Hitman Next Door

“I don’t think that.”

She took a sip of her wine, and he saw her struggling to gain control of her emotions.

“Your father is still alive?” he asked.

“Yes. Very much alive, and he has reached out to me a couple of times. He was there for my mom’s funeral, but I ignored him.”

“And your mother chose that life with him?” he asked.

She shrugged. “Not really. She met him at some kind of club. I don’t know. She said she was out dancing and he was this dashing stranger. One thing led to another, and when she found out he was married, she was pregnant with me. After that, she intended to keep it strictly parental. They were in love. That was all she’d say to me, how much she loved him, how much he meant to her.” She waved a hand in front of her face, letting out a groan. “Can we please talk about something else?”

“I’m not married. I don’t have a kid waiting for me. I’m not going to hurt you, Lemon. I’m not your father.”

“Then who are you?” she asked. “I’ve seen the pictures in your house, Nate. You think I don’t know who some of those people are?”

He frowned.

She pressed her lips together and leaned forward. “You’ve got pictures taken with porn stars. Are you like, a porn star?”

The very question took him by surprise, and he couldn’t help but laugh. One of Rocco’s businesses was in the porn industry. It was a lucrative business, but being part of the mafia, anything that made money would always end up being their business. Rocco had scruples and limits, but they were limited.

Lemon glanced around as he stopped laughing. “No, I’m not a porn star. I just happen to have friends who are, and I don’t judge.”

“Oh,” Lemon said.

“Look, after you grow up in the foster system, you learn not to judge people, and to embrace all elements of life. I’ve been without money. There is no video of me fucking anyone. We all have our ways to cope and to get out of it. I learned long ago that I’m damn good at security and protecting people. It’s what I do best.”

Her face was once again red, not from the flush of arousal, but embarrassment.

“Is that what you were thinking?” he asked. “I was a porn star?”

“I had no idea what to think.”

He chuckled. The pictures were all lies. Some of the women were so fucking high, they wouldn’t have remembered what they did.

The waiter brought a pause to their conversation by bringing out their food. It was a distraction he needed.

Lemon would have questions. Most women did, and he got the sense, due to her father, she didn’t trust easily.

He was going to have to work damn hard to make sure she never found out the truth.

You can’t have her for life.

Rocco would kill you.

He couldn’t think of letting her go.

Lemon was his. He would fight to keep her.

****

A couple of days later

Lemon pulled out the latest batch of cookies from the oven. The scent of cinnamon and nutmeg hung heavy in the air, making her mouth water.

She loved baking these Christmas cookies that were her mother’s recipe. Every Christmas, there would always be a jar of these waiting for her when she came home. One by one, she transferred them to a cooling rack as she got to work on the icing.

She hated icing sugar, especially as the bag she’d picked up at the store had so many lumps in it. Sieving was her nemesis, but she did it. Her mother always said if you’re going to start something, do it right, and do it well.

Separating out the icing, she mixed the colors in together and hummed a Christmas song as she did, decorating each one as she went.

She had just finished putting the final button onto the cookies when there was a knock on the door.

Wiping her hands on a towel, she opened the door, expecting to find Nate, only to come face to face with her father.

She dropped the towel in her hand. The last time she saw him was two years ago at the funeral.

“What are you doing here?”

“Are you going to invite me in?”

Lemon took a deep breath and knew she had no choice, otherwise, the street would talk.

Her father, Alessandro Rocco. She had lied to Nate. He had no idea her real father was one of the scariest men within the Italian mafia. Her mother had told her the truth, why it was so important for the two of them to remain a secret.

It was to keep them both safe. He’d failed to keep them both safe.

Her mother had been killed because of him. Their identity had been discovered, and it had caused her mother’s death.

Just thinking about it brought tears to her eyes.