Page 1 of Hot Chocolate & Hitmen

Prologue

Merry freaking Christmas to me.

I don’t think anyone thought of blood when assigning red as the perfect holiday color, but here we are.

The cabin is in shambles, and blood coats every visible surface. My Christmas tree is smashed through the massive TV in the once opulent living area. My lively, colorful string lights are hanging by a thread, flickering as if adding to the production of the destroyed area like a spotlight. Some of them have even been used as makeshift weapons and are wrapped tightly around the neck of a masked man.

The massive Christmas dinner I’d spent hours preparing is ruined. Stuffing, green bean casserole, mac n’ cheese, and more are strewn across the floor, the table it all once sat on, cracked and lying in a pile of debris. A dead man’s head is even stuffed right up the ass of the turkey.

I wring my hands as I turn in place and survey my little sugar cookie village that I was so proud of. The M&Ms and other candy decorations are as crumbled and smashed as the little four sugar cookie people that once stood smiling amongst the buildings.

A choked sob leaves my throat when I see the little sugar cookie dog sticking out of the impaled eyeball of another dead man, who just so happens to be sitting in my bowl of mashed potatoes.

Tinsel is everywhere, adding sparkle and ironic Christmas cheer to the apocalyptic damage inflicted upon my happy place.

“Grace, I’m s-”

“No.” I hold up a hand without even looking his way, not wanting to be pulled in by the deep, mesmerizing forest green of his eyes.

I’m mad, forClaus's sake! I deserve to be mad. But I can’tstaymad if I can see him!

“Grace, are yo-”

I hiccup out a noise, stopping the second voice. No need to let his charm pull me in either.

“Gra-”

“Just stop!” I cut off the third voice, throwing my hands up in the air before planting one on my hip and using the other to pinch at the bridge of my nose.

Ignoring all three voices, as well as the fourth man in the room who hasn’t even tried to speak, I tiptoe over a minefield of broken glass and other shattered remains of my once perfect Christmas until I finally find what I am looking for. There are two more bodies in the way of getting to it, but I just kick at their stupid corpses until they're well out of the way.

Success!

I reach the pile, exhaling a large sigh of relief when I see that my little prizes are somehow unscathed amidst the destruction. I snatch them up, whirling on my feet and smiling widely at the three men cautiously inching closer. When they see my grin, their faces simultaneously relax as well.

“It’s okay!” I chirp, juggling the brightly colored packages in my arms. “The presents are fine! Just a little bloody, is all!”

Giggling, I prance forward and hand each of the three a wrapped present in turn, completely ignoring the fourth sitting miserably in the corner.

“Merry Christmas, guys!”

Chapter One

"Surprise!" I sing, pulling the cabin getaway tickets out from behind my back with a flourish.

Jason looks up from the TV with a frown, his default expression these days. "What's that?"

"Tickets for a romantic trip away in the mountains! For our anniversary and Christmas all at once!" I do a little happy dance, waving the tickets in front of him.

We met two days before Christmas three years ago, but our technical first date wasonChristmas, when he came over to my place to bake cookies and watch Hallmark movies the entire day. If we leave tomorrow, we will have plenty of time to decorate the cabin, spend some time together, and have an amazing anniversary.

But he doesn’t seem to like the idea…

Inside, my stomach sinks as he doesn't mirror my enthusiasm. Lately, it feels like nothing I do excites him anymore. I miss the Jason from three years ago who would have scooped me up and twirled me around the room at a surprise like this.

"This weekend? I don't know, Grace. I've got a lot going on right now," he sighs, turning back to the TV. It's his usual excuse lately whenever I try to make date plans.

"But it's our three year anniversary...doesn't that deserve a special celebration?" I try to keep the pleading out of my tone. I've been looking forward to our anniversary for months, saving up all my tip money from walking our neighbors’ dogs so I could surprise him with this luxury cabin getaway.

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