Mafia Queen (The Manning Sisters #1) (10 page)

“Lis, when we get to the mansion, we’re going to be surrounded by security. Some you’ll know, some you won’t, but you can trust them all. They will be there to protect you and Rachel,” Dakota told her when they were about two miles from the mansion.

“It’s only been six days, but it feels like a lifetime since I have been there,” she said and looked out the window. “It feels like several years have passed. Like I’m a different person.”

“You are a different person. When you left here six days ago you were engaged to Michael Morrison, your parents were alive, and your sister was safely at college. Now your entire world is different. Your entire world was flipped upside down.”

“I know. It’s hard to explain. It’s like I’m not me anymore. Like I am looking at all of this from the outside. Like I’m watching a movie or something.”

Dakota couldn’t think of anything to say about that so he just kept quiet as they approached the mansion. When he pulled to the gates, he stopped and keyed in a code into a new security box. The gate slid open and he pulled the car up next to a small guard shack that was sitting there.

“I’ll be right back. Lock the doors and don’t open them for anyone but me,” he told Lis then kissed her forehead and got out of the car.

She hit the automatic locks and watched as he entered the guard shack. The man inside was someone she didn’t recognize, but she was expecting new security staff so that didn’t surprise her. What did surprise her was the woman who walked into the shack. She was tall, blonde, and stacked. And the way she looked at Dakota made Lis’ blood boil. When the woman brushed a soft kiss across Dakota’s cheek, Lis couldn’t watch anymore. She turned her head and looked out the window at the tree line surrounding the property.

After a few minutes, a soft tap on the driver’s side window pulled her from her thoughts and she looked up. Dakota was standing there so she hit the automatic door locks and turned to look out the window again.

“Penny for your thoughts, beautiful?” Dakota asked and Lis just shook her head. She wasn’t about to talk to him right now. She was too pissed off to think straight and she knew if she said anything she’d just make it worse.

Dakota sighed, but didn’t pressure her. He knew something was wrong, but he couldn’t imagine what it could be. As he drove silently toward the mansion he glanced at her, but she was still staring out the window. “Lis, what’s the matter?”

“Who was that woman?” She asked finally. “The one in the guard shack.”

Dakota instantly knew what was wrong with Lis and he sighed again. “That, Elisabeth, is Jenn. Jenn is my friend Lee’s friend. Lee is the man in the guard shack. I was in the service with him and he and Jenn have been married for three years.”

“Oh,” Lis said quietly.

“Wait, were you seriously jealous?”

“No,” Lis answered a little too quickly. “I wasn’t jealous as much as I was mad and hurt.”

“Elisabeth, look at me,” he said as he pulled to a stop in front of the house she’d lived in her entire life. “I love you. You are the only woman I want in my life and in my bed. You are the one who owns me heart, body, and soul.”

“I’m sorry,” Lis said quietly and looked at her hands in her lap.

“Lis, you have no reason to be sorry for anything. You saw her kiss me, right?” He asked and Lis nodded, “So the logical conclusion was that something was going on with us. If you would have kept watching, you would have seen that she immediately went into Lee’s arms and laid one on him.”

“I’m sorry, Dakota. I saw her and I remembered that woman from a few years ago and I panicked a little.”

Dakota leaned forward and brushed his lips across hers. “Come inside and I’ll show you just what type of woman I want.”

“Oh really?” Lis asked and winked. “And what type of woman is that?”

“You, Elisabeth Manning. You are the woman I want. You are the woman I need.”

“I love you, Dakota Jackson.”

“And I love you, Elisabeth Manning.”

After another brief kiss they got out of the car and walked up the front steps of the Manning Mansion. Before Dakota opened the door, Lis took a deep breath and held it for a second. “Why am I nervous?”

“Because the last time you were here you were clipping flowers with your mom,” Dakota answered. “Now, let’s get inside. There will be an SUV arriving in just a few minutes with more security in it, but I don’t want you visible to any of them yet. I know them well and I trust them with my life, but I don’t trust anyone with yours except me.”

Lis nodded and followed Dakota into the house. Once inside, she walked around the foyer and sighed. “Mom loved this house. She would greet guests here during dinner parties and she was the perfect hostess. Dakota, how are we going to keep the business running without them?”

“Lis, we will keep the business going and we will make sure the ones who took your parents from you pay for it. Right now though, I want you to just stay inside so I can talk to the new security.” Dakota nodded to the black SUV that was slowly coming up the drive. Before he could open the front door and step outside, the SUV exploded in a fiery blast that sent pieces of metal onto the porch.

“Oh my God!” Lis shouted and ran for the door.

“No, Lis!” Dakota yelled and wrapped his arms around her waist to keep her inside. “There’s nothing you can do out there. They’re gone.”

“Oh shit. Oh fuck. Why? Why would someone want to blow up innocent people?” Lis dropped to the floor, pulling Dakota with her.

“If I had to guess, they were hoping the SUV would be close enough to you or Rachel to take one of you out with it.”

“No more. No more people are going to die to protect me. No more people are going to die to protect this business.”

“Lis, I have to go outside. I have to see which group that was and I have to warn the other two groups. I promise you that I will be back in a few minutes.”

Lis just nodded as she wrapped her arms around her legs and started rocking. Dakota kissed the top of her head and rose to his feet. As he walked out the door he looked back and smiled a little when he saw the look of determination on her face. He knew more people would die, but he also knew that Lis was ready to take a few out herself and that’s the attitude she’d need to survive.

“Lee, what the fuck happened?” Dakota yelled into his phone as he ran toward the burning SUV.

“Not sure, Dakota. They stopped here when they arrived and everything looked fine. I even popped the hood and checked the engine,” Lee answered as he ran toward the SUV, too.

“Fuck,” Dakota said again as he ended the call and halted beside the burning vehicle.

“Dakota, it was Ghovany, Bradley, Kevin, and Morgan,” Lee told him as he stopped beside him. “Want me to call the others and tell them to get the fuck out of their SUV’s?”

“Yes,” Dakota answered and called 911.

Lee walked off and called the other two teams as Dakota talked to the 911 operator. When they were both finished Dakota told Lee to go back to the gate and he headed back inside with Lis.

“Who was it?” Lis asked immediately.

“Ghovany, Bradley, Kevin, and Morgan,” Dakota answered and sighed. “Lis, I need you to go into the panic room while the fire department is here. I can’t be inside to keep you safe and anyone could get in while they are here. I need to be able to give my statements and I need to know that you’re safe.”

“Won’t they want a statement from me, too?”

“They aren’t even going to know you’re here,” Dakota answered and shook his head when she opened her mouth to speak. “Elisabeth, you’ve already been shot once today and I cannot take a chance on you being hurt again. Please just hang out in there while they’re here. I promise to come and get you when they leave.”

Lis sighed and nodded. She wasn’t happy, but she knew that he was only looking out for her safety. She also knew that she’d come out on her own if he wasn’t there within an hour. “Okay, fine. I’ll go hide like a scared little rabbit and let you handle this, but you and I are going to have a serious discussion about my capabilities when they’re gone. Understood?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said and grinned. “I love you, Lis.”

“I love you, too,” she responded and walked to the back of the house. Once she was safely inside the panic room, Dakota walked back outside to await the arrival of the fire department.

***

“It’s done,” Kiwa said into her phone as she stood at the edge of the trees and watched the flames from the burning SUV.

“Good, good. Were either of the girls harmed in the explosion?” Mike asked as he stroked his hand up and down the leg of the tall brunette who was standing beside him.

“No, but only because you didn’t want them to be. Elisabeth and Jackson drove over the bomb just moments before the SUV came through the gates. I could have taken them both out.”

“Kiwa, love, you know I have special plans for them and you know that if anything happens to them before the time is right, I will kill you myself.”

“You could try, but I have a feeling we’d just end up in bed like always,” Kiwa said with a wickedness that caused Mike’s dick to jump in his pants.

“Mmm. Sounds like the best way to end my day,” he said and licked his lips as he pulled the busty brunette closer and unbuckled his pants. “Is she alone in the house now?”

“She is. I’ll wait until the fire department gets here then I’ll make my move,” Kiwa confirmed and smiled. “I can’t wait to bring that bitch to you.”

“Call me when you have her,” he told her and ended the call just as the brunette wrapped her lips around his bulging cock and started sucking hard. He moaned and wrapped his hands around her hair as she sucked him to completion.

As Mike was indulging in one of his many whores, Kiwa was watching as the fire department pulled through the gates of the mansion. She knew she’d have to wait until Dakota was talking to them before she made her move, but that should be any moment now.

When the firetrucks and police cars stopped in front of the blaze, she dashed from the tree line and into the back yard. She knew the layout of the mansion, including the upgrades, and could be at the newly installed panic room in under two minutes.

She smiled as she entered the house and made her way to the panic room. As she stopped in front of the door she smiled again. “Too easy,” she whispered and keyed in the code.

As the door slid open soundlessly, she chuckled softly and Lis looked up from where she was sitting. “How the fuck did you get in here?”

“Well, princess, your boyfriend didn’t check out the company he had install this too well and he just cost you your life.”

“Dakota would never make a mistake like that,” Lis said as she rose to her feet.

“Oh, well then maybe it was his buddy’s little wifey who made the call. You know, the one in the guard shack that was kissing on him earlier?”

“Jenn,” Lis said almost silently.

“Yes, Jenn. She is my sister, after all,” Kiwa told her as she took a step closer.

“Your sisters were both killed by the Chakravarthy family,” Lis countered and Kiwa chuckled.

“My legitimate sisters were killed by them, yes. Jenn is my sister from one of my father’s many affairs. It isn’t a coincidence that she’s married to Jackson’s best friend.”

“You morbid bitch,” Lis hissed out as Kiwa took another step toward her. As Kiwa took yet another step, Lis saw her opening and sprinted out the still open door of the panic room and down the hall toward her father’s office.

“You think you can get away from me?” Kiwa shouted as she sprinted after Lis.

“Not trying to,” Lis shouted over her shoulder as she entered her father’s office and ran to the bookshelf behind his desk. She knew the only way to save herself would be to fight and she was going to see just how well trained Kiwa was. “I’m not going to stand there and let you kill me though. I’m not going down without a fight, bitch.”

“You really want to fight me? You’re stupider than Mike said you were!” Kiwa shouted and took a step toward Lis.

“You’re the one he was fucking while we were engaged. You’re the bitch he was going to keep fucking after we married. I’m really going to enjoy killing you,” Lis told her and snagged one of her father’s double edged katanas off the book shelf behind her.

Kiwa eyed her for a second before she snatched a katana off the other shelf and held it in front of her. “Bring it on, bitch.”

Lis smiled at Kiwa’s confidence and stepped from behind the desk. “Show me what ya got.” Kiwa lunged and Lis grinned, easily evading the attack. “If that’s all you got then I’m going to take a nap,” Lis taunted and Kiwa’s face turned red.

“I’ll show you what I got, cunt,” Kiwa yelled and lunged again, nicking Lis’ arm with the blade.

“Five points for drawing first blood,” Lis praised her. “But we’re not going to keep score because you’re going to be dead by the time we’re finished here.”

“We’ll see who’s dead,” Kiwa said quietly and lunged at Lis again. This time Lis evaded and countered the attack with a lunge of her own, clipping Kiwa in the side, just below the ribs. Kiwa growled fiercely as she grabbed her side. When she saw the blood covering her hand she snarled and gripped the handle of the katana.

Lis, not giving Kiwa time to strike, gripped her katana with both hands and took a step forward. As she swung out, Kiwa leaped backwards, but didn’t put enough distance between them and the sharp blade sliced across her stomach.

“You fucking bitch,” Kiwa said through gritted teeth. “I will kill you for that.”

Lis responded with another swing of her katana, but Kiwa side stepped and evaded.

“Scared, Nadas?” Lis taunted and dropped her katana to her side. “If not, then come get me.”

Kiwa yelled and lunged at Lis again, letting her anger and pain lead her. Kiwa’s blade caught Lis in the side as she dropped to one knee and kicked her foot out, tripping Kiwa and causing her to stumble forward.

“Resorting to school yard tactics, Manning?”

“Fuck you, bitch,” Lis responded to Kiwa’s taunt and kicked her in the stomach, knocking her to the floor. “Let’s finish this.”

Kiwa leapt to her feet and they circled each other for a moment before Kiwa lunged again. Lis swung out as she side-stepped Kiwa’s attack and the tip of her blade scraped across Kiwa’s cheek.

“Bitch!” Kiwa shouted and brushed her fingers across her cheek. “You’re going to pay for that one.”

Lis grinned at her, “Put it on my tab, bitch,” she told her and motioned for her to bring it on. Kiwa snarled, but didn’t advance. She had lost a significant amount of blood and was starting to feel weak. “Aww, is the little baby starting to get tired? Can’t handle the competition?” Lis taunted and Kiwa gripped her katana again.

“Go to hell, bitch,” Kiwa said and jumped forward.

Lis grinned as she dodged Kiwa’s forward thrust, and swung her katana with all of her strength just as Kiwa landed in front of her. When her katana connected with Kiwa’s neck, the blade sliced through, cleanly snapping the arteries, tissue, and bones connecting Kiwa’s head to her body.

Kiwa’s body hit the thick carpet with a soft thud as her blood covered everything surrounding it. Lis sank to her knees and breathed deeply as pain shot through her side. She hadn’t even noticed Kiwa had nicked her until now.

With her hand on her side, she rose to her feet and slowly walked back to the panic room.

***

“Lis?” Dakota shouted as he rounded the corner. He’d gone to the panic room and saw the door standing open.

“Dakota,” Lis answered as she almost ran into him.

“Lis, are you okay? Why did you leave the panic room?” Dakota asked as he pulled her into his arms without really looking at her.

“Dakota, you’re getting blood all over you,” Lis said calmly and Dakota released her. “Kiwa Nadas was here, Dakota. She had the panic room codes. Dakota, your friend Lee’s wife is Kiwa’s illegitimate sister. She’s been working with them this entire time.”

“Wait, what? Jenn is Kiwa’s sister? Jenn is the one who set up the panic room install.”

“She used one of Morrison’s ghost companies to do it. Kiwa had the codes. Kiwa came into the panic room, Dakota.”

“Where is she now? Is she still in the house?” Dakota asked and started looking around him.

“She’s in dad’s office. Dakota, she isn’t a threat any longer. She’s dead.”

“How? Who killed her?” Dakota asked in a panic-filled voice as he started pulling Lis toward her father’s office in the front of the house.

“I did,” Lis answered and Dakota stopped in his tracks and looked at her for the first time.

“What the fuck?”

“Most of the blood is hers, but I have lost a little of my own,” she said in explanation to the blood covering her.

“Fuck, you were supposed to be safe,” Dakota said softly and pulled her into his arms. “Let’s get you cleaned up, then we will call someone to come clean up your father’s office.”

“I decapitated her,” Lis said and grinned. “That should not make me happy, but it does.”

Dakota laughed loudly at the expression on her face. “I’m glad you’re okay, love.”

“Me too,” she said and grinned again. “Kiwa was the one Mike was fucking while he and I were together.”

“Really? So he lost his fiancée and lover now. He’s going to be pissed as hell when he finds out.”

Lis thought about that for a moment and grinned again. “Wonder how he’d handle it if he found out his ex-fiancée is the one who took his lover from him? Dakota, before we call in someone to clean up, I have an idea.”

As Lis showered and Dakota bandaged her wounds, she explained what she wanted to.

“You, my dear, have one evilly, disturbed mind. I love it,” Dakota told her and chuckled.

“Don’t you forget it either,” Lis warned him and he laughed.

“Oh, trust me, I won’t.”