Chapter 6

 

After her sister left, Micky came to him. Holding her, he told Cooper what had happened. That was when he realized that Micky was crying. It was quiet, but he could feel her trembling as well.

“Go on ahead to my office, Lord Manning. I’ll finish up out here.” Delbert, the store manager, looked at the door where Mariam had gone and shook his head. “How did such a lovely girl come from the same gene pool as that one?”

“I’ve asked that same question daily. And I want to thank you for calling me when this started. I would hate to think what she’d have done to Micky if you hadn’t.” Delbert said that it had been his pleasure. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to put a few more people in here when Micky is working. I don’t want anything to happen to her.”

“Of course, you don’t. Yes, you go right ahead and do that for her.”

Lucas moved to the office and closed the door behind them. As soon as the door clicked into place, Micky lost control of being able to hold back her sobbing and cried even harder.

When she was able to lift her head to look at him, Lucas wanted to run out, shift into his dragon, and slay the beast for her. But he couldn’t, he knew that. They didn’t kill unless there was no other recourse for them. There were plenty ways to make this woman reap what she had sown, and he was going to enjoy watching them when it did happen.

“I’m a mess.” He kissed her on the nose and told her she was still lovely to him. “Don’t be an ass. I know what I look like when I cry. I’m all blotchy and my nose runs.”

“There’s my girl. If you want to know my opinion about what just happened out there, you stood up to a bully and came out on top.” She glared at him and he had to laugh. “I can read minds. Did you know that? You might be able to do that as well, but you’ll need instructions to do it. You could easily kill someone by raping their mind too aggressively.” Lucas grinned at Micky. “I have to tell you that your sister has some evil shit going on. Also, I can make people believe whatever I want. She imagined that you were wearing a wedding ring, even though I didn’t give you one yet. Sometimes the mind is so jumpy that I—”

“You read her mind?” Lucas told Micky that it was simple to do that, but he’d had a great deal of practice. “What is it you made her believe? She saw something that made her upset. Well, more upset.”

Instead of answering her, Lucas got down on one knee and pulled out a cloth bag. It was beautifully made, what with the beads on it that made a dragon. Micky looked at him when he told her to open it.

“No, I don’t think I want to. It’s going to have something in it that is going to upset me. What is it?” Lucas laughed and told her to open it. “All right, I will. But if there is something bad in here, I’m going to go and live with one of your unmarried brothers.”

“It’s not bad, and I’m not worried about that.” Micky asked him why not. “Because each of them know that if they take you in, they’ll be hurt. By me.” He took the bag from her and dumped it in her palm.

“Oh, Lucas. It’s beautiful.” He had made it for her after going to the cave of riches they had and finding the perfect diamond. “Oh, look. It has our names in it too. Did you do this?”

“I did, and I’m glad that you like it. I told you it wasn’t bad.” He took the ring from her and kissed her hand. Sliding the ring up over her knuckle, he wasn’t surprised when it fit her. “I love you with all that I am, Micky. You are my life’s blood. Having you with me, it’s hard to imagine a world without you standing beside me. I would love to marry you. Today. I have all the necessary paperwork filled out. All you need to do is say yes, and then you’ll be my partner, my confidant, as well as the reason that I live. Will you marry me, Micky Mantle? Be my wife forever and ever?”

“Yes.” He stood up and picked her up too. Lucas was just trying to figure out how to take her on the crowded desk when someone knocked on the door. “What is it?”

“I’m so very sorry, Lord Manning. But I am a little overwhelmed out here. Micky, do you think you can come out and help an old man?”

Lucas kissed Micky and patted her ass as she moved by him to go to the door. When she turned back, he could see worry on her face.

“I promise you, Micky, this will all be fine. It’ll work itself out when the time is right.”

When she nodded and left him there, Lucas sat on the edge of the desk. He was thinking of several things at once when he had to let his mind drift a bit. His chest got tight and he couldn’t breathe well. Taking slow breaths, in and out, he felt the tension roll away. Carson spoke through their connection.

I’m telling you this, but I don’t want you to say anything to Micky just yet. I found out that her great grandda was killed by Mariam Mantle. She poisoned him. He asked her how she knew. I had his body exhumed yesterday. Pulled a few strings and told them that this was for you. Back me up if someone comes around. Anyway, she fed him a combination of arsenic and water hemlock. That one I had to look up, by the way. The coroner said that his body would have gotten that at the very end of his life. And it wouldn’t have been an easy death for the man.

No, I would think not. It doesn’t take much to kill someone with it. Even animals aren’t immune to the poison. It hits directly to the central nervous system and causes violent convulsions. After having a few grand mal seizures, death isn’t that far behind. Lucas had suspected that one of them had knocked the old man off. Cain had been in reasonably good health until his sudden death. What about her father? She said that he was dead as well.

Died a happy man. Despite having cancer that he developed early in life, Peter was for all accounts very happy with his new wife and her children. The cancer was pretty aggressive. They gave him six months to live, but he only hung around for six days. Lucas wondered if Micky knew anything about her father’s death and decided not to bring it up unless she did. The reason that we know that Mariam did it is because she purchased the ingredients at the local herbalist in Columbus. She had to sign a waiver there because the owner of the place didn’t want her coming back to her when someone was killed from it.

And she remembers Mariam? Carson told him that she had one better. That the owner of the shop had cameras all over her store and kept them all. I’ve had a look at it. She seemed almost giddy with what she was buying.

She more than likely was. What else have you been able to find out? I’m sure that it’s more than this. She told him that there was a great deal more. Anything that will get me in trouble with my wife?

You’re marrying her? That’s awesome. Congratulations on that. I know you are going to be so happy. Okay. It’s not bad news, but you should know. He braced himself for the other shoe to drop. Her grandda was a smart cookie. And he left everything to Micky. And your Micky is as clever as you when it comes to turning a little money into a great deal. Right now, she’s worth just over six billion dollars, counting the three homes that she owns, two companies that she’s on the board of directors of, as well as holding all the stocks on them. There is more, but you get the picture. And I don’t think her sisters, or her mother, know just how much there really is. They were not present at the reading of the will. At least not from what I heard.

Lucas sat there for several minutes after telling Carson thanks. She was wealthy. And working for minimum wage as a grocery store clerk. He was proud of her in that moment. Even though she didn’t have to work, she did so. Standing up, he grinned. Her family was going to be in for a huge surprise if they pushed her too far. And he was looking forward to the shit hitting the fan.

The rest of his day was spent in his office. Alan kept checking on him, but Lucas was all right. He felt lighter than he had in a long time. And he was getting more done just by taking one thing at a time.

By the time Carson had sent over what she’d been able to unearth, he’d called his buddy in Washington D.C. Ronnie Chidlow told him what he’d been able to find out. And with what Grace had been able to find out with the help of Lincoln, things were falling into place to rid himself of his in-laws.

“I’ve been keeping an eye on your mother-in-law, Lucas. At least since she moved herself into the motel out on Thirty-Three. She’s into some major shit going on. We’ve got her, along with seven men, working on meth. They have a really nice set up there. Four rooms that have been converted into one. And Mariam is right there with them, helping them along to a prison cell forever.” He asked what the holdup was. “There is someone that they work for. A private courier comes by once a week to drop off and pick up something. It’s never the same guy nor the same day. They’ve shown up at midnight or thereabouts too. Hard to track them down. But as I said, they’re working with someone we want to catch as well.”

“And Mariam is working too?” Ronnie told him he thought she might be in charge of distribution. “How the hell did that come about?”

“Don’t know, but I’m going to find out, that’s for sure.” He heard someone talking to him in his office. “I have to go, buddy. There are more bad guys wanting us to put them behind bars today.”

After hanging up, Lucas sat there until someone snapped their fingers in front of his face. Smiling at Micky, he asked her how her day had gone.

“Pretty good, actually. Especially after Mariam the Second left. I was able to train one of the new hires on the computer. There really isn’t much to it, just scan and go.” She sat down on the chair by the empty fireplace. “I’m going to go and see Beth later tonight. She called me and asked that I come see her. I’ve already told her, on the phone, that I’m not bailing her out. But she asked that I come see her, and I will. It’s not like she can physically hurt me not with her being behind bars.”

“Do you want me to go with you? I can clear my calendar if you’d want.” He wanted to be there for her. After the episode with Mariam the Second, he didn’t want her to have to go through that once again. “It’s no trouble whatsoever.”

“I’ll be all right. There aren’t any cans she can toss at me. And with her behind those bars, I think the likelihood of her getting a gun or a knife is little to none. I’ll be fine.” He was going to have someone there. He wasn’t going to let anything happen to her. “You are a worrywart. And weren’t you supposed to stop stressing?”

“Yes, but I can’t help myself. All I’ll do is worry about them until this is a done deal.” He told her what Ronnie had told him. “She’s going down for a long time with this, Micky. This is her third strike, and they won’t hold back on her prison sentence this time.”

“I know. And I find myself not caring what happens to them. I’ve completely washed my hands of them. After today, I’m sure that I can cling to that no matter what happens from now on.” He told her that he loved her. “And I love you. So very much.”

~*~

Micky waited her turn to go and see her sister. She used that time to check on a few things that she had going, as well as how her employees were doing under the new ownership. She’d been talked into this deal, and now she was regretting it. Not because it was a bad investment, but it was taking up a lot of her time. Micky had to talk to Lucas when she got home. Telling him what the will of her great grandda had said would be the first thing she told him.

When her name was called, she sat at the round table. Other families were there as well. Very few of them looked like they were making it. She wondered what the families of men and women did when their sole support system was gone. Micky would have one of her lawyers check into that. When Beth sat in front of her, chained to the table like an animal, she was shocked at the way she looked.

“So, you came.” Micky told Beth that was what she’d wanted. “Yes, so it is. I wanted to tell you something. But I first have to tell you something more. David was right to divorce me. And the fact that I won’t be getting anything out of the marriage doesn’t bother me as much as it did before. I’ve not been a good person for a very long time. If ever.”

“Why?” Beth asked her what she meant. “Why did you want to tell me this, Beth? Because you’re trying to make me feel sorry for you? It won’t work. You have treated me like a monster since I was a child.”

“You’re right, I did that. And I didn’t expect you to accept my apology to you. I don’t deserve forgiveness. Not from you or anyone else that I had ties with. I’m the monster in all this. And I have no one to blame but myself for the tear in our relationship.” Micky wasn’t sure what to say to her, but Beth seemed to understand. “I think—and I’m not placing blame on her—but I think that a lot of my hatred to you came from Me-Me. You were never mean to us when we hurt you. You never retaliated when you could have. And all this time, from the very beginning, you did nothing to make our lives more difficult. Not once. And I’m sure that you could have.”

“Yes. I have the means to do a great many things. But dealing with you and Mariam the Second isn’t even a blip on the radar of things I have going on.” Beth laughed and asked her if Me-Me knew that she called her the second. “Yes. She hates that as much as you hate being called Beth. I did it to get under her skin.”

“I don’t mind being called Beth. I never did, really. It was Me-Me who decided that I’d go by my first name and not the shortened one. She said that there couldn’t be two short versions of our names, and she was the oldest.” Beth looked around the room and back at her. “I believe that a lot of the things I did were because she told me to, and because she was the oldest. Like I said, I’m not blaming it all on her. I had free will. At any time, I could have stood up to her. But I was enjoying all the things I was getting into. To a point anyway.”

“I don’t know what to say to you about this.” Beth nodded, as if she understood that she wouldn’t. “Why are you doing this, Beth? Trying to make amends for what you and Mariam did to me. And to a lot of others.”

“I was sick the other day. Nothing unusual for that. I’d been having belly issues for a few months. But I started throwing up blood, and they brought someone here. It didn’t take him long to tell me what was happening to me. I have cancer. It’s all over my body, and I only have a few months left to live.” Micky said nothing. Beth seemed to understand that as well. “I’ve not told anyone, just you. There isn’t much they can do for me now. It’s too late. I was...I wasn’t careful of things like getting myself checked out when I should, because I thought of myself as immortal. Or too young to die. Probably both.”

“I’m sorry.” Beth looked at her again. “When you get out of here, where will you go? There are places you can go and get care. I’ll take care of the arrangements for you.”

“Always so nice to people. It was another thing about you that Me-Me hated. No matter what, you never had a terrible thing to say to anyone. But I thank you for the care. I don’t have anything. I didn’t bring you here to give me anything either. Since I’ve been in here, I’ve had a lot of time to think. And I didn’t much care for what I saw I’d become.” For the first time in forever, Micky thought, she wanted to hug one of her sisters. “I’m being released the day after tomorrow. I’ve served my time here, and I’m going to have to wear a bracelet on my ankle. At least until my time is up. If you’re sure that you’d like to help me out with some place to go and die, I’d really appreciate that. I.... Micky, I don’t want to die alone. I know that I have no right to ask this of you, and you have every right to tell me no. I’d be surprised if you didn’t. Micky, please, forgive me enough to be there with me when I take my last breath. I beg of you.”

“I’ll be there for you, Beth. I will.” She started thinking about arrangements and knew that she had to do one thing for her sister. “I want you to come to my home. You’ll have good care, and I’ll be with you when you need me. We can—I don’t know, catch up on being sisters. I really have missed you.”

They talked until their time was up. Micky told her that she’d be by tomorrow with her husband, and she could talk to him as well. Beth told her thanks at least a dozen times. It was the most difficult thing that she’d ever done, standing up to leave her there all alone. She looked over at the female guard that was watching over the room.

“I’d like to hug my sister. Please? She doesn’t have much time left, and I need a hug from her. To feel her arms around me.” The guard didn’t look like she was going to say yes. Then she asked if she was Lord Lucas Manning’s wife. “I am. He and I just married recently. But that doesn’t allow me to hug Beth, does it?”

“He has been a good man since I’ve come here. There isn’t any better than the Manning men. All right. But I’d like for you to hand me your purse, please. And both of you be careful of the other.” Micky said that she would. “All right then. You go ahead. We all know that Mrs. Sharp doesn’t have long to be here.”

Beth grabbed her tightly. She was sobbing on her shoulder, telling her how much she loved her and wished things could have been different. Micky cried as well. They wouldn’t have any time together, she and Beth. And she was sorry for that too. When they were finished, Micky held her for one more hug. They’d lost so much time with this feuding, and she wanted to get as much as she could out of the time Beth had left.

Before leaving the jail, Micky told Beth that she’d be back tomorrow. When she was driving down the road to home, she had to suddenly pull over. The tears were making it hard for her to see, and her heart was broken—not for herself, but for her sisters. Both of them had done so much to her, and now one of them was going to die. And Micky was so sorry for that and it hurt her badly to think of the suffering Beth would have to go through now.

You all right? She told Lucas that she was and told him what she’d found out. Also, what she wanted to do. Yes, that’s a good idea. Bring her here, and I’ll have a medical staff on duty for her. Whatever she needs, we’ll do it for her.

Micky cried harder. All her life she’d been looking for someone to love her, and he’d found her. She didn’t normally have any faith in the fates, didn’t understand soulmates. And in one chance meeting, she’d found it all in the man who loved her dearly.

The rest of the ride home was uneventful. She would have bursts of tears once in a while, but not like she had when she’d had to pull over. Beth was dying—soon. The guard had told her when she asked as she was leaving that it had taken all Beth had to sit with Micky today. And that she wouldn’t make it much longer.

Lucas was waiting for her when she pulled into the drive. He didn’t say anything, but kissed her gently on the mouth, then took her hand. She had no idea what they were going to do when they got to the backyard, but she was much too fragile to care right now. He sat her on a chair that had been moved to the largest part of the yard.

“Come fly with me.” Micky frowned at him, not really sure what he meant. She couldn’t fly, could she? “No. But I can. I have yet to show you my dragon. I thought that I’d show him to you and then take you on a trip.”

“You mean that I can fly beside you?” He smiled and shook his head while he backed up. “Lucas, I’m not so sure about this. What if you drop me or I slip through...what would you carry me in anyway?”

“My heart.” When he was perhaps fifteen or so feet from her, Micky felt the tightening of the air around her. Even the ground seemed to push her up a bit. But when he stood before her as his dragon, Micky stood up. I shall never hurt you in any way.

“You’re beautiful. I never thought that something so large could be so lovely. Can I touch you?” The big dragon laid his head down on the ground as it moved to accommodate her.

Micky was keenly aware of his size—the sharpness of his teeth and the way his scales seemed to be as large as she was. Putting out her hand, she cut her finger on the spike that she’d not noticed at the end of the blue colored scale.

Let him have a taste of you through the wound, Micky. He’d love that very much. Putting out her trembling hand, she felt the heat of the dragon’s breath when he opened his mouth. And when his tongue slid out from his teeth, all she could think about was that she could fit whole in his mouth and never touch the sides. He’d never harm you either, Micky. He’s here for your protection and for mine.

Micky thought that he was going to lick the wound, but Lucas told her to put her injured finger onto his tongue so that he might taste her that way. With trembling hands, she did as he asked, and felt his power dance over her skin, her mind, as well as her sight. It was as if she had been renewed somehow, that all her troubles had been washed away in that single moment of time.

When he sat up on his hind legs, she watched as he curled his tail around his massive body. Touching him wherever she could reach, she noticed the difference in his scales according to where they were. The ones on his chest, gleaming white in the evening dusk, were harder, like armor she supposed. When she was able to touch those on his tail, they were harder still than the ones on his chest. While she was running her hand over the long steel-like scales he asked her to back up, and when she did, his entire body became deadly.

There were long sharp barbs on his chest and his tail. His head was covered in a thick shell-like thing that covered all but his mouth. There were eye holes in it so that he could see, she imagined. His arms and legs were covered in the same spiked shell.

This is my battle dress. She told Lucas that she could see that. I can slay large groups of those that try and kill us this way with just a movement of my tail. My chest plate is heavier, and also covered in deadly poison that would slay a man or foe immediately.

“Why didn’t it hurt me? When I cut myself on your scale?” He uncurled his hand from his body. The nails, she supposed they might be called, were as long as she was tall, and twice as wide. Climbing into his palm, she sat down and looked at him when he raised her up to eye level. “If you drop me, you can be sure that I’ll make you pay bigtime. Understand?”

Yes, my lady. And as to why you weren’t hurt, it is because you are my other half, my mate. And my dragon knows not to harm you.

They were in the sky in moments. Looking out between his fingers, she could see the world below them. The span of his wings was as marvelous as anything that she’d ever experienced before. When she saw other dragons join them, Micky knew that it was the other Mannings, out for a lovely ride in the darkening skies.

Standing up, knowing that she was safe in his care, she looked at the sky from a position that she’d never seen before. The clouds were so fluffy that she could imagine herself walking on them. The wind in her face, blowing her hair back, was clean smelling, as if it had never been touched by either the pollution or pollens from the ground. Laughing, enjoying her ride so much, she told Lucas that she loved him with all her heart.

And I you, my lady. You are everything that I could have hoped for and more in having a mate. She soared through the air with her dragon, and knew that for as long she lived, this ride, the first of many she hoped, would be the most precious of them all.