Free If I Had You by Heather Hiestand

brooch?” the man said.
    Ivan glanced at the brooch. Alecia saw his eyes widen, his face pale.
    â€œYes,” she said, frowning. “They want the money for a project, then they want to retrieve the brooch.”
    â€œThat’s what everyone says,” the man murmured.
    â€œI’ll be going,” Ivan announced unexpectedly.
    â€œNo,” the owner said. “You will wait and escort this young lady back to the Grand Russe. She shouldn’t be in this neighborhood alone, especially with money.”
    Alecia saw Ivan’s jaw shift. He was probably grinding his teeth, and no wonder. She must be ruining his day off. “I’m sorry.”
    He shrugged. “I’m in no hurry to return home.”
    She felt a traitorous thrill. “Do you live nearby?”
    â€œYes, above the greengrocer’s down the block.”
    This wasn’t a peaceful neighborhood. “How do you get any sleep?” she asked.
    â€œI have dark curtains. And no one to kiss me awake.” He was still pale, but his mouth twisted into a slight smile after he spoke.
    Her mouth dropped open just as the little man put his loupe away and wrote a number on a piece of paper. “It’s a good piece. I’ll give you this for it, since you are a friend of Ivan’s.”
    The amount was better than she’d been told to expect. “I accept.”
    He nodded and picked up the brooch. “I’ll write you a ticket and get you the money. Look sharp, boy.”
    â€œKeep that brooch handy, will you?” Ivan asked. “It looks familiar.”
    The man nodded and went behind the curtain. “Boris, Mr. Grinberg, is a good man,” Ivan said.
    â€œIt doesn’t seem like the sort of shop that can handle nice jewelry.”
    â€œLooks can be deceiving. But he doesn’t keep such things here.”
    â€œWhy did you ask him to then?”
    â€œIt looked familiar, like something my mother used to own.”
    Could she have offered him a glimpse at his mysterious past? She spoke eagerly. “Richard said it was a gift from a Russian aristocrat. From when they toured Moscow in ’13.”
    Ivan’s brow furrowed. “So much of her jewelry was lost. It is probably just a similar piece.”
    She stroked a finger over the countertop, wishing she could smooth his brow. “Or she gave it to the Marvins. Was she a theater lover?”
    Ivan scrubbed his face with his hands. “I don’t know if she loved it any more than the next person.”
    Alecia could feel his unease, palpable in the crowded shop. She changed the subject. “You are friends with the pawnshop owner? Does he live above this shop?”
    â€œYes, we’ve been friends for years. He has a nice flat elsewhere. Four rooms instead of two. He would be a good catch, if you want a Jewish widower old enough to be your father.”
    Alecia opened her mouth but couldn’t come up with anything clever to say. “I wasn’t looking for a husband.”
    He lifted one of those forbidding dark brows. “Girls like you tend to marry the first boy they kiss.”
    â€œThat would be you,” she pointed out. “But you don’t want to marry me.”
    He chuckled, his mood shifting. “A wife would only keep me from my sleep.”

Chapter Five
    A lecia couldn’t figure Ivan out. Were all Russians so changeable? Unable to think of a response to his teasing, she just stood there in front of the pawnshop’s counter like a statue, fuming. He wandered away from her, perusing the full shelves. The clerk had vanished. Her head swam a bit, both from hunger and from the exchange with Ivan.
    Not interesting. Doesn’t know how to talk to men. She could hear her younger sister’s voice in her head. How would she ever find a husband? But that wasn’t why she’d come to London, was it? She wanted adventure, a taste of the flapper life, not a dreary life in East End