could see
Il Cenacolo
, but there isn’t
enough time.”

“Il Cenacolo?” He frowned, and for the first
time she heard him stumble with his Italian.

“The Last Supper, the da Vinci painting. I
could spend the rest of my life looking at nothing else. Photos
really don’t do it justice. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to see
it. You have to make an appointment months in advance. I’ve only
seen it once. Since the restoration they only let you stay for
fifteen minutes at a time.”

He smiled, pulling his cell phone out of the
breast pocket of his jacket. “I think something can be
arranged.”

Vries almost clapped her hands in delight.
“Well there are some benefits of hanging out with
billionaires.”

Being unbelievably wealthy
did
have
its privileges. They were escorted in to view Il Cenacolo by
themselves, and for the first time she was able to gaze upon its
ethereal beauty for as long as she liked. Da Vinci’s artistry was
almost indefinable and the painting seemed even more magnificent
now than when she’d seen it previously. The colors seemed more
vivid, the curves and lines more evocative, but the most compelling
part of the painting had always been the faces. Despite all the
damage done to the painting over the years and the controversial
restoration efforts, Jesus’s visage still had a sweetness and a
strength that reached out to her. The other figures were equally
fascinating, with their various degrees of outrage at having been
told that one of them would betray him, but the central figure
seemed so real that she almost expected him to speak.

Leo seemed to be similarly affected. “It’s
probably a good thing it’s a mural and cannot be removed. I know
several people who would pay any price to own it.”

“Including you?” she said.

“Especially me.”

Vries turned away from the painting to look
at him as he continued to gaze up at the painting. His aristocratic
profile with its high forehead and prominent nose fit in with the
art on display. “You know I’ve always wondered about that,” she
said.

Leo looked down at her. “About what?”

“You know, you hear from time to time about
some wealthy person acquiring a painting or even about a painting
being stolen. I’ve never understood the point of owning something
beautiful if you can’t share it with anyone else. I mean, that’s
the purpose of art, is it not? Even if I could, I wouldn’t want to
shut this away just for myself,” she said.

He stared at her for so long that for a
moment she wondered if he intended to answer. After all, she
supposed what she had said could be interpreted as an insult,
though she had never intended it as such.

“Unfortunately for many of us the desire for
beauty triggers greed. For some, if you’ve never known great
beauty, you can be compelled to own it, possess it. You want to
close it away out of fear that it will be taken from you. Do you
understand?”

Vries nodded because for the first time she
did understand what could motivate those people. She realized that
she was quite fortunate to have spent most of her adult life in
Italy where she had access to art and the means to pay for it. Even
as a child her parents had been regulars at museums and musical
events so she’d never been deprived. Even so there was something
about sharing a passion for art with someone else that gave the
piece even more meaning. She took Leo’s hand in hers. Smiling down
at her, he pulled her into his embrace. They stayed that way for a
long moment just filling their souls with the beauty that had
survived for more than five hundred years.

After they left the convent where the
painting was housed, they visited Sforza Castle and then stopped
for a brief lunch. They strolled through the city hand in hand.
Vries was more relaxed than she probably should have been
considering she was on guard duty, still nothing could despoil her
mood. The unexpected sun that had greeted them earlier in the day
had retreated and Milan had reverted to a more typical overcast
day, but Vries didn’t mind. She’d worn a comfortable plum wool knit
trapeze dress, thick black tights and low-heeled boots. Her
conservative attire was reflective of the fact that they had toured
the Duomo where coverage was required, but also because of the
chilly weather. Her hair was tied back in a vintage Hermès scarf.
Her bright orange designer bag punctuated the outfit and concealed
the veritable arsenal of weaponry she carried. There was no such
thing as casual attire in Milan, and Leo was wearing charcoal gray
wool trousers, a black cashmere pullover sweater and a gray tweed
sport coat.

Every now and then as they walked, he’d pull
her closer to his side and place an almost ephemeral kiss on her
mouth, then he’d pull away leaving her longing for more. She could
tell by the glint in his eye that he knew precisely the impact he
was having on her so the next time he did it she decided to give
him some of his own back. Before he could pull away, she stroked
her tongue along the seam of his lips, thrilled by his shuddered
response. When his lips parted she slipped her tongue inside. The
silken caress of his tongue against hers all but made her toes curl
and she stroked the roof of his mouth with just the tip of her
tongue. Now he was sucking at her lips, his arms tightening around
her until she felt almost crushed.

There was a long moment when neither of them
gave a damn about the crowd brushing past them on the sidewalk, but
eventually the fact that they were making a scene penetrated her
consciousness and she pulled away. Leo stared down at her, looking
dazed. His full lips, reddened by the aggressive pressure of her
mouth, were slightly parted as he gasped for air. His eyes were
clouded and turned so dark as to be almost black. He stared down at
her, but she suspected he didn’t see anything. Without another word
to her, he grabbed her hand and began pulling her along the
sidewalk.

Vries hurried behind him barely able to keep
up with his longer stride. “Where are we going?”

“Your place. It’s closer.”

Chapter Six

He’d wanted her from the first moment that he
saw her. And now she was his. All his. It was all he could do not
to throw his head back and roar like his namesake.

He didn’t stop to think, just pulled her
through the door of her apartment, pushing the door closed behind
her with his foot. Then he turned her around and pressed her
against the door with his body.

“I need this. Now,” he said as he lowered his
mouth to hers.

Desire was riding him hard. Her taste went to
his head, immediately saturating his senses like a fine liquor. He
sucked at her tongue as his hands moved down over her supple hips.
He lifted her off the floor grinding his body into hers. She
groaned against his lips, clearly as desperate for him as he was
for her. Without another word, he began walking backward toward her
bedroom. As he’d only been in her home once before it would’ve been
more sensible to turn around, but that would have required
releasing her lips, and that was something he had no intention of
doing...ever.