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)
“She has a ferret!” he shouted with childlike glee. The man hurried over until he towered over Athena by more than a foot. “He’s adorable! Can I pet him? Is he friendly to other people?”
Joey didn’t give Athena a chance to argue. The ferret scampered onto the man’s outstretched hand and ran up his arm as though he were the ferret’s personal jungle gym.
“He really likes you,” Athena said with a laugh. “He usually doesn’t take to strangers that quickly.”
“Probably smells the food Ed has been eating,” Kairo muttered.
“Hey! I’m barely getting a bite in anymore. Alexei is like a freaking piranha around food. Soon as it’s brought into the house, it disappears the second he smells it. And he’s still so skinny. I don’t know where he’s keeping it,” the man Kairo called Ed complained. Ed then turned to Silver Fox. “We need ferrets. We can train them to go into the field with us. Put little cameras and bulletproof vests on them. They’d be our tactical ferrets. It’ll be great.”
“I like this idea!” Athena giggled. “Joey is great at getting into all kinds of tight spots, and he’s really hard to catch if he doesn’t want to be caught.”
Isidore covered his face with his hand. Not exactly the first impression he was expecting to make. But then, when he’d imagined getting free with Kairo and possibly meeting the rest of the mercenary team, Joey wasn’t part of those early images. Yes, less ferret and more Kairo cuddles. This wasn’t working out at all like he thought.
Someone squeezed his shoulder, and he lowered his hand to find Kairo smiling brightly at him, which had a way of making him forget about everything else. “Athena and Joey are safe,” he reassured him in a low voice and motioned toward Silver Fox. “Isidore and Athena Panopoulos, I’d like to introduce you to our team leader, Charlie Sands.”
Charlie stepped closer and extended his hand to Isidore. “We’re glad to see you free and safe, Mr. Panopoulos.”
“I am so very sorry about kidnapping Kairo from you,” Isidore blurted. “I tried to keep him safe, but as you can see, I’m not as practiced at this sort of thing as you likely are.”
The other man’s eyebrows shot up toward his hairline while his eyes darted over to Kairo, who groaned, his face scrunching up adorably. “You protected the former Army recon specialist and CIA agent?” he inquired as he shook Athena’s hand.
Oh.
When Charlie put it like that, it really did seem unnecessary, but he hadn’t wanted Kairo to be injured.
“Ignore Charlie. He’s an asshole,” Kairo muttered. “This is Edison Walker. He’s our demolitions expert as well as pilot and driver of anything weird.”
“What constitutes weird?” Athena asked.
“ATVs, airboats, hot-air balloons, a tank,” Ed listed easily. He laughed suddenly. “Oh my God, and there was that time in Venice when I had to steal that gondola! Those rowers make it seem so much easier than it is.”
Kairo groaned again. “We agreed to never talk about Venice.” He looked at Isidore. “Ignore Ed, too. He’s also an asshole.”
Shock tightened Isidore’s muscles as Kairo grabbed both of his shoulders from behind and maneuvered him between Charlie and Ed toward the front door. They didn’t get far before they ran into more people. The doctor was very pleasant, though he demanded to check Kairo over to be sure he wasn’t lying about his lack of injuries. The tall, steely-eyed sniper, Westin, was frighteningly quiet. Soren the cat burglar was very friendly, and so was his blond assassin boyfriend until he spotted Joey. Then he darted behind Soren, wanting protection from the long rat.
Athena and Ed were not impressed. They walked off to the living room, making plans about setting up a hammock for Joey to sleep in tonight and getting a proper cage for him tomorrow.
Isidore ended up on a love seat next to Kairo, and his heart was skipping happily about his chest because Kairo had chosen to sit with him while Athena was on the floor with Ed and Joey. Kairo gave the assembled group a rundown of everything that had happened, where they were being kept, and what he knew of Vanko and his men. He was amazingly succinct and detailed. There really wasn’t a single thing Isidore could think to add.
“I think you’re right,” Charlie murmured, in a sort of low and growly voice. He was seated in one of the chairs while his boyfriend was perched on the arm. Charlie kept a hand on Will’s back while the other rubbed his bearded chin. “Sounds like an inside job to me.”
“Do you and Athena keep separate staff, assistants, and security?” Alexei inquired.
“I have only one assistant, and she just keeps up with my charities. With graduate school beginning soon, she hasn’t been too busy,” Athena murmured. “I don’t have a security team like Izzie.”