Kaskov smiled as he rose to his feet when they came toward the table. He inclined his head as he took her hand. “I’m delighted to see you, Lara. You look quite lovely. And these surroundings suit you much better than Anton’s place. But then I always knew they would.”

“Hello, Mr. Kaskov.” She pulled her hand away. “I hope I’m going to be happy to see you. Right now I’m a little confused.”

“And very frank.” His smile deepened. “I find it refreshing. You hardly said a word to me when I visited you at Anton’s.”

“You weren’t interested in anything I had to say. I had only one use for you. So why should I have talked to you?”

He chuckled. “All quite true. So I’ll excuse your bluntness.” He turned to Tanner. “This is a nice enough restaurant, but that pianist leaves something to be desired. I would have thought you’d be more selective.”

“It’s music to accompany dinner, Kaskov. He’s good enough.” Tanner was seating Lara as he spoke. “Most patrons don’t require concert-quality entertainment to get through a meal. It might even interfere with digestion. Are we going to order dinner?”

“Of course.” Kaskov picked up the menu as Tanner lifted his hand for the waiter. He glanced at Lara. “What do you think about the pianist?”

“I feel sorry for him,” she said simply.

“Really?” He tilted his head. “Why?”

“He doesn’t realize everything he’s missing. All he’d have to do is reach deeper, and he doesn’t know it.”

“Interesting.”

“Are you ready to order?” Tanner asked.

He nodded. “Though it doesn’t really matter. I’m certain everything on the menu is excellent. You wouldn’t make two such glaring mistakes.”

That was a direct barb and Tanner was ignoring it, Lara noticed. Which only showed how eager he was to get this dinner over. No more than she was, she thought bitterly. She had the impression that Kaskov was playing cat and mouse and enjoying it enormously.

Thank heavens the service was quick and the dinner delicious so that Kaskov had nothing to complain about. She barely tasted it. She wanted this dinner over. She was vaguely aware that Tanner was no longer allowing Kaskov to have the conversation all his own way. But she was only glad that she was not involved except for answering Kaskov’s occasional question.

Then it was over.

Kaskov tilted his head. “Dessert?” He smiled teasingly at her. “No, I don’t believe you want dessert.”

“No, thank you,” she said through set teeth. “Can we go up to Tanner’s suite and talk now?”

“Yes, we can.” Tanner was already signing the check. “Let’s go, Kaskov.”