When Kairo was dressed in the clothes he’d arrived in, he sat on the edge of the opposite bed. “Are there secret passages in this house?” he asked in a whisper. “Could she be hiding there?”
Isidore frowned. “No. Well, at least none that I’ve ever been aware of. The house doesn’t even have a dumbwaiter.”
“You said yesterday that she’s being kept on the second floor. Would it be possible for her to climb to the ground and escape?”
Images of Athena’s room flashed through his mind. She’d been given what had always served as her bedroom when she stayed at the winter vacation house. It had a lovely view of the surrounding forests and mountains. Could she have climbed from one of the windows in her room to the garden patio below and not broken her neck?
“It’s possible,” Isidore murmured but quickly shook his head. “But it’s as you said, she would never leave me. At least, not without telling me first.”
“And you didn’t give her instructions to leave?”
“What? No! Of course not. I—” Isidore was cut off by knocking on the window.
Both of their heads snapped toward the window to see a woman with curly black hair staring in at them. A wide mischievous grin spread across her lips, and she waved at them as if she had just walked by their window and wanted to say hi.
Except he and Kairo were on thethird floorof the house.
A horrible, choked noise escaped Isidore and he was struck frozen. Luckily, Kairo had enough working brain cells to jump to the window and open it as silently as possible. Isidore was just grateful that the window had no screen, allowing Athena to crawl inside with only a hand from Kairo.
“Athena!” Isidore snapped in a harsh whisper as he shoved to his feet. His knees were weak at the thought of her climbing around on the roof at such a height, but his heart settled again when she bounced over to wrap her arms about his neck.
She was an adorable five foot two with all the bravery, sass, and spunk that Isidore lacked. No one could ever stand in this young woman’s way. Not even a man with a gun. And that was what scared Isidore the most. His sister had a way of jumping headfirst into situations and pushing people. She always meant it nicely, but people with guns didn’t like being pushed. He needed to protect his sister.
Hence the hiring of Kairo Jones. He’d be able to keep Athena safe.
And if he was lucky, talk some sense into her.
“What are you doing here?” Isidore demanded, whispering the words into her thick hair.
“I warned Vanko last night that if he didn’t let me see you, I was going to take matters into my own hands,” Athena murmured. She released Isidore and took a step backward.
Lifting a hand, she grabbed his chin, causing him to wince as pain lanced through his cheek. He allowed her to turn his face back and forth, inspecting his new motley assortment of bruises. It was probably a good thing they didn’t have a mirror in the bedroom. He didn’t need the reminder of how bad he looked.
“They hit you again,” she growled.
“Vanko has been in a sour mood. I’m fine.” He gently pulled her hand from his chin and took her shoulders so he could turn her toward Kairo. It was only then that he realized he’d been speaking in Greek, leaving their companion completely in the dark. “Athena, this is Kairo Jones, the hacker mercenary that I told you about. Kairo, this is my sister, Athena,” he introduced in English.
Kairo extended his hand to her, but Athena just glared at him. “Aren’t you supposed to be protecting my brother? Why is he injured?”
The mercenary dropped his hand to his side and nodded. “You’re right. That was a failing on my part. I swear, I won’t allow it to happen again.”
“What? No! This wasn’t his fault. I—” Isidore started to argue but stopped when Athena drove her elbow into his stomach.
“However, you’re making my job that much harder. Who do you think is going to suffer when you’re discovered?” Kairo quickly added, causing his sister’s shoulders to slump.
“Wait—”
“You’re right,” Athena conceded almost immediately, which was enough to suck the air right out of Isidore’s lungs. He couldn’t remember the last time he heard her admit she’d made a mistake. Mostly because she was always right. But also because she was incredibly stubborn and hated to admit that she was wrong. “Vanko and his goons are more likely to go after Izzie than me.”
Athena turned in his arms and looked up at him with glistening dark-brown eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you or put you in danger with Vanko. I was scared. I hadn’t seen you in two days, and I was afraid they were hurting you.”
His heart melted like it always did when it came to his sister. He hugged her tight, resting his cheek against the top of her head. “I’m fine. I’m glad you’re here. I don’t care if Vanko gets pissy. It’s worth it to know that you’re okay. But you don’t have to worry about me. Mr. Jones is here with me now. I’m perfectly safe.”
Isidore flicked his eyes up to Kairo and smiled at the other man, who was staring at him as if he’d lost his mind. It didn’t matter. After spending the better part of the day with Kairo, he could already tell he was a very intelligent, capable person. He was making plans for their escape and rescue. They were going to be fine.
“How did you get up here?” Kairo inquired.
Isidore released Athena, allowing her to turn and speak to him while he quickly pulled on his pants and button-down shirt.