His next words were swallowed up by Kairo as he placed his hand behind Isidore’s head and pulled him close for a bruising kiss. Isidore moaned into his mouth and wrapped his arms around him, pressing their bodies tight together so not even the wind could slip between them.
He hated to admit it, but the guys were right. Isidore was a cinnamon roll—decadently sweet and squishy.
Kairo couldn’t recall anyone taking care of him, protecting him, quite like Isidore did, and he never wanted to let him go.
But even as strong and intelligent and brave as Isidore was, he desperately needed someone to protect him. People were constantly trying to steal his wealth, take advantage of him, or simply use him. It seemed like Isidore had gotten damn good at identifying the people who didn’t care about him, but he shouldn’t have to do it alone. He needed someone to watch his back, to offer a shield of protection. And someone to just fucking hold him.
Kairo wanted that to be him. He’d never wanted anything more in all of his life.
Breaking off the kiss, Isidore smiled and nudged him with his nose. “I love how you always feel so happy when we kiss. Like this is the best part of your day.”
A startled laugh escaped him. He hadn’t realized his emotions were showing so clearly in his kisses. “Because kissing you is the best part of my day. As for the gifts, no guns. No cars. No computers. But you can buy me all the cupcakes and underwear you want.”
His adorable lover lowered his head and nuzzled his neck. “How about real estate? Can I buy you property? Maybe some forest land for hiking and camping vacations. Or a vineyard.”
Kairo’s body shook with silent chuckles. He couldn’t tell if Isidore was joking or serious. He was afraid that it was a little of both.
“No property,” Kairo said, nipping at Isidore’s neck.
“What if I buy you a big, gaudy piece of real estate wherever your father is living? So he can drown in jealousy over not paying enough attention to the man who could have been the very best son.”
Kairo cackled and leaned backward so that he could look at Isidore’s face. “Or that his abandoned son managed to get himself the world’s best sugar daddy.”
Isidore sniffed. “No, you just have a boyfriend who realizes your worth and wants the whole world to know about it.”
“Don’t change, Isidore. Don’t ever change,” Kairo whispered. “Let me just stand in front of you and protect you from the world. I don’t want anything to ever ruin this sweetness.”
Closing his eyes, Isidore pressed his forehead to Kairo’s. “Stand beside me and the darkness of the world can’t touch me.”
18
ISIDORE PANOPOULOS
After shuttingdown his computer for the night, Isidore grabbed his cell phone off the desk and turned his chair to snag a piece of paper off the printer. He shoved the phone into one pocket of his pajama pants and carefully folded the paper three times before putting it into his other pocket. He was hoping that the information on it might be useful later.
As it was, his nerves were already shot from a week of planning and near-constant visitors to the house. The guys proved to be excellent at running interference, but it was frustrating that Kairo had to dart away and stay hidden from sight any time an outsider was lurking on the grounds. Charlie had argued that they didn’t know if Vanko had sent any pictures or descriptions of Kairo to his boss.
Many of the people who stopped by were long-time acquaintances and Isidore adored the idea of standing there with his hand wrapped around Kairo’s as he introduced the sexy man as his boyfriend. He wanted to start weaving Kairo into all the aspects of his life, but right now, he was relegated to the shadows, and it sucked.
And at the party tomorrow night, it would be Soren hanging on his arm, pretending to be his boyfriend. Something about that made his stomach churn and twist. It wasn’t that he disliked Soren. He thought the man was quite nice and funny. Absolutely charming in every way.
But he wasn’t Kairo.
No one could compete with Kairo.
He just had to remind himself that it was for one night only. After that, Kairo would be his.
But before that, he had a piece of paper that could help sear that promise further into both of their minds.
As he was just about to step into the hallway to locate said boyfriend, he nearly collided with Justin, Alexei’s uncle.
“Oh! I’m so sorry. I wasn’t paying attention,” Isidore quickly apologized.
Justin smiled at him that same warm, friendly smile he’d used since they first met at the beginning of the week. “No problem. I was sent to check this wing of the house to make sure the windows and patio doors were all properly secured for the night.”
Isidore immediately backpedaled and frowned at the windows. “That’s right. I opened the windows a while ago to let in a light breeze while I was working. I completely forgot to close them.”
The fact was, it never crossed his mind. He was accustomed to having a few members of the staff who went about the house in the evening, making sure that everything was properly secured. Isidore sighed at himself. All these little things he was just used to other people doing for him. He took it for granted. He needed to get better about this. When he saw his staff doing these tasks, he was always sure to thank them. The problem was the little things he never witnessed that slipped right by him.