A Very Merry Hitman (Holiday With a Hitman #2)

3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

If you’ll excuse me, today’s bad decisions aren’t going to make themselves.

“Thanks for coming over,” Nestor murmured as he rolled out his cleaning kit onto the kitchen island next to his array of weapons.

“Of course.” Dante had been working with Nestor for years and rarely said no to the man. It also didn’t hurt that he was Aileen’s father—and Dante hadn’t talked to her since Wednesday.

Two. Long. Days.

He’d called her once and she hadn’t answered. He hadn’t wanted to overstep so he’d been…looking out his window and at his security cameras with an obsession that probably wasn’t healthy just in the hopes that he’d see her. Maybe “casually” run into her—and continue the conversation she’d started. “Where’s Lorna?” he asked instead of pouring out everything in his head.

“Christmas shopping with my angel.”

Dante smiled as he picked up the nearest SIG, started breaking it down to clean it. They’d done this so many times together it was second nature. “Is Nessa shopping for herself or others?” he asked, knowing the man’s “angel” was the one and only Nessa.

Nestor, a hard, quiet man, actually smiled. “Probably a bit of both.”

“I bought her a couple things already, but might add to it. She told me that a girl can never have too many cleats.”

Nestor snorted. “So, what do you think of the job next month?”

“I’ll take it.” This month he was off—he didn’t work during December. Or very little, since Nessa was off school and Aileen loved Christmas. But the January job paid a lot of money so he wouldn’t turn it down.

Before he’d met Aileen, and everyone else he now considered family, he’d never turned down a job. But since meeting her years ago…things had changed for him. He wanted to be present for her, even if they were just friends. Though he wanted a hell of a lot more and worried that he’d screwed up his big chance to take things to a new level.

No .

He refused to just accept that. He could fix his stupidity and make it clear that he was open to anything she wanted. Even if she terrified him on a level he couldn’t define. “Anything else I need to be aware of?”

Nestor paused, shook his head. “Jobs are steady. Nothing on our radar we need to worry about.”

Dante wasn’t sure what to make of the pause, because it had felt almost charged. Nestor and Lorna, both retired-ish hitmen, now ran a lot of the admin stuff for everyone in the neighborhood. And beyond. Not all of their allies—or coworkers, as he thought of them—lived here. But those who did had created a tight community. All their kids went to a private school literally created for them, and as a rule, they were wary of outsiders. Some of the homes even had underground tunnels between them as escape hatches.

Because all of them had escape plans for if the shit ever hit the fan. They had new identities set up, other homes or bolt-holes to retreat to. It would be insanity not to. He himself had four bolt-holes.

A couple hours later, as they were wrapping up, Nestor glanced at his buzzing phone. “Lorna’s almost home with Nessa.”

Dante picked up his pace, sliding the last pistol into its case for Nestor. The older man plucked it up and the remaining two and headed upstairs to store them behind the secret wall panel in their bedroom. Nessa didn’t exactly know what they did. She thought they did top secret stuff and that was that. For now. One day when she was a little older, maybe they’d explain things, but not now.

Dante was washing his hands at the sink when Nessa came stomping in.

She smiled widely when she saw him, ran straight at him and bear-hugged him. “Dante!”

He pretended to stumble back from the impact. “Hey, kiddo. Buy me anything good?” he asked when she stepped back.

“You know it!” She picked up the big brown bag she’d dropped earlier, then slung it up onto the countertop. It landed with a thud. “But you can’t have it till Christmas Day. You know the rules.”

He chuckled. “I was just joking, but now I’m curious.”

“Well you’re gonna have to wait. So what’s for dinner?”

“Ah…pizza?” He glanced past her to the mudroom, hoping to see Lorna—and Aileen. Dante hadn’t mentioned Aileen to Nestor, and he hadn’t wanted to be obvious and ask about her. No one knew how he felt about her and he’d never wanted to make things awkward. But her proposition the other day changed everything, and now all he could think about was the two of them naked together.

“No pizza.” Lorna shook her head as she strode in. “Go grab the rest of the bags,” she murmured to Nessa as she carried in something that smelled amazing.

Dante recognized the logo of one of his favorite Cuban restaurants on the outside. “You got enough in there for me?”

“Of course.” She snorted softly as she set the bags on the countertop. “Grab a bottle of red from the pantry. That child has worn me out, and I know you and Nestor must be hungry.”

Nestor stepped into the kitchen at that moment, smiling in a way he only did around his wife. He murmured something too low to hear as Dante ducked into the pantry.

A small pang hit him in the chest, twisted hard. He wanted what they had, but not with just anyone. With Aileen. She was everything he’d never even dreamed existed—kind, a fierce mother who would take on the world for her daughter, smart, and yes, beautiful. So beautiful it hurt to look at her sometimes .

After waiting a solid minute, he stepped back into the kitchen, two bottles in hand because he wasn’t sure which Lorna would want. He held them up as Nestor unloaded the foodstuff.

“The Beaujolais,” she said, pointing to the one on the left.

As he rummaged around for the bottle opener, he said, “Is Aileen coming tonight?” Did that sound casual?

“Nope,” Nessa said as she raced back into the kitchen. “I left the bags in the laundry room so no one would peek,” she told Lorna.

“Good girl.” Lorna kissed the top of her head. “Now go wash your hands.”

“My mom has a date,” Nessa said as she stood at the sink pumping soap out. “With some hot, rich guy.”

Lorna snickered. “Hot, rich guy?”

“I dunno. That’s what I heard her say on the phone.”

That…didn’t sound like Aileen at all. Dante tried to breathe past the ache in his chest. She was dating? She’d just asked him…for something he’d only ever dreamed about. Though not quite in the way she’d approached him. He’d been so stunned he hadn’t been sure how to respond. But he was planning to.

And now she was going on a date ? Dante needed to know more about this loser.

“Your mom didn’t say that.” Lorna shook her head as she poured water for Nessa.

“Well, she didn’t say hot, but she did say handsome. And he also donates to the same charities as her or something. He sounds like a nice guy.”

Dante’s hand clenched around the bottle opener. No one was watching him, so he slipped it into his pocket. “I’m gonna grab a bottle opener from home. I’ll be back.” He hurried from the kitchen before they could protest or say they had another one.

But instead of heading home, he headed straight for the house of his nemesis. He found Elliana in her front yard punching a big blow-up Santa in the face.

The tall blonde looked up in surprise when she saw him.

“Why are you punching Santa?” he asked, momentarily distracted .

“He knows what he did.”

Ooookay, then. He shook his head. “I need help.” Dante wished he was eating glass right now, but this was how far he’d fallen. Asking help from her . His archrival.

Elliana frowned at him, blinked once, then looked over her shoulder and back at him. “Do you think I’m someone else?”

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Mainly because he wasn’t surprised by her response. Under normal circumstances he’d have never come to Elliana for anything—she was trying to steal his spot as Nessa’s favorite relative. And was dumb enough to think she’d won just because she knew some famous pop star. And yes, he realized he sounded like a petulant teen. “Aileen is on a date and I would like to spy on her.”

Elliana grinned in a way that sent a shock of terror down his spine. His —a hitman feared for his accuracy. But there was seriously something wrong with this woman. Which was why she was perfect to ask for help. “What tools do you need? NVGs, C-4—”

“No. None of that.” Not yet anyway. He would not kill Aileen’s date. He wouldn’t. Wouldn’t, wouldn’t, wouldn’t . Probably.

“You sure?” Her grin was pure Cheshire cat.

“Yes I’m sure, you lunatic. Are you going to help me or not? I don’t even know where they’re at.” He was going to find out though.

“Well I do. Come on.” She motioned for him to follow her inside her and Theo’s house.

She grabbed her car keys and sweater from a set of hooks by the door, then headed through the house and into the garage. He had a feeling the only reason she was helping him was because Theo was out of town for a couple days. Probably why she’d been terrorizing one of the blow-up decorations too.

“Also, you owe me now,” she said as they slid into her SUV, sounding far too pleased with herself. “At the neighborhood Christmas party this year, you’re going to sing karaoke of my choosing. Springsteen’s ‘Dancing in the Dark’ for everyone to see. With feeling! That’s my payment. ”

“You had that one in the chamber,” he muttered even as he pulled his cell phone out.

As he texted Nestor to tell him that something had come up and he wouldn’t be back for dinner, he simultaneously wondered if he’d just made the biggest mistake of his life. But no, the biggest mistake of his life would be letting Aileen slip through his fingers. He’d do anything for her, even humiliate himself.