Page 28 of Kairo's Billionaire

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Isidore covered his face with his hand. Not exactly the first impression he was expecting to make. But then, when he’d imagined getting free with Kairo and possibly meeting the rest of the mercenary team, Joey wasn’t part of those early images. Yes, less ferret and more Kairo cuddles. This wasn’t working out at all like he thought.

Someone squeezed his shoulder, and he lowered his hand to find Kairo smiling brightly at him, which had a way of making him forget about everything else. “Athena and Joey are safe,” he reassured him in a low voice and motioned toward Silver Fox. “Isidore and Athena Panopoulos, I’d like to introduce you to our team leader, Charlie Sands.”

Charlie stepped closer and extended his hand to Isidore. “We’re glad to see you free and safe, Mr. Panopoulos.”

“I am so very sorry about kidnapping Kairo from you,” Isidore blurted. “I tried to keep him safe, but as you can see, I’m not as practiced at this sort of thing as you likely are.”

The other man’s eyebrows shot up toward his hairline while his eyes darted over to Kairo, who groaned, his face scrunching up adorably. “You protected the former Army recon specialist and CIA agent?” he inquired as he shook Athena’s hand.

Oh.

When Charlie put it like that, it really did seem unnecessary, but he hadn’t wanted Kairo to be injured.

“Ignore Charlie. He’s an asshole,” Kairo muttered. “This is Edison Walker. He’s our demolitions expert as well as pilot and driver of anything weird.”

“What constitutes weird?” Athena asked.

“ATVs, airboats, hot-air balloons, a tank,” Ed listed easily. He laughed suddenly. “Oh my God, and there was that time in Venice when I had to steal that gondola! Those rowers make it seem so much easier than it is.”

Kairo groaned again. “We agreed to never talk about Venice.” He looked at Isidore. “Ignore Ed, too. He’s also an asshole.”

Shock tightened Isidore’s muscles as Kairo grabbed both of his shoulders from behind and maneuvered him between Charlie and Ed toward the front door. They didn’t get far before they ran into more people. The doctor was very pleasant, though he demanded to check Kairo over to be sure he wasn’t lying about his lack of injuries. The tall, steely-eyed sniper, Westin, was frighteningly quiet. Soren the cat burglar was very friendly, and so was his blond assassin boyfriend until he spotted Joey. Then he darted behind Soren, wanting protection from the long rat.

Athena and Ed were not impressed. They walked off to the living room, making plans about setting up a hammock for Joey to sleep in tonight and getting a proper cage for him tomorrow.

Isidore ended up on a love seat next to Kairo, and his heart was skipping happily about his chest because Kairo had chosen to sit with him while Athena was on the floor with Ed and Joey. Kairo gave the assembled group a rundown of everything that had happened, where they were being kept, and what he knew of Vanko and his men. He was amazingly succinct and detailed. There really wasn’t a single thing Isidore could think to add.

“I think you’re right,” Charlie murmured, in a sort of low and growly voice. He was seated in one of the chairs while his boyfriend was perched on the arm. Charlie kept a hand on Will’s back while the other rubbed his bearded chin. “Sounds like an inside job to me.”

“Do you and Athena keep separate staff, assistants, and security?” Alexei inquired.

“I have only one assistant, and she just keeps up with my charities. With graduate school beginning soon, she hasn’t been too busy,” Athena murmured. “I don’t have a security team like Izzie.”

“Athena’s residence was Boston while she was in school, but for the past year, she’s been living in the family home in Athens. She’ll be moving to California later this month to start graduate school. My assistants and bodyguards have been kept up-to-date with her schedule, so we can more easily figure out when we’re able to meet up,” Isidore filled in.

“I’ll need a complete list of names for your bodyguards and assistants, as well as anyone who was likely to know where you were going to be on the day you were kidnapped,” Kairo said.

There was no stopping the frown that formed on his face. Could this really be someone he knew and trusted? How could anyone do that to him? To his sister?

Kairo’s hand landed on his wrist and wrapped around, squeezing lightly. “I’m sorry. I know this hurts, but it’s better if we check. If we’re lucky, I’m wrong. But if I’m not…”

Isidore nodded, the smile he forced on his lips stiff and awkward. “No, you’re right. We need to be sure that Athena is going to be safe when she leaves for school.”

“We need to be sure that you’rebothsafe,” Kairo corrected. Isidore lifted his gaze to meet Kairo’s intense stare. His heart wanted to believe that Kairo cared about whether he was safe and happy, but his brain argued that the beautiful man was just doing his job.

He had to swallow hard to get out a soft “Thank you,” but too quickly Kairo was releasing his arm and turning his attention to the others.

“Once I get the list from Isidore, I can start running the background checks as well as dig into Vanko. It’s going to take me a few days to gather all the data,” Kairo announced.

“This Vanko ass sounds like a goon-for-hire at best. I can reach out to my handler and see if she can dig up anything on an old contract for a kidnapping. She might also have heard of this Vanko,” Alexei offered.

“Tomorrow,” Charlie said firmly. “You three look like you could use a good meal and a good night of sleep. We can begin our digging tomorrow. We also need to get Mr. and Ms. Panopoulos some clothes and supplies.”

“We picked up some basics such as shampoo and deodorant, but I’m sure you’ll want some particular things,” Will chimed in.

Athena waved a hand at them. “I’m happy to run out and pick up stuff for Izzie and me if someone could loan me some money—”

“No!” Isidore and Kairo said in unison. They looked at each other and smirked.


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