Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 84544 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 338(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84544 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 338(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
He was fucking right. Even though Kairo had never said the words to him, he was stupidly, hopelessly, completely in love with this man. He hadn’t even needed to say it. Isidore looked at him and just knew.
But he wanted to say the words. He wanted to tell Isidore every damn day of their lives that he was loved and cherished.
Pulling his shit together, he only half listened to Isidore talking about him and what they meant to each other. His super-smart boyfriend was doing an excellent job of distracting his kidnappers so his rescue team could enter the house.
On the south side of the building, he located a window that was unlocked. He peered inside to see that the room was dark, but there was just enough light leaking in from the main room that he could see that it was empty.
“Open window on the south side. Moving in.”
“I’ve got nothing. Heading to the front door,” Gabriel snarled.
“Back door leads into the kitchen. I’ll move in and try to draw the son out,” West whispered.
Kairo was half in the window when a creak echoed through the nearly silent house. It had almost been drowned out by Isidore’s talking, but their targets caught it.
Sophia said something sharply in Greek, which Kairo guessed was her telling Isidore to shut up. A second later she gave another order. Probably telling her son to check on the noise as West had hoped. There was a shuffling sound and a noise from Isidore that didn’t seem promising.
With her now alone, Kairo finished climbing into the house. Straightening, he held his gun in front of him with both hands as he quickly crossed the room. His heart was racing and a cold chill was sneaking down his spine, but all of his focus was on reaching Isidore.
Around the edge of the doorway, he peered out and his heart threatened to stop. Sophia had pulled Isidore to his feet and was using him as a shield while holding the gun to his temple. She was significantly shorter than Isidore and of slim build, making him the perfect shield. He had no fucking shot.
“Gabriel?” Kairo bit out.
“I see her,” he calmly replied. “Just waiting for West to do his thing. You play distraction.”
That was all West needed to hear. A soft pop came from the back of the house followed by two much louder gunshots.
“Michalis? Michalis! What’s happening? Michalis!” Sophia screamed in panic.
Kairo stepped out of the side room and entered the living room where Sophia and Isidore were both bathed in a dirty yellow light from a camping lantern on the dusty tile floor. He caught only the barest glimpse of the rundown room with stained walls and frayed curtains. His eyes never wavered from Isidore’s pale face that was streaked with blood on one side or the gun pressed awkwardly to his temple. Sophia was too short to hold in place, but the angle was still enough to kill Isidore if she managed to get a shot off.
“Let him go,” Kairo ordered in a hard voice. “Michalis is already dead. Let him go and you might make it out of here alive.”
“Kairo.” Isidore sighed with relief.
“No! I—” Sophia didn’t get out anything else. Gabriel kicked in the front door. As she turned in surprise, Kairo lunged forward, grabbed Isidore’s arm, and yanked him free of Sophia’s distracted grasp. Isidore’s limp body fell into Kairo’s arms. Kairo swallowed a shout of joy as he wrapped up his man in his body while taking them to the floor. He positioned himself between Isidore and Sophia while trying to cushion their fall.
Behind him, three shots were fired off in quick succession and then there was only deafening silence.
“Isidore! Isidore!” Athena frantically screamed in their ears.
“Shhhh. I’m okay. Kairo saved me. No screaming. I have a splitting headache,” Isidore answered a moment later.
Kairo leaned up on his elbow, with his perfect boyfriend in his arms. He blinked and he could feel the relieved tears streaking down his face. He just didn’t care. “Will, get your ass in here,” he said in a rough voice. “Isidore was hit on the head. Probably a concussion.”
“Got it. Anyone shot?” Will immediately replied.
“Not anyone who matters,” Gabriel drawled.
“West? You okay? What were those extra shots?” Kairo asked.
The sniper grunted. “Shitbag managed to squeeze off a couple out of reflex when I hit him. I’m good. He’s dead.”
Confident that all of his family was safe, Kairo turned his full attention back to the man in his arms. “I’m so sorry, baby, about your family. I never wanted this for you.”
Isidore closed his eyes and rested his head against Kairo’s arm. “It doesn’t matter. You, Athena, and the team are the only family I need.”
Leaning down, Kairo pressed the lightest kiss to his temple. “And we will always be there for you.”