Page 71 of The Kiss that Captured a Billionaire

Theo rose, clasping his hand. “Markos. What brings you to Athens? I thought you were in Paris.”

“I wanted to see how the new merger was progressing before heading over to New York for a few weeks,” Markos said, taking a seat and stretching his legs out.

“Worried I wouldn’t make it?” he joked.

Markos chuckled. “And I wanted to hear about the woman who captured the great Theo Kallistratos.”

“Her name is Rose. She’s amazing, Markos.” He paused, lost in the vision of her last night. “I’m going to ask her to marry me.”

“Marry! Wow, I wasn’t expecting that. You’ve only known her for how long?” Markos asked, straightening in his chair to stare at him in shock.

“A little over a month,” Theo confessed.

“Are you sure about this? Hell, Nikos told me she was Livia’s daughter, but damn, from the look on your face, I’m assuming this isn’t an arranged marriage. How did Lorenzo react?” Markos demanded.

“He doesn’t know yet,” he admitted.

“You love her,” Markos said.

Theo smiled. “Yeah. I love her.”

“More power to you, man.”

Theo relaxed back as Markos asked him about the newly acquired surveillance tech firm he had been drooling over for the past year. The AI-facial recognition advancements alone would be a game changer not just for corporate security, but for high-level government contracts.

When there was a lull, Theo asked, “Have you talked to Nikos lately? I forgot to ask him how the London merger went.”

Markos shook his head. “Not since London. He said it went well. He was heading back to New York while I headed to Paris.”

Theo was about to ask how the Paris merger went when his phone rang. He grinned faintly at the caller ID.

“Speak of the devil—” He answered. “Nikos?—”

The voice on the other end was clipped and urgent. “Theo. Kerry just called me. She’s hysterical. She said Rose has been taken.”

Theo’s knees buckled, his chest constricting until he couldn’t breathe. It felt like someone had ripped the ground from beneath him, leaving only a freefall into hell.

“What?! What are you talking about?”

“I’m heading to Kerry’s apartment now,” Nikos continued, his voice terse with tension. “I’ll call you as soon as I know more.”

Theo swayed, bracing hard against the desk, white-knuckled. “Keep me updated.” He ended the call, his throat tight, and looked at Markos. “Nikos just told me… Rose—she’s been kidnapped.”

“Kidnapped?”

Theo was already moving, his phone in hand, dialing Rose. The call went straight to voicemail.

He tried Christian’s number next.

Voicemail.

His pulse pounded in his ears. He hung up—and his phone pinged with a series of incoming messages. He glanced at the number.

Kerry.

A second later, it rang.

He answered on the first beat. “Kerry?”