He wasn’t overly surprised to hear that, but it was good to know that the list of potential murderers had shrunk.
“Then let’s head back out there and target some of the people you still have questions about. We’ll add some more pressure and see if we can get anyone to crack.”
“We need to work fast. It’s after eleven now. People are going to start leaving soon.”
“At the risk of sounding old like Charlie, when can we kick all these people out?” West moaned.
“I’ve got an after party lined up on a friend’s yacht,” Athena announced. “We can get them moving in that direction as soon as Kairo says he has what he needs.”
“Izzie, I’m in love with your brilliant sister. I’m marrying her and we’re running away together,” West stated in his usual, dry deadpan voice.
“Nope. You said Joey stinks. We’re a package deal.” Athena chuckled.
“Oh, rats. Single again,” West mumbled.
“Cut the chatter. Focus,” Charlie snapped. He shoved away from the door and headed to the patio doors on the other side of the room.
Isidore unlocked them and stepped onto the patio first, drawing in a deep breath of salty fresh air. The breeze had cooled the temperature off making it just slightly chilly now that the sun had gone down, but that didn’t chase away the nearly two dozen who were chatting, laughing, and drinking in the silvery moonlight with a pair of bartenders keeping everyone well hydrated. The second bar was in the main living space with two more bartenders and a barback running constantly for supplies for both bars.
He just wanted a moment of peace and quiet before heading out to stir up more trouble, but he didn’t get the chance.
“Isidore?”
His head jerked up at the sound of his name being called by the painfully familiar voice. Jason Pappas had always struck him as the epitome of tall, dark, and handsome. They’d gone to college together and remained in contact over the years, though they never seemed to catch up to each other as often as they would like. He’d had the worst crush on Jason through college, but nothing had ever come of it. Mostly because he figured Jason was straight, but also because Jason was a player. He’d never met a woman who was worth more than a few nights of his time. Isidore had no desire to trade their long-term good friendship for a wild night of passion.
“Jason? What are you doing here?” he demanded in shock. He should never have made Kairo’s guest list. Jason wasn’t even on Isidore’s radar. There was no way he would ever harm him or Athena. Jason was born into money. He didn’t need Isidore’s.
Jason closed the distance between them in a few steps. He attempted to move past Charlie, but the mercenary was faster and had even more muscle than Jason. His old friend jerked and stared at Charlie in shock that he would dare to stop him.
Isidore placed a hand on Charlie’s shoulder as he moved around him. “It’s okay. This is Jason Pappas, an old friend. We’ve known each other for years.”
The mercenary didn’t look particularly convinced, but he did move aside to allow Jason to reach Isidore.
Jason pulled him into a tight bear hug. “What’s going on? I’ve been trying to reach you for weeks. Next thing I know, I hear some rumor that you’re partying on Santorini and you’ve got a boyfriend. As I cut through the house, I thought I even heard someone say fiancé.”
Heat burned his cheeks, but he pushed on. “Yeah. I kind of turned everything off for a while so I could spend time with Athena before she heads back to school in the States. That’s when I met Soren. I’ll have to introduce you later.”
“But you’re sure you’re okay?” Jason asked, his hand on his shoulder.
“Of course! Don’t be so paranoid. Everything is fine.” Except now that Jason kept pressing the issue, Isidore was becoming paranoid. Would Jason hurt him? Or Athena? He never thought so, but he’d just spent the entire night surrounded by family who he knew would. Why not his oldest friend?
“Sorry,” Jason said with a sheepish grin. “I know you mentioned that you were going to travel with Athena for a bit, but I wasn’t expecting full radio silence.”
And that was the difference between Jason and all the other people who were attending this party. He and Jason might not talk often, but when they did, they always replied within a few hours at most. Usually within minutes. The other people didn’t even notice if he went missing. They just moved on with their lives.
“No, it’s my mistake. I should have warned you. Especially when we were in the middle of talking about the real estate investment. I have that paperwork if you’re still interested.”
“Yeah, sure. That’d be great. You can get that and then catch me up on this new boyfriend.”
Isidore leaned around Jason to look at Charlie, who was still waiting a meter away, staring at Jason. He felt guilty because they had been speaking in Greek the entire time, excluding him. “I’m going to run to my office with Jason to print out a file for him. It’ll only take a few minutes. Could you find Soren for me? We can all meet up in the living room.”
Charlie arched an eyebrow at him, looking very skeptical. “You sure?”
“Yep. It’ll just be a minute.” He paused and widened his smile while dropping his voice closer to a whisper as he continued, “Kairo will see everything.” He knew Charlie didn’t want him out of sight with this unknown person, but he wouldn’t be. Kairo had the house blanketed in cameras. His real boyfriend would be watching him the entire time.
Real boyfriend.
That was who he truly wanted to introduce to Jason.