Page 27 of The Kiss that Captured a Billionaire (Heart & Soul #2)

Nineteen

Kallistratos Security Systems: Athens, Greece

The facial recognition from the photo came back fast.

The man in Rose’s background was a petty crook, but the car he leaned against was registered to Allegra Rossi.

Theo’s pulse went from steady to a deep, pounding thrum. Heat surged up his spine as if someone had thrown open a furnace door.

His phone rang. Alexandros.

“I can’t talk right now?—”

“You’re going to want to,” his brother cut in. “I just got off the phone with Vito. He knows where Rose is being held.”

The icy grip on Theo’s chest tightened. “Go on.”

Alexandros relayed the mess in clipped, measured bursts—Vito’s gambling debts, Allegra’s harebrained ‘delay’ scheme, that Rose was with Allegra right now. And the address.

By the time Theo ended the call, his breathing was slow, deliberate.

He was going to kill them. All of them. Family friends be damned.

Markos, who’d caught enough of the conversation to follow, was already moving. “Angel. Cole. Gear up. We meet at the chopper in ten. Sending coordinates now for the location of the targets.”

Theo’s voice was calm and controlled. “I’ll alert local police en route. No warning— if whoever is holding her senses us coming, they’ll move her.”

Ten minutes later, Theo and Markos climbed into the helicopter in silence. Angel would pilot the aircraft while Cole co-piloted. The countryside blurred past in shades of dusty gold and deep green, but Theo’s focus was pinpointed on the location ahead.

He contacted the local authorities, debriefing them on what had happened. The local Municipal Police Chief, Homerus, was already aware of Rose’s abduction after a local discovered an unconscious man along the road. Homerus assured him they would have vehicles and men ready by the time they landed.

Twenty-five minutes later, the helicopter set down in a farmer’s field. The house where Rose was being held was on the far end of the village, approximately fifteen minutes by car.

Theo exited the helicopter and strode forward to clasp Homerus’s hand as the police chief approached. Both men wore grim expressions.

“Mr. Kallistratos. I appreciate your assistance in this. There are only myself and two others. The village is small, and we don’t have much crime—certainly nothing like this,” Homerus admitted in a gruff, apologetic tone.

Theo nodded in understanding. “My team and I are trained for hostage situations. I have the permissions to handle this,” he said, motioning at Cole, Markos, and Angel. “We’ll go in first and secure the house and the hostages.”

“They are two women?” Homerus asked, his brow furrowed with worry.

“Yes.”

Theo’s clipped answer was pulled from him.

His throat tightened as he remembered Dani’s recent near-death experience.

His brother’s wife had nearly died at the hands of a vengeful ex-boyfriend who had stalked her.

She had barely made it out alive. If he and his team had been even a few minutes later, she would have died.

He pushed the thought away, knowing that any distraction could jeopardize the mission. He rode with Homerus while the rest of the team divided up into the other two police vehicles.

Fifteen minutes later, they slipped through olive groves, police blocking curious villagers at a distance.

“Two men on the back. No sign of movement inside yet,” Angel murmured.

“One in front,” Cole said.

Theo’s jaw flexed. “Markos, you cover the west. I’ll take the east side.”

He and Markos fanned out—quiet, coordinated. The front guard went down with a muffled grunt courtesy of Cole.

“Back sentries neutralized,” Angel said.

“Show off,” Cole muttered.

“See if you can enter without being seen,” Theo instructed.

“Roger that,” both men replied.

Theo rounded the corner toward the east of the property?—

—and froze.

There, dangling halfway out a second-story window, was Rose.

Using curtains and bed linen.

As. A. Rope.

Is she insane?

Her hair was a glorious mess. Her jeans were ripped, her knuckles white as she clung to the makeshift rope. She was hissing as she stared upward.

“You’re supposed to wrap it around your hand—no, your hand, Allegra!”

A second pair of legs—dressed in an expensive skirt rather than climbing gear—poked awkwardly out of the window above her. Allegra Rossi, clearly not a fan of heights, was clinging in terror to the makeshift curtain rope like it was a live electrical wire.

“I am wrapping it!” Allegra snapped back. “This is a terrible idea!”

“I told you to throw your shoes out. You can’t climb in six-inch heels. Kick them off. Just don’t hit me. I knew I should have made you go first!”

“Why?” Allegra demanded, glaring down over her shoulder.

“So if I fall, I’d have someone to land on,” Rose snapped.

“Ha-ha,” Allegra retorted, slipping several inches with a low cry before she closed her eyes and clung to the knotted material.

Theo pinched the bridge of his nose. “ Christos! Markos, I need your help,” he muttered under his breath.

Seconds later, Markos appeared at his side, his lips twitching when he saw where Theo was staring. “Want me to get them down?”

Theo’s glare shut that down immediately. “I’ll get Rose.”

He sprinted forward into the open. “ Agápi mou … are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

Rose stiffened, a surprised cry of delight escaping her as she whipped her head around to stare down at him. The relief on her face warred with embarrassment.

“Theo!”

Allegra, still clinging above, twisted to look. “Who is that?”

“That,” Rose said sweetly, glancing up at Allegra, “is the cavalry.”

Theo’s jaw clenched, but his voice was pure steel. “Stay still. Both of you.”

Theo looked up when Angel leaned out the bedroom window the two women were escaping from.

“Inside is neutralized. Cole’s contacted the police. There was only one hostile inside.”

Allegra tilted her head back. “If it is a snotty little runt wearing a black jacket, I hope you knocked him good,” she snapped.

Angel chuckled. “Let’s just say he’ll have a bit of a headache when he wakes up.”

Theo slung his weapon over his shoulder and reached up, gripping Rose around her waist once she had slid down far enough for him to reach her.

The moment her feet touched down, his hands skimmed over her like he had to memorize her all over again.

“You’re insane,” he said quietly.

“But you love me anyway,” she countered, breathless.

He kissed her—quick, fierce—before looking up at Allegra, still dangling like an overpriced chandelier.

“You’re on your own.”

“Wait—what?! Theo! Don’t leave me here!” Allegra wailed, distraught.

Markos sighed, stepped forward, and motioned his hand at Allegra, muttering about “the things I do.”

As the police swept inside to secure the property, Theo kept Rose tucked against him, his hand possessive at the small of her back. He was still burning with fury—but she was here, alive, safe. And that, for now, was enough.

He was done taking chances with Rose.

The second they’d cleared the property, Theo instructed Angel to fly them straight to Syros, to his family’s villa. He hadn’t let go of her since—his arm anchored around her shoulders, as if loosening his grip might give fate a chance to steal her away again.

“How’s Christian?” Rose asked as the helicopter cut across the blue expanse of the Aegean.

“Fine,” Theo said, his voice gruff with stress and leftover adrenaline. “A little disgruntled about being caught off-guard, but he’s made a full recovery.”

She hesitated before asking, “What will happen to Allegra and Vito?”

His jaw worked. “Honestly, I don’t care.

” Then, grudgingly when she elbowed him, “But the Rossi family has influence. They’ll probably end up with a slap on the wrist. Vito wasn’t there, he tried to stop the kidnapping, and he helped us find you.

And Allegra was being held herself, so…” He exhaled slowly.

“There’ll be a large enough scandal to clip their wings for a while. ”

Rose shifted against him. “She told me her parents were almost bankrupt.”

Theo scoffed. “The Rossi family is far from bankrupt. Apollo and Dorothea are well-invested. They just put their three adult children on a ‘budget’ after discovering their recent… massive spending spree.” His tone sharpened. “This should be a wake-up call for all of them.”

A soft smile curved Rose’s lips. “Allegra wasn’t so bad once you got to know her. She just needs different friends—and possibly different siblings.”

Theo couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped. Shaking his head, he bent to kiss the top of her hair. “Only you could find something good out of this.”

But when he closed his eyes, the humor bled into something heavier. He couldn’t help imagining if they’d been too late…

He shoved the thought away, fighting the shudder that still threatened to break free.

Forty minutes later, the helicopter settled on the villa’s helipad. Theo helped Rose down, his hand firm at her waist. He raised a hand to Angel in thanks, knowing the man would return to pick up Markos and Cole, who had stayed behind to debrief Homerus.

They walked slowly through the garden, the patio tiles smooth underfoot, the air rich with the scent of bougainvillea and salt from the nearby sea.

Ahead, Alexandros, Dani, and their parents waited.

One look at their faces—relief written in every line—and Theo’s throat tightened.

His fingers tightened around Rose’s hand until his knuckles ached.

Dani descended the steps, one hand resting on her baby bump with Alexandros right behind her. She wrapped Rose in a warm hug, and within moments the two women were trading stories—Dani calling Rose’s ordeal ‘more like a Big Bang episode’ as they laughed over Allegra’s nail preservation efforts.

His mother threaded her arm through Rose’s. “Are you hungry, dear?”

Theo barely registered their voices. The sharp press of his brother’s arms around him brought him back.

“Glad it worked out,” Alexandros murmured.