Dakota's Pride

Chapter 5. Broken Promises

"How long?" Dakota asked.

"Two weeks," Silas told him. "There's a long list and only you can handle these men."

Silas stared at the tall Native American allowing him to take all the time he needed to think about his request. Three months had passed, and Dakota hadn't take a job since he brought Hannah home. Silas hadn't bothered to ask Dakota instead; he'd distributed what would have been his job among the other assassins who gladly took them for the extra money. No one had wanted to take Dakota away from Hannah since she was still adjusting to a somewhat normal life and Dakota's relationship with her was still new; however, all good things had to end, and Dakota's vacation was officially over.

Silas, Ebony, and his men were now the new TSO, but instead of hiring other assassins to work for them, they took over and handled the jobs themselves. It was nice being in charge of their own lives for once. No rules, but their own. No micromanaging. No one trying to ruin their personal lives if they fell in love with a woman. They were given complete freedom to do as they pleased as long as they got the job done and as long as they were all regularly working. Silas couldn't protect Dakota and his fragile relationship with Hanna any longer. The government officials who were above the TSO who was now Silas new employers were getting restless. Next to Silas, Dakota was their best assassin and his lack of duty was beginning to piss them off.

"I'm sorry, Dakota, I managed to hold them off for 3 months, but now they are demanding you return to work. I know you're worried about Hannah, but she will be fine."

"She will not be fine without me," Dakota told him.

"I left Ebony for a week and she was ...."

"Not fine," Dakota cut him off before he lied.

"She was still alive, Dakota. She was hurt emotionally, she missed me and acted out, but she was still alive and healthy. My men were here for her just like they will be here for Hannah. You have to look at it from that point. I know these feelings are new to you. I know you're worried about leaving her. It's probably killing you to do so. I went through the same struggle with Ebony. The life we live is hard, there's no room for love, but I got through it and made it work and so will you." Silas placed his hand on Dakota's shoulder. "I'm here for you if you need to talk to me about anything."

Dakota nodded and simply walked away.

Silas sighed.

Hannah screamed when Dakota suddenly appeared in her window. She had been eavesdropping on their conversation below and had heard everything.

They stared at each other in silence. Dakota quietly came into the room and stood before her. His dark eyes searching her face.

Hannah stared up at him. "I'll be ok... like Silas said..." she told him. She tried to be brave but couldn't control the tremble in her voice.

Dakota reached for her, but she pulled away and walked to the mirror. "I have a surprise for you. I wanted you to see how far I've come." She grabbed the bandages that covered the cuts on her face and slowly begin to take them off. "I'm not going to wear them anymore. The cuts have been healed for quite some time and I was afraid to take the bandages off because I couldn't stand the sight of them. I was also insecure about them, but I'm not anymore." She took off the last of the bandages and dropped them on the floor.

The wounds had healed nicely but left two long white lines of raised skin from her temple to her chin. "It's not as bad as I thought. It's just that they are discolored from the rest of my skin tone, so they stand out..."

Dakota turned her around to face him before she could finish. He moved her hair out of the way to look at the scars. His thumb gently caressed them. "You're beautiful," he told her softly. "They do not take away from your beauty but add to it. This is the symbol of a true female warrior. Do not hide them again. Wear them proudly."