Misha: Lanning's Leap (15 page)

“I tell you whatever you want me to if you give me a bit of whatever you give her.
I’m just as pretty as she is, but I gots me some experience she’ll never have.” Han felt her skin crawl and her cat push at her to kill. Misha took her hand but said nothing. She held onto him like a lifeline.

Thomas cleared his
throat and nodded to Rider, who went to the door again. This time when Thomas spoke, it was to the police that were just behind Bella. Han knew this had been set up.

“Tell us what happened.
Han deserves to know, don’t you think? She should know just where it is she came from. And when you’re done, I’ll make sure that you get something for your trouble.” Bella adjusted herself in the chair as she smiled. “But it has to be the truth, Bella. No more lies or half-truths.”

“No half-truths and you’re going to pay me?”
Thomas said nothing, but Bella must have taken that for a yes, because she started talking like it was something she needed to get off her chest. “I was walking down the road looking for a fix. I had me a little, but I knew that it wasn’t going to last me long. Anyways, I see this wreck. A van was overturned and they was bodies spilling out into the street. I thought there’d be something there. I got in as close as I could and that’s when I spied her. She’d made her way to the other side of the road and I go and sit with her.”

“She was in labor?”
Bella nodded and smiled at Thomas. “You have to tell me the truth or it won’t go well.”

“She was. Real close to the end
, too. Her head had a bump on it about here.” Bella pointed to the middle of her forehead. “But it wasn’t bleeding all that much. She was straining hard, and when she asked me to find her somebody to take her into the hospital, I go over and steal her a blanket. She didn’t take all that long, but before I know it, she was screaming in pain. I had to shut her up.”

“Did you have intentions of killing her before you took the baby?”
Bella looked at Thomas like she had no idea what he meant. “Did you want the baby or did you want to kill Kelli?”

“I already told you. I wanted the kid
, but not really. This was just a spur of the minute kind of thing. But then once she told me how her mommy and daddy didn’t want her anymore, I knew that nobody would miss her, or the brat. I wasn’t going to have her coming around telling them welfare people how the brat was hers, now could I? That would have messed things up for me.”

“Of course.” Misha stood up and pulled
Han into his arms as he glared at Bella. “Just finish the story please.”

“
Well, after I helped her, she started crying. Begging me for a phone to show her mommy and daddy what a pretty baby she’d had. I told her I din’t have no phone but told her I could take the baby off her hands for her and she’d be able to go back to their house.” Bella laughed. “It was all she wrote. I had to shut her up real quick like, so I hit her in the head. Then when she tried to crawl away, holding on to my baby, I hit her again and again. There wasn’t a soul around to hear her then.”

Her laughter made
Han turn to her. “You killed her for me and then you treated me like I was nothing more than a housemaid for you.”

“So?
That’s all I wanted you for anyway. That and the extra money, of course. You know how much more they give you when you gots a brat? Lots, let me tell you.” Bella stood up. “Now that you have what you wanted, I’ll just take Han with me and that money you promised me.”

“I didn’t promise you money.”
Bella lunged for Thomas but was stopped by the police. “All I said was you would get something. The police asked us to see what we could get from you, and you surprised me by giving it all to us. Including the murder of Dark.”

“You lied to me.
Damn it all to hell. Ain’t there nobody nice in the world anymore?” She turned to the police and smiled at them. “You let me go and I’ll make it worth your while. I gots me some ideas on how to please a man that will make your pecker beg.”

Han sat down in Misha’s chair. She felt numb. More than that she felt…nothing. When she looked up
, all six of the Lanning men were in the room with her, as well as Maribel. She looked over at Misha.

“How long have you known?” He told her only since they’d left.
“And you never thought to warn me that she wasn’t my mother and that she’d come here?”

“No. I mean yes. I was going to tell you when I got here
, but you distracted me.” She flushed, and he stood up. Han stopped him from coming toward her by raising her hand. “I wanted to tell you in person. I didn’t think…no, I wanted to hold you while we told you what we thought. It wasn’t until we got here that we knew not only that she’d done it for sure, but we also knew who your birth mother was. Thomas heard from her family as we drove here.”

“They know about me?”
Thomas nodded. “And what do they think? That they want me to stay away from them? I have no desire to bother them.”

“No. They want to meet you.
They had…when Kelli left home, she was on her way to college. They had no idea that she was pregnant until a month after she’d left. At first they were upset, mad even, but they never stopped loving her. In fact, they’ve been trying to find her. The accident report had never mentioned her or you, so they didn’t think to look there. Kelli had changed her name so she wouldn’t embarrass them.”

Han didn’t say anything more
, and Thomas laid a picture in front of her. She stared at the picture. There was little doubt this was her mother. They looked like they could be twins. She ran her finger down her cheek and then looked up at Misha.

“She killed her for no other reason than to have more welfare. She never wanted me, never loved me. She only wanted me so that she could…so she could hurt me.”
Misha held her as she sobbed. Han felt her heart shatter with every breath she took. Her mother was dead and her entire life had been a lie.

Misha held her until she stopped crying
. Then he picked her up and held her in his arms. She’d never been loved until now. Had never had anyone care for her even just a little. Closing her eyes, she thought of all that she’d missed and decided that she wasn’t going to miss anything else.

“I love you
, Misha Lanning. And if this hasn’t made you change your mind, I will marry you.” He kissed her head and told her tomorrow. Han fell asleep knowing that he’d protect her forever.

Chapter
15

Maribel watched them as they sat around the table. She had never thought that her sons would come to love one little woman as much as they did Hannah. And from the looks of it, she loved them just as much. When Misha stood up, the room grew quiet, and Maribel held her breath.

“As you guys know, this is my mate. What you might not know is that she loves me.” The room burst out in laughter.
“I know, shocked me, too.”

“You don’t love him as much as you do me, do you
, Hannah?” Rider put his hand over his heart as he continued. “Please tell me that you’re going to dump him and spend your days loving me.”

“I’d kill you the
first time we went to bed together.” Again, the laughter rang around the table. Hannah stood up next to Misha as she looked around the room. “I have come to love you all. Some less than others, Rider, but I do love you.”

The others got up and patted Misha on the back
, then hugged Hannah. When she sat down again, the boys sat as well. Maribel couldn’t have been happier. But Misha cleared his throat.

“Hannah has said that she thinks that you should know what happened the day I was shot. She knows that you’re worried and have fears that I’ll get hurt again.
And to be truthful about it, if I had to do it over again, I’d do it the same way.” He looked at Rider. “I didn’t want you to die.”

Rider stood up and hugged
Misha to him. They hugged several more times before Rider sat down. She could feel the emotion between them, and when Misha started talking, Rider took her hand.

“He knew that if he killed them that we’d be called in. It was his plan all along to have the Lanning team come to his place and find him. He’d been planning this for years.
Since his sister had died.” Rider nodded. “I knew that you’d figured it out, but I didn’t want to say anything in the off chance that you hadn’t. I should have come clean as soon as I woke up.”

“I had dated his sister in high school. Mel Donaldson.
She’d been so sweet on me that it was the only reason that…I didn’t want her to be hurt, so when we went out, I told her that I would date her but it would never be anything more.” Rider looked down instead of at his family. “She said she understood. We decided that we’d go with each other to the rest of the dances that year and then from there we’d see. But at some point, she fell in love with me. And as hard as I tried, I couldn’t get her to understand that I didn’t love her. She told me she’d told her brother the day she killed herself.”

“Oh
, that poor girl. And you. I’m so sorry, Rider.” Maribel didn’t think she could have loved Hannah more, but she did at that moment when she hugged Rider to her again. “You must have been devastated.”

“I
didn’t know what to think. I had…the police asked me what had happened so many times that day that I felt as if I’d done it instead of her hanging herself. And when her parents came to the station with the note, I was released.” Misha nodded at him, and Maribel watched her second oldest son. “She had said that I never loved her, but it wasn’t my fault. That we’d had an arrangement and her falling in love with me wasn’t part of the deal. She’d even told them that I had tried, several times as a matter of fact, to make sure she knew we were just friends, but she couldn’t live without me. She hung herself at the park where we’d played ball the day before.”

“Her brother couldn’t live with that.
He said that he was going to kill you, and it was….” Misha looked at Hannah as he continued. “I shoved you out of the way when the first shot was fired. I was terrified that after he killed me that he’d go after you. He knew what we were, you know. He had it all planned out. Bob told me that he was going to enjoy this more than anything he’d ever done before.” Maribel closed her eyes and let Misha weave the scene for her.

The three of them were in the big empty building. The stench of blood was everywhere
, but Bob didn’t care how the people died so long as it brought the Lannings to him. When they found the den he’d been in, Rider had gone in just ahead of Misha, and it was then that he heard the bullet being racked into the chamber.

Misha threw Rider out of the way. He’d hit his head
, but he could still hear his heart beating. When Bob had moved toward him, to fire at him again, Misha attacked. That’s when he was shot the first time. His chest, he said, exploded in pain. Then, when the gun jammed, Misha had attacked, knowing that if he didn’t, if he were to die now, that Rider would be dead, too. Instead of giving in, he ran at him and got shot a second time.

“By the
time I was too weak to fight much more, I had managed to snap his neck. I don’t know how I managed it, but thankfully I did.” Misha sat down and pulled Hannah into his lap as he continued. “I didn’t tell you…I couldn’t tell you before because I didn’t want you to feel like it was your fault that I’d been shot. I needed for you to think this was just another murderer who had gotten the better of me.”

“
But you knew.” Hannah nodded when Rider spoke to her. “How? No one knew about me finding out but me. I never told a soul.”

“You told Billy.”
She turned on Misha’s lap and looked at him. “I didn’t know you then. None of you but Billy did. One night when my…when Bella had beaten me up, he told me the story you’d told him, the one where the girl had loved you. He told me but never your names. I think he was only doing it because he needed someone to tell. He never meant to misplace your trust. It wasn’t until Misha told me how he got the small scar that I knew it was you. I hope you won’t be mad at Billy.”

“Never.”

After they settled down into teasing each other again, Maribel looked around at her sons. Soon they wouldn’t need her any longer. They’d all have their own families and mates. She felt her heart break a little for herself.

She looked up when Hannah, as they had all started calling her
, sat beside her. The child was just simply the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen, and her heart was filled with only goodness. As they sat there listening to the men banter back and forth, Maribel thought of the children she’d have and was excited for it. When Hannah turned to her, Maribel knew that she’d love this child like her own forever.

“I want you to move in with Misha and me.”
Maribel was startled and not sure what to say. But Hannah continued before she could make a fool of herself. “I’ve talked to him about it. He is…Misha is all for it. In fact, he’s more than for it. He’s very excited.”

“Whatever would I do in that big house?
Besides, I have this one.” She nodded and smiled. “You’re up to something. And here I was thinking how much I’d fallen in love with you.”

“Thomas wants to live in your house. With the others.
But Misha and I, well, we want you close to us. I want you close to me.” She looked away then, and Maribel held her breath. “I’ve never had a real mother. And now I find out, I didn’t even have the one I had. I need you to come and show me how to…I need you to love me and show me what it’s like to be a mom. I would very much like it if I could call you ‘Mom.’”

“You want to call me
‘Mom?’” Hannah said yes but only if it was okay. “Okay? Good Lord, child, it would be wonderful. As for living with you and Misha, I will only do it on one condition.”

“Anything.”
Maribel nodded and didn’t say anything. The possibilities were endless, but she truly only wanted one thing. “You’ll do it?”

“Don’t you want to know what it is I want?”
Hannah smiled and shook her head. “It might be more than you’re willing to give.”

“Not possible. I have all I want right here
, and you’d never take that from me. If you want it, I’ll do my very best to give it to you. Even a grandchild.” Maribel felt her eyes fill. “That’s it, isn’t it? You want a grandchild?”

“I do. I do more than anything in this world.”
Hannah reached for her hand and squeezed it. Then they sat there for a little while longer. She had no idea what moving in with her son would take and right now, didn’t care in the least. She was going to be a grandma soon.

~~~

Hannah was sitting at the kitchen table when he came down the stairs the next morning. He’d hoped that he would wake her by making her scream out another climax, but her side of the bed was cold, and no matter how many times he tried to reach her, she was blocking him. Misha looked at Jackson when he cleared his throat.

“She had a phone call. I’m not sure who it was
, but she’s been sitting there since she hung up. I’ve fed her breakfast and given her some tea, but she hasn’t said a word.” Jackson handed him a cup of tea. “See if you can get her to drink a little more. I worry about the young mistress.”

Misha sat down and lifted up her chin so that she had to look at him.
Hannah stared at him for several seconds before she finally smiled. It wasn’t really that reassuring, however. It was as sad as he’d ever seen her face.

“They called.”
He frowned. “My…whatever. The people who are my grandparents. They called here this morning. The lawyer that you told me to talk to, he transferred them to this phone but didn’t give them the number.”

Misha nodded.
“And what did your grandparents say to you? I take it that they want to meet you.”

“Yes. Well, no. I’m not really sure. They do want to meet me
, but on their terms. They want…I don’t want to go there. I’m not going to…I don’t think this will work out.” He asked her why not. “Because they want me to come and live with them for a while. They want…Christ, I don’t know. They want me to be a part of their family now, and living with them is their only option. Why?”

“I don’t know.”
He looked at Jackson when he pushed the cup of tea at them. “Did they sound like they were pissed because you won’t do it? Or did you tell them that you weren’t yet?”

“I told them I was happy right here and that I’m not really thrilled about moving in
with them. I don’t know where that is now. The man, his name is Howard Little, said that he’d like to meet you, too. I’m not…I don’t want them in my life.”

Misha nodded. He wasn’t sure what to tell her and looked up when his mom walked in the room.
He told her what was going on.

“Well
, of course he wants you to live with him. He more than likely kicked his daughter out when she was pregnant and now feels guilty for it. You’re his only connection to her, and he wants to make up for it.” His mom sat down and took Hannah’s hand. “You do what you want. We’ll be your family, and if they want to come here, we’ll make them welcome. If they piss you off, just shift and eat them. Now, can I have a cup of that wonderful tea, Jackson? And one of those scones if you have them handy?”

Misha stared at his mom. Christ, the older she got the more her filter seemed to be disappearing. But when Hannah giggled, then laughed out loud, Misha smiled as well. She was
wiping at tears the longer she sat there. Soon, she got up and hugged his mom.

“I think I shall refer them to you when they call here again. Mrs. Little sounds like a doormat
, and the mister sounded like he was used to getting his way. Not that I’m not used to that sort of temperament, but I’ve decided that I like me just like I am right now and I’m not changing to suit him.” Hannah kissed his mom. “Thank you. I feel better about this already.”

The plan for the day was to move the rest of his mom’s things into the house. Thomas was the only one that expressed a desire to stay
at her house, as the others had opted to move into apartments or buy. Only Rider had decided to build his own home. Misha thought it was a control thing, but he insisted that it was because he wanted the counters at the right height.

Looking at the counters in his kitchen
, all he could think about was sitting Hannah on them and taking her right now. He stood up and asked her if she’d join him in the office. He wanted to talk to her anyway. She told him she’d be there soon. As soon as he walked into his office, he was startled out of his lusty musings when the phone rang.

“My name is Daniel with the Colorado state police. Is this Mr. Misha Lanning?”
He told him it was and pulled a notebook toward him to take notes. “I’m…I’m not really sure where to begin. As I said, my name is Daniel Little. My parents are Howard and Carole Little. I understand that you’re marrying my niece, Hannah.”

“I am. I understand that your parents talked to Hannah this morning. She was upset about it.”
Daniel mumbled something, but he wasn’t clear enough to understand. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

“I hate to say this about my own parents. I love them to death
, but…well, if she never comes here, she’d be better off.” He let out a long sigh. “They kicked my sister out when she was just barely eighteen. She’d been gone for nearly…I guess a month before they told me what they’d done. Kelli was younger than me by almost five years, and I was away at college when it happened. I tried for years to find her and never found anything.”

“We only just caught her murderer.” Daniel didn’t say anything
, and Misha took that as sorrow. He continued when he didn’t say anything else. “Are you coming to meet Hannah?”