He leaned forward, squeezing her wrist and forcing her eyes back to his. “From whom?”
She swallowed, and her lips moved. Markos knew he’d heard her reply, he knew all the words she’d said, but there was a delay before the words registered.
When he finally understood, it hit him like a freighttrain.
“From the men who took you… eight years ago.”
“Who are they? Why are they after Nikos?”
His tone was low, barely controlled, and beneath it, a storm brewed. Rage. Confusion. Mistrust. She felt the heat of it against her skin—like standing too close to an open flame.
She drew in a sharp breath, bracing herself.
“I’ll explain what I can,” she said, meeting his stare, “but right now, we need to find Nikos. He’s in danger. And he’s not the only one. If we don’t handle this tonight, someone will die.”
Markos turned to glance at his two bodyguards. They were sitting upright now, blinking as if they’d just come out of anesthesia.
Kiki followed his gaze, then turned back to him. “They’ll be fine,” she said quickly. “But we need to leave. Now. And it’ll be safer if we go alone.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Are you out of your mind?!”
She smiled ruefully. “Buck up, soldier. I’m a one-woman army. But the fewer people I need to protect, the safer you’ll be. I know you don’t want to go through what they did to you again, and you don’t want that for Nikos either. So call your brother and let me protect you both.”
He glared. “We do have ourownpeople protecting us.”
“And I just walked through all of them,” she replied with a raised eyebrow.
He gritted his teeth.
“One of those men is someone like me, Markos. Be smart and take the protection. You need it. Both of you.”
That did it.
His expression stilled.
Without another word, he pulled out his phone and turned slightly away. Seconds later he spoke, his voice clipped but quiet.
“Where the hell are you?”
He paused and listened before he muttered to her, “He’s at your place.”
“Tell him to go across the hall—to Harvey and Jim’s. We’ll meet him there,” she instructed.
He nodded and continued the conversation. She didn’t need to hear the other end to feel the white-hot wave of Nikos’s fury lashing through the line. Her stomach dipped.
When Markos hung up, he looked at her. “He’s not happy.”
“No kidding,” she muttered under her breath. “Join the club.”
“What now?” he asked sharply.
Kiki straightened, smoothed her hood over her head, and shot him a crooked grin. “Now? You excuse yourself like a gentleman and let me handle the exit.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Handle it how?”
“With panache,” she said, already sliding out of the booth. “We’ll need a car. Something that isn’t likely to be connected to you.”
Markos shook his head, his expression unreadable. “Tell me why I’m trusting you right now.”
