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

11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Don’t get your tinsel in a tangle!

Dante finally allowed himself a measure of relief as he stepped into Aileen’s kitchen to find her there with both her parents—who were worried, even if they were hiding it well. But he could see banked anger in their eyes. Someone had targeted their daughter twice and they would pay.

“Is everything handled?” Lorna asked the moment the three of them shut the mudroom door behind them.

“Where’s Nessa?” Dante asked before answering.

“At Tia’s for the night. Having a sleepover,” Aileen said.

Dante nodded, some of his tension easing. Even if he’d rather have Nessa under this roof, Tia’s parents were skilled operators. She was safe. “Everything’s handled. Theo…” He glanced at his friend, their son… “Handled everything in the best way possible.” While Dante wanted to just smash things, Theo had been thinking a lot more clearly and now they had a lead. Plus a slim connection to whoever had hired this guy. It wasn’t much, but he’d found out more on less when looking for a target.

Theo shook his head as he kissed the top of Aileen’s head. “Nah, it was a team effort. And we got all the information we needed. The guy from the other night isn’t the same Santa from today.”

“I could have told you that,” Aileen murmured as her brother stepped back. Wearing an oversized, soft-looking green sweater that said Merry and Bright on the front, she was sitting at the island top, a mug of what looked like hot cocoa in front of her. No steam coming off it though, so Dante had a feeling it had been sitting there a while.

He wished he could pull her into his arms right now, that they weren’t hiding what they were—whatever that was—from everyone. Hell, maybe he needed some comfort now too. He could have lost her today.

She shrugged when everyone looked at her, but met Dante’s gaze. “The man from today was a little shorter and it was a different Santa costume. Not as well made, a little grungier. And…the guy today seemed angrier.” She shrugged.

“Are you really okay?” Dante asked, because she’d basically ignored all their texts, saying she was “fine.”

She nodded, looking exhausted. “I’m good-ish.”

He wished he could kiss her, comfort her, but they weren’t… They weren’t anything other than best friends who’d fooled around. Once. And in that moment, he hated everything about their agreement.

“We have a small lead,” Elliana said. “Thanks to Dante.”

Dante frowned, wondering why she was giving him any of the credit.

She didn’t look at him as she continued. “The man who robbed you when you were on your date was hired to take your purse, specifically your phone. And it was from an old contact—someone the mugger used to run with. But he’s mostly distanced himself from his old life, and the guy who asked him for this told him he could keep the purse and any cash inside.” Elliana relayed the rest of the info, including the gang member who’d hired Jackson.

Aileen blinked in surprise. “Did he say why?”

“He didn’t know much other than that,” Theo said.

“This might not be related, but…Henry and Edith Dupont are in town,” Lorna said carefully, her gaze on her daughter.

Aileen stared at her mom for a long moment. “Do you know why?”

It took Dante a full second to realize who Lorna was referring to—the parents of Aileen’s now dead rapist. After his life had come to a not-so-tragic end, they’d thought to push for “grandparents’ rights” to Nessa. That hadn’t lasted long after a visit from Lorna and Nestor that involved arson and destruction of property. No veiled threats from them; they’d been very explicit about what would happen if anyone ever contacted Aileen again. All contact had ceased in the last eleven years.

“Some yearly charity event tomorrow night. They’ve never gone before, according to our records, but one of their neighbors who has a home here appears to have invited them. I don’t know if it’s a coincidence that they’re here and this is happening or not. I also can’t imagine why they’d want your phone.”

“How long have you known they were in town?” Aileen asked tightly.

It was clear the question surprised Lorna.

“Only a couple days,” Nestor murmured before Lorna could respond. “We didn’t say anything because we didn’t want to ruin your holidays.”

Aileen simply nodded, but her expression was still tight, worried. “I can’t imagine why someone would want my phone. And I’ve never even heard of that gang, so no connection there. But I am going to that charity gala.”

Once again, everyone looked at her in surprise. Including Dante.

“With who?” he more or less demanded, impressed by his own restraint. When the hell had this been decided? And who the hell was she going with? The thing was tomorrow night and she hadn’t said anything.

Her cheeks flushed as she lifted a shoulder. “Diego, from the other night.”

“Who is this man, and how did you meet him?” Nestor demanded before Dante could. “I thought this was just one date, but if it’s getting more serious, we need more details on this man.”

“Yes, we need to vet him,” Lorna added. “He could be behind all this. I didn’t realize you had a second date planned or we’d have been more insistent.”

To Dante’s surprise, Theo didn’t look as angry as his parents. Nope, he simply looked at his wife expectantly.

“Diego is fine,” Elliana said over the grumbling from her parents. “I used to serve with him. He’s not behind any of this. He’s my friend and someone I have literally trusted with my life. But I’m going to look more into this angle, dig into the Duponts as well as the guy who hired Aileen’s mugger. In fact, I think we need to give her a little space. She’s had a long day and needs to rest.”

Oh, Dante wasn’t going anywhere. “I’ll be staying here tonight for security, but first we’re talking,” he said to Elliana as he stalked from the room.

He didn’t wait for a response, and to his surprise, she followed him with no complaint.

Thankfully Theo remained with the others, but Dante wasn’t going to tone down this conversation either way. “What the hell, Elliana?” he demanded as the front door shut behind them. He’d known that she was weirdly competitive, but still. It…kind of hurt that she’d set Aileen up with someone, then pretended to do recon with him. She drove him crazy, but he’d thought they might be becoming, ugh…friends.

Around them all of Aileen’s lights and blow-up decorations were in full swing, the reds, greens and blues flashing around them on the porch.

“Come on. Away from all this.” She chin nodded to the doorbell camera.

Which he’d have thought about if he wasn’t so messed up in the head right now. Something that only happened when Aileen was involved.

“You set her up on that date?” he finally snapped when they were on the sidewalk, out of earshot from the cameras. Luckily none of their neighbors were out to see or overhear. “And then went with me to stalk her date? Do you really hate me that much? Is this all a joke to you?” Because he was in love with Aileen and the thought of her with another man was killing him.

Elliana blinked in surprise. “I don’t hate you. And I am helping you, dumbass! It was taking you forever to make a move—both of you. So I figured I’d help things along by setting her up with someone kind and handsome—and loaded. I knew you wouldn’t stand for that and I thought you’d finally—finally!—make your move. Which you did, so you’re welcome.” She folded her arms, looking positively smug.

He stared at her for a moment, unsure what to say. “You set her up because you really want us to get together?”

“Uh, yeah. I absolutely adore Aileen and want her and Nessa to have everything wonderful in the world. They deserve everything they want. And for some reason, that includes you.”

Now he was the one blinking in surprise. But before he could respond, Theo, Nestor and Lorna walked out the front door.

“Her parents don’t know anything about my plan, so zip it.” Elliana mimed a zipper across her mouth, then looked at Theo, her expression softening. “Let’s head home and start researching. We’re going to find out who wants to hurt Aileen and destroy them. Dante, you talk to her more, try to look at a work angle. That seems like a slim possibility, but push anyway. We’re clearly still missing something.”

Lorna and Nestor only paused long enough for Lorna to say, “Keep her safe tonight, Dante. Do not leave her house. We’ll be back in the morning.” They headed off with Theo and Elliana, clearly not going to their own home.

Like he was actually going to leave? He just grunted as he headed back up the walk, then shut and locked the door behind him. He found Aileen still in her kitchen, sitting there with her likely now room temperature cocoa in front of her.

“You don’t have to stay the night,” she murmured, looking beyond exhausted.

“Have you eaten anything?” he asked instead of arguing. He was angry that she’d ignored his texts earlier and that she was apparently going on another date with that kind, loaded guy tomorrow night. Stupid, lucky asshole.

“Are you just ignoring me, then?”

“Kind of how you ignored my texts before?” he asked as he opened her fridge, found enough leftovers to heat up.

She pushed back her stool and headed to the sink, poured out her drink. “I was dealing with the cops and it was hard to text. Or talk on the phone. I just wanted to handle things and get home.”

“You shouldn’t have been alone.” He held up one of her containers of homemade tamales. “This sound good?”

Sighing, she nodded and poured a glass of water before sitting back at the island. “Have you eaten? If not, heat up enough for both of us.”

He was too keyed up to eat so he just heated up a plate for her. “I’m assuming the cops were useless, but what did they say?”

She gave him a slightly chastising look. “They were fine. There have been a handful of ‘Santa robberies’ but no muggings, so I’m not hopeful they’ll find out anything. I bet Elli does though.”

“Can you think of why anyone would want your phone?” It felt so random, but he knew it couldn’t be. Not when she’d been targeted so specifically.

“No… I mean, I’ve got a ton of pictures of Nessa on them and some of my work stuff saved, but not much.”

“What kind of work stuff?”

“Just videos, mostly. And some design stuff, but I tend to do that on my laptop. The videos are outdoor ASMR stuff. It’s hard to do them in public though so I have like five. And two I can’t use because a couple people got in the shot.” She shrugged. “I doubt anyone but me or our family wants my four billion pictures of Nessa playing soccer.”

“Maybe it’s something you captured at one of her practices,” he said as he pulled the plate out. “Feels like a reach, but…” He shrugged. Stranger things had happened. And Nessa’s practice was at a public community center with a bunch of soccer fields and basketball courts. They were open to anyone.

“Maybe, but all my stuff is backed up anyway.”

He put the hot food and then a small side salad in front of her, still stung that she hadn’t reached out to him for help. That she hadn’t trusted him enough. “Eat.”

She raised an eyebrow but picked up her fork. “Look, I’m sorry I didn’t answer your call. I just wanted to handle things on my own. You wouldn’t have called anyone so I don’t know why it’s a big deal that I took care of things.”

He paused at her words, starting to understand where she was coming from. “It’s not a big deal that you did. I just wanted to be there for you, that’s all. I know you can handle shit on your own, that’s not a question. You’re an amazing woman.”

“Oh.” She watched him for a moment, her cheeks flushing pink as she nodded. “Okay, then. ”

“But you’re not going on that date tomorrow,” he growled when what he’d meant to say was something a whole lot smoother. He’d meant to ask her not to go, but that ship had now sailed.

She blinked at him, her green eyes wide. “What?”

“No. Date.” Oh yeah, that was so much better. He should just start beating his chest at this point. What the hell was wrong with him?

Oh, right—Aileen planning another date with some asshole. Nope, wasn’t happening.