Read Online If I Had You by Heather Hiestand - Free Book Online Page A

cheeks hurt. “Oh, I want him dead, I just can’t be a part of it. I was out of work. I’m just getting back on my feet again. Vera doesn’t make much. And Ovolensky is going to be at my hotel. There is no way I’ll keep my job in the aftermath. Given the hotel’s shady reputation, it might not even survive another murder.”
    Boris lifted his cup and regarded Ivan over the rim. “So you choose money over family honor?”
    â€œI have no room in my life for family honor,” Ivan said. “I miss Catherine and my parents dreadfully, but killing Ovolensky won’t bring them back. It might, however, destroy our lives now.”
    â€œHow old were you when your family died?”
    â€œNineteen. They were executed by firing squad, all of them. Vera and I were out of town, visiting former neighbors who had moved to Narva, when our parents and sister were taken. A servant came with the news and such portable valuables as she could carry. When we heard the news, I insisted we head for Finland, to escape Russia. While Narva was going to be part of the independent Estonia, Russia still controlled the area at that time. I thought it was my duty to keep Vera safe as best as I could. I was afraid we’d be executed too, if we returned.” Ivan’s hand shook slightly. Tea sloshed over the rim of his cup.
    â€œWill Ovolensky recognize you at the hotel? Can he do anything to you?”
    It was an unanswerable question. “I would prefer he not see me, not recognize me. We’ve committed no crimes, and Lenin is dead now. Why would Stalin care about me or Vera?”
    â€œHe’ll care about you if Ovolensky dies.” With a flourish, Boris lifted his cup and poured the contents down his throat.
    Ivan pounded his fist on the table, rattling the tea set. “Exactly. You see why we cannot do this.”
    â€œDo you have any revolutionary ties back in Russia? Someone who could end the threat there?”
    â€œNo. No contact with Mother Russia since the day we left,” Ivan said. “Georgy used my family’s deaths to rise in the party. We lost everything. Friends, family, possessions. All we had was some jewelry of Mother’s that she had lent Vera because we were attending a wedding, and what the servant brought. We worked our way across Europe to land here.”
    â€œWhat do you have to lose now?”
    Ivan flexed his fingers, stared at the worn cuffs poking out from his coat sleeves. “Not much in material possessions. But our lives, our freedom. Any chance we have to continue our family line. Vera should be married, having a baby, not planning death.”
    â€œIs Sergei the wrong man for her?”
    â€œI did not think so until now.” Ivan frowned. Such thoughts made his head hurt.
    In contrast, Boris looked benevolent. “Instead of trying to talk them out of this emotional crime, you might best work on your sister.”
    Ivan smiled. “I like how you are thinking, Boris. It is wise counsel.”
    â€œShe might be best off marrying an Englishman,” Boris said.
    â€œI could introduce her to one of my fellow employees,” Ivan said, rubbing his chin.
    â€œGive it a try. Try everything. The less she is with Sergei, the less they can plan.”
    â€œVery well.” Ivan drained his teacup. “Thank you for the hospitality.”
    Boris rose. “I should see to the young lady with the brooch.”
    â€œI’ll walk out with you.”
    Boris tucked Ivan’s record money into a cash box on top of his safe, and they both went through the curtain into the main part of the shop.
    * * *
    Alecia’s feet hurt in her cheap, heeled shoes, and she was pretty sure she had a ladder on the foot of her stocking. Her first excursion in London had not amounted to much. She’d enjoyed the taxicab from the hotel to Poplar High Street, but she’d come to London searching for music and color and the high life,