She takes it from me with only a touch of hesitation. “I don’t know… if it’s, like, a body part you cut off or something, I’d rather keep it in the box.”
I’m sure she’s dead serious. I am a contract killer, after all. But because it is Christmas, I play it off like she’s joking. “Maybe for your birthday in May,” I tell her, and, yes, Noelle, I know when your birthday is, too. “No fingers or toes for you this year.”
She gives me a strange look, though she does unwrap the box. I accept the discarded wrapping paper from her, balling it up while she takes the lid off of it.
“Oh.” Her eyes light up as she pulls the faux leather-bound journal and matching pen set from the box. “Is it a notebook?”
“A journal,” I tell her. “I can’t promise that I won’tfind it and read it, but writing it on paper might be safer than on your computer.”
Okay. Maybe I shouldn’t remind Noelle that I’ve been hacking her computer for the past year, but I don’t want her to ever forget how dangerous I am—or how I will use every skill in my arsenal to protect this woman.
She puts the lid back on the box. “Thanks. I think.”
Good enough for me. I take the box, tucking it under the tree before grabbing a small box. “This one is next.”
This time, she doesn’t try to fight me. She opens the small package, wordlessly handing me that paper, too, before discovering a small plastic sleeve with a business card in it.
Noelle lifts her eyebrows at me quizzically.
I jerk my chin at the business card. “That’s the name of a recruiter I know. He’s part of the Family, but he’s got connections with every damn business in Springfield. You need an interview? A job? You want to get back into marketing? Give Cody a call. Tell ‘em Saint sent you and he’ll fix you up right away.”
There’s more to this gift than giving her a fellow Dragonfly’s contact information. First of all, Cody is gay, so I have no concern that he’ll hit on my Starling. For another, it’s a sign that I don’t always plan to keepher in a cage. Once I know that Noelle ismine, I can share part of her with the rest of the world.
She loved her job at Evergreen & Co. before it all went to hell. She’s jumped from temp job to temp job since, and from her journal entries, I know she’s dying to break back into the same career those assholes stole from her. Cody will help, and I want her to know that I encourage her to spread her wings and fly… so long as she returns to me.
I see the moment that Noelle understands that the business card is also a bit of a peace offering. She flutters her lashes, then gives me a small, shy smile.
“That’s actually really nice,” she murmurs. “Thank you, Patrick.”
“There’s one more,” I say, brushing past her ‘thanks’. “The bigger one over there.”
Noelle doesn’t quite hide her look of confusion that there’s a fourth present in the same wrapping paper, even as she reaches for the one I pointed out. I bend quickly, grabbing it first just because it’s heavy enough that I want to make it easy for her.
Noelle accepts the final gift, ripping into the wrapping paper with the most enthusiasm she’s shown so far. When another white box appears, another rectangle, she doesn’t seem to know what it is… until the rest of the wrapping paper is removed and she can’t miss the image of the silver ‘L’-shape on the left side.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” she breathes out. “You got me a MacBook?”
“Hacker guy I know says it’s harder to get into than that Windows laptop you have.” Look, Noelle. Another peace offering. I won’t stop trying to infiltrate every part of your life, but now I’m giving you a few tools to stop me. “I thought it would go well with the phone you already have.”
“Yeah, but… this is too much. At least a thousand bucks! I can’t take this?—”
More, actually, though if she’s suddenly panicking again at how much I spent on her new laptop, I’ll conveniently forget how much I paid. “Of course you can. Especially when you see what you gave me for Christmas.”
That stops her dead in her tracks. Head bobbing up from where she was staring at the laptop’s design, she asks, “Me? I didn’t get you anything.”
That’s what she thinks.
I point at the final square-shaped box that’s under the tree. “Hand me that, would you, Starling?”
Setting her new computer down on the coffee table, Noelle drops down, her blanket fanning out behind her, as she grabs the last gift.
“‘Patrick’,” she reads out loud as she stands up again. “It has your name on it.”
Of course it does. After all, everything I’ve doneover the last year has led to this very moment. And now? It’s time I getmyChristmas wish.
I wait for her to hand it to me. After she does, I unwrap it, letting the foil wrapping paper fall to the floor until all that’s left is a three-inch by three-inch black velvet jewelry box nestled in my palm.
I flip the lid, the diamond shining even brighter in the light of the Christmas tree.
