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

25. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Dear Santa, sorry I ate all your cookies.

Christmas Eve

Aileen grinned as Dante finished his rendition of Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark” before taking a bow in front of her fireplace. Since they’d already had the big neighborhood party with everyone, families tended to do their own thing on Christmas Eve.

Tonight it was Aileen, Nessa, Dante, Theo and Elli, and of course Nestor and Lorna.

Theo and Elli would be heading out soon for another party—one Nessa was jealous she couldn’t go to. But Elli had promised that next year she could go to the Christmas Eve party at superstar Rebel Martinez’s house.

Rebel had actually invited Elli’s “new family” but Aileen couldn’t handle a crowd tonight. Not even to visit Rebel’s place. She was still reeling from everything, and even though they now had more details, it was a lot to process.

That a man who’d she’d been relatively friendly with had tried to kill her because of his crimes.

“You were amazing,” she said as Dante strode toward her in his Rudolph-themed Christmas sweater.

He actually flushed as he grinned. “Were you recording me? ”

“You better believe it because you looked good up there.” And the man truly was a great singer. Of course he was. She swore that he was talented at everything.

He groaned, but didn’t say anything. He made a move to pull her into his arms but stopped when Nessa raced up, her glow in the dark helmet in place. They still hadn’t told her about the two of them, were waiting until after Christmas to see how she felt about the change.

“I want to go ride my bike since I have to miss the party of the year. Of the century !” she added with the dramatic flair of an eleven-year-old.

“I’ll go with her.” Dante paused, looking a whole lot like he wanted to kiss Aileen, but headed off with Nessa talking about her cool new helmet—and how when she was a grown-up no one was going to tell her what to do.

They’d all exchanged one gift tonight, played games, sang karaoke, ate too much food, and now everything was winding down.

“I heard back from my contact,” Elli said as she picked up her bag of gifts. “Calvin True paid off someone to remove a couple hours of video at the community fields. Told him it was because he was having an affair and didn’t want his wife to know. He worked with the guy five years ago before his wife’s business took off. Guy said he removed them, but didn’t fully delete them ‘just in case.’ I think he planned to blackmail him or something later, but either way, the evidence of Calvin with Christina Fraser is there. And now that the cops have it, they’re unraveling even more.”

Aileen shook her head slightly, not surprised. It was hard to keep a secret like that.

Elli continued as Theo took her bag from her, hoisted it onto his shoulder. “They’ve also discovered that Calvin was taking his wife’s Caddy from storage so he could sneak around with Fraser. I guess it was close to a couple places he dropped the kids off during the week and that way there wasn’t a record of where he’d been going. His current vehicle has a tracking system that apparently his wife was using to keep tabs on him. Because it’s not the first time he had an affair. She told him if he cheated again, she was done, and he believed her.”

“How do you know all that? ”

“She told the cops when they questioned her. She’s distraught, of course, and even mentioned yelling at a ‘random woman’ the other day because she thought you were having an affair with her husband. It’ll be hard for her family for a while, but she’ll be better off without him.”

“And at least Christina Fraser’s parents have closure.”

“Yeah.” Elli nodded, looking pensive for a moment, but then her expression cleared. “I’m just glad you’re okay. Thank you for the party tonight. I wish this was where my night was ending.”

Aileen snorted softly. “Liar. You’re going to have so much fun at Rebel’s.”

“She’s not lying,” Theo murmured, kissing the top of Aileen’s head. “She’ll complain the whole way, then cuddle with their dogs the entire time we’re there.”

Elli just grinned and shrugged, not denying it.

After they left, Aileen hugged her parents, only to be stopped by her dad in the foyer.

“Are you good?” he murmured, watching her closely.

“Yeess,” she drew the word out, wondering where this was going. “Why?”

“I know a lot has happened and I just wanted to check. You’re still my little girl.”

“I’m good, I promise.” Or as good as she was going to be. She was still a little unsettled, but she had her family, and Dante. Dante, the man she loved more than she ever could have imagined. “Are you okay with me and Dante? Not that I’m asking for permission or anything,” she added, wanting that very clear.

He just grinned. “I’m happy you two finally figured things out. He’s a perfect fit for you.”

She blinked in surprise, but then he kissed her forehead and headed out the front door.

She followed after him to find Nessa riding around the end of the cul-de-sac in circles with one of her best friends, singing “Jingle Bells” at the top of their lungs.

Laughing, Aileen sidled up to Dante, determined to tell Nessa tomorrow or maybe the day after Christmas. “Is it weird that this is the best Christmas Eve I remember having? ”

“Nope.” He grinned down at her, the love in his eyes so clear she couldn’t believe it had taken her so long to see it.

He was definitely it for her too.