Page 19 of Love and Chaos

“And then this asshole went on about how I was stunting his growth and harming his spine with the leash and harness by dragging him around. Also, Oscar only put up with it because he was an orange cat, and everyone knew orange cats were the dumbest of all the cats. And that was science. This fucking moron was trying to quote science to me when I’m sure he’s never read a scientific article in his life. He probably got all his information from hacks pulling handfuls of shit out of their asses and calling it facts on social media. I have never once dragged Oscar on his leash. Oscar is not a moron. He’s just friendly and enthusiastic. That doesn’t make him dumb.”

Will was right. This guy was some know-it-all asshole who’d ruined his love’s good mood and impugned the honor of their furry son. He needed to be taught a lesson about sticking his nose where it didn’t belong.

“I’m sorry, baby.” Charlie tightened his hold on Will, forcing him to lean close as Charlie kissed his temple.

“How could he say such horrible things? Oscar was playing on the bench, happy as could be. We walked through the park, and Oscar showed not one sign of struggling with the leash. He loves his walkies!”

“You said this guy was an American tourist?”

Will shrugged and ran his hand over Oscar’s head, sending the cat into a purring fit that would have put a motorboat’s engine to shame. “The accent was American. Maybe Midwestern. I don’t know. It’s been so long since I’ve been back. He didn’t even attempt French, and I’m at least blending in with the locals. He couldn’t have assumed I was an American too.”

Unless the guy overheard Will sprinkling Oscar with adorable baby talk, which was done all in English despite Will’s fluency in French.

“What’d the asshole look like?”

“I don’t know. Medium height. Average build. Brown hair.”

Charlie stared at Will’s bent head. If any of his team had given him that kind of description, he would have smacked the shit out of them. Of course, his team were all trained CIA pros. Still, he should have noticed a little more detail than that.

“Oh! I think I got a picture of him.” Will shifted around on the soft cushions, jostling Charlie and Oscar as he dug out his phone. Oscar crossed to Charlie’s lap and turned to watch Will as if expecting him to dig out a treat from his pockets. When Will pulled out his phone, Oscar lost interest and jumped to the floor, likely to grab a drink from his bowl in the kitchen.

Will pulled up the photo gallery on his phone and paged through a couple dozen pictures of Oscar on his walk prior to stopping on a photo of Oscar pawing at his tail through the slats of the bench. In the photo’s background was a man of average height and build, with brown hair, brown eyes, and a sour expression. His clothes were garish and of a middling price range. Charlie had to admit that Will’s description wasn’t far off. The only thing Charlie would have added was thinning hair with a receding hairline, late twenties, and a possible limp on his left side, just based on the way he was holding his body.

“That’s the asshole,” Will hissed.

Charlie plucked the phone from his fingers. After a couple of quick taps, he emailed the picture to himself and handed the phone to Will. “Don’t worry about it, darling. I’ll take care of it. How about some shopping? You said you wanted to pick up something for Westin and Jin’s first baby.” Charlie rose as he spoke and brushed his hands along the front of his dark-blue cashmere sweater.

“Ugh. What do you even buy for a baby princess?” he groaned. Will stopped and shook his head hard before he jumped to his feet as well, glaring at Charlie as he seemed to realize that he’d been distracted. “What do you mean you’ll take care of it? What’s there to take care of?”

“Nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

Will narrowed his eyes. “Charlie,” Will growled in warning.

A warning Charlie chose to overlook.

Charlie sneaked out of the bedroom after Will had been snoring softly for a bit. Oscar was stretched out in the middle of the bed like the spoiled only child he was. Charlie had already completed a facial recognition search using Will’s photo to discover the man’s name was Jacob Tanner and that he was an Internet security specialist. He was likely in Paris on a job. Charlie was willing to bet this asshole wasn’t as talented as the hacker he had at his fingertips.

He turned on one of the small lamps in the living room and strolled over to the windows that looked out on the Paris skyline as he pulled up Kairo’s number. It was late spring in the City of Lights, and most of the trees had regained their leaves. Blooming flowers filled boxes, adding a splash of color to the town. But right now, it was all about dazzling yellow lights dotting the buildings and streaking along the winding Seine.

Kairo and Izzie were supposed to be in Gaoxing right now, which meant that it was late morning/early afternoon there.

“Holy shit. This better be good.” Kairo’s sleep-rough voice grated on Charlie’s ear, and he pulled the phone away to once again check the time. It was only one in the morning in Paris. Why was Kairo still asleep?

“Where are you?” Charlie demanded.

“Athens.”

“I thought you were in Gaoxing.”

Kairo yawned loudly in Charlie’s ear. “Nope. We flew to Athens two days ago. Or maybe three. Izzie had a meeting with the board, and he wanted to swing by to check on the new olive farm.”

“Who is it?” Isidore mumbled.

“Charlie.”

“Oh, no! Is something wrong? Does he need us?” It was kind of stunning how quickly Isidore could go from sleepy to panicked.

Charlie smiled at the immediate urgency in the billionaire’s voice. He could imagine him rolling over to grab his phone to summon a pilot and ground crew to prepare his plane. Izzie was always eager to help and just as eager to jump into the middle of trouble, which terrified Kairo.