Mafia Queen (The Manning Sisters #1)

by Christina Escue

  “Well, dad, I am going to step forward as head of the organization with James as my second in command. We are just going to be the faces as Lis and Rachel make the decisions. If we put their faces forward, they will get killed,” Dakota answered and John nodded.

  “Good. That’s the best plan of action,” he told them and Dakota looked at him in shock.

  “I thought you’d be against it.”

  “If I didn’t think it was the only way to keep these two safe, I would be, but I know it is. If either of them step forward the other families are going to see it as a weakening in the Manning operations and will try to step in and take over. There is one other thing that may need to be done for you to be taken seriously as head of the family, though,” John said and Dakota stiffened.

  “If you’re about to suggest what I think you are then you can just keep it to yourself,” Dakota said and John grinned.

  “Why, son? We all know it’s the one sure way for everyone to accept you and for you to keep her safe.”

  “Dakota, is he suggesting what I think he’s suggesting?” Lis asked and Dakota nodded. Lis sat there for a moment and then nodded. “I agree with your father. If you want to be seen as the true head of the family, this would be the best way to make it happen.”

  Dakota looked at her for a moment before he shook his head. “I don’t want us to get married unless it’s what we want. I don’t want to become your husband because it’s what’s best for the business.”

  “Are you saying you’d want to become my husband for another reason?” Lis asked and Dakota looked at her.

  “Elisabeth, I would love nothing more than to become your husband. But, I want to do it when we are both ready and not because it’s what we feel needs to happen.”

  “Dakota, I would love nothing better than to become your wife. It’s something I have thought about many times over the past ten years. I don’t feel like we would be being forced into anything, but I understand what you’re saying,” Lis told him then turned to Michelle. “Will you show me where I can get some rest, please?”

  “Sure,” Michelle said and headed upstairs. Lis followed behind her silently and smiled when she heard Dakota right behind them.

  “I’ll show her, mom,” he said and Michelle chuckled.

  “Okay,” Michelle said and moved aside so they could pass her.

  “Lis, talk to me. Please,” Dakota pleaded as he led her up the stairs and down the hall. When he stopped at the door at the end of the hall on the right, he sighed. “This is my bedroom from high school. You can stay in here and I’ll bunk with David. Rachel and James can have the two guest rooms.”

  “I can bunk with Rachel and you can have your room,” Lis told him and he shook his head.

  “Just come inside and talk to me, please,” he pleaded again and Lis nodded. “Thank you.”

  He opened the door and Lis walked into the room ahead of him and smiled. There were high school memorabilia covering the shelves circling the room and the walls were painted a deep red with silver trim.

  “Ignore the colors, please,” Dakota said as he grabbed her hand and led her to the bed. Once she was sitting he grabbed his desk chair and pulled it in front of her. “Lis, listen to me for a second, please. I have wanted you to be mine for a very long time, but I do not want us to rush into it because we feel it’s what’s best for the business. If we marry I want it to be because it’s what we both want and I want it to be because we are in love. I don’t want a marriage of convenience and I don’t want anyone questioning our reasons for getting married.”

  “Dakota, are you really concerned about what others will think?”

  “No, but I am concerned that I will have to kill anyone who says anything bad about you or the reasons we got married. I don’t have a problem with killing people, but I don’t want to have to kill everyone in the family.”

  “I love you,” Lis said and Dakota’s head snapped up. “I have for the past ten years and nothing anyone says will change that. Think about that while I get a shower, then we can talk about this some more.” Lis stood and walked into the bathroom connected to the bedroom without letting Dakota say anything else.

  Chapter Eight

  Twenty minutes later, when Lis walked out of the bathroom wearing Dakota’s old bathrobe, he was still sitting where she’d left him. “Dakota,” she said softly and he looked up.

  His eyes latched on hers and she could see the heat in them. He stood and silently walked to her. Stopping in front of her, he reached out and loosened the belt at her waist. When the robe opened his breath caught in his throat at the sight of her.

  “You are beautiful,” he said in a gravelly voice as a faint blush creeped up her neck. When he bent his head down and dropped a soft kiss on her exposed shoulder she shivered a little. “Absolutely beautiful,” he whispered and kissed the side of her neck gently.

  She tipped her head back and the robe slipped from her shoulders and pooled at her feet, causing him to groan softly. “I want you in a way I have never wanted anyone else in my entire life.”

  “Then take me,” she said softly as she locked her eyes on his.

  Without another word, Dakota grabbed her hand and led her to his bed. He didn’t care that his parents were downstairs. He didn’t care that both of their lives were in danger. He didn’t care that this should not be happening right now. All he cared about was her. All he cared about was making her his.

  After she sat on the side of his bed he dropped to his knees in front of her and placed his hands on her thighs. As his fingers traced small circles on her inner thighs, his lips connected with hers in a slow, deep kiss. He tilted his head and deepened the kiss as his hands made their way up her legs. When his fingertips brushed across the thick curls surrounding her core she moaned into his mouth.

  He smiled and inched his way a little higher, gently stroking her nub as he swallowed her moans. When he increased the pressure he broke the kiss and latched his mouth onto her taut, firm breast.

  Her moans filled the room as he slipped one of his fingers into her folds and gently stroked. As he slipped a second finger inside of her he started kissing down her body. Stopping just before reaching her most sensitive spot, he looked up and into her eyes as his tongue flicked out and gently caressed her.

  Her body started shaking under his ministrations and he increased the pace with both his fingers and his tongue. She cried out her pleasure as she tightened around his fingers. He slowly slipped his fingers from her and slid them into his mouth as his eyes met hers.

  Without saying a word, he quickly shed his clothes and joined her in the bed. Lying beside her, he stroked his hand up and down her lax body, building her arousal again. She raised her head and nipped him on the shoulder as his fingers found her nipple and gently pinched it.

  “Take me, Dakota,” she whispered softly and he rolled to cover her with his body.

  Before he could enter her, a loud crash sounded from downstairs and he leapt from the bed. Throwing on his jeans, he grabbed his gun from the floor and quickly, but silently, left the room.

  Once he was out the door, Lis picked the robe up off the floor and quickly covered herself before picking her own gun up and following him at a much slower pace. She knew he’d kill her if she put herself in unnecessary danger, but there was no way in hell she was letting him face anything alone. She wasn’t about to lose someone else she loved.

  When she heard laughter float up the stairs she instantly knew everything was okay, but the moment was broken and she knew they wouldn’t get it back so she quietly entered the room and quickly dressed in jeans and a t-shirt before heading downstairs to join the only family she had left.

  ***

  “Dakota, we are all fine,” Michelle said as she cleaned up the pasta sauce from the floor.

  “What happened?” He asked again.

  “I knocked the pan off the stove. That’s it. The way you ran down here with your gun out and that wild look in your eyes scared me
more than the falling pan did,” his mother told him and smiled. “Thank you for coming to my rescue though.”

  “Always, mom,” he said and looked around the room at the faces of everyone he cared about. “I’m going to get Lis. She’s probably scared half to death.”

  As he climbed the stairs he recalled how she came apart in his hands, but he knew that moment was broken. He knew it would come back though, and when it did he would make it even more magical for her. When he opened the door to his bedroom he saw her standing there, dressed casually with bare feet and he knew, in that instant, that what his father said was true. The safest and easiest way for him to step into the role as the leader of the family would be for them to get married. As much as he didn’t want that to be the reason for their joining, he also knew that he wanted nothing more than to make her his wife.

  “Lis, will you marry me?” He asked before he could stop himself.

  “What?” She asked in confusion.

  “I was thinking about what my dad was saying earlier and he was right. Everything would be accepted more if you and I got married.”

  “Is that the only reason you’re asking me?” She asked with a raised eyebrow and he shook his head.

  “No. Elisabeth Manning, when I first met you ten years ago I was infatuated with the girl that you were. Now, after all this time, that infatuation has grown into something more. Something stronger than I have ever known. Elisabeth, I want to marry you, not because it’s what’s best for the organization, but because it’s what’s best for me.”

  “Then, yes, Dakota Jackson, I will marry you. Not because it’s what’s best for the organization, but because it’s what’s best for me.”

  Dakota smiled and pulled her into his arms. “I will take care of you, Lis, and I will always keep you safe.”

  “I know you will, and I will always take care of you and keep you safe as well. We are in this together, Dakota, and we will continue to work together.”

  Lis laid her head on his chest and listened to his heart beat for a moment as she thought through what had been said. There had been no declaration of love from him, but she didn’t need him to say it for her to know that he did love her in his own way. She just hoped it would be enough for a lifetime of happiness.

  Chapter Nine

  “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.

  Chapter Ten

  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.”