Page 50 of The Chase
“Good. I mean great. I love it here.”
“Adley told me he once met your dad.”
“He didn’t mention that.”
“Your dad knew everything there was to know about art.”
I smiled. “His knowledge was impressive.”
“Apparently, he was well loved in the community.” She looked sheepish. “Your lineage. Is it true?”
“A dynasty lost to history now,” I said.
“So your great-great-grandfather came from the Russian royal family?”
I perked up a little. “Yes.”
“Your ancestors owned one of the greatest art collections in Europe.”
“Yes, well, after the Vatican, of course,” I murmured.
“So you’re related to the house of Romanov?”
I gave a nod. “As you probably remember from your history, it all ended terribly. Marxist leaders revolted and my great-grandparents were exiled by the Bolsheviks. They moved here to escape. I never once heard my father speaking Russian. I don’t think he could, to be honest.”
“Does that make you a princess?”
I gave a shrug. “My mom was Welsh. I take after her apparently. All wayward hair and barefoot wildness.”
“Talking of wildness—” She waggled her eyebrows. “Did you get the gossip on Wilder?”
“He’s very private.”
“You can tell me. I saw the forms in my inbox on my way in.”
“Forms?”
“His office emailed them over. Your copy of the nondisclosure agreement that you need to sign for our files. I’ll send the signed forms back to them in the post. I’ve forwarded the documents to you. Looks like you can’t discuss his personal life. Can’t discuss where his private address is and stuff like that.”
I leaned forward and rested my chin on my palms. “He doesn’t want me to write an official report, either. Well, that’s not strictly accurate. He’s asked me to exclude where we went and what we saw. Which is basically my official report.”
“Where did you go?” she whispered.
I broke her gaze as that grand palace flashed into memory, those elite men who’d taken living the high life to an entirely different level.
“Zara?”
“To be honest, Tobias is intense. I wouldn’t want to cross him.”
“Was he rude?”
“No, nothing like that. He’s just very...” warmth flushed over me “...mysterious.”
His kiss...his strength and the firmness of his body...
Squeezing my thighs together, I tried to push thoughts of him away. Hoping with all my heart he’d not complain about me to Adley. He’d not exactly left my flat on amicable terms.
“That’s pretty.” She was looking at the bonsai. “Who’s it from?”
