Page 51 of A Shot at Love
“I don’t get the impression this ends well.”
He nailed her with a gaze that was at once sad and angry. “It didn’t. Calista was killed. Murdered.”
“What? By who?”
“That’s what Theo’s been searching for: a name. Calista discovered a huge insider trading scheme within the European and American stock markets. She’d been doing research on certain branches of stock holdings and saw some kind of connection or imbalance, or something. I don’t know the whole story. She told Theo about it and he encouraged her to go public. Before she could, she was gunned down.”
“Oh, good Lord. And she didn’t tell Theo the names of the people involved?”
“No. She died before she could. He’s been searching for the people responsible ever since, because he believes her death is connected to what she’d discovered.”
“Do you?”
“Yes. He’s promised when he finds the link he’ll let me know. I’ve vowed to help him bring those responsible to justice. Justice for Calista. And closure for Theo.”
“When? Not if?”
“There is no if with Theo. If it takes him until the day he dies, he’ll find out who did this.”
Gemma stared across the table at him for a moment. “I think you’re a very good friend and he’s very lucky to call you one.”
When he didn’t say anything else, Gemma realized something else about Special Agent Pappandreos: he was a man who kept his word.
“Okay, well,” she said, rising. “It’s getting later by the second. Thanks for making me the sandwich and not shooting me.” She rinsed the dishes in the sink.
“There was never any danger of that happening.”
She jumped when he came up next to her.
Jesus, the guy moved fast. She hadn’t even heard him rise from his chair.
“Well, okay, but you weren’t the one with a gun pointed at your face. I could have been shot just because I was hungry. I’d like to see you explain that to my family.”
Ky rinsed his own dish, turned sideways to her, laid one hand down on the counter edge, the other on his waist and leveled a serious glare at her.
“What?”
With a shake of his head, his lips pulled into that subtle grin that was beginning to drive her crazy—with need. “I’m too tired to tell if you’re being serious or joking around, but either way, you’re welcome.”
“Thanks,” was all her mind gave her to say.
“Think you’ll be able to get back to sleep now?”
“Yes. I’m not hungry,” her gaze flicked to his mouth, “anymore. The sandwiches helped.”
He nodded. “Good.”
“Well, then.” She backed away from the sink and hugged her arms across her chest. “’Night.”
“Good night.”
She felt his eyes on her until she turned the corner and headed up the stairs. She wanted to look down from the landing to see if he’d moved to watch her, but chickened out at the last second.
Snuggled back under the covers, her rumbling stomach at last calmed, Gemma took a deep breath and closed her eyes, determined not to drift off to the image of a pair of eyes the color of a calm ocean, and a man whose name conjured up thoughts of Greek Islands and warm, white sandy beaches.
Chapter Nine
Ky lay in the comfortable single bed, thinking, for close to an hour after he’d bid Gemma good night. His thoughts ran the gamut from safety and security to desire and need.
When he’d heard movement in the kitchen, he’d assumed it was her, but he couldn’t let his guard down even so. When she’d backed away from the refrigerator door, a quick, powerful and overwhelming bullet of lust shot right through him, ricocheting from his head to his toes. The fridge light silhouetted her body, framing it and giving him a pretty clear view of what lay underneath her miniscule T-shirt and shorts. He got hard in an instant, unable to prevent his body from reacting to the gorgeous, nearly naked, woman before him.
Yards of slim, smooth, and bare leg had his imagination shooting straight to what those legs would feel like wrapped around his waist. The shirt came to just above the shorts’ waistband, affording him a glimpse at a very toned and flat abdomen. She was braless, a fact that was illustrated in full detail when his gaze zeroed in on her pointed nipples.
