Page 15 of Bound in the Dark

Tek cleared his throat. “Cami and I tried to trace the email but all we could figure out was it was sent from a temporary account set up from a burner phone that is no longer active. I’ve let the Brothers on duty know we are expecting something. Hopefully it won’t come until after our guests have left.”

His Brother was a computer genius but his Old Lady made him look like an amateur. If they couldn’t find anything, there wasn’t anything to be found. It probably wasn’t the time to ask but he couldn’t help himself. “Anything new on Luna?”

Tek gave him a sympathetic look. “No. Still no idea what her real identity is. She’s a complete ghost. Cami is taking it personally but even she found nothing.”

He had broken down after a few days with no responses to his texts and asked for help tracking her down. At the time he had been worried the Russians might get to her. Finding out that the woman he had been spending time with for months had used a fake identity to get membership at Dark Secrets had been an unpleasant surprise.

He had spent many sleepless nights trying to figure out if she had been using him to get access to the Dark Sons. But the simple truth was she never asked him about anything going on at the Club. Never even suggested they meet anywhere but for scenes. He had even searched everything he had for bugs or signs of tampering. Nothing.

She was a ghost that he didn’t have time to hunt down. But he would. When this mess was over he would find her and discover why she had come into his life and then disappeared without a word.

Hawk pinched his nose and shook his head. “Knowing my woman the package could be anything from Petrov’s battle plans to a crate of rocket launchers. When I get my hands on her she isn’t going to sit right for a month.” He sighed and looked around the room. “Everyone’s here. We need to get this meeting started before someone says the wrong thing and we end up with a gunfight in the middle of the Club.”

Tek and Hawk strode off and Grinder gave him a hard look that he knew too well. He was about to get a lecture. “You’ve got to stop beating yourself up over that woman.”

The two of them had met in the Marines and been discharged at the same time. They had prospected the Dark Sons together and had been close ever since. Grinder was usually the more relaxed of the two of them. Going through life as if it was one big party, but when things got rough there wasn’t anyone better to have at your back.

Unfortunately their long friendship meant he wasn’t fooled by his bland expression. Most of the Brothers thought he had a heart of stone and it was better that way. It made his job of being an Enforcer that much easier. It was his job to do the things that were necessary to keep them safe. Even if it was at the cost of his own happiness.

“She could be a risk to the Club.”

Grinder snorted. “You aren’t worried about that and we both know it. You may fool them,” his friend nodded to the other Brothers around, “but I know the truth. She was good for you. Before all this happened I’d never seen you so relaxed. She’s a mystery and you fucking love that shit. But if you don’t get your head on straight, the distraction is going to kill you.”

“You think I don’t know that? I spend almost every waking moment focused on the Club so excuse me if I take five fucking seconds to ask for an update.”

“That is not what I meant. Fuck, Brother. It is usually you ragging people about keeping pussy uncomplicated. You need to put her out of your head. Stop trying to figure out the lies and leave it be until later.”

“I can’t even say she lied to me, because I don’t know what the truth is.” Highdive ran his hand through his hair in frustration. “It’s not finding out that bothers me. It’s not knowing if she is okay. I protect people, I don’t put them in danger. And I’ve either put her at risk by getting mixed up with her or put the Club in danger by getting mixed up with someone who was playing me. But yeah, I know where my focus has to be.”

Getting Tommaso Minetti to get them the armor, weapons, and ammunition they needed in time. The mob family had been loyal allies for years and he didn’t think they would balk. But the timeline was short and without the extra supplies the body count would be high. They needed to outfit almost fifty extra men from other Clubs to protect their interests while the Dark Sons focused on Petrov.

“Good.” Grinder motioned toward the back hall. “Hawk is pulling everyone back.”

It was time to see if they could make his plan work.

Chapter6

The most dangerous animal in the world is a woman sitting in silence and smiling.

“Are we there yet?”

Tying up her niece and transporting her to her father in the trunk was becoming more appealing by the minute. Driving cross-country with a bored teenager would definitely be added to her list of forms of torture, though she wasn’t sure how practical it would be. It wasn’t the girl’s fault really; the nineteen year old had just never learned patience or the beauty of silence.

“You know I kill people for a living right?” Diana said with a smile.

“Yes. I know. You’re a badass. My mom’s a badass. My dad’s a badass. It’s allveryimpressive.” Nadya sighed dramatically. “Unlike me.”

They were almost there, so Diana took a moment to look over at her niece. Nadya’s hands were fidgeting with her new clothes as if they didn't fit correctly. It was obvious she was nervous. That morning the girl had spent so much time with her makeup and hair only threats of violence had gotten her out of the bathroom.

Comforting people was not something Diana was used to doing. But for her niece she would try. What would make a teenage girl feel better? Maybe compliments.

"You are smart, resilient, and beautiful. It is good that I taught you how to kill a man before you were eleven or you would have had to have more bodyguards."

Nadya laughed. "Mom actually taught me how to do that when I was nine."

"What?" Diana narrowed her eyes in mock anger, glad that the subject appeared to be distracting the girl. "Hmm. I thought you learned knife fighting a little too quickly. I can't believe you lied to me."

"We had just met. You were so bad at the bonding thing, I didn't want to hurt your feelings."

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