Dating A Hitman (The Dating Series Book 4)

by Love, B. T.

  I truly thank your grandpa for that day because it taught me to always stay in the game. And I don’t just mean the baseball game, I mean the game of life. There will be times when you’ll feel really down on your luck and you’ll want to give up. But let me tell you my child, never ever give up. You’re a Nicoletti; we are survivors. We’re a strong family. And there’s nothing better than having family by your side. I want you to know that even though I’m not around, that I’ll always be by your side, cheering you on from the stands and telling you to stay in the game.

  I love you sweetheart.

  Daddy

  A tear trickled down my cheek. What an encouraging letter it was to read. If only I had it at that time in my life, maybe it would have helped me through something I was going through at the time. But the past was the past and I couldn’t change it. At least now I could look at these letters and use them as encouragement as an adult.

  Heavy footsteps trudged up the stairs. I looked up from the letter in my hand and watched my open bedroom doorway to see who was coming. A second later Troy walked past, holding his cell to his ear. Machete was hot on his heels, following right behind him, both of them unaware of my existence in the room. He opened a door at the end of the hall and went inside, closing it behind him and clicking the lock into place.

  God, stuff was so weird in the house. I still didn’t quite understand Troy’s role he played in my family. I mean, I knew he was my brother’s best friend, but he came and went as he pleased, yet he didn’t live in the house. But at the same time he had a room of his own or something. It was all too weird. I figured he did something on the side for my family, which was why my dad told me he wasn’t any good for me. I’m sure my dad wanted me to be with someone who wasn’t involved in illegal activity.

  I shrugged and plucked another letter off the top of the pile in the box. This one was from my brother.

  Hey Scarlett,

  I tried calling you last month. Your mom answered but she told me not to call anymore. I called you again last week hoping you would answer but your number was disconnected. I’ll try to look for another number for you, but I have the feeling your mom will pay to keep it unlisted.

  I don’t understand why she won’t let me talk to you. I never did anything but love and protect you. She was so loving to me when she was with dad, so it still amazes me how she can treat me so differently now.

  Anyway, I still live at dad’s house. Uncle Ted is taking care of me most of the time, but I still go to my mom’s house now and then. I like living at dad’s because I feel like he’s still around. It’s so hard being without him. I get to visit him in prison though, so that’s nice. I wish I could talk to you so I could tell you how to set up a visit with him.

  Uncle Ted has been taking me under his wing and teaching me some stuff about the family business. He really treats me like a man, which I like. My mom still treats me like a little kid, even though I’m almost fifteen. Oh well, moms will be moms. I’m sure you know all too well about that.

  I will write you again soon. I love you little sis.

  Love Eli

  I smiled at the sweetness of the letter and wiped away the remaining mist from my eyes. Another set of feet trudged up the stairs and as the person passed I saw it was Eli. He didn’t look into my room; he was too focused on something at hand. I heard him tap against Troy’s door and then I heard it open and close again.

  “Gay,” I chuckled, indulging myself in my private joke about Troy once more. I enjoyed teasing him for some reason, even when he didn’t hear me do it.

  My arms stretched above me as I stood up from the bed. I wasn’t feeling too great—I was dealing with some jet lag—and I felt the need to get outside and take a walk in the sunshine. I figured I could explore the area and maybe find something to bring to the barbecue that night.

  I heard the door open and a short moment later Eli walked past. He caught me out of the corner of his eye and stopped, giving me a warm smile. “Hey,” he said, coming into my room. “Whatcha doing?”

  I smiled and pointed to the box on the bed. “I just read one of your letters.”

  “Really?” he said happily. “Yeah dad told me he brought you all of them. Which one did you just read?”

  I took his letter off the top of the pile and handed it to him. “This one. You were fourteen when you wrote it.”

  He opened it up and smiled down at it. “I remember this. Your mom disconnected your number. I always tried calling you.”

  “Now I know why she never allowed me to answer the phone. At some point we got cell phones and didn’t have a landline anymore.”

  He nodded and handed the letter back to me. “I always tried finding your number but kind of gave up not too long after this. I just stuck to letters, hoping you would get the mail one of those days.”

  “She’s the only one who had the P.O. box key.”

  “You know,” he said, crossing his arms in front of him, “I had your physical address. I even looked it up online and saw a picture of the front of your house.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. I should have come out to see you, but I figured your mom wouldn’t allow that either. I feel bad about not going out there and trying.”

  I stepped forward and placed my hand on his shoulder. “It’s fine, Eli, really. I’m so happy just to see that you tried writing me.” I dropped my hand and stepped back next to the box. “Besides, you wouldn’t have found me there anyway. I’ve lived with my friend Becky since we started college a few years ago.”

  Machete barked at the end of the hall and then flew into my room, coming right over to me. I picked him up and nuzzled into his soft fur. “Hi Machete,” I smiled. He was such a sweet little dog.

  Troy came in, looking as handsome as ever, and smiled right at me, his appearance almost knocking me off of my feet. God he was hot. “Hey,” he said, his deep voice smoother than the silk sheets that lined the guest bed I was welcomed to sleep in. “How’re you doing?”

  “Good,” I smiled. I couldn’t help but feel a little awkward since the way I had acted the night before. It was the first time I had seen him since my mild flirtation.

  “What’s that?” he asked, nodding to the letter that was still in my hand.

  I sat Machete on the ground and handed it to him. “It’s a letter from my brother; he wrote it to me when I was a little girl. My mom sent it back but he saved it. My dad saved his too; they’re all in that box.”

  He opened the letter and read it quietly to himself. “Hmm,” he said when he was done, his eyes averting to my bed. “That box is filled with them, huh?”

  “Yeah. It’s really cool, actually. I’ve been reading through them today. There’s so many, though; I don’t know how long it will take before I can read them all.”

  He nodded and handed back the letter, his eyes still lingering on the box. “That’s really cool that they kept those for you.” He smiled and looked over at Eli. “I’ve got to head out.”

  Eli nodded. “Call me later.”

  Troy nodded and then looked back at me, giving me a pleasant smile. “I’ll see you tonight at the barbecue.”

  “Sounds good.”

  Troy left the room and went downstairs, Machete following behind him. My eyes stayed on the open doorway, thinking about the way he looked as I watched him leave. Eli noticed.

  “You like my friend . . .” he stated, his arms still crossed and his head cocking back. The stance seemed to make him grow in size.

  I averted my gaze from the doorway and met his. “I just met him.” I turned slightly and tossed the letter on the top of the pile. “Dad doesn’t want me near him.”

  Eli nodded gently. “There are reasons.”

  “Yeah, I know. Reasons of which I’m not supposed to ask questions. Which is why I don’t ask questions about your late night phone calls.”

  “It’s better that way, Sis.”

  “Listen,” I said, crossing my arms in front of me, “I get it. Do
n’t worry about it.”

  His face relaxed. “Good. I just don’t want you getting hurt.”

  “I’m just having a good time, Eli. Nothing more.”

  He nodded and then dropped his arms, becoming more relaxed. “Let me know if you find some really good letters from me in there. I want to read them.”

  “Okay,” I smiled. “I’ll let you know.”

  Five

  I watched Troy from across the backyard as a hot little number wrapped her arms around him and pressed against his toned body. What made her any different from me? Maybe she was a part of the family’s business or something, so she was cleared to mess around with him. It was stupid. I was an adult; I didn’t need to get permission to be with anyone. But I was trying to respect what my family wanted, so, whatever.

  I downed the rest of my slushy alcohol-filled drink and walked over to the edge of the pool. I took one last look at Troy and noticed that his eyes were fixated on me while his arms were around that other woman. I smirked and lifted my arms over my head, keeping eye contact with him as long as I could before I jumped from the edge and dove into the crisp water. I kicked below for a few strokes and when I resurfaced I flung my long hair back and smoothed my hands over my wet strands. Troy’s stare stayed fixed on me as he lowered his lips down onto the girl in front of him, kissing the side of her neck.

  Jesus, that infuriated me. I wanted his lips on my neck. And why did he do that to her and watch me like that? Was he teasing me or something? I lifted my middle finger in the air and flipped him off, my action turning his lips on her neck into a devious smile. He was actually flirting with me . . .

  I smiled back at him and then sunk deeper into the water to swim around. I decided to ignore him for the next ten minutes while I visited with the many family members and friends my dad had invited over. When I decided to look at him again he was still watching me, and for the next hour it seemed like we were always making eye contact. I couldn’t have been more pleased.

  I went over to the ice chest by where he was standing and smiled as I grabbed a hard lemonade out from the pile of ice. “You should take a picture, it’ll last longer.”

  He finished the swig he was taking of his beer and smiled. “You’re the one who has to take a picture.”

  “Well I don’t have a pocket on my swimsuit for my phone so I don’t have it to take a picture of you right now.”

  He put the bottle to his lips and scanned his eyes down my body, stopping momentarily on my swimsuit bottoms before looking back up; I was surprised that he avoided my scars. “You can use my phone.” He took a sip and then brought the bottle back down to his side as he fished around in his board shorts with his other hand.

  “You want me to take a picture of you with your phone . . .” I said dryly.

  “Yeah. Then I’ll text it to you later.”

  “Oh,” I smiled. “Hmm. Is that a sly way of getting my number?”

  He smiled handsomely and pulled his phone out, holding it out in my direction. “Yep.”

  I took it from him and smiled as I looked down at the screen. “What’s your passcode?”

  “Two, one, one, seven.”

  I punched it in and went to the camera. “Any importance with those numbers?”

  “Two eyes, one heart, one—”

  “Testicle?” I cut in.

  He laughed loudly into the air. “Three testicles, actually,” he joked.

  “You must be proud.”

  His laughter dwindled into a pleasant chuckle. “One mind,” he continued. “And seven is just lucky.”

  “Hmm.” I held the camera up and admired him on the screen. “Smile.”

  “I don’t smile.”

  I looked around the phone and gave him a lopsided smirk. “I’ve seen you smile, Troy. Just do it.”

  “Nope, not for pictures.”

  “Please?”

  “Nope.”

  “Then why did you say I could take a picture of you then?”

  “Because you can, I just won’t be smiling in it.”

  “Man, it amazes me that you have three testicles yet you still don’t have the balls to smile for a picture.”

  He laughed and dropped his head momentarily to the side. I took the opportunity to snap a picture of his smiling profile. I pulled it up on the screen and happily admired it. His eyes weren’t looking at the camera but they were sparkling in the sunlight that was setting beside him. Years of laughter had engraved a curved line around the outside corner of his mouth and it was prominent in the picture, the sight bringing a smile to my face.

  “What?” he asked pleasantly.

  I turned the screen to face him. “I like this picture.”

  He took the phone from me and looked down at it. “Then I’ll send it to you. What’s your number?” I told him my number and he put it into his phone and then lifted it up. “Your turn.”

  “You want a picture of me looking like this?” I asked, fully aware of the fact that I had chlorine-infused air-dried hair that must have looked terrible.

  “Yes,” he replied.

  I ran my fingers over the top of my hair and pulled it all around to one side so its length would cover the small circular scar on my chest. “Okay,” I said. “I don’t really know what to do . . .” I was feeling a little self-conscious. There was nothing by us to lean against and I didn’t want to cross my arms. My hand gravitated up to my neck and I leaned into it, feeling a tiny bit insecure. His eyes looked up from the screen and met with mine and in that moment I smiled a small but genuine smile. He snapped the picture.

  He looked at his phone and kept a serious face as he turned the screen to face me. “I like it,” he said honestly.

  I peered closer and saw the image of me painted in the soft glow of the sunset with my wild hair and my hand gripping my neck. The smile I gave him was a beautiful one, actually. He was the one who brought it out of me.

  “Nice,” I said, nodding with approval. “Now you have me.” His eyes cut up from his phone and his expression stayed serious. “On your phone,” I clarified.

  His smile was soft as it morphed across his lips. “And you’ll soon have me.” He looked back down at his phone and punched the screen a couple of times. “There. By the time you get back to your phone you’ll have my picture and my number to go with it.”

  A woman who looked around my age came up to us and laced her arm around Troy’s shoulders, her black string bikini revealing her outrageously huge breasts. “Hey baby,” she cooed next to his ear.

  He stared straight ahead at me, his eyes intense. “Hey,” he answered her while keeping his focus on me.

  “Why don’t we get in the hot tub?” she asked him, her voice laced with a begging tone.

  “Yeah,” he nodded. “Sure.” He put his arm around her waist. “I’ll talk to you later, Scarlett.” He turned around with her, revealing the word Revenge that was tattooed across the top of his back. I watched as he walked away with his arm around her tiny waist, disappearing behind the shrubs where the hot tub was hidden.

  My hand went right back to the spot on my neck that it was on in the picture—the self-conscious spot. I looked around, seeing if there was someone I could talk to to take me away from the awkward moment of the mysteriously attractive man who just laced his arm around someone else and left me standing alone off to the side of the large backyard.

  I spotted my dad and my uncle talking to a man in the corner of the yard; he was out of place at our little pool party barbecue. He was wearing slacks, a dress shirt, and a tie, an outfit which seemed to be uncomfortable to wear out in the heat of the summer. I went over to them, smiling as I made my approach.

  My dad looked over at me, his eyes hesitating on my body that was exposed so openly in my suit; it was hard for him to see the scars. “There she is,” he said, holding his arm out in my direction. “This is my daughter, Scarlett.”

  The man stuck out his hand and I shook it firmly. “Nice to meet you,” I said.

&n
bsp; “This is Vladimir Koval,” my dad added.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Vladimir said in a very heavy Russian accent. “Your father has told me plenty of good things about you. He was right about your beauty.”

  “Oh, thank you,” I blushed. “You have a very nice accent.”

  “Thank you,” he said, bowing his head lightly. “Have you ever been to Russia?”

  “No, but I would love to visit it sometime.”

  “Well,” he said, clapping his hands together. “Maybe your father can take you on a trip there someday. It’s a beautiful place.”

  My eyes focused on the numerous gold rings that encircled his fingers. “Yes, yes that would be lovely.” I didn’t know who this man was, but it was obvious that he was very rich, and very important. “Well I better get back to the food line,” I said. “I told Eli I would help serve people.”

  “Okay sweetheart,” my dad said.

  “It was a pleasure to meet you,” Vladimir added.

  “And you as well,” I said with a smile before spinning around and heading back toward the food. I felt as if I couldn’t get away from that man fast enough. My gut was telling me to stay out of his way and off of his radar.

  * * *

  Troy smiled as he stood in front of me, holding a plate that was already topped with sauce-covered ribs and garlic bread. “Can I have some potato salad?” he asked.

  My eyes narrowed but I couldn’t help but smile. “I thought you didn’t have a woman in your life,” I said.

  He looked over at the two women he had had encounters with earlier in the evening. “Who, them?” His eyes met with mine once again. “They’re not in my life; they just serve a purpose.”