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)
“Yes, I do.” Kairo tipped his head just enough to press his lips to Isidore’s.
For a moment, Isidore was lost in the perfect kiss. There was only Kairo with his strength and humor and his unending warmth. He was the home he’d not been able to find for so many years.
When the kiss ended, Kairo lifted a brow, giving him a very expectant look.
“What?” Isidore asked. “Are you saying you don’t know?”
“I’m a smart guy, Isidore, but I’m also the kind of guy who really likes to hear the words too. Have a heart.”
“What? You need to hear that I love you with all that I am. That no one in my life has ever made me feel so cherished and special. That I want to spend the rest of my life traveling and doing amazing things with you,” Isidore replied, joy infusing his every word. His headache and other pains were forgotten for now. There was only Kairo holding him so tight as they lay together in bed.
“You like me more than that Jason who was so happy to see you?”
“Love. I love you,” he corrected. “Oh, God! Jason! I forgot about him. Is he okay?”
“He’s fine. Everything is fine. Will checked him out. He’s fine. I think one of the team was seeing him home with a story that it was all a nasty prank gone wrong. He’s fine. You need to worry more about yourself and my very fragile ego right now. He looked hot and rich—”
Isidore laughed and stopped Kairo’s words with a kiss. “I don’t need his money. I’ve got too much now. Plus, he’s nowhere near as hot as my sexy boyfriend who I love with all of my heart and soul.”
Kairo hummed against his lips. “Okay. That’s better. Feeling much less fragile and weak now.”
With a soft giggle, Isidore rested his head on Kairo’s chest again. “What’s next? Do you have a job lined up? Where are we going?”
“Slow those buns, my cinnamon roll,” Kairo teased. Isidore would have rolled his eyes but he was afraid it would bring back his headache with a vengeance. “First, we’re going to Athens, where you can get a proper MRI to check your head. After that, I imagine we’re getting Athena sent off to school. The original plan at the end of July was for us to all go our separate ways. Charlie and Will wanted some vacation time alone. Ed needed some more recovery time. And West was getting up to trouble with Alexei and Soren. We’ll probably do that for a bit. I figure I could tag along for a while as you catch up with work, and we could maybe check out these vineyards and farms you keep telling me about. Slow and relaxing for a while. Just the two of us.”
“And then we can do mercenary things?”
Kairo laughed, and it was still the best sound in the world. “Yes, we can do some mercenary things after that.”
Isidore turned his head to press his lips to Kairo’s pounding heart. “I’m happy with whatever we do so long as I’m with you. I love you, Kairo.”
“I love you, Isidore. My sweet, reckless cinnamon roll.”
EPILOGUE
EDISON WALKER
He was getting too emotional about this.
It was silly.
But it wasn’t his fault. Athena was adorable, sweet, funny, and so damn smart. He’d grown up an only child, and he’d dreamed of having a sister to protect and watch out for. Someone to give all that unsolicited brotherly advice. Athena was exactly the sister he’d dreamed of having.
Athena rushed over and hugged him for a third time as they stood in the private area of the airport. She’d stayed two days longer than originally planned because she’d wanted to make sure Isidore had truly recovered from his kidnapping experience. The siblings probably also needed a little time to themselves to recover from the knowledge that their own aunt and cousin had planned to steal their money and kill them.
She’d put off the parting as long as possible. If she didn’t leave now, she would miss her first day of classes and other important things. As it was, Gabriel and Justin had agreed to travel with Athena to California to make sure she was properly settled before going home.
Bouncing back to her heels, Athena gripped both of his arms tightly and narrowed her eyes at him. “Now, you’ve got my phone number, email address, and my social media contacts, right? Oh! And my new mailing address,” she checked for the third time.
“I do. I do. Don’t worry. I’ll send updates. You promised to send me a video of your new apartment,” Edison reminded her.
“Of course. Plus, I’ll send you a pic of the new habitat I’m planning to build for Joey.”
“With the tunnels that run through all the rooms? Yes! I definitely need to see that. When is Joey planning to join you?”