Mafia Queen (The Manning Sisters #1) Read Online Free Page A

feelings.”
    “Wonder what he thinks now?” Lis asked quietly and mostly to herself.
    “Now I think that you are my boss and still off limits,” Dakota answered as he walked up behind her. “We need to get out of the open so we can talk more.”
    “Do you have a suite?” James asked and Dakota nodded. “Good, let’s head up there and we can finish this conversation privately.”
    As they all rose from the table, Dakota grabbed Lis’ hand and halted her for a moment so the others could walk ahead. “Lis, I won’t let my feelings get in the way of the job I need to do. I know that you don’t feel the same. I just wanted you to know that.”
    When he moved to walk past her, Lis laid her hand on his chest. “Dakota, here’s something for you to think about. I have had a crush on you since I was fifteen and always suppressed it because you worked for my father,” she told him then rose to her toes and brushed a soft kiss across his lips before turning and walking out of the restaurant.
     

Chapter Five
     
    An hour later, after convincing Dakota that her plan would work, Lis was sitting in her room in the suite thinking about everything that had happened in the past few days. She had lost her fiancé, lost her parents, and almost lost her sister all in a matter of a few hours. Now she was in California with the man she had always had a thing for and had found out he felt the same way.
    When a knock sounded on the door she rose from the chair and walked over to it. Opening it slightly, she saw the face of the man she’d just been thinking about. “Lis, I think we need to talk.” Lis nodded and opened the door wider so he could enter. Once inside he shut the door and turned to face her.
    “Dakota, I know you’re still skeptical about being the acting head of the family, but I feel it’s what’s best for everyone. You know the organization better than anyone and I feel everyone will listen to you and accept you more than they will me.”
    Dakota looked at her for a second before he gently stroked his index finger down her cheek. “Lis, this isn’t about the family at the moment. This is about what you said in the restaurant. Was it true? Have you really been interested in me for the past decade?”
    “Yes,” she answered and looked his straight in the eyes. “I remember the first time I saw you. It was summer and Rachel and I were sitting by the pool at home. You walked onto the back patio with dad and my breath caught in my throat. I couldn’t take my eyes off you. Later that night, I asked Martin who you were. He told me who you were and warned me to stay away from you because you were joining dad’s security. Over the next two years I watched you and I learned a lot about you, but I kept my distance because I didn’t want anything to do with the business. I wanted to be far away from it all.”
    “Lis, I am seven years older than you. I was twenty-two, fresh out of the military, and doing a favor for my father. I never wanted to be part of the business either.”
    “I know you’re seven years older than me, but that wouldn’t have stopped me if I hadn’t been so dead set on not being involved with the business.”
    “Lis, I need to ask you something,” Dakota said in a serious tone. “Did you love Mike?”
    “I thought I did,” she answered honestly and then looked at the floor. “Now that I look back though, I think I knew the kind of person he was from the beginning.”
    Dakota nodded and looked toward the door. “I better go so you can get some sleep, but I want to say something before I do. What I told you in the restaurant was true. I stayed for you, Lis. I could not leave knowing you needed protecting. Your father did not assign me to your security detail, I requested the move because I needed to know that you were safe and I did not trust Mike, or Morrison’s men, to keep you protected.”
    “Dakota, what were you going to do if I would have married Mike?”
    “I was going to