Page 10 of Kairo's Billionaire

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But Isidore’s tone dipped again. “I’d gone to one of her favorite outdoor markets that afternoon. I was looking for some fun little trinkets that she could take with her to the United States in hopes they would remind her of home. I saw a child who was alone and crying. I thought he’d gotten separated from his parents. I only wanted to help him…”

“But he was bait, leading you directly into the hands of your kidnappers.”

Kairo bit his tongue to hold in any exasperated words that might slip out. This was not Isidore’s fault. He was trying to do a good deed and it blew up in his face. There were just too many evil people in the world, and the man needed to take better precautions.

“What about your bodyguards? You have them, right?”

“Oh, I’m sure they’re thoroughly annoyed with me. After the first two times, I should definitely know better.”

“What? I…first two times.” Kairo shoved upright and stared at the man, who was blushing under his glare.

“Yes, this is the…third time I’ve been kidnapped.”

“Are you fucking shitting me?” Kairo shouted.

Isidore winced. “The first one wasn’t my fault. I was only six, and all children wander off on their own at that age.”

“How old were you the second time?”

“Twenty-two,” he whispered and looked away from Kairo. “It wasn’t long after the death of my parents. I…I wasn’t thinking clearly at the time. Luckily, there were other people around when it happened who called the police in time.”

Kairo clenched his fists in front of him, fighting the urge to grab Isidore by both shoulders and shake him. After going through such harrowing events twice in his life, he should know better. He should take better precautions to protect himself. What was he even thinking?

But he couldn’t say any of that. The man already looked so miserable, he couldn’t bring himself to voice a single word of criticism. If anything, Isidore needed to be protected from himself.

“What about your bodyguards? Do they know you and your sister have been kidnapped?”

“Titus does. He’s the one who was with me when I was taken. He’s the head of my security team, but I’ve instructed him not to tell a soul or he will be putting Athena’s life in danger.” Isidore sneaked a glance up at Kairo. “He was the one who was sent to bring you to Greece. I’m sorry if he caused you any harm. He didn’t mean to.”

“He was…big. Really, fucking big.”

Isidore’s smile returned for a flash. “He is. Everyone finds him very intimidating, but he’s actually very sweet and funny.” And then it was gone again, the sadness bleeding into his expression. “But this is all my fault. If I hadn’t been so careless, we wouldn’t be here right now. Athena wouldn’t be in danger. You wouldn’t be in danger. I’m so sorry.”

Kairo was on his feet before he even thought about it, crossing the short distance between them to drop down on the edge of the other mattress. He placed a hand on Isidore’s slumped shoulder and squeezed. “Enough of that. This Vanko asshole seems determined. If he hadn’t grabbed you at the market, there’s a good chance he would have gone in shooting. He doesn’t seem the type to be upset by killing your bodyguards to get what he wants. Besides, you did do one very smart thing in all this mess.”

“I did?”

Lifting his chin, Kairo grinned broadly at his companion. “You had the brains to hire me.”

“I did!”

“I can figure a way out of here, but it’s going to take time and a lot of help from you.”

Isidore nodded, brightening again. “Yes. Anything. I’ll do whatever you need me to.”

“To start, I need information. I need details on the exact layout of this house as well as a description of the area. I also need to know how many men Vanko has in the house and on the grounds. After that, we need to figure out a way to contact my friends. The faster they get here, the more they can aid our escape.”

“But what about the hack you’re supposed to be doing? If Vanko thinks you’re not working on it…”

Kairo released Isidore’s shoulder and waved his hands dismissively. “I’ve got plenty of ways to stall that. That’s not a problem. A hack can’t be done in a few hours. I’ll need to build a computer, conduct research, and then build the programs I need from scratch. All that takes time since I don’t have any of my equipment here.”

“And the more time you take, the more time your friends have to find us,” Isidore finished.

“Exactly.”

Isidore’s body relaxed to the point of him leaning slightly against Kairo. He lowered his head so that it rested in both of his hands. His voice was low and muffled, but he could still make out his words. “And more people means more protection for Athena.”

Kairo flicked Isidore on the back of the head, getting the man to snap his wide eyes to him. “All three of us are getting out of here,” he announced sternly.


Tags: Jocelynn Drake Romance