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

16. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Dear Santa, define naughty.

As the valet pulled up with Theo’s SUV, Aileen nearly jolted when Dante slid up next to them, whisper quiet. Or maybe assassin quiet was more accurate.

Diego had already left (thankfully, and yes, she felt bad even thinking that) and she was glad to have it just be the people she cared about now. Even if they were back to square one with the whole mugger thing, or still at square one—whatever, she was simply happy to be with Dante again.

Though she schooled her expression, hoping her brother didn’t notice the way she was looking at Dante. Elli seemed to know about her and Dante, or at least guess, but she didn’t think Theo did. Because she was pretty sure he’d have said something to her.

“You look really nice tonight,” she whispered, skating her fingers against Dante’s as Theo slid into the driver’s seat.

“You look gorgeous and I plan to make you come against my face later tonight,” Dante growled before he opened the back door for her.

Heat punched through her at his words as she slid into the back seat. What was he trying to do to her?

“I might have found something,” Dante said once they’d shut all the doors and Theo had pulled away from the curb. “On your ASMR videos.”

“What did you find?” Elli asked from the front passenger seat even as Aileen frowned, clearly wondering what he could have discovered that she hadn’t. Because Elliana was thorough.

“On the twelfth, during one of your whisper videos, you mention going on a date.” He said the word date with barely concealed distaste. “It’s all part of the dialogue and near the end. Then in this video you talk about how people can give to certain toy drop-offs in the Miami area and what you’re doing to help. You specifically mention the one you’re going to be volunteering at.”

“So?” Aileen knew about that because she’d made the videos. In them she tapped on various surfaces while she whispered random things about her day or week or things that interested her in general. Sometimes she rambled about books or music and other times she whispered about random life thoughts.

It was just supposed to be calming for people who needed to relax or sleep. And she was pretty sure most people didn’t even actually hear what she was saying. When she listened to whisper videos to sleep, she simply liked the consistent lulling sound, not the content.

“You’re basically telling people where you’re going in whispers. What if whoever is targeting you used that to pinpoint your location? Because so far no one has come to your house, to the neighborhood. The Santas have tried to attack you in public. And we know that the first Santa at least was hired, and I’m guessing the second was too.”

“Maybe, but I don’t see how they’d have figured out it was me from the videos.”

“You might hide most of your face, but your hair is distinctive. And in this video,” he held out the first one, “you’re wearing the same sweater as you were the day the second Santa tried to carjack you. I haven’t looked back farther, but I’m guessing that there are plenty of videos where you share personal things without meaning to. Someone could have used that to build a picture of the places you’d be.”

“Damn it,” Elli muttered from the front. “I was looking for trolls and weirdos, threatening messages, not something like this in my scans. My programs wouldn’t have picked this up anyway.”

Ice slid through Aileen as she thought about all the random “conversations” she’d had on her videos. Because of her family’s profession, she’d always been careful of her privacy and she’d never mentioned Nessa in any of them. Nothing to do with soccer practices or anything like that. It was all very benign but…maybe not as benign as she’d thought. Sometimes it was stream of consciousness type of ramblings.

“Maybe someone found me that way, and this is a big maybe,” Aileen said. “But what’s the purpose? Seriously, why? Why would someone want my phone? That’s the real question.” And one they’d gone over so many times—with no answer.

***

“You’re supposed to be asleep,” Aileen murmured as she slid on top of the covers next to Nessa, who was fighting to stay awake. She was sleeping at Aileen’s parents tonight.

“I know,” she said around a yawn. “I wanted to see you in your fancy dress. You look really pretty, mommy.”

Oooh, the mommy got her every time. More and more Nessa simply called her “mom” but sometimes her girl slipped a “mommy” in there and Aileen soaked it in. This time with her was so precious, so limited, and she wanted to savor all of it even as it felt like time was slipping through her fingers.

“Thank you.”

“How was the party? Did your date look handsome? Did Dante look handsome?”

She paused at the Dante question. “Dante looked very handsome and my date did too. But my date and I are just friends. I don’t think we’ll be going on any more dates.”

“Oh, good,” she murmured, her eyes drifting closed again as she clearly lost the battle with sleep. “Otherwise Santa’s answering to me…”

Aileen frowned as she brushed back a few strands of Nessa’s wayward curls. “Nessa?”

Her daughter didn’t respond though, just curled on her side and clutched her favorite pillow, a stuffed pink and neon yellow soccer ball.

When Aileen stepped out into the hallway, her dad was waiting for her, a soft smile on his face. “She really wanted to see you in that dress,” he murmured, kissing the top of her head. “And she was convinced that you and your mom were at a party having fun without her.”

“If only. I’m now more frustrated than before.”

“Really?” he asked as they descended the stairs.

“Maybe… No. I’m frustrated about the whole situation but at least we were able to eliminate two suspects.” Or she was pretty sure they had. “Edith Dupont was almost scared to see me,” she said as they reached the bottom stair, stepped into the foyer. Aileen wondered if that made her small for being glad—she’d rather the woman be afraid of her than see her as a target. Because fear meant the woman would keep her distance from Nessa.

“Good.” Her quiet father, always short on words, didn’t disappoint now with his response.

Sighing, she simply hugged him tight. “I love you, Dad. And thank you for watching Nessa tonight. I’ll see you in the morning.”

He nodded and walked outside with her, watching her head home. She wondered if her dad knew about her and Dante, but then dismissed that almost immediately. He’d definitely have something to say about that if he had any suspicion. Her mom certainly would too, which was why Aileen was making her escape before her mother returned from Elli and Theo’s place.

She waved at her dad as she stepped past her front door, then shut and locked it—right as strong arms wrapped around her from behind.