The Nameless (The Huntress #3)

by Dawn Robertson

  Gwen, the new nanny, got up with Finley this morning so I could sleep in a bit. We had a rough overnight since my little girl started teething. No one told me how much of pure hell this would be. Even with all the damn baby books, I feel underprepared. I let out a sigh and go through the motions of getting ready for the day. After a quick shower, I pull a sundress out of my closet, matching it with a black long-sleeved sweater and my favorite slip-on Chocoholics—keeping it simple.

  It’ll be nice to see Seven today; it’s been ages since she was able to travel. This is the first weekend she’s been in Boston since before Finley was born. She wasn’t able to travel to my shower because she was busy birthing her little bundle of joy, Levi Jr.—if that boy doesn’t look just like his father!

  I try to preoccupy myself with trivial bullshit like how much Seven’s kid looks like Levi and forget about Linc fucking me into next week on my couch. How it even happened is beyond me. One moment I was telling him where to put some couches, and next thing I know he is balls deep inside me. Only me—I swear, I am the only woman on Earth that just trips and falls onto a cock. Anyone else? Yeah, I thought so. Just me.

  I laugh as I towel my hair dry, spraying some leave-in treatment before blow-drying it a bit. Skipping full makeup, I opt for some lip gloss then on my way I go, stopping by Finley’s new nursery and grabbing her diaper bag. Extra diapers, a sippy cup, toys, an extra change of clothes, a sweater, and the kitchen sink—I never realized how many accessories babies really need before having one of my own. It’s either that, or I have a baby product problem, maybe a bit of both. I am one of those people that likes to be over-prepared at all times though. I would rather carry two extra pairs of clothes around and not need them than have a baby with shit dripping down her leg twenty minutes from home and nothing to change her into.

  “Theo called and left you a message,” Linc says as I pass him in the hallway. His back slips into my office as I continue to pass him. How can he treat me like nothing happened? He is so damn hot and cold, almost as bad as me. I let out a little chuckle and shrug my shoulders. Whatever is right.

  “Text me the message,” I yell through the door and find Gwen and Finley in the kitchen, finishing up their morning routine. I grab the infant car seat from the mudroom and pick up my baby girl.

  “How is my pretty girl?” I coo at my little bundle of joy. I used to roll my eyes at gushy moms, and now I have turned into one. God, it’s enough to make anyone sick.

  “She ate a big breakfast. She’s really loving those little pieces of banana,” Gwen says while cleaning up the mess Finley made while she was eating. Her brown hair is wisped off to the side with a bright pink and green flamingo hair clip. She is too stinkin’ cute, with matching shoes, socks, and dress; I really have the most precious damn kid in all of Boston.

  “Who is ready for a big day out?” I ask her while putting her into her car seat. I hate to carry her anywhere in it lately, and pretty soon the pair will outweigh me or pull my shoulder out of socket, whichever comes first.

  “I’ll see you around bedtime tonight, right Gwen?” I can’t take another night without sleep; I swear it is making me delirious.

  “Of course, Ms. McGuire.” She flashes a sweet smile while drying off the dishes from the sink.

  “Perfect. See you then,” I say as I grab my car keys and the diaper bag from the floor then head out the door into the garage. A small SUV has taken the place of the Audi I once had. Truth be told, I miss my car. They say men have love affairs with vehicles, but they got nothin’ on me. For now, the Range Rover will do. I clip Finley’s car seat into the larger back seat and we make our way downtown. By the time we reach the restaurant, Finley is out like a light. I carefully move her from the car seat to the stroller and make my way in to meet my girls for lunch. My heart races, fluttering faster with every step I take toward the front of the building. I’m barely ready to be out of my house, let alone anywhere the public could see me.

  I didn’t realize until just this moment how big this is considering I’ve barely left the house for months. I have become damn near a hermit, and I am really pushing myself out of my comfort zone. As the panic ensues within my head then recedes again, my body slowly relaxes with my heartbeat slowing to a normal tone. I battle the demons inside my mind as I step through the doors and see Suzanne and Seven already sitting at a table together. The stroller parked next to Seven has a blue blanket draped over the top, shielding the sleeping baby from nosey eyes.

  “You know I’m gonna have to sneak a peek at him,” I say, coming around the corner to park my stroller next to Suzanne. It’s time for her to finally see her late husband’s child. It has been months since Finley was born, and the entire time Suzanne has known exactly where she was. She tries to remain indifferent, like she doesn’t care that Remington had a child when they had tried for so many years, but I think the fact that Finley was carried by another woman made it easier for her to look the other way.

  I watch her look over at my sleeping daughter and smile. She’ll come around in her own time. “She is beautiful,” Suzanne offers, trying to push her own emotions to the side. I have to hand it to Suzanne—if there is one thing she is good at, it’s keeping her anger channeled in the right direction. She never once tried to talk me out of adopting Finley, even though she could have seriously objected to the decision with perfect reason. She was angry with Remy and Heather, but never took it out on me or my child, maybe because I was a key player in taking care of the parents. Either way, I am grateful for her tact and friendship.

  “Thank you. She looks a lot like her dad, doesn’t she?” I say, trying to keep it between the two of us.

  Suzanne nods and puts her hand on mine. “But only in the best of ways. It’s really all right, you know.”

  I nod. I really don’t what else to say, so I change the subject. “I have been dying to know, how are things going with that hunk of a hockey player?”

  Seven’s face lights up with anticipation as Suzanne turns every shade of red imaginable. “Amazing.” The way Suzanne’s face is lit up makes me so freaking happy for her. She really deserves to finally be happy.

  “Details!” Seven yells.

  Suzanne’s smile widens. “Well, his name is Carter Blake, which is just so fucking hot, and he’s fucking gorgeous. I mean I always assumed hockey players would have gorgeous bodies, but holy hell ladies! It also doesn’t hurt that he is ten years younger than me.”

  “Ego booster for sure.” I giggle. “I couldn’t be happier for you.” I raise my wine glass in the air. “To younger men and gorgeous bodies.” We all laugh and clink our glasses together. I turn to look at Seven as I see a smile start to spread across her face like wildfire.

  “I made him get a vasectomy!” she yells before either of us have a chance to ask what has her in such a good mood. I let out a laugh because she’s been campaigning for her husband to close down his shop for quite some time. It wasn’t until little Levi Parker Jr. made his appearance that he finally complied.

  “Yup, that is exactly what he got for Christmas! I paid for it, made the appointment and everything. I moonwalked out of that clinic.” She laughs. I almost feel bad for the guy; can you imagine having balls and someone coming after them with a knife? No thanks! But it does give me ideas for a new method of torture.

  I giggle to myself, but who am I fooling? With the rate I’m going, I might never take another hit again. Theo and I discussed me taking a hiatus from getting my hands dirty for a while as I got settled with Finley, but I have a feeling that hiatus is going to turn into retirement sooner than later. I’ve taken my expertise into the world of cyber warfare and have found that I am pretty damn good at it. With Linc’s connections and computer skills, it is a total walk in the park and far easier to get away with. The kicker is, I don’t have to even leave my damn house.

  “How long are you in town for, Seven?” Suzanne asks, beating me to the punch.

  “Until around July. We figured it would b
e easier than going back and forth to Manhattan. Once the merger is complete, I’m out of here. I thought New York City traffic was bad, but I can’t find my way around this goddamn city to save my fucking life.” Seven rolls her eyes and I laugh at her complaint. It’s true; New York City is easier to navigate with all the streets being numbered. Boston totally missed out on the grid system memo for sure. Here they all have screwy names and nothing is in a straight damn line. The waitress comes around to take our orders, and I can’t help myself—I order the swordfish pastrami sandwich. It’s just so good.

  “So when are you going to come stay in New York City for a couple weeks?” Seven asks.

  “One of these days. I’ve always wanted to, but I’ve never had the chance. Maybe when Theo buys a penthouse there or something.” I laugh, thinking maybe I will head to the city and look into getting some property of my own this summer. Maybe a little bit of a change of scenery is just what I need. “Anything for sale in your building?” I ask Seven.

  “Actually, the unit right above mine is for sale. It’s the penthouse, the entire floor. It’s forty-five hundred square feet, and it needs some updating—very early nineties—but it’s a pretty great deal.” I pick up my phone and text Linc to look into the penthouse for me. I expect this will set off an epic flurry of text messages wondering if I am going to be moving to New York City just to get away from him.

  Me: Can you check into the unit for sale right above Seven’s?

  I put my phone away to ignore whatever texts I am going to get back.

  “Did you just do that?” Seven asks.

  “Oh yeah.” I laugh. Maybe a vacation getaway in the city is exactly what I need. Plus, it won’t hurt as an investment. Real estate is always a good place to put your money. “If I’m going to live anywhere in the city, it might as well be in the same building as you. I mean, seriously! That view of the park is to die for!” My phone vibrates against the table.

  Linc: On the market for fifty-two days, listed for 3.8 million.

  Me: Make an offer for 3.2. We’ll chat about it later on tonight.

  Linc: On it.

  I expected more resistance from him, but I think he’s going out of his way to play it cool with me so I can get my shit together all on my own. I don’t want to tell him so, but the only thing I want right now is to go back home and fuck him again. Hot damn! I’ll never be able to look at that wall or sit on that loveseat without blushing again.

  I mean, would it really be half bad to make a go at it with him?

  “I fucked Linc on the sofa in my office yesterday.” I blurt it out without thinking, but it feels so good to actually let it out. It actually feels real now. I couldn’t exactly just blurt that out to Gwen while we were at the house with Linc lurking around.

  “You did what?” Suzanne nearly spits out her chardonnay as Seven eyes me across the table, jaw dropped.

  “About damn time! You go girl!” Seven hoots, then follows up with, “It’s been long enough. You think I haven’t noticed you trying to be good? I know you better than you know yourself!” Seven laughs.

  “I don’t know what happened. He was moving some couches for me one minute, shirtless and sweaty…and then I was pressed against the leather being pounded like my survival depended on it. It was fuckin’ amazing. I want more…and I don’t know how to even discuss it with him.”

  “Are you a child? This isn’t high school.” Suzanne laughs at me. “You banged! You gotta talk about it eventually. Fuck! You work together!” It’s true; I can’t go a day without seeing him—he basically lives in my house with the amount he is there for work-related business. What if things could actually work out? He could move in and we could really make this a thing, the added bonus being that we could bang and it wouldn’t be weird. I don’t think our dynamic would even change.

  “That boy looks at you the way Levi looked at me when we met: full of lust and pining for something more. Give it to him,” Seven adds.

  “I think I just might.”

  Chapter 3

  First Time for Everything

  Linc

  “How was lunch with the girls?” I ask, taking a seat on one of the barstools in Ellie’s kitchen. With the renovations in here finished, the kitchen is gorgeous. I have to hand it to Ellie—she has amazing taste.

  She smiles over at me quickly while she puts away groceries into the industrial-sized stainless steel refrigerator. “Nice to be with my friends again. No paparazzi stampede, so there’s that.”

  “I’m glad to hear it. You deserve to get back into doing some of your normal things again.” I hand her a Starbucks cup and pull out my iPad. “We have a job and I think you’re going to really like this one.”

  “Who is it for?” Ellie asks, sipping on her iced green tea latte. I needed something to butter her up for this next hit that landed on my desk a few hours ago.

  “Vito Emailiano,” I answer. Vito is one of the biggest hitmen for the Italian mob. Most of the time he is off gambling all his earnings away in Atlantic City at one of the three casinos he owns there, but I just got word that he is coming back home to Boston for business and he isn’t going to make it out alive if I have anything to do with it. Pieces of shit like him make my skin crawl and remind me why I actually love the business Ellie and Theo brought me into. “We have to strike while the iron is hot on this one. He’s only going to be in town for a few days, starting tonight.” I watch while Ellie flips through some parenting magazine, completely unconcerned about what I have to say.

  “Pass,” she mutters with a wave of her hand, not even looking up at me. Ever since we fucked, she hasn’t looked me in the eye once, and I am getting sick and tired of her little reindeer games. What are we, in junior high for fuck’s sake? I know Ellie likes to ignore her emotions and rough conversations, but if we are going to keep working together, something has to give, and soon.

  “What? This is our business,” I bark at her. I glance up at the video monitor to make sure the nanny is still in Finley’s room and out of earshot .

  Ellie’s eyes snap to mine while she stares blankly, blinking. I completely understand her desire to just be at home with Finley and play on her damn blog, but we need to keep bringing money in for her to afford that type of luxury. Yes, we are diving into the cyber warfare game, but until the ball is really rolling with it, the intake does not equal the profits from getting our hands dirty.

  “He raped a sixteen-year-old girl for Christ’s sake. We’ve known for years that he is a pedophile, and now is our chance to kill this bastard and you pass!” I add. The rage from this case is boiling my blood. I fucking hate people who use their power to take advantage of the innocent. No rapist should ever see the light of day. There should be an automatic, immediate execution for any rapist or pedophile, but people like Vito always got away with shit like this because the mob can pay off the parents. I couldn’t imagine putting a price tag on my little girl like that. In my mind, that poor girl’s parents need to be dealt with too. I mean, yeah, they are trying to save their necks, but I would rather die defending my loved ones than stand by and let them be used and abused like that for some jerk’s amusement.

  “If it means that much to you, Linc, why the hell don’t you just fucking do it your damn self?” Ellie leans onto the counter with both of her elbows, slurping out of the green plastic straw to get the last of her iced beverage, making a god-awful noise in the process.

  “That’s fine by me.” I throw my hands in the air in surrender. If she isn’t going to do it, I will gladly off this son of a bitch on my own.

  “Perfect. You know where the knife is. Here.” Ellie hands me the skeleton key from around her neck to unlock the box and then points to the stairway that leads to her bedroom.

  After grabbing the wasp and putting it into my jacket’s inside pocket, I am out the door, not even attempting to say goodbye to Ellie. I know most of my frustration is with how hot and cold she is being with me. I know that is how she deals with her emotions and
shit, but it is starting to really fuck with my head. I know I want to be with her, and I feel like she wants the same thing but is too scared to admit it to either herself or me.

  “Hey Rex.” I hand a couple hundred dollars to the parking attendant as he lets me into the parking lot of the Mandarin Oriental. All he does is nod at me. For all he knows, I am here to fuck the overly expensive call girls I had sent up to the suite I booked for the night under one of my many aliases, Kevin Walsh. With one quick Google search, you can see Kevin is a high-powered business mogul from Canada with a stunning wife and three adoring children.

  I park my car, grab my rolling suitcase from the trunk, and make my way into the lobby to check in like any other patron would. It’s all set. I am going to get two keys, just like every normal guest that checks into a hotel, except one will be for Vito’s room. It is crazy how many things have to fall into place, how many people have to get paid off, and all the crap that has to get set up for these jobs to happen. I am used to taking care of all these details, but not the actual kill part. I wonder if Ellie knows how many moving parts actually go into this shit.

  After the long elevator ride, I make my way into my suite where two scantily clad women are already waiting. I have to admit, Theo really pulled out all the stops for these two girls. They are tall, blonde, and barely legal—just Vito’s type. If Ellie wasn’t fucking up my brain right now, I would have some fun with them before sending them off to distract the fat Italian slime ball I am paying them triple to seduce.

  “Ladies.” I nod at them as I shut the door behind me. I strip out of my suit and into my black sweats. I grab a bottle of vanilla-scented perfume out of my bag and toss it over to the women. “Go nuts,” I say. My words come out like a demand more than anything else and the two girls listen right away.