Mafia Queen (The Manning Sisters #1) (18 page)

“James, about this morning,” Rachel started and James silenced her with a soft kiss.

“I need to tell you something about this morning. When that nurse recognized me I was slightly in shock because I dated her when I was twenty-five years old. I haven’t seen nor heard from her in seven years, Rach. She was someone I once had fun with. I let the memories come back, but that was a long time ago and I was a different person back then. She was an army nurse and I was running recon for the marines when we met. I was injured and she helped me a lot. While I was on leave she and I hooked up a few times, but that’s all it was.”

“James, you have no reason to explain anything to me. You and I aren’t together and I had no right to react the way I did.”

“Rachel, I tossed her number as we left the hospital. I have no need for her phone number when I have the woman I am totally and completely in love with beside me daily. I know we aren’t a couple at the moment, but I would really like for us to be. You are so much more to me than anyone has ever been and I want nothing more than to make you mine.”

Rachel looked at him for a moment before she smiled and caressed his face. “You already have my heart. You’ve had it for a long time now.”

“Rach, I have to tell you something. Something that’s a little embarrassing actually.”

“What could possibly be that embarrassing?” She asked curiously.

“I haven’t been with a woman in three years,” he confessed and dropped his gaze to the floor.

“Are you telling me that you haven’t had sex in three years?” She asked cautiously. When he nodded she smiled softly. “Then I have to tell you something, too. I have never had sex.”

“Wait, what?” He asked, slightly taken aback by her words. “Rach, you’re a virgin?”

“I am. Is that a problem?” She asked, slightly nervous about his reaction.

“No. I just thought... I just assumed... Hell, I have no idea what I thought and assumed,” he said and ran his hand down his face. “I guess I just didn’t expect it is all. I mean, the world that we live in and the times being what they are, I guess I just assumed you’d have taken that step with one of your suitors over the years.” 

“None of them ever ignited that spark inside of me. None of them ever made me want to take that step with them. None of them were you,” she explained and he smiled at her.

“That’s the same reason I haven’t had sex in three years. None of them were you,” he told her and brushed her hair from her face. “I dated, which you know, but I was never able to get you out of my head long enough to do more than kiss her goodbye and leave. You were there, in my head and in my heart all the time. I couldn’t get you out. I eventually stopped trying to and gave up on dating. No woman held my interest like you. No woman had ever filled my head the way you do.”

“Why did we wait so long?” Rachel asked and sighed. “You don’t have to answer that because I already know. I was the boss’ daughter and you were my head of security. In reality we should never be together. In reality we will never work.”

“I’m tired of focusing on what shouldn’t be and I am ready to focus on what can be. Rachel. You keep telling Lis that she and Dakota are meant to be together. Why can’t it be the same for you and I?”

“I don’t know. I guess I just never thought you wanted anything beyond a boss and employee relationship with me. I guess I just assumed you would eventually move on and I’d be left here.”

James looked at her for a moment before he lowered his head and captured her lips with his. The kiss left no room for her to doubt his feelings. When he pulled away she looked into his eyes and saw a passion she had never seen on his face before.

“Rachel, I want you with a fierceness I have never felt before, but we have a problem.”

“What’s that?” She asked.

“I’m scared I’ll hurt you,” he told her and she smiled.

“I’m not afraid,” she countered and crawled into his lap. “I’ve never been afraid of you.”

When she straddled him and locked her lips on his, all fear and worry fled his mind and was replaced with a deep desire to satisfy her every need.

***

“I hope those two are finally getting past this and moving toward where we both know they want to be,” Lis told Dakota as she started preparing a light dinner for everyone.

“I’m sure they are, Lis, and if they’re not then they both need to be slapped,” he told her and she chuckled.

“I’m just worried that they’re going to continue this little game they’re playing and both wind up deeply hurt.”

“I’m worried about that, too, but Lis, they’re both adults and we have to let them figure this out for themselves. We can only push them so far before they have to step forward on their own and see what’s right in front of them.”

“I know you’re right, but she’s my baby sister and I worry about her,” Lis said and turned away.

Dakota rose from his seat and wrapped his arms around her from behind. “I know, baby, but we have to remember that James loves her and she loves him. We have to trust that they will do what’s best for them. We have to have faith that they will take the steps necessary to find happiness.”

“I know you’re right,” she told him as she turned in his arms. “Dinner is going to take about 30 minutes to bake. Why don’t you take my mind off of James and Rachel?”

“Gladly,” he agreed and locked his mouth on hers in a deep, searing kiss.

When they came up for air a moment later, Dakota lifted her off her feet and sat her on the kitchen counter. Thankful she’d changed into a loose skirt after she’d cleaned his wound earlier, he pushed it to her hips and pulled her black lace panties off. Without skipping a beat, she spread her legs for him and he was buried inside her before she realized he’d unbuttoned his jeans.

“Oh, God,” she cried as he stroked her deeply.

“Yes, baby,” he panted as his hips moved quickly. He knew this was going to be over quickly for him so he found her clit with his fingers and started circling it. When she cried out her release a moment later he came with her, filling her with his seed.

“Oh, shit,” he said and pulled out of her. “Fuck, I am so stupid.”

“Dakota, baby, calm down,” Lis coaxed as she hopped off the counter and picked her panties up off the floor.

“Lis, I forgot to put on a damn condom,” he told her and she nodded her head.

“Yes, I know, but it’s okay. I’m due to start my period any day now and I think we will be fine. I do need to see my doctor though and get back on birth control,” she told him before she disappeared into the bathroom to clean herself up. When she came out a couple of minutes later he was sitting at the table with his head in his hands and she sighed.

“Dakota, look at me,” she told him and when he looked up she saw the concern written all over his face. “Would it be the end of the world if I did get pregnant?”

“Seeing you grow with my baby would make me the happiest man alive,” he told her and pulled her into his arms. “I just don’t want to take any chances with you and our child and as long as Morrison is alive we will be in constant danger.”

“I know, but once he’s gone what’s to stop a new threat from surfacing? Are we going to live our lives in constant fear of the unknown or are we going to live our lives like normal people and start the family we want?”

“I want to have a family with you, Elisabeth.”

“I want that too, Dakota.”

“Okay you two, break it up,” James said with a laugh as he entered the kitchen holding Rachel’s hand. “We have something to tell you.”

Dakota and Lis looked up and smiled just as a bullet came through the window and struck James in the chest. Before either could react the side of the house collapsed on them and the world went black.

Rachel awoke to a dark silence and had no idea where she was. The last thing she remembered was walking into the kitchen after she and James had made love. She remembered seeing Dakota and Lis’ happiness and was excited to share her own.

“Hello?” She called out to the room around her, but was greeted by silence. Closing her eyes, she tried to think back to what happened. She tried to remember how she got here. When she drew another blank she started to panic. Where was James? Where were Lis and Dakota?

As panic started to consume her, a door opened and light spilled into the room. “Well, it’s nice to see you’re awake.”

“Where the fuck am I and who the fuck are you?” Rachel asked as bile rose into her throat. She had a very good idea who she was dealing with and she knew it would take cunning and tenacity in order to make it out of this alive.

“Oh, my dear, I am hurt that you don’t recognize me by my voice. Here, let me shed some light on it.”

When he flicked on the overhead light, Rachel’s fears were confirmed. “Hello, Michael.”

“Rachel, how lovely of you to join me. I hope you’re doing well. I am sorry that I have to settle for you, but one Manning sister is as good as the next I suppose.”

“What have you done to my sister?” She asked, anger and fear rising into her voice.

“Oh, dear, I hate to be the one to tell you, but Elisabeth, Dakota, and James are all dead. You see, my father’s little bomb was a ploy used to throw you all into a false sense of security. It was a tactical maneuver to keep you all away from the mansion long enough for my sniper to position himself in the trees. He shot your boyfriend, by the way, and then my little explosion took care of your sister and her plaything. You were supposed to be the one who died and I was supposed to have Lis, but no matter. Like I said, one Manning sister is as good as the next.”

“What do you want, Morrison?” She asked. She already knew, but she was stalling for time. She had to do whatever it took to get out of here. She did not believe James, Lis, and Dakota were all dead, but she had to find out for herself.

“My dear, I want what I have always wanted. Total control of
Manning Holdings
.”

Rachel wasn’t surprised by his revelation and a plan started forming in her head. After a couple minutes passed she smiled and looked at him. “Okay, you can have
Manning Holdings
on one condition.”

“What’s that?” He asked, skeptical of her response.

“You have to marry me and keep me safe. My entire family is gone and without the business I will have nothing.”

Mike looked at her for a moment before a grin formed on his face. “Done,” he agreed and walked out of the room.

When the darkness surrounded her again she didn’t succumb to the tears that threatened to fall and she didn’t sink into the misery that was surrounding her. Instead she sat there and she planned.

By the time Mike returned she had a plan in place and she knew just what she had to do. One way or another Michael Morrison would pay for taking everything from her, even if it was the last thing she ever did.

To Be Continued…

Christina is a mother of two beautiful daughters and has been an avid reader since she was four years old. She always had a habit of picking out the errors in whatever she read and in July of 2013 she took that habit and turned it into an editing career. She thought that was her niche in the literature world, but she was wrong.

In July of 2014 she was at work and was bombarded by an idea that she couldn't shake. She is very tenacious and once an idea plants itself in her mind she cannot stop until she has followed through with it, that's how the Second Chance Series was born.

The Second Chance series, which includes; A New Beginning, A New Hope, A New Journey, Diane’s Remembrance, and A New Perspective, is available on Amazon and are all Free on Kindle Unlimited. Starting Anew, the novella in a military contemporary romance series, is also available through Amazon and is free on Kindle Unlimited.

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