Page 5 of Love and Chaos

A new chapter for Charlie and Will was just beginning.

A VALENTINE’S DAY SURPRISE: A KAIRO & IZZIE SHORT STORY

Izzie was being too quiet.

He’d been too quiet for more than a week. Not to mention the secret phone calls and the text messages to “no one in particular” or “just someone from work.” If Kairo was any less secure about his relationship, he would worry that his lover was cheating on him.

But not Izzie.

Never Izzie.

No, he suspected his sweet Isidore was plotting something, and that was almost as scary as him cheating. Well, maybe not. But it was still enough to make Kairo wake in a cold sweat in the middle of the night. He’d tried threatening Alexei, and even Izzie’s sister, Athena, for information. They’d both just laughed at him.

He had no choice. He had to hack his boyfriend’s phone and look at his text messages.

Actually, his other choice was to do nothing and wait for Izzie to tell him, but he was completely out of patience. He just needed a tiny hint of what Izzie was plotting.

And today he was in luck. Izzie had left his cell on the charger while he was in the shower. He stood in their bedroom, listening to the water raining on the tile in the next room, Izzie’s phone in his hand.

This is wrong.

His years as a spy had given him some very bad habits and a complete disregard for the privacy of others. Izzie was not a terrorist out to destroy the world and kill millions. Izzie was his sweet, cuddly baby. Izzie had a right to his secrets. It wasn’t like he believed Isidore Panopoulos was plotting to overthrow the government or sell weapons of mass destruction. Izzie made olive oil and wine. He ran a global conglomerate that specialized in telecommunications. He collected rare art and sponsored archeological exploration.

Just as he was about to put the phone on the dresser again, a voice crept over his shoulder.

“Can’t you guess my password?”

Kairo shrieked. The phone flew out of his hands and into the air. He bobbled it twice and finally caught it, saving it from smashing on the shining hardwood floor. Clutching the phone to his still-racing heart, he swung about to find a broad grin on his lover’s face. He was also dripping wet, a towel wrapped around his waist.

“The password is the date we met. It used to be the date my parents died, but I’d rather be reminded of something happy every time I open my phone,” Izzie continued as if he hadn’t just scared the crap out of Kairo.

“No! Don’t tell me these things!” He slapped the phone back on the wireless charger. “You have a right to your privacy. Besides, what are you doing? The shower is still running. You’re dripping everywhere.”

“I had an idea for the new winery and vineyard. I wanted to write it down before I forgot.” His smile never wavered because his trust in Kairo was absolute. That only made Kairo feel worse.

“Baby, I’m sorry for trying to sneak a peek at your phone. It was wrong of me.” Kairo closed the distance between them and pressed a small kiss to his bare shoulder, the tip of his tongue licking up a couple of drops of water.

“I don’t mind. I have no secrets from you. Except maybe what I’m planning for your Valentine’s Day surprise.”

Kairo inwardly cringed. His billionaire boyfriend, born with a golden spoon in his mouth, had no concept of moderation when it came to gift giving. His only goal was to take care of those he loved and make them happy. Even if it meant buying Tuscan villas and German super cars on a whim because someone—a.k.a. Kairo—didn’t pay attention to the things coming out of his mouth.

That same sweetness and genuine warm heart meant he loved any little thing Kairo gave him. It didn’t matter how expensive a thing was. To Izzie, the important thing was that Kairo had thought of him.

“But…if you truly wish to pay penance for your crime,” Izzie drawled out in a low voice that threatened to melt Kairo’s few working brain cells. “You could come help me finish my shower. It’s lonely in there without you.”

A bark of laughter jumped from Kairo’s throat, and he pushed Izzie toward the bathroom. “Go. Get back in the hot water before you catch a cold. I’ll join you.”

Izzie flashed him a bright smile and darted off. That look of pure joy made Kairo’s heart skip every damn time. But then, no one had ever been as precious to him as Isidore.

After stripping off clothes he’d put on less than an hour ago, Kairo hurried over to his nightstand and pulled out a small, colorful box that he’d buried in the bottom of his drawer. Naked and grinning like a lunatic, Kairo jogged to the bathroom and slipped into the specially designed shower stall with its multiple heads and the long bench they’d put to very good use more than once.

“There you—what’s that?” Izzie had started to greet him with open arms but stopped as his eyes fell on the box in Kairo’s hands.

“This was supposed to be my Valentine’s Day gift to you, but it seems you need it now,” Kairo murmured.

Izzie gasped and gently took the box of children’s bathtime crayons from Kairo’s hands. A lump grew in Kairo’s throat at both the boundless happiness shimmering in Izzie’s eyes and the exquisite care he showed. It was as if Kairo had handed him the crown jewels of a lost civilization, not a child’s toy.

“This is not the first time you’ve been struck with a brilliant idea while in the shower. Now you can write it on the wall, and I won’t worry about you slipping or catching cold when you run out to find a pen and some paper.”