And here she was in Dare’s family, living a life, a real life, out on the town with Dare’s sisters, free. She didn’t have a husband any longer and she hadn’t been sent back. Dare’s sister had said she was pregnant, too. I don’t think she even had anything on her throat when I’d seen her.
“They didn’t want her back?” I asked, in awe.
“Pop specified Tommy and me as guardians in case of his death. Kruna bosses found that acceptable.”
“What did you specify?” I asked softly.
“I didn’t. Pop arranged you and they never asked me. I guess I’d better find out.” He reached to the coffee table and grabbed and then started to fiddle with his phone. I went to climb off him to give him space but he gripped me tighter, “Don’t go,” he said softly. I closed my eyes and nuzzled into his chest as he thumbed away on the phone.
I didn’t want to even think about him being gone. He was amazing, thinking about making sure I didn’t go back to them if something happened to him.
“A girl whose Master died was brought back,” I said softly into his shirt, “He hadn’t made a provision so she was brought back. She committed suicide not long after returning.”
He put his phone down and put both arms around me and gave me a squeeze and then kissed my forehead. Against it he said, “I will make sure that they can never hurt you again, baby. I promise.”
I nodded.
He tipped my chin up so that I had to look at his face. His handsome strong jaw, his stormy blue eyes, his beautiful mouth.
“I don’t make promises lightly. You should know that. But I promise you I will do everything in my power to keep you safe. Okay?”
“Okay.” I closed my eyes and laid on him while we quietly watched TV for the next little while.
Dare
I texted Stan and told him to call me from a secure line the next day at 9:am to find out about provisions made for her. He called me back a few hours aft
er that to say that Pop had listed himself for her and since Tommy and I were his heirs it’d default to Tommy if something happened to me. Stan asked me about the upcoming partner summit and I told him I’d get back to him in a few days with an update about whether or not Tommy and I would attend. He said he’d attend for us if we couldn’t make it. Then he and I discussed some of the business he was working on dealing with for us. Stan was proving himself to be valuable, at least. We needed to keep him busy and on our payroll so that he’d be loyal. At least I hoped he would be. I had to play my hand close to the vest in case he wasn’t. I considered asking him about Lisa and why he’d never said anything about the fact that she’d come from Kruna but decided to talk that over with my brother first, to ensure he and I were on the same page about how to play that. If Stan couldn’t be trusted I didn’t want him to know I had suspicions. Maybe Stan didn’t even know. Pop never let anyone in the world have all of his truth. You got bits and pieces, no matter how close to him you thought you were.
Things were shaping up alright with a few other areas but Tommy would help when he arrived and that’d make things a little easier on me. He was arriving the next day. Lisa would be spending time with Angel in the afternoon and then we were all having dinner at Luciana’s and Ed’s after Tommy & Tia arrived. After dinner Tommy and I could sit down and strategize about Kruna and a few other matters.
Lisa arrived just before noon. She came in with food from the restaurant for them for lunch.
Angel was sitting on a sofa when I answered the door and Leese and I hugged and then she went right to Angel and opened her arms while I put the food on the island.
Angel stood stiffly and let Lisa embrace her. She looked to me with her lip trembling. She held it together.
“You okay, baby?” I leaned over and put my arm around her shoulder as Lisa let go of her.
She nodded.
“I’m going to the office and then I’ll be back to pick you up later for dinner at my sister’s. Okay?”
She nodded and put her arms around me and sank in. I kissed her.
Lisa gave me a smile and I left the two of them alone.
Angel
Lisa and I sat quietly for a few minutes after Dare left.
“Wanna grab food?” she finally said, “I’m just so starving all the time so I brought salads in case you’re watching what you eat but I also brought stuffed cannelloni and bruschetta for me and for you, too, in case you’re not.”
“Mmm,” I said, “I’ve eaten non-stop since I got here. No salad for me, thanks.”
She gave me a knowing smile, “Food back there was not good. I was a glutton my first few months out.”
I pushed the pang away at the mention of there, “I don’t even want to step on the scale. I’m afraid of what I’ll see.”