Kairo squeezed his hand as he leaned forward to glare at West. “True, but it’s better to know who could be a threat to Isidore and Athena now. Even if this is a fake engagement, he could plan to marry one day. It’s better to know the truth while we’re all there to watch his back.”
“I like all of this,” Charlie announced, turning every eye in the room to him. “But that isn’t going to work, and you know it, K.” He moved a pointed finger between them.
“What?” Isidore gasped. His fingers reflexively tightened on Kairo’s hand as if he expected Charlie to walk down there and physically pull them apart. He jerked his head around to stare at Kairo to see him sigh and nod. He wasn’t arguing? Why wasn’t he arguing with him?
“If this is going to work, we’re going to need someone in the command center with enough experience to manage a large team, call out orders, and watch all the screens,” Charlie explained.
“I’ll also have a special program running in the background, reviewing all the footage, scanning for key words, facial expressions, and emotions. It will flag anything that I might miss,” Kairo added.
Isidore looked at Kairo and then Charlie. At least the older man appeared a little more sympathetic. “There is no one with more experience running a command center and being the team’s eyes than Kairo. It’s critical for him to be there.”
“But what about him being my boyfriend? Or pretending to be my fiancé?” Isidore demanded.
“That role will be played by Soren,” Charlie informed him.
Isidore tried to hide his distaste for the idea, but he must have failed miserably because more of the people around the table laughed, including Soren. It wasn’t that he disliked the man. Soren was very kind and funny. He was also handsome and charming. But he wasn’t Kairo. That was who he’d dreamed of having at his side while he waded through the party that West aptly described as shark-infested waters.
Soren smiled gently at him. “Izzie, I have years of experience as a CIA field agent. I’ve pretended to be a lot of different people. I promise you I can play a convincing doting fiancé for a night.”
“Not too convincing, okay?” Kairo snapped.
“Trust me, he won’t be,” Alexei growled while glaring at Soren.
“It’s not that. I’m sure Soren would do an outstanding job pretending to be my boyfriend or fiancé or whatever. It’s just…” His voice faded off as he tried to put into words the ugly mix of emotions in his chest.
Kairo leaned around the corner of the table to cup both of his cheeks with his hands, lifting his head so that he was forced to look Kairo in the eye. “I will be in your ear all night. It’ll be like I’m right beside you. Even if you can’t see me, I will protect you from those vultures’ words. And I trust Soren to keep you safe from physical harm.”
Isidore nodded. He turned his head to brush a quick kiss to the palm of one of Kairo’s hands. While a party sounded like fun, there was going to be danger lurking around every corner and hiding within the shadows. He was proposing to toss a barrel of kerosene onto an old smoldering fire. If this wasn’t handled well, someone could get hurt or end up dead. In his mind, even if no one got hurt, the remains of his family were likely to be torched.
“How many people were you expecting for this party?” Will asked.
Isidore glanced over at Athena, who lifted one shoulder. “The average size of a late summer house party like this is usually two hundred to three hundred people,” he replied.
“No!” Charlie thundered. “Absolutely not. We can’t possibly keep an eye on that many people as well as keep you and Athena safe. Fifty, max.”
Isidore frowned. “It would have to be seventy-five at a minimum just to get all the possible targets there. One hundred would be better to give it an intimate feel and work in the regulars. It would be weird if some of them weren’t invited.”
Charlie groaned and dropped his face into his hand while his elbow was balanced on the table.
“It’s a different world,” Kairo cackled.
“Yeah, yeah. I get that,” he muttered. He lifted his head and narrowed his eyes on Isidore. “Seventy-five and not a single person more. And we’re still going to need some help on this one. There just aren’t enough of us to monitor this many people.”
“I have a suggestion!” Alexei shouted, thrusting his hand in the air as if he were trying to get a teacher to call on him.
“No,” Charlie groaned.
“But I’m sure they’d love to join the fun.”
“Please no, I’m begging you. They scare me,” Charlie said, dropping his face into his hand again while Alexei cackled.
Isidore leaned over to Kairo and whispered, “I don’t understand. Who is he talking about?” He couldn’t imagine anyone scaring Charlie.
“His uncles. The assassins,” his lover explained.
Isidore leaned back and glanced around the table. The rest of the team looked uneasy, while Alexei was simply elated. “They’re good?”
“The best!” Alexei called out.