Mafia Queen (The Manning Sisters #1) (5 page)

“Mom, dad, everyone, we have something to tell you,” Dakota announced as they reached the bottom of the stairs a little while later.

“You’re getting married,” Rachel said and Dakota looked at her in shock.

“How in the world did you come to that conclusion?” He asked and Rachel smiled.

“Because Lis usually gets what Lis wants and, let’s face it, Lis has always wanted you. Even when she was engaged to Mike, she wanted you,” Rachel explained and Dakota looked at Lis.

“Is that true?” He asked and when she nodded he smiled. “Glad to know I wasn’t alone.”

“You two are something else. You have been infatuated with each other for a decade and neither of you realized the other felt the same way. Hell, you’ve been together almost every moment for the past three years and never figured it out,” James said and Rachel laughed.

“James, don’t make me shoot you,” Lis said and the whole room filled with laughter. “I was with Mike for those three years, remember?”

“Doesn’t change the facts. You and Dakota have felt the way you do for each other long before Mike entered the picture and, honestly, I don’t think marrying Mike would have changed that. Now, I think we have a lot to discuss and a very short time to discuss it,” Rachel said and Lis silently agreed with her. James called it infatuation, but Lis knew that what she felt for Dakota was much deeper, much stronger than infatuation. She’d told Dakota, but she wasn’t ready to share that with everyone yet.

“We do have a lot to do,” Lis said out loud and looked around the room. “I cannot lose anyone else I care about so everything needs to be planned out for maximum safety for all.”

“Yes, dear,” Dakota said with a smirk and Lis smacked him on the arm.

“I could shoot you after I shoot James if you’d like,” she told him and everyone laughed again. “Before I do that though, we have things we need to discuss.”

Dakota grinned and slung his arm over her shoulders. “That we do.”

For the next hour they ate pasta and planned out what was going to happen over the next few days. When Rachel and Lis went upstairs, Michelle pulled Dakota into the library and opened the small safe behind the portrait of him, David, and their sister Tatiana.

“Dakota, I have been saving this for when you decided to get married. As my first born, I want you to have it. It’s nana’s ring and she always wanted to see it passed down in the family. Your father proposed to me with his grandmother’s ring, and you should give this one to Lis.”

“Mom, thank you. I know Lis will love it and the tradition behind it,” Dakota said and pulled her into a hug. When he dropped a kiss on the top of her head he grinned. “You and Lis are the same height.”

“What?”

“When Lis is barefoot she’s the same exact height as you,” Dakota explained and Michelle grinned.

“You just tower over everyone.”

“David and I are the exact same height as dad,” Dakota pointed out and Michelle grinned again.

“Exactly. Your father was always the tallest around and now all my boys are. Your sister missed out on the tall genes, thank goodness.”

“Speaking of Tati, how is she? I haven’t heard from her in a while.”

“She’s doing well. She’s absolutely loving art school and your father finally accepted the fact that she’s in Paris and not here.”

“One less person I have to worry about at the moment,” Dakota murmured.

“You focus on keeping Lis safe and let your father and I worry about our own safety. We aren’t new to this life, Dakota.”

“I know, mom, but dad got out of it because he wanted a better, safer, life for you, for us. Now I’m dragging you back into the heart of it.”

“You are doing what you must to protect the one you love,” Michelle said and held up her hand when Dakota went to speak. “There’s no use denying it. You have been in love with that girl for years. I’ve known that and so has your father. She’s the reason you stayed after your contract was up.”

“I wasn’t going to deny it, but I haven’t placed a label on what I feel for her. I do know that if anything happens to her I’m not sure how I’ll manage to go on.”

“You would manage because you would want to get revenge on the one who took her from you. Now, I think it’s time you went and properly proposed to your girl.”

“I love you, mom,” Dakota told her and dropped another kiss on the top of her head before he headed upstairs to his old room, hoping Lis would be in there. When he knocked softly on the door he didn’t get an answer so he opened it a little and peaked in. Lis was curled up in his bed asleep and he couldn’t help but smile.

Instead of leaving, like he knew he should, he walked into the room and closed the door behind him. As he approached the bed he saw that her face was streaked with tears and his heart melted. She’d been crying and he hadn’t been there to comfort her. In that instant he knew that what he felt for her was a deep, unwavering, and undying love. He also knew that he couldn’t leave her. What if she woke up and needed him?

He walked over to his suitcase and pulled out the pair of pajama pants he’d purchased in San Diego. He hated them, but he knew he didn’t need to sleep like he usually slept when he was her sole protection.

After a quick shower, he slipped the pants on and snagged a light blanket from his closet. He covered her with the blanket then climbed into the bed with her and slid his arm around her waist. He wasn’t used to sleeping with anyone, but he needed to get used to it and now was the best time to start.

When she rolled over and laid her head on his chest he sighed softly. This felt right and he felt completely relaxed for the first time since he was a kid. He knew that as long as she was beside him, he’d always be home.

As sleep started to find him, he pulled her a little closer and let himself slip into the darkness.

Lis awoke with a start and felt an arm tighten around her. When she tilted her head back her eyes connected with Dakota’s and a smile formed on her lips.

“Good morning, beautiful,” Dakota said and brushed his lips across her forehead. “Did you sleep well?”

“Morning, and yes. I slept better than I have in a long time.”

“Me too,” he told her and frowned.

“What’s the frown for? I thought sleeping well was a good thing.”

“It is. I’m just not used to sleeping with someone else. I don’t think I have since David and I got separate rooms.”

Lis sat up and looked at him for a second before she said anything else. “What about all those women?”

“
All of those women
?” He asked and chuckled. “I do have a bad rep with you. Elisabeth, let me explain something. There were never a lot of
those women
. There have been a total of twelve women in my life that I have had sex with. Out of those twelve, I was in a relationship for a year or more with eight of them. I was seventeen the first time and I had been dating the girl for a year and a half. I never once spent the night with any of them because it wasn’t my thing. Even when I was in a relationship I liked sleeping in my own bed, alone.”

Lis looked at him for a moment before she dropped her head and looked at the blanket still covering them. “I’m sorry. I should never have assumed.”

“Lis, look at me,” Dakota said gently. When she looked up he caressed her cheek and smiled. “I wanted people to think that. I wanted to hide my feelings for you by letting people believe I was screwing around with every woman I was seen with. I wanted you to believe that so you wouldn’t pick up on my true feelings. You have no reason to apologize for believing exactly what I wanted you to believe.”

“I always thought you were a player,” Lis confessed and looked at the blanket again. “I was always jealous of those women. I wanted to be those women. When I turned nineteen, just after Jonah was killed in that car accident, I snuck out one night and went to your house. You weren’t home so I waited in the bushes beside the front porch. When you finally showed up you weren’t alone. You had a tall, slender blonde with you. I watched you kiss her on the front porch and I heard you two after you went inside. I listened as you had sex with her against the wall by the door. In that moment I decided that I would never be what you wanted. I was totally opposite of that woman and I knew I could never compare. For the next two years I focused on school and tried to forget you.”

“Lis, I dated women who looked like that because they were total opposites of you. Your petite, compact body and long, dark hair have always drawn me in. They never held a candle to you, in looks or personality.”

“When Mike first asked me out I turned him down. Then you were assigned to my security and I knew I couldn’t see you every day, feeling the way I did, and not act on it so when he asked me out again I accepted. He’d been a strong shoulder of support after Jonah’s accident and I cared about him. When he proposed to me I accepted for two reasons. First, was because I knew my parents approved of him and second was because I know he was nothing like you. I’d hoped that being with him would stop the thoughts and feelings I had always had for you. It didn’t.”

Dakota sat there and listened to her talk. When she stopped, he reached out a hand and gently laid it on her shoulder. “Come here,” he said softly and gathered her into his arms. When he laid back her head was on his chest and he started stroking her hair gently. “I am so sorry you had to go through all that. I need to tell you something that may change how you feel about everything. Including me.”

“Nothing could change how I feel about you,” she whispered softly as she snuggled down into his arms.

“This could,” he told her and took a deep breath. “I don’t think Jonah’s death was an accident. I have always had my suspicions that Jonah was killed by Morrison.”

Lis stiffened in his arms as her world flipped upside down. His words confirmed what she had been thinking since that day she’d spoken to her mother in the garden. Her mother had hinted at it, but she didn’t give any indication that it was true. “What makes you think that?” She asked softly and his hand stroked down her hair once more.

“Right after I joined the organization I overheard a conversation between your father and Morrison. They were working out a deal that would benefit both families. Your father promised you to Michael if Morrison agreed to let the Manning’s hold fifty-one percent of the territory.”

“Mom mentioned something the last time she and I talked about dad always wanting me and Mike to be together. Now I see that she meant dad was using me as a pawn to control more territory. I wonder if he ever saw Rachel or I as anything more than a means to an end?”

“Your father loved you and Rachel, but he was a cold-hearted son of a bitch who loved to be in control,” Dakota told her and Lis shook her head.

“Did you know we had a brother?” She asked and Dakota shook his head. “Edmund was two years older than me and we were best friends. When we were really little your father would take us to the zoo and to the park. One day, just after my fifth birthday, we had a zoo trip planned, but something came up and John couldn’t take us. Edmund and I begged mom to take us and she finally gave in. She left Rachel with the nanny, and only took two security guards with us. When we got there Edmund and I immediately led her to the elephant enclosure because they were doing elephant rides that day. We begged her to let us ride and she finally gave in. We were both really small so the man leading the elephant put us on together. We were about half way into the ride when something happened and the elephant collapsed. Edmund pushed me backwards as the elephant fell, but he didn’t have time to jump off and was pinned under the massive animal.”

Lis stopped talking and Dakota hugged her closer. He felt her tears on his bare chest, but he knew she had to get this out so he didn’t say anything. When she took a deep breath he knew she was going to finish telling him about that day. “The zoo staff managed to get the elephant back up, but the damage had been done. Edmund was taken to the hospital, but didn’t make it. Dad blamed mom for what happened. He said we should have never been on the elephant to begin with. A few years ago, when I told dad that I wasn’t going to be part of the organization, his true feelings about that day were revealed. He told me, ‘You will be the head of the family someday. It is your duty and it is your own fault that you don’t get a choice.’ When he told me that I knew that he was talking about Edmund getting killed. He never said it, but I knew in my heart that he wished it was me who died that day instead. Edmund saved my life and sacrificed his own and dad knew that.”

“Elisabeth, you are not to blame for what happened to your brother. No one is. It was a tragic accident and it could not have been predicted. I have a question,” he paused and waited until she nodded her head before he continued. “Did my father ever take you to ride the elephants?”

“Yes,” she responded quietly.

“Then you thought it was completely safe because you had done it before. No one is to blame for your brother’s death, Lis. No one.”

“In my heart I know that. In my head, I sometimes wonder what life would be like if Edmund had lived.”

“If Edmund had lived then you and I would have never met,” he told her quietly. “If you change one event from the past, you butterfly effect the future and everything changes.”

“I know you’re right,” she agreed and raised up off his chest. “I’m sorry I laid all of this on you. I’m sorry that what should have been a great morning turned into a crying fest.”

“Hey, none of that. Let’s dry your tears and get dressed. I promised I’d show you my beach house today and I think now is the perfect time to do just that.”

Lis smiled softly at his change of subject and nodded her head. “I think you’re right. That is the perfect thing to do today.”

“Good. Now why don’t you go wash those tears off that beautiful face and meet me downstairs? We’ll grab something to eat as we head out the door.”

“Sounds like a plan. I’ll meet you downstairs in just a few minutes,” she said and got off the bed. As she walked to the bathroom she turned and looked at him again. “Thank you for staying with me last night. I didn’t know that I wanted you there beside me until you were.”

Before he could respond she disappeared into the bathroom. He stared at the open doorway for a moment before he got dressed and headed downstairs. It was just the beginning of a new day and he hoped today would be better than the past couple had been.