Papaioannou 01 - Ever Fallen in Love

by Katie MacAlister

  “I just have one question,” I said, taking another step back. I was about six feet away from the edge of the pool, where a couple of people unconcernedly swam laps. “You never had this sort of money when we were together. What happened?”

  He glanced to the side, and for a minute, I thought he wasn’t going to answer. “I tell you because you cannot hurt me. I have protection, you understand? I can snap you like piece of branch, and there is nothing you can do to stop me.”

  I made a horrified face. “I just want you to leave me alone.”

  “You will be alone,” he laughed, completely at his ease. “You will be very alone. Your rich man, he won’t be able to help you. Give me flash.”

  “Not until you tell me how you got this much money.”

  He rolled his eyes. “I have big deal. I told you I was important man, big-time man, but you never believe me. You always try to keep me down. But now I am on top, and your rich man is nothing compared to me.” He jerked his thumb toward himself. “I have the power now, and it will crush you, because you cannot stop me.”

  “The police—”

  “Police work for me,” he snapped, suddenly lunging forward until he had me in a painful grip on one arm, the other hand reaching into my shirt to pull out a thin wire that was taped to my chest. He jerked it out, causing me to gasp when the small recording device came up, as well.

  I stammered something inane.

  “You think this will trap me?” He tossed the wire into the pool behind me, laughing again when he saw the look on my face. “I know about your plan. You want me to admit that I help terrorist group to wash moneys so you can go to police and say, here, here Misha admit to crime. But I tell you that police work for me. They will not listen to you. Give me flash now, and maybe I let you stay alive so you can tell your rich man that he will never be as good as me.”

  “And if I refuse?” I asked, bracing myself for a blow.

  “Then I take.” Misha shoved his hand in my front pocket, pulling out the stone with the flash drive nestled inside it. He opened it, taking it out before plugging it into a device that hooked into his phone. He looked at it for a few seconds, then nodded. “You stole my flash. You try to blackmail me. You try to kill me.”

  The startled look on my face was all too genuine. “I what? I’ve never threatened you, not even when you tried many times to kill me.”

  “You try now. I have witness. Police see you pull gun on me and try to shoot me.”

  Before I could protest, he pulled me up against his body, shoving the gun into my hand, pressing my fingers all over it before taking it back and tucking it away.

  I snarled a rude word and shoved him back, worry filling my mind. I had a horrible feeling he’d just used my body to shield his actions from the cameras. “No one would believe anything so insane, Misha.”

  “You will see. Now is all over. Good-bye, Kiera.”

  “What?” I asked, backing up a couple of more steps. Behind me, I could hear the ripple of the water as someone swam past.

  “Is too bad you try to kill me,” he said, raising his hands as if I was holding a gun on him, looking over my shoulder to where one of the security cameras filmed us. “Too bad you are not smarter.”

  The man in a police uniform who appeared behind him yelled at me to stop and put down my weapon, his gun pointing straight at my chest. “Wait—Misha—”

  “Stop! Drop the gun or I will shoot!” the policeman called, glancing at the camera behind me.

  “She says she will kill me!” Misha yelled dramatically, backing up, his hands still in the air to show he was unarmed. “Shoot her now!”

  I fell backward just as the policeman’s gun spat three times, the sound of it echoing off the walls of the pool building, startling birds into loud protests. I was thrown backward by the impact, feeling as if three freight trains had hit me right in the gut, the collision with the cold water when I struck the surface shocking me into oblivion. I felt myself falling downward, my eyes wide and staring while I watched the glow of the lights getting dimmer and dimmer as I sank to the bottom of the pool.

  And then Theo was there, his arms around me, pulling me upward with strong kicks of his legs, until we both broke the surface. I gasped, dragging air painfully into my lungs before sinking again, and getting a mouthful of water. Theo hoisted me up again, one arm under my breasts while swimming to the ladder. I was dimly aware of lights and voices, a lot of voices, and strong hands that pulled me up from the pool. I collapsed on my belly, vomiting up water when I gasped more rasping lungsful of air.

  Theo was at my side, his hands on my back, calling for a doctor in between murmuring things into my ears about how proud he was of me.

  “I’m all right,” I said, getting to my knees, flinching at the pain in my belly as soon as I was done heaving. “I don’t need a doctor.”

  Theo pulled off my oversized tee, his fingers jerking at the straps that held the concealed body armor on my torso. Three bullets were flattened into it, I absently noted when Theo, his hands on my breastbone, reached for my bra clasp.

  “No, Theo,” I said, grabbing his arms to stop him. “Really, I’d like to do this without baring my breasts to everyone.”

  “You’re bruised,” he said, touching the marks on my chest with a featherlight touch. “You might be injured elsewhere.”

  “I’m not,” I said with a little laugh that made my chest and belly hurt. I accepted the dry shirt that George handed me. Like Theo, he was dressed in swim trunks and was wet. “But you can take off the other wires.”

  Together they peeled off the two other recording devices that Dermot had set to catch Misha’s admission. I pulled on my tee and let Theo help me to my feet, while George toweled himself off.

  “Did you get it?” I asked Dermot as he came over to see how I was. “Was it enough?”

  “We did, and it was. We have footage from all three of the cameras we set up this afternoon that clearly show the policeman shoot you without provocation upon Mr. Girbac’s instructions.”

  “And the recording? Is it enough to put him away for life?”

  “Not on its own, but along with the records we copied from the drive, yes, that should just about do the job.”

  Theo hugged me carefully, his body wet and cool against me. His breath was as harsh as mine, causing me to cock an eyebrow at him. “Why are you out of breath?” I asked him, nuzzling his neck, nibbling on his earlobe before kissing along one side of his jaw. “I’m the one who got shot.”

  “You try swimming laps for twenty minutes solid, and see how slow your breathing is,” he said, one arm around me while we moved toward the pool building, where the bulk of the action was. I could see Misha sitting on the ground, his arms bound behind him, as well as the policeman who shot me. Beyond them, Armen was being patted down before also being handcuffed. A group of three other police were being interviewed by Dermot’s people and a man whom Theo identified as the police commissioner.

  Misha turned his head when Theo and I approached, intending on walking past him to the park outside the gate. The expression of anger he wore turned to fury when he saw me, his face turning red, obscenities in English and Russian falling from his lips.

  “I can’t help myself,” I told Theo, pausing a few feet away from Misha. “Do you mind? It will make me feel better.”

  “Not at all. May I help?” Theo asked politely.

  “Of course.” We strolled over to Misha, Theo’s arm around my shoulders, my arm around his waist.

  “I don’t think you’ve met my husband,” I said to Misha. “His name is Theo, and he’s the man who thought up the plan to get you to admit your ties with corrupt police.”

  A look of surprise flashed in Misha’s narrowed eyes.

  “That’s right,” Theo said, giving me a swift kiss. “While you were convinced Kiera was trying to get you to name your connection with the terrorist group, she was really getting your admission of complicity.”

  “See, we
didn’t need you to admit you were laundering money,” I told him, enjoying myself greatly. I knew I should be ashamed of taking pleasure in his downfall, but all those years of abuse were finally being soothed from my soul. They would never be obliterated, but seeing Misha caught in his own web of deceit went a long way to easing the pain. “The government agent—that’s him over there, watching Armen being taken away—says there was more than enough proof on the flash drive to convict you. We just wanted to send your dirty friends to prison with you. And thanks to Theo, we know the names of three of them. I don’t suppose it will be long before the other two join you.”

  Dermot signaled to a couple of men, who yanked Misha to his feet. “You die,” he snarled, almost frothing at the mouth as his gaze locked on mine. “You die.”

  “Someday, yes.” I leaned into Theo, feeling about as good as a woman who’d taken three bullets to the body armor could. “But until then, I’ll have the man of my dreams making me incredibly happy.”

  Misha was dragged off sputtering and spewing vile threats toward both of us.

  “You didn’t tell him I was fabulously rich and successful,” Theo complained, giving me a little frown. “Not to mention incredible in bed. I thought you were going to wound his ego? How can you do that if you don’t drive home the rich, successful, and a sex god parts?”

  I laughed and pinched him on his entirely too attractive butt. “How about if I send him a copy of the most eligible bachelor list, so he can gnash his teeth over just how inferior he is compared to you?”

  “Not a bad idea,” he said, steering me toward the car that George and Paul had waiting. “Although I wonder if we shouldn’t get a divorce.”

  I stopped and gawked at him, not sure if I’d heard him correctly.

  “I can’t be on the list if I’m married, sweet. If we got divorced, I might be able to go up a few levels. I’d like to get to Jake’s number three. I think number three might just break Misha.”

  “Argh!” I said, punching him in his six-pack. “That’s it. I’m going to go live in one of the cottages on your brother’s island with Peter, and look for a man who isn’t handsome, and sexy, and caring, and loving, and perfect in every way except for his unbearable ego.”

  “Ah,” he said, kissing the tip of my nose. “But will he be able to outrun you?”

  “You can’t,” I pointed out, getting into the car.

  “Wife, I let you win.”

  “You did not! I won fair and square.”

  “Because I wanted you to win. You needed it to make you feel good about yourself.”

  “I heard the way you breathed behind me. You know, when I beat you to the bench. You were running your balls off.”

  “I breathed heavily on purpose, so you didn’t know I was letting you win.”

  “Oh! That’s it. We’re having a rematch. On a proper track this time. We’ll see who needs to feel good about herself.”

  “A rematch will simply prove to you that I let you win, but I’m happy to oblige if you think your ego can take the beating,” Theo said with a laugh, the sound making my heart happy.

  SIXTEEN

  “I’m only letting you do this because I love you, husband,” I told Theo.

  “You are graciousness personified, wife,” he said gravely, and held up a scanty bit of lace and a couple of strategically placed ribbons. “What about this one?”

  I considered it for a minute. “I don’t know that pink is your color. Plus, won’t your bits fall out of that crotch? It looks awfully skimpy.”

  “We’ll take this one, too.” He tossed the lingerie to the salesclerk, who stood with her arms full of clothing, a look of great happiness on her face as she no doubt calculated her commission on my shopping spree. “Now, how about a dress suitable for a party?”

  “A party? We’re going to a party? When? Where? Here in Athens, or at your brother’s house?” I pulled Theo away from where he wanted to linger in the lingerie section of the trendy shop. The salesclerk followed, staggering slightly under the growing stack of clothes.

  “I don’t have a particular party in mind, but I’m bound to be invited to one sooner or later.”

  I slid him a fast glance, but he merely looked interested when a second salesclerk pulled out dresses for his approval, just like I wasn’t standing right there with a brain and a knowledge of what looked good on me. “I suppose I should have one nice dress. Harry said something about having a family party once your sister gets back from visiting your English relatives.”

  “No, not that one. Blue or green,” Theo told the second clerk who all but tossed the offered dresses aside and snatched a couple more from a third clerk.

  “I can’t help but notice that there are several other shoppers here,” I told Theo.

  He stood back and eyed the dress that the second clerk held up. “That has merit. I don’t care for the fussy bit at the neckline, but the line of it is good.”

  “And yet,” I said to no one in particular, since I was evidently not important in the whole “buy Kiera new clothing” scenario. “And yet, all three of the salespeople are right here, waiting on you like you’re a Greek god come to earth.”

  “Madame would like blush, yes?” the third clerk asked, her gaze firmly affixed to Theo when she rushed up with a very pretty floor-length rose-and-silver dress. The material moved like it was made of water, sliding effortlessly over her hand.

  “Too long,” he said, shaking his head. “I want something to show off her legs.”

  “And that’s the point where I stop this disgusting little show,” I said, taking the water dress from the clerk, and shooing her and the other one away. “He’s taken, ladies. Very taken. And probably will be taken again just as soon as we get to his brother’s house, because I have a lot of unbridled joy to work out of my system.”

  “Kiera,” he said, frowning, but a little quirk of his lips let me know he was about to say something I was going to find outrageous. “I have let you get away with your aggressive ways in private because I felt you needed an outlet, but I draw the line at you announcing to these kind women—yes, thank you, we will find anything else on our own, as my wife says—I draw the line at you informing them that we will be having incredibly arousing sex so intense that you are left a damp, panting blob of sated woman by the end of it.”

  “Aggressive! Me?” I gasped in faux outrage, plucking a pretty bluish-green dress from the rack and adding it to the stack that I would try on. I knew Theo favored the color, and decided since he’d worked so hard to make sure the New Zealand officials had information about Misha’s dirty cop friends, he deserved a little reward. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Thank you, I’ll try these on now. No, you don’t have to wait. My very much married and taken husband will stand outside the dressing room and hold the ones I want to keep.”

  The salesclerk shot Theo a look, sighed, and went to stand by the counter.

  I entered the small dressing room, pulling closed the garish paisley curtain that served as a door.

  Before I had my shirt off, Theo stuck his head in, saying softly, “I sincerely enjoyed the way you were aggressive all over me last night, sweetheart.”

  My cheeks warmed when I remembered how clumsy I was trying to give Theo pleasure with my mouth. “You’re just being kind. It was a disaster, and we both know it.”

  He gave me a crooked grin. “I will admit that having my delicious wife attempt to give me a blow job, only to end up in a fit of giggles so intense that she triggered an asthma attack, was a bit daunting to my ego, but I have high hopes that one day you’ll be able to face my cock without bursting into untoward laughter.”

  I kissed him on the corner of the crooked smile. “It just struck me at the wrong moment how silly penises look when you’re face to ... er ... head with it, and I solemnly promise that I will make every effort to attend to it properly tonight.”

  “Oh no. Tonight is my turn. Try on the green dress first,” he said, removing himself from
the dressing room.

  Four hours later, Harry and Iakovos were at the dock on their island to greet us, Peter in Iakovos’s arms.

  “Look how big he is!” I said, running forward to take him, laughing when he no-no-ed happily, pointing at Theo even as he grabbed a bit of my hair and stuck the end in his mouth. “I can’t believe how much he’s grown in just five days. Did you miss us, Peter? Yes, that’s your papa. Isn’t he handsome? One day, I’ll explain to you how he’s like a black hole, attracting women to him with a sort of gravitational pull, but until then, just remember that it’s what’s inside you that matters.”

  Theo, clutching three massive stuffed giraffes by one hand, and two boxes containing kids’ versions of digital video cameras in the other, set everything down to hold Peter out at arm’s length. “You’ve definitely grown. Did you have fun while we were off buying you an entire case of baby wipes?”

  “I hope those are not for our brood,” Iakovos said, nodding toward the toys. “We can barely house the things they already have, and that’s with Harry insisting they donate toys they no longer play with.”

  “We couldn’t bring Peter a giraffe without getting Rose and Nicky one, as well,” Theo said, booping Peter on his nose with that of the stuffed giraffe. He screamed with happiness, his little fists beating on the giraffe’s head before he pulled its nose into his mouth.

  “Kiera finally decided to break down and buy some things she needed,” Theo announced when Iakovos’s eyes widened at the sight of the bags being hauled up toward the house. “I thought hell might freeze over when she suggested a shopping trip, but we all survived.”

  “Just barely,” I said, holding Peter’s little hand while we all headed for the house. “My bank account will never be the same.”

  Iakovos shot me a look, but didn’t say anything.

  A few hours later, Peter went down for a nap, and Theo and Iakovos went off to do a little of what I assumed was male bonding, but which Theo assured me was important business.

  I sat with Harry, watching her four children play, feeling more content than I ever could have imagined.