Page 12

Chapter Twelve

Elena

T here’s a silence to the air after Patrick falls to the floor, a bullet hole in his head. Aiden is breathing heavy as he lowers his gun. He killed his own father figure.

For me.

Without waiting another second, I throw myself into Aiden’s arms. He catches me and hugs me close. Aiden is so warm and strong and right. The fact that he has saved me time and again doesn’t go unnoticed.

If I’m not careful, I will fall in love with this man.

He pulls back. “We have to get out of here. Patrick’s men will hunt us down.”

“Where do we go? We have nowhere to go.”

“Fuck.” He runs his hands down his face. “We find another motel to stay at. I need to buy us something fast. Somewhere no one will find us. And we need to get out of Boston and stay away from New York. We’ll head north. Vermont or some shit.”

“Ok,” I say breathlessly. Is this my future now? Constantly on the run?

“I just killed the head of the Irish Mob. Fuck.”

“But didn’t Patrick want you to take over?”

“He did. Back when I still worked for him. But after I left with Finn, I think that offer has been rescinded. I’m not in charge. We’re in danger. We have to sneak out of this place without being spotted. I don’t want to risk you getting caught.”

“I’ll follow you.” I mean it with everything inside of me.

We tiptoe out of the basement. The main section of the house is empty but I remember how many guards there were outside. This is not going to be easy.

“The back door,” he whispers. “It will be less guarded.” Aiden tugs me along, his grip strong on my hand, making me feel a little lightheaded.

The back door is past the living room. Through the glass in the door, I can see that it looks out on a beautiful garden. Slowly, Aiden opens it.

A guard turns to face us. His eyes widen but before he can react, Aiden shoots him in the head. He catches the guard’s body before he thuds to the ground. After bringing the guard’s body inside, he shuts the back door.

“This way,” he whispers. We walk through the garden to the other side of the house. The front driveway is visible but the large gate is blocking our way out. And so is all of the guards.

“We can’t go that way. We’ll have to scale the gate from back here.”

There are dangerous points on the top of the gate. “Won’t we get hurt?”

He winces. “It won’t be easy. But it’s our only solution. There are at least five guards I can see out there. I can’t take them all on and I don’t want you to get hurt.” He cups my face. “I am sorry I brought you here, Elena. I never should have.”

For a moment, I think we’re going to kiss. His eyes dart down to my lips and I part them. If I’m being honest, I want Aiden to kiss me again. I want to be consumed by him.

But he pulls back before anything happens.

“This way.” We go to a section of the gate that’s still in the backyard. The house should hide us from view. That is – if no guards come walking by at this very moment.

Vines grow on the gate, giving Aiden the ability to climb up the wall. He reaches the top. “Ok, Elena. Start climbing. I’ll help you over.”

I use the vines just like he did to hoist myself up. They dig into my hands and hurt so much, I almost can’t do it. Blood trickles down my fingers. But I don’t let go. This is life or death right now. If those guards find me, I’ll never see the light of day again.

I reach the top and Aiden helps me maneuver over the pointy parts. With his help, I manage to make it over without hurting myself.

“Now scale down. I’m right behind you.”

I start climbing down when I hear a shot on the other side of the gate.

“Get him!”

“Shit,” Aiden says, quickly diving over the side of the gate as gunshots ring out through the air. I drop to the bottom right as Aiden falls to the ground.

“Are you ok?” I help him stand up on wobbly legs.

“I’m fine,” he grits out, testing his ankles. “Nothing feels broken. We got to run. Those guards will chase us.”

“Do they know Patrick is dead yet?”

“I’m not sure and I don’t want to find out.”

We take off running down the street in the opposite direction of our car. To get to it, we’d have to go back to the house and deal with all of those guards.

“This way,” Aiden murmurs. We go to a house that only has a simple wooden fence on the side of it. This one is much easier to get over. “We have to hide.” We dart through the backyard. Fortunately, no one is outside to see us but I’m not sure our luck is going to last that long.

We scale the fence into another house’s backyard. We keep going that way until we hear the shouts of the guards. Glancing back, I see two men running after us. It’s not going to take long before they catch up.

“Aiden.”

He turns around and fires at the men, landing a hit to one of them in the leg and sending that man to the ground. The other one hesitates just long enough that Aiden is able to kill both of them.

Then we keep running.

“I only have so many bullets left,” he admits. “We need to find a car.”

We find a home that looks dark and break into the garage. Aiden finds a spare key on a desk and we use that to steal the car and drive away before any of the other guards can kill us.

I’m breathing so heavy, I think I might pass out. “Did all of that really just happen?”

“It did. But we made it out. We’ll have to switch cars fast. I have some more cash I can use but I’ll have to stop at an ATM and get some more soon.”

“Won’t that alert Finn?”

“That’s a chance we have to take. I’m almost out of money. Let’s just get out of Boston first.”

We drive for an hour before making our way into New Hampshire. Concord is a lot smaller of a city than I’m used to but it’s charming and quaint and feels like a much slower way of life than New York.

Aiden parks in front of a bank. “I’ll be quick.”

He’s gone for only a minute before rushing back into the car and driving away.

“What happened?”

“My money is gone.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I think Finn might have stolen it. He has access to my account. I never wanted it to be that way but he’s smarter than most people think. He knows how to hack things. He stole my fucking money. I need money to buy us a place to live until things can settle down.”

“How are you going to get us money?” The second I ask the question, I regret it. I know exactly how Aiden makes a living.

“I’ll have to put feelers out. It might take a day or two. I have just enough cash to buy us another car and get a motel for a few days.”

“Aiden, are you going to kill someone to get this money?”

“You know I am.” He doesn’t look at me as he says it.

He finds a used car lot and quickly buys us a new car. We abandon the one we stole far away from the car lot then head to a motel. This one is just as cheap as the one in Boston but at least there are no bikers out front. No one bothers us this time.

“Stay here,” Aiden says. “I have to get a job.”

I don’t want him to kill some innocent person for us. “Just promise me that whoever you kill, they’re a bad person.”

He cleans his gun as he sits at the same table in the corner. “Will that make it better?”

“A little,” I admit.

“Then I’ll make sure the person is bad. But it’s not always that easy. Killing has always just been a job to me. The people I kill mean nothing.”

I shiver. It’s like the Aiden I’ve gotten to know over the past couple of days is a changed person. He’s back to his cold self.

“Why do you do that?” I ask.

“Do what?” He keeps his eyes glued to the gun.

“You’re so much colder right now.”

“I have to steel myself for what I’m about to do.”

Which means that maybe Aiden isn’t as unaffected by death as he pretends to be.

“I’ll be back later. I’m not sure how long. I have to get to a computer. There’s a website I use to book deals. Stay here, please. Stay safe.”

“I will.”

Aiden looks like he wants to say more but doesn’t and instead just puts his gun away and leaves the room. At least there’s a TV to entertain me.

Except, I don’t think anything is going to help distract me from what Aiden is about to do.

Aiden

I use the computer at a local library. It’s pretty easy to access the dark web when you know exactly how to do it. I just hope no librarian looks over my shoulder to see what I’m doing. That won’t end well.

I find people looking for services in New Hampshire. One of them wants a seedy politician killed. I can do that. Politicians are rarely good people.

I contact the buyer and after a bit of back and forth, we exchange the details of the plan. The buyer wants me to kill the politician however I see fit. Simple enough. I’m given the address to where the politician lives.

I quickly wipe the computer of any trace of what I just did. The next person who uses it will be none the wiser that I used it for nefarious means.

The buyer and me agree on half upfront and half when done. It’s what I always do.

So, I meet the buyer at some trashy bar. He told me that he would be wearing a red baseball cap. I find him fast enough in a corner booth.

I slide into it. He startles when he sees me.

“Are you…”

“Yes,” I say. “Now, give me half the money. Just slide it under the table. And stop looking around. You look fucking suspicious. We’re just two friends hanging out.”

The man gulps. “I’ve just never done this before. I hate Senator Williams.”

“Just give me the money.”

“You don’t care why? He’s a fucking pedophile.”

“Well, I don’t really care. You want him dead and I’ll do that for you. Just give me the money.”

The buyer lets out a shaky exhale and passes me the money under the table. I check on it – five grand. It will be enough to rent another place for the time being.

“I’ll do it. And once I’m finished, you’ll pay me the rest and we’ll never speak of this again.”

“Who are you?”

“Why? Unless you’re a cop, why do you care?”

“I was just curious,” he admits. “How does one do what you do?”

“When they’re fucked up beyond reason. Now, I have a job to go do.”

Senator Williams house is a large colonial mansion on a tree-lined street that looks like something right out of a movie. It looks a lot like Patrick’s home and I hesitate for a moment before approaching the house. Patrick is dead. His men will be looking for me but they won’t know which direction I went. I’m safe.

For now.

I wear a full ski-mask and gloves to make sure I cannot be recognized and my DNA doesn’t get on anything. The past few days of killing bikers and Liam and Jack were not planned. I had to clean up after and it was a real bitch.

But my normal job is one I always plan for.

I spent all day observing the house, seeing who came and went. I currently know that the Senator is inside with his wife and two daughters.

He has no guards. A security camera and alarm but those are easy for me to deactivate. He’s just a sitting duck who has no idea some random man with money wants him dead.

I check that my silencer is in place on my gun before leaving the car. My heart doesn’t even beat fast. I have done this song and dance many times before and it always ends the same: the person dead and my life unchanged, except for being a few grand richer.

It’s dark out now. Elena is back at the hotel, hopefully safe. After everything I’ve put her through the past few days, she deserves a break. I took her to protect her and I’ve been doing a shitty job of it.

She means more to me than she should.

Pushing Elena from my mind, I focus on the task before me. Never have I let thoughts distract me from my goal.

I pick the lock and enter the house. It’s so quiet, I can hear myself breathing. The floors are made of wood which it isn’t ideal. They can easily creak and groan.

I keep my footsteps light as I head upstairs. With it being almost midnight, I know everyone is asleep in their beds.

Since I’m not sure which room the senator is in, I have no choice but to open every door. The first door on the second floor reveals a young girl’s room. Two girls sleep in their own beds. The daughters. They can’t be more than ten. Shit. I feel a pang of guilt. All I see is Elena.

She had to watch her own father die and when these girls wake up in the morning, they will find their father dead. Their whole world will change.

For just a moment, I hesitate. I could walk away. I don’t have to kill this man. I already have five grand. It’s enough to rent a place for a month until I can get a new job. The man who hired me would be easy enough to kill if he tried to do anything.

But I was hired to do a job and I’ve always done that. I can’t back out now just because of some sudden guilt.

I’m still me. I’m not going soft just because of Elena.

Shutting the girls’ door, I keep my steps light as I head to the next door. A guest room. The door after that reveals an office.

That only leaves the last door at the end of the hall.

It’s open just a crack making it easy for me to push the door all the way in. Inside is a master bedroom. A man and a woman are asleep in the bed.

This is it. I’ll shoot the man and when his wife wakes up, she’ll get the surprise of a lifetime. She might even be blamed for his death. Hopefully not because she’s just an innocent woman. The girls don’t need to be orphans.

I approach the man and place my gun close to his head. Not quite touching but not far away either. I need to make this shot count without drawing too much attention. It’s already risky with the wife asleep right next to the senator.

A creak on the floor makes me turn around.

One of the girls, holding a stuffed animal, blinks up at me. “Daddy?” Then her eyes widen when she realizes what’s going on. And she screams.

That wakes up both her parents.

The mom flips on the light while the senator sits up in bed. They both gasp when they see me.

“Angela, run,” the mom says but the girl stays where she is. Frozen. So innocent. Fuck. What am I doing? If I kill this senator, I’ll be no better than Finn, killing Ivan in front of Elena.

Honestly, I’ll be worse. At least Finn had a personal reason to go after Ivan. I’m just doing this for money.

But if I don’t kill the senator, I won’t get paid. What is worth money?

The other girl runs into the room and stops. “What is going-,” Her eyes widen. “Who?”

“Girls, run!” the senator shouts. “Run!”

The second one grabs the first and drags her from the room.

“What do you want?” Senator Williams asks me. “Money? My wallet is right there.” He points to the nightstand. “Take whatever you want. Just don’t hurt my family.”

I don’t say anything. The less I say and do, the less police can ID me. There’s no way they could pick me out of a lineup. Not with my ski mask on.

“What do you want?” he snaps.

It’s then I hear one of the girls speaking. “We need help. Please. There’s someone in our house.”

I storm out of the room and find the girls in their bedroom, one of them holding a phone to her ear. She’s smart. Called 9-1-1.

I rip the phone from her and smash it. Her scream cuts me right to the core. If I kill the senator, I will be hurting these girls for the rest of their lives.

I never cared before. I just did my job without feeling anything. I let the numbness take over me.

But now… I feel everything.

Footsteps behind me make me spin around. The senator is running at me with a baseball bat. I grab it from him and hit him in the leg, sending him sprawling to the floor.

“Please don’t hurt my family,” he begs. “Please.”

I would have seen this man as pathetic just a few weeks ago. I always considered begging to be the saddest act someone could do. I hated it.

But now, I see this man as someone just desperate to keep his family alive. He’s not pathetic at all.

So, I turn and walk away. I can feel their surprise and relief as I leave the house. I get in my car and drive back to the motel, feeling both like a failure and more light than I’ve ever felt before.

I take my mask and gloves off before I go inside to see Elena.

She sits up the second I walk in, turning the TV off, and looking so innocent and hopeful. The fact that she has hope for me is astounding because I don’t have any hope for myself.

“What… how did it go?” she whispers.

“I got five grand.” I toss the money onto the nightstand.

“That’s… it? I would imagine you would ask for a lot more to… kill someone.”

“Normally I do but I’m desperate. I just need easy cash right now. I would have gotten the other half if I had…”

“Had what?” she asks.

With a sigh, I slump onto the bed next to her. “If I had killed the person I was supposed to kill.”

She sucks in a breath. “You didn’t kill anyone?”

“I was tasked to go after a senator. It was going to be easy. I broke into the house. Had the gun to his head. It should have been easy. But then… he had two girls, Elena. They saw me standing over their dad and screamed. I was a monster to them. Of course I was. Why wouldn’t I be?” I drop my face into my hands. “What the fuck is happening to me?”

“What happened? Aiden, I need to know.”

“So you can look at me like I’m a monster or a good man?”

“I just need to know.”

I drop my hands with a sigh. “I didn’t kill him. I saw those girls and they reminded me of you. I realized I would be no better than Finn if I killed their father right before their eyes. So I left.”

“You did the right thing.”

I scoff. “I’m a hitman, Elena. How can I do my job if I can’t kill people?”

“It’s a good thing. Once this is all over, maybe you can get another job. Work for Dante still but as a guard. Not as a hitman.”

I take in her sweet, innocent face and all I want is to kiss her but I hold back. I tasted her once and it was a mistake. She is not mine. When all of this is done, I’ll bring her back home and she’ll marry Viktor.

“The fact you have hope for me is a miracle after what my brother did to you.” I pause. “After what I did to you.”

“I have to believe in something good. Otherwise… I think I’ll break down and never get back up. I have to keep going somehow and my belief in you allows me to do that.”

“I’ve always been a hitman. I don’t know how to be anything else.”

“Do you want to be something else?”

My head thuds against the headboard. “No one has ever asked me that. Finn is a hitman and I’m a hitman and we never asked each other if we wanted more out of life.”

“Do you want more, Aiden?” she asks so softly it makes my heart ache. Fuck.

“It’s silly.”

“What is it?”

“When I was young, I used to dream of running my own business. Selling random shit. You know how kids think.”

“What kind of random stuff?” Her smile is so sweet, it takes everything in me not to kiss her.

“Everything from snacks and soda to a gumball machine to Pokémon cards to expensive watches, because why not? I was ten when I had the idea. It was a fun way for me to imagine my life differently where my father was never a shitbag. I could have a store with anything I wanted in it.”

“You could sell my paintings.”

I feel myself smile. “I could sell your paintings. It could be a store where anything is possible.”

“Why don’t you make it happen?”

I scoff. “I don’t want that store anymore. It was a child’s dream. But I never imagined I’d become what I am today. Killing people for a living. I don’t know what I’ll do when this is all over. I might not change, Elena. You might return home and I’ll go back to killing people and that’s that. Nothing will change.”

“But it could.” There’s a desperation to her voice that sends goosebumps over my skin.

I want to believe as much as she does. Maybe tonight was the first step. I didn’t kill the senator. Maybe I am allowed to be more than what everyone thinks of me. More than what my brother always wanted me to be.

I lean in close to Elena, making her breath hitch as her eyes dart down to my lips. It would be so easy to kiss her. I know she wouldn’t push me away.

Just a taste and I’ll be happy…

A knock on the door makes me sit up straight.

“Housekeeping,” a gruff man says. That’s definitely not housekeeping.

I jump up and aim my gun at the door right as the door is kicked in and multiple men swarm inside.

“You killed Patrick Sullivan,” the gruff-voiced man says. “You’ll pay for that.”