Chapter 73 - The Two Simons

"I never thought they would sink that low to kill us because we got their daughter locked up. They have taken this too far." Hayden pulled out his phone, ready to call the Blacks but changed his mind. Natalia had been right. The pain medication was helping his pain, and now he could think clearly.

"What do you think we should do?" Natalia asked, noticing that he was no longer grimacing with every move.

"We need to talk this through. I was going to call Simon Black and give him a piece of my mind. However, I don't want him to know we're on to him. We need to make the hitman disappear and then give proof to the authorities of who hired him." Hayden looked toward Dorian, who was nodding in agreement.

"We at least know he's got a job here in the building, and he starts tomorrow. We also know what he looks like, so I can have my men take care of him. Let me work on getting something to hand over to the police about Simon Black." Dorian sent a message to his men and asked them to come to the apartment. This was something he wanted to discuss with them face to face. They replied quickly, saying they would be there within an hour.

Once that was confirmed, Dorian started pulling at the threads he'd found in the hitman's files hidden in the deep net. He decided he wouldn't only turn in the contract from the Blacks. He would include the other arrangements the hitman had hidden there as well. That way, all those who'd hired him could be brought to justice. As he was saving his findings to a file, there was a knock on the door. Dorian went to the door to let in Kyle, Teo, Colby, and Nick.

"Hey guys, thanks for coming on such short notice. This is Hayden and Natalia. I'm sure you remember Krista." Dorian said. They all nodded while thinking about how they found her with Jon. Colby couldn't meet her eyes after remembering how she looked with no clothes on and not caring she was standing in front of five strange men. They did wonder why she was staying with Dorian now that Jon was locked up. When he sat next to her and wrapped his arm around her, the four men exchanged a look of surprise.

"What can we do for you, Dorian?" Nick asked.

"I need you to take out a hitman that is after Hayden and Natalia. Here is his information. I don't want to send it electronically because I want no traces that we know who he is." Dorian handed them the information he printed off with Simon Allegri's picture and information.

"He got a job here in the apartment building doing evening maintenance. He starts tomorrow. We're not leaving this apartment until you have taken care of him. We'll let the police deal with the man who hired him." Dorian looked each of his men in the eyes, silently telling them they better not fuck this up.

"No trace?" Nick asked, not wanting to say too much with the others in the room. He tried not to let his shock show with the differences he saw in Dorian. Typically he would be red-faced and shy around two beautiful women. Now he acted confident and sure of himself. Nick assumed Krista had something to do with that based on how tight they were sitting together.

"No traces and no trail. Keep it clean. Nothing online, phone, or anything. Make it old school. He's connected to many bad people, and we don't need them to find out we were the ones to eliminate him. Krista and I will be staying here until Natalia gets those casts off her legs. If you need something, come to me, don't call." Dorian looked at his men, who all nodded. They quickly glanced at Krista, still curious about her and Dorian's relationship, but none of them had the nerve to ask him.

"Anything else you need to tell us?" Teo asked.

"Not right now. If I text you 911, that means come here immediately. Other than that, I'll leave him in your hands. Let me know when it's done, and don't wait too long. He's a professional; he'll try to make this quick." Dorian pulled Krista tighter to him when he felt her shiver slightly. The four men left without another word. Now they just had to wait.

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Simon, aka Todd, was preparing his things for the new job he would be starting the next day. His name is Simon, but he changes it with every new contract, never giving his employers his real name. They find him by word of mouth and are only given an anonymous phone number to call. When he's working on a contract, he goes by the name of whoever he'd pretending to be at the time. Right now, it's Todd, the maintenance man.

He took out a worn pair of jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt, thinking that would be appropriate for work. Maybe he would get lucky and be able to kill the couple on his first day. After he finished with this contract, he thought about taking a vacation. Despite what people may think, it's tiring always hunting and killing people.

Simon looked out the hotel window and sighed. He was pushing sixty, and it may be time to retire. He laughed at that thought. Who was he kidding? He loved the hunt and thrill of each new contract he received. His work always kept him on his toes with something new and different.

After taking a shower, he pulled out his laptop. Hell, with going on vacation, he needed to get ready for a new target. Maybe the next one would be in a tropical location so he could pretend he was there to relax. Simon didn't know why, but he had a strange feeling that killing Natalia and Hayden wouldn't be easy. Typically when he got that feeling, he would take a step back and regroup. This time he shook it off. How hard could it be to kill a woman with casts on her legs and a man who was recently shot? This would be one of the easiest marks yet.

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Lily looked at her husband with her eyes wide. Did she even know the man she married? When he said they should get rid of Hayden and Natalia for ruining Shania's life, she agreed. Even though she was apprehensive about having them killed, she went along with it. However, she never thought her husband of over thirty years had reason to hire a hitman in the past.

"What do you mean you've used him in the past? Why would you ever have reason to need a hitman?" Lily asked with a shaky voice as they drove in the direction of their home. Simon shrugged.

"I don't take getting screwed over in business lightly. When someone does something underhanded that almost costs me my company, they deserve what's coming to them." Simon knew Lily was clueless about how he'd been so successful, but she should know it wasn't by always playing nice. No one got anything by playing nice. If you wanted to come out on top, you had to step on others to get there and not care what happened to them in the process.

"How long have you been like this, and how many people have you had killed?" Lily asked while trying to stay calm. Her hands were shaking, and all she wanted to do was jump out of the car to run away. What was happening to her family? First, Shania's infatuation with Hayden led to her plotting Natalia's murder with Cara. Now she finds out her husband was more ruthless than she thought. She could tell herself that Shania's actions were because she was in love with Hayden. On the other hand, her husband's actions were all for money and business deals.

"I've always been like this; you've just been too caught up in your hair and nails to notice. How do you think I pay for all the luxury items you have around you? It's not from being meek and mild. As far as how many people I've had killed, I honestly don't know. It hasn't been too many, but once they're gone, they're gone. No reason to keep count." Simon glanced at his wife with narrowed eyes as they pulled up in front of their building. He could tell what he said scared her, but she needed to realize that all things didn't come with a cherry on top. When he pulled the car to a stop, he grabbed her wrist before she could jump out.

"Whatever you're thinking about, just stop. You're not going anywhere, and you're not going to run your mouth to anyone. Like I said, I've had others killed, and I'm not afraid to kill more. Do I need to add you to that list? Tell me now because if I find out you betrayed me, there will be no hope for you." Lily felt like she needed to vomit from how Simon spoke to her. She'd loved him for over thirty years, and this is what he'd become? A monster she didn't even recognize.

"I...I'm not going to say anything. I...I was just surprised, that's all." She said while trying to hide the fear that she felt inside. Simon smirked as he let go of her arm.

"You better not, or I'll have him chop you up into so many pieces even the buzzards will have a hard time finding you." With that, he got out of the car handing the keys to the valet. Lily was paralyzed. She didn't know whether to scream, cry or pass out. In the end, she got out of the car and walked slowly into their building. She knew her marriage as it had been was over. Now she had to figure out a way to get out of this mess with her hands clean.