A Hitman's Kryptonite Read online

Oliver sighed long and heavy. “He’s barely twenty-one, with no experience of what it means to be an adult outside those prison walls.”

  Wyatt flinched at the candid reminder of Raine’s age and the massive age difference between them. What had he even been thinking? She may look like a woman and already a mother but Raine was still a child.

  “I’ll ring up my connections and see how we can go about starting the process until this can go public.”

  “Thanks, Boss,” Wyatt murmured before ringing off, not wanting Oliver to ask him anymore probing questions when his mind was already so jumbled. Even though the whole mess was hitting him now, he still couldn’t help but run his eyes over her frame appreciatively. “It’s not going to happen,” he breathed into the room as if challenging fate to prove him wrong.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  “The more you know, the more you see.”

  —Aldous Huxley

  “Wyatt, this crap is getting more complicated by the minute,” Trent murmured after he’d relayed the details of what he’d discovered only hours before.

  “This isn’t going to be the quick in and out that we’d thought it would be,” he admitted as he flipped the quarter into the air only to stop the coin mid-flight.

  “No way!” Trent exclaimed crassly, his tone annoyed. “Oliver set us up real good but at least we can see that something needs to be done about Ignacio. His reign is spreading far and wide and with Stephano’s death, he has become even more popular as he takes out the heads of most of his rivals,” he continued.

  The other man grunted in response to what this could all mean. Mentally, he had already settled on the fact that Raine and Gabriella had to be protected at all cost. “I have to take Ignacio out.”

  “If you want Raine to live, then yes because he won’t stop digging until he gets all the facts and you already know what they are. She won’t stand a chance after that.”

  “And I can’t allow that to happen,” Wyatt murmured.

  “Since when did you care?” Trent questioned, his voice softening as he realized the distress under his friend’s voice.

  “I don’t know,” he admitted. “But this case is different.”

  “Could it be because it’s near Aiden’s anniversary?” Trent inquired and Wyatt’s chest constricted.

  “I don’t know—”

  “She reminds you of him, doesn’t she?” Trent asked, knowing when his friend was telling him a load of garbage. “She reminds you of what could’ve been—”

  “Trent—”

  “I think you should switch positions with me,” he suggested. “You’re going to go into this without a leveled head—”

  “No!” Wyatt growled before his lips pressed together as he realized that he’d just proven Trent’s point. He was already too deep emotionally in this case and he hadn’t had full contact with them yet.

  “I’m not planning on burying you anytime soon, you knucklehead! So, I suggest that you get it together before Ignacio finds you because he will,” Trent cautioned.

  “I will. Thanks, T,” he murmured as his muscles tensed.

  “We’ll catch up later; call Crew when you get the chance.”

  Wyatt grunted and severed the call before tilting his head back to take in the discolored ceiling. “You can come out now, Raine,” he breathed into the still room. There was a rustle of material before she appeared to stand behind him.

  “How—?”

  “I heard you,” he interrupted before tilting his head down in order to look at her. “I ordered breakfast,” he continued when she stood there awkwardly.

  “I smelled that,” she muttered but she didn’t move towards the array of boxes.

  “You want to know who I am, don’t you?” he questioned as his navy gaze held her emerald green ones briefly before she looked away nervously.

  She shrugged seemingly nonchalantly but he could feel the curiosity floating off of her in sharp waves.

  “My name is Wyatt Coleman and I work for a private section of the government—”

  “That’s how you know who I am?” she interrupted. “Do you work for my father?” she inquired.

  “Yes and no,” he answered vaguely before he pressed on when her brows knitted. “My partner worked on your case briefly when you went missing; that’s how I knew who you were. It was a national investigation.”

  Her lips pressed together dispassionately and he paused.

  “What?” he asked.

  “Nothing,” she murmured as she started to turn towards the food.

  “Your father doesn’t know that you’re alive, Raine; so, there’s no logical way that he could’ve been the one who’d sent me,” he stated as he read the disappointment in her body language.

  “Then why are you here?” she enquired as her belly rumbled loudly when she opened the box, piled high with fresh pancakes.

  “Because of Stephano.”

  She turned to him with an even deeper frown. “But he’s dead—”

  “That much I do know, Raine,” he murmured in an annoyed tone.

  “I don’t get it.”

  “Stephano’s murder triggered an internal issue in my company. I hadn’t known that I had a twin until the government notified my family and my boss that I was dead.”

  Her gasp drew his eyes to her luscious lips and he had to bit his cheek to suppress the desire that raged up in him.

  “I was sent here to find out how and who you were.”

  “Why?” she questioned as she started to make a plate.

  “My boss realized that you- Brooke Genovese- didn’t exist before three years ago and he was curious.”

  She hummed an answer as his eyes followed her every movement.

  “We thought that you were an undercover agent who’d gotten in too deep and was unable to retract herself.”

  She chuckled darkly. “But you found a spoiled, sex-starved brat instead.”

  “Raine, I’m partially sorry about last night,” he started.

  “Partially?”

  “I’m not sorry that I kissed you,” he admitted honestly. “Though I shouldn’t have.”

  A blush rose beautifully up her arms and she ensured that she kept her back to him.

  “I am sorry, however, for what I said to you.”

  “And I’m sorry for slapping you; twice,” she murmured. “I’m not usually this violent.”

  “My siblings tell me often enough that I bring out the worst in people,” he chuckled.

  “Stephano, had other siblings?” she questioned as she continued on to make a tinier plate where she dissected the food.

  “I’m adopted.”

  “Oh.”

  “Yeah; my mom found me suffocating in my dead mother’s womb—”

  “Ignacio!” she gasped.

  Wyatt grunted. “He probably hadn’t realized that she’d been carrying twins.”

  She moved towards him with a heaped-up plate. “That’s probably a good thing,” she murmured as she handed it to him.

  “You didn’t have to,” he said as she transferred the plastic plate to him, careful not to let their fingers touch.

  “You got the food; it’s no big deal if I share it,” she replied softly, hesitating slightly as her eyes ran over his features.

  “Thank you,” he answered as a soft thud sounded from the room.

  She froze as if just realizing that he and Gabriella were in the same suite.

  “Mama! I smell pancakes!” Gabby exclaimed as she tore open the room door.

  Wyatt swallowed forcefully as her navy eyes clashed with his and her tiny feet fumbled before she grounded to a halt. Fear flashed through her eyes briefly and his chest constricted. That son of a gun! He swore internally. From her reaction, Stephano has no doubt abused her before. He could feel the uncertainty rolling over her in waves.

  “Gabby?” Raine breathed, drawing both pairs of eyes towards her.

  “I thought Papa went to heaven,” she said ever so softly and Raine’s green eyes fl
ickered over to him as if uncertain of what to do or say.

  If only he could scuff at that idea. Instead, he just bit it back, placed his plate on the worn settee before sliding off to stoop to her level. She watched him gingerly and for the second time in less than a minute, Wyatt’s heart broke. “I came back for you, sweetheart.” He didn’t know what came over him, but the words just slipped pass his lips.

  “Wyatt!” Raine gasped and his head jerked towards her.

  Neither of them got to register the emotions flickering between them before Gabby’s tiny frame crashed into his and she threw her arms around his neck. “Papa!” she cried into his shoulder and the shocked stiffness flooded from his body before his arms automatically came around her small frame to hold her tightly.

  Oh the innocent, forgiving spirit of a child, he thought as she clung to him.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  “Now the real work begins.”

  —Sen. Brooks McCabe

  “What had been your next move?” Wyatt questioned after casting a glance on a sleeping Gabby in her car seat.

  The poor kid was worn out after insisting to bring him to the park where she and her mother had had so much fun the day before. She’d taxed him as much as she’d drained herself and had promptly fallen asleep in her sundae.

  “You know already,” she answered flatly, drawing his brows together.

  “Did I say something wrong?” he questioned.

  “You’ve gotten her attached to you.”

  He flicked a look in her direction before refocusing on the road.

  “Stephano never used to pay her much mind, and when he did, it wasn’t a pleasant one.”

  Wyatt flinched and his hands tightened around the steering wheel.

  “In less than a day, you’ve managed to show her what being a father should look like.”

  His lips pressed together at the bitterness in her voice because he knew what was coming.

  “That comes from experience and not pretense—”

  “Raine—”

  “Wyatt, where’s your child?”

  “Dead.”

  He saw out of the corner of his eyes when her hand flew to her mouth as she tried and failed to suppress the cry that tore from between her lips. The muscles in his jaws flexed as she reached out with a shaking hand to touch his arm in sympathy. His gaze flickered to a still soundly sleeping Gabriella and his heart that had grossly tightened expanded just a bit.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered softly and he shrugged, though nonchalant was anything but what he felt.

  “He was sick,” he supplied because he knew that the question would come sooner than later.

  “Oh,” she murmured but curiosity burned in her eyes.

  “No, his mother is not in the picture anymore. We remained friends but losing Aiden had been too much on our marriage.”

  “So you were married…”

  “Raine, I’m not the…” He trailed off in frustration. “This is not caring and sharing. What was your next move?” he demanded harshly.

  Her lips pressed together dispassionately but she peeled them apart to answer him. “I was planning to head to my father for help but I didn’t want to take a direct route to ensure that we weren’t being followed.”

  “You know that would require money and weeks of going in circles, right?” he responded and her jaw flexed.

  “I would’ve found a job—”

  “Under what name?” he interrupted. “Running either of your names would’ve alerted someone to your location.”

  “I hadn’t thought it through fully, okay!” she snapped. “I thought that the money I had would’ve tided us over,” she finished.

  “Stephano kept you far away from money, didn’t he?”

  His question was more of a statement and she didn’t like it one bit; even though it was true.

  “Food alone could wipe out that budget. No wonder you don’t even have the proper attire for traveling farther north.”

  “I did what I could.”

  “You and Gabriella would’ve frozen to death by the time you reached the northern border…”

  “I get the point,” she bit out.

  “Your plan was a good one, just poorly thought out,” he said and she sighed in irritation.

  “Thank God that you came along, right?” she murmured sarcastically and he shook his head.

  “Where were the tickets for?” he questioned as something else occurred to him.

  “What tickets?” she asked, puzzled.

  “The tickets that Ignacio threatened you with,” he informed her.

  Her brows met as she turned to look at him. “How do you know about that?” she queried.

  “I’ve been trailing you for weeks—”

  “What!” she exclaimed.

  “Be careful, not to wake Gabriella,” he rumbled as they drove past the hotel that they had been before.

  “Where are we going?” she interrogated and he sighed in exasperation.

  “Staying in the same location for more than one night is asking for trouble. You should never let the staff get used to you and you’ve been there for a couple of days. Plus, you used a stolen cell there last night; one which contains a tracker.”

  Her gut clenched tighter with each sentence as she realized how close she’d come to allowing Ignacio to find them.

  Wyatt used her silence to divulge the new information. “I connected with an associate in Amarillo, so we’ll be heading there now—”

  “That’s almost two hours away,” she supplied, remembering the town from her previous research.

  “We’ll get there by nightfall and hopefully with enough time to get some shopping done.”

  “I don’t have enough money for that,” she protested.

  “It will be snowing in Santa Fe by tomorrow, which is our next stop. A see-through t-shirt and jeans with sandals will not be enough to protect you from the elements. Imagine Gabriella, who is a hundred pounds under your weight,” he supplied smoothly.

  “I thought we had to economize,” she grumbled.

  “I have enough money that can’t be burned through in ten lifetimes, Raine. I think we’ll manage,” he stated nonchalantly. “If it makes you uncomfortable for Gabriella, just see it as an uncle making up for two lost years.”

  “And what am I? Chopped liver?”

  Wyatt chuckled at the phrase. “No; I just see a beautiful woman who needs sensible clothing.”

  As the silence stretch awkwardly in the car, he relaxed in her discomfort.

  “We’ll stop for a breather once Gabriella wakes up; so, that way we can all get some food.”

  She grunted a reply before turning her face towards the scenery as if it was the most interesting thing she’d seen in her lifetime.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  “Differences and similarities are equally as easy to see. It mostly depends on which ones you’re seeking to find.”

  —Doe Zantamata

  Raine watched as he easily picked out clothing that she knew would fit Gabby beautifully but she couldn’t understand how he even knew what size she wore.

  He was a father, remember? A voice reminded her mentally and she cringed at the memory of how she had pushed him to give her, her answer.

  He placed a firm hand on her spine as he propelled her to the boots section and she almost burned from mortification when an older lady smiled in their direction.

  When they’d stopped in Kress hours before, the wait staff had marveled over what a beautiful family they made and instead of correcting them, Wyatt had just gone along with the flow, using it as an excuse to touch her. He had cared for Gabby so beautifully that she had to admit it to herself, but the more he played dollhouse with them, the more entangled her feelings began and the more confused she got. He wasn’t theirs to keep forever; she had to keep reminding herself of that because Wyatt made it so easy to believe that this was not all pretend. For him, they were just a mission to complete, but for her, every fiber of
her being was starting to see him as her knight in shining armor.

  “I think that we have enough, don’t you?” she questioned softly.

  “You’re right,” he chuckled. “I think I’ve forgotten the fine art of shopping because I haven’t done it myself in years,” he finished with a shake of his head and a sparkle in his eyes and she almost regretted cutting his fun short. She had watched him over the few hours that they had been interacting and she’d seen how serious and distant he could be when he was locked in his thoughts. This mood was the total opposite.

  He was such a major contradiction to a twin who’d constantly had bouts of needless temper tantrums. Where Stephano would flare up about the mix up of an order, Wyatt had simply smiled and told the waitress that it was fine as he picked the onions off her burger and left a huge tip for the stuttering college student. Where Stephano’s hair would grow wavy and long, Wyatt kept his in an almost controlled military cut. His hair was cut short enough that the waves dared not to even take effect. Their flawless face; well-ordered brows; piercing, long-lashed, navy eyes; orthodox noses; square, dimpled cheeks; cute ears; strong chins; and perfect lips were eerily similar but that’s where it all stopped. Wyatt was leaner, more broad-shouldered, filling out his clothing better and wearing them with such confidence that you would swear that a ten dollar t-shirt was hand-woven from the purest of silk.

  Looking at him, she could pick up on each designer label that he wore because Stephano had favored them as well but where he brushed off spilled juice and shrugged off his jacket to roll up his sleeves and dig into a burger, Stephano would’ve sworn and broken everything closest to him and use a knife and fork to cut his burger into bit-sizes. He was just so different that she constantly had a mental whiplash as she tried to anticipate his reactions. But the aura of self-assuredness and class just revolved around him; so much so, that you didn’t second guess when he spoke. He didn’t need to raise his voice to bring his point across; neither did he need to threaten.

  “Raine?”

  “Hmmm?” she responded as his voice dragged her back from the dreamland which her brain had wandered off to.

  “I was asking if you wanted to offload the bags into the car before we grab something to eat and head back to Gabriella,” he repeated, not minding at all.