Dating A Hitman (The Dating Series Book 4)

by Love, B. T.

  Stop the letters and tell Eli the same.

  Susan

  The letter infuriated me on one end, but a part of me agreed with the feelings my mom was having, especially because of what had happened to me. But I also had seen firsthand how loving my dad and brother were, and I was still upset that she kept me from having a written relationship with them during those years we were apart. I could have learned so much about them during that time, and there wouldn’t have been such a void of information about them missing from our relationships.

  I put the letter in my suitcase and zipped it closed. Reading the letter from my mom actually made me miss her a bit, and I felt that now was a better time than ever to hear her voice. I took out my phone and dialed her number and then waited for her to answer.

  “Hello!” her cheery voice blared out.

  “Hi Mom,” I smiled. “Sorry it’s so late.”

  “Oh, no sweetheart it’s fine. And besides, I’m a couple of hours behind you, remember?”

  “Yeah, that’s right.”

  “Is everything okay?” she asked.

  “Yeah, I’m having a good time. But everyone’s so busy here, so I’ve decided to just cut the visit short and come home tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow? Well, I’m glad to hear it; I miss you.”

  “I miss you too. I’ll let you know when I figure out my flight details okay?”

  “Okay sweetheart. I love you so much.”

  “I love you too, Mom. I’ll talk to you soon.”

  I hung up and looked down at my phone. I was so conflicted as to whether or not I was making the right decision to leave. Maybe some fresh air would help me concentrate better and clear my head. If Troy were still around he would be relaxing in the back, so I couldn’t go out there. And besides, I didn’t feel like talking to him again anyway; it would be too painful. The front was my last option.

  I quietly descended the stairs, hoping not to draw the attention of my family who had already retired to their rooms, and punched in the alarm code on the panel beside the door so I could open it. As I stepped outside into the darkness of the night it was easy to see that everything was dead; the neighborhood had fallen asleep hours ago. It was the perfect setting to think about my life and who was—or wasn’t, for that matter—going to be in it from that point on. I was going to miss the neighborhood, and I was going to miss the house that I had used to live in during a long ago forgotten time.

  I walked across the grass with my bare feet and sat down on the lawn’s edge that bordered the sidewalk. Putting my head in my hands I sighed heavily against my palms, seeing Troy’s handsome face in my mind as I thought about leaving him. It was my own fault, getting close to him; everyone had warned me to stay away from him, even Troy himself. Now there I was in the front yard in the middle of the night with my heart crushed by the dismissal of my first real romantic connection to a man. I just didn’t understand how he was so hot one second and then so cold the next. That morning I had awoken to his muscular arm draped over me with protectiveness. By the end of the day, he was rejecting me. I was at a loss for words; I didn’t even know how to feel. And yet, a part of me didn’t feel like he had used me. There was something else to his decision. But unfortunately, it seemed as though I was never going to find out what his reasons were. Because Troy Valenti wasn’t an emotional man, he was a broken soul who found it easier to just tell me to go as opposed to telling me what I could do to make him want me to stay. And yet, I didn’t want to ever have to convince someone to want me; that wasn’t how love worked. So I would take his advice and leave, since as he had told me once before, I should have never come here in the first place.

  I wiped away the lone tear that had trailed away from one of my tired eyes. Maybe sleep would help me feel a little relief. But before I could stand up from the crisp grass beneath me, a hand came around and covered over my mouth as the cold blade of a knife met the tender skin on my neck. And the stars in the beautiful black sky above me were all I could see as I struggled for dear life while being dragged away into the night.

  Thirteen

  I screamed behind the hand that was covering my mouth but their grip was so tight I could barely get out any air. Trying to recall what Troy had taught me, I lowered my arm and reached behind me to try and connect with the crotch of the attacker’s pants. When he pushed the blade harder against my neck I seized and quieted my attempts at calling for help; if I struggled any more he could easily kill me if he wanted to.

  A door opened next to us and I was pushed inside of a limousine. The man climbed in next to me and shut the door as we quickly sped off away from the house. Trying to see through the cloudiness of my tears, I could make out the form of a man dressed in a suit sitting across from me.

  “Hello, Scarlett,” he said casually in his Russian accent, as if abducting women was a common occurrence for him.

  After blinking away the moisture from my eyes I settled on the man in the suit. His hair was made up of the grayness a man in his sixties would have, and he held his composure well as he watched me with lively eyes. I pulled my knees up to my chest and hugged myself, shifting my body away from both the man across from me and the one with the knife beside me. I didn’t recognize either of them.

  “She’s pretty,” the man with the knife said with a deep chuckle. “You sure you want me to slit her throat? I mean, there are plenty of other things we can use her for . . .”

  I sobbed and twisted my body toward the door, hiding my face down into my knees.

  “We’ll figure it out,” the man in the suit replied. “Look at me, Scarlett,” he calmly ordered me.

  I lifted my head and cut my eyes over at him. “Who are you?” I asked.

  “Ah, she speaks.” He leaned forward and held out his hand. “My name is Dimitri Bardin. Have you heard of me?”

  I shook my head, but kept my arms tightly wound around my legs. “No.”

  His lip twitched with a small smile as he retracted his hand. “Well, I’ve heard of you. And this here,” he said, pointing to the man next to me, “is David Pilonto. He has heard of you as well.”

  “I don’t understand. Please just let me go.”

  “Eh, we’ll see,” he said, glancing down at his watch. “It all depends on your father.”

  “My father? What do you mean?”

  “Your father owes me a very large amount of money. We did business together while he was in prison and let’s just say he took advantage of the wrong man.”

  “But what does any of that have to do with me? I wasn’t the one who screwed you over.”

  His head bobbed back and forth as he considered my words. “Yes, but sometimes we have to do certain things to get people’s attention. Your father just wasn’t working hard enough to get me my money, so I figured I would light a fire under him.”

  “And what will happen if he can’t pay?”

  “Well, then David here will have to sink that knife into your neck. But don’t worry, I will make sure it is quick so you do not suffer. I am a kind man that way.”

  What a twisted freak. I put my head back down on my knees and cried into my pajama pants, the soft cotton material soaking up most of my tears.

  “You want me to do it now, boss?” David asked next to me.

  “Yes, you might as well.”

  I cried out as David wrapped his hand in my hair and yanked my head up. “You ready to be a movie star?”

  I opened my eyes and saw that Dimitri was holding his phone up in front of him; he was recording a video of me. “Hello, Mitch,” he spoke to the camera. “As you can see I have your sweet daughter Scarlett here with me. She’s a very beautiful woman; you should be proud.” I sobbed as David brought his knife to my neck and stuck the tip of it against my skin. “I don’t think I have to tell you what will happen if I don’t get my money within the next three hours,” he continued. “But what I will tell you is that I will be sure to return her head to you in mint condition. After all, to ruin a piece of art l
ike this would be a travesty. We can make a civil exchange at my cabin; you know where it is. Let the countdown begin.” He hit the button to stop the recording and David released his fist from my hair.

  I visibly shook as I cried heavily in front of them. “Are you really going to kill me?” I asked desperately.

  “Oh, yes, sweetheart. But only if your father doesn’t pay. I’m sure he’ll come through for you though, so don’t worry too much. I just hope he makes it on time because I have a meeting I have to attend and I have to make sure I’m not late for that. If I am I might just get my head cut off,” he laughed, looking over at David.

  David laughed in return. “See? Even Dimitri has to watch his neck.”

  “So do you!” Dimitri added with another howl of laughter. “You see Scarlett? Everyone has a head and everyone can get it cut off at any moment. That’s just life in this world.”

  I shrunk down into my cocoon and watched the psycho across from me send the video to my dad. I didn’t know where we were going, but we had driven out of town and were now speeding down a lone road that was heading deeper into a wooded area. The whole time the two of them blabbed about daily events as if what they were doing with me wasn’t a big deal. All I could do was cry and think about home and about how big of a mistake it was to come out to visit the family my mother had warned me to stay away from.

  About five minutes later, Dimitri’s phone rang. “Oh, look who it is,” he said as he looked down at the screen. “I’ll even put it on speaker so you can hear what he says.” He slid his finger across the phone and held it in front of him. “Well hello, Mitch. How are you today?”

  “Please don’t do this, Dimitri,” my dad’s voice pleaded from the other end of the phone line.

  “Ah, so you got my video? Did you like it? I wasn’t so sure about the lighting, the lights back here in the limousine aren’t very bright.”

  “Where are you taking my daughter?” he asked, ignoring Dimitri’s attempt to dismiss the seriousness of the situation.

  “I already told you, to my cabin. This guy doesn’t listen,” he said, looking over at David. “Oh and Mitch,” he went on, “I’ve got my best man here with me as you saw in the video; I’m sure you’ve heard about him. Don’t worry about sending Troy over either, because David will kill him before he even gets within ten feet of the cabin. You know my man is much better at that than yours is.”

  Troy? He knew about Troy? Of course he did, Troy worked for Vladimir and this guy was Russian as well, so I’m sure they all knew who each other were. Did Troy ever work for Dimitri? He couldn’t have, because Dimitri apparently already had his own personal hitman, David.

  “What if I don’t have all the money?” my dad asked. “Is there anything else I can do?”

  “Hmm. No, I do believe it will have to be all or nothing my friend.”

  “Then give me more time,” my dad pleaded.

  “I’m so sorry, Mitch. But it will have to be three hundred and fifty thousand in full, and you have three hours. Well, actually,” he said, looking down at his watch, “you have two hours and fifty minutes.” He hung up and opened his suit jacket, sliding the phone down into a pocket inside.

  “Three hundred and fifty thousand?” I asked in disbelief. “He owes you that much?”

  “Yes, he does.”

  “But how?”

  “Heroine is an expensive business to be involved in, my sweet girl. And actually, that’s not a lot of money.”

  I felt utterly defeated. How was my dad going to get that amount of money? I knew the answer to that: He wasn’t. The realization hit that I was a dead woman. I would never get the chance to get married and have kids; I would never be a marine biologist. The last faces I would see would be these two ugly men in the back of the limousine, watching me closely, waiting as the countdown got closer to my imminent death.

  And then I thought about Troy. He always told me to take my phone everywhere with me, but I was so upset I didn’t do that when I had went outside. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway, because I was sure David would have taken it away. But I still felt guilt for not listening to him. It almost would have been a comfort to know that I listened to him during something that ended up being my last moment of life on earth, but I didn’t even have that to console me. So instead I closed my eyes and thought about the times he made love to me, because those were the last moments I was happy. In his bed the night before he had ruled my body like he was a god, and yet he treated me like his goddess. And before we fell asleep he kissed all five of my scars, starting on my stomach, moving to my chest, and then gently turning me over and kissing the two on my back. After that he moved next to me and pulled me against him as he fell asleep, the sentimental importance of the moment obvious in his demeanor. That was the last memory I wanted to think of, the last vision I wanted in my head before my life was about to end.

  The limo turned onto a dirt path and after a few more minutes of driving it stopped in front of a large cabin that was nestled between tall pine trees. “Home sweet home,” Dimitri said as he smiled over at me.

  David opened the door beside him and got out before leaning back in and reaching across the seat, grabbing my arm. “Time to go inside.” I cried as he pulled me over the leather fabric and then turned me around, pushing me into the night air. I stumbled over the terrain and fell to my knees. “Don’t even think about running,” he warned as he shut the door behind Dimitri, who had just climbed out of the limo.

  Dimitri drew in a deep breath. “Mm, the air is magical tonight. It’s going to be a good day; I can feel it.”

  I leaned forward and dug my hands into the dirt, wishing it were possible for me to dissolve and sink down into the cracks of the earth. As David’s heavy footsteps came closer I rolled over and held my hands in front of my face to protect myself.

  He chuckled down at me. “What, are you afraid I’ll hurt you little girl?” He kicked a mound of dirt at me, the loose soil spraying across my face. “I’m under strict orders to not make you suffer any more than is necessary. So don’t worry.” I spit the dirt out of my mouth and began crawling backward to get away. “Don’t do that, or else I’ll be forced to keep you still.” I rolled onto my stomach and tried to scurry away but I was stopped by the sudden stinging pain of a rock hitting my back. “Try it again and it will be bigger next time,” David warned me, his voice too casual for the situation.

  “Take her inside,” Dimitri ordered him. “Put her in a chair and make sure she can’t move.”

  I screamed as his hand found the back of my head and wrapped itself in my long strands. “You heard the boss,” he said as he pulled me up from the ground, my scalp burning from the tightness of his fist wrapped in my hair. Fallen pine needles poked at my feet as he pushed me along and forced me up a small flight of stairs to the door of the cabin. After punching in a security code he opened it and released my hair, shoving me inside. “Sit down at the table.”

  The lights flicked on in the room as I stumbled over to the chair and pulled it away from the table, sitting down. “Please don’t hurt me,” I begged quietly as tears ran down my cheeks. “I didn’t do anything to you.”

  He went to a drawer in the kitchen and opened it, pulling out some black zip ties. “I know you didn’t,” he said as he came over to me. “But somebody has to pay for your father’s mistake. Now, put your arms behind your back.”

  I obeyed his request. “But I don’t even get involved in what my dad’s business is. I stay out of everything. I, I don’t even know what you guys are completely involved in.”

  He zip tied my hands to the chair and then came around to the front of me. “Don’t take it personally,” he said as he crouched down and pushed my foot against the leg of the chair. “You just happened to be an easy target.”

  “Why? Because I’m a woman?”

  “No no,” he chuckled. He finished securing each of my ankles to the chair and then looked up at me. “I can easily apprehend even the strongest man, just as
easily as I took you. I’m very good at what I do for a living.”

  I stared down at his smug face. He was so ugly, with a bumpy bald head and eyes that were way too far apart. He was exactly what I envisioned a hitman to look like, the complete opposite of Troy.

  “How can you do this to me?”

  He stood up and crossed his arms in front of him. “Like I said, don’t take it personally. We would have taken your brother if you didn’t make yourself so easily available.”

  Dimitri stepped inside and looked down at the gold watch on his wrist. “Well, I still haven’t heard a word from your father. I’m not so sure he’ll be able to come through for you.” He nodded at David. “Go ahead and take guard outside. Let me know if you see anyone driving up.”

  “Yes, boss,” he said as he nodded and passed him to go outside, closing the door behind him.

  Dimitri pulled a chair out from the table and sat down across from me. “So,” he said as he crossed one ankle over the other, “tell me a little bit about yourself.”

  I was confused. “What, what do you mean?”

  “Is that a hard question to understand?” he said with a sarcastic smile.

  “I just don’t understand why you want to know anything about me when you’re getting ready to kill me if my father doesn’t come through.”

  He looked down at his watch once again and shrugged. “We’ve got an hour to kill first.”

  My lip quivered as I tried to move my hands to find some sort of relief from the zip ties that were cutting into my wrists. “I, I’m twenty-one.”

  “Ah, I remember being that age,” he said as he looked back up at me. “That was a long time ago. I was already in business with a very powerful man back then and he taught me all I know today.”

  “Please let me go,” I begged him.

  “That discussion is over,” he said, waving my plea away. “Now, where are you from? I know you don’t live here.” His phone rang in his suit jacket pocket. “Let’s see who this is,” he said, pulling it out and looking down at the screen. He smiled and slid his finger across the screen. “Vladimir,” he said as he put the phone to his ear. “To what do I owe the pleasure of speaking with you?”