Page 20 of Bound in the Dark

Tommaso looked at Diana with amusement in his eyes. “Is that true? You are his Old Lady?”

“What does it matter that I’m his Old Lady?” The quiet chill in her voice shouldn’t have been sexy but it was. He was glad she was playing along though it wasn’t really a game.

All twenty of the Brothers here stood ready to back his play and they had heard his declaration. By the rules of the Club all she had to do to make it official was to declare loyalty to the Club and they would be bound for life. That thought should have worried him but a not so small part of him hoped she would. They would find a way through this. If his President could claim an assassin as his Old Lady, he could find a way to make it work no matter what secrets Diana was hiding.

Hawk looked over at him with so many questions in his eyes it was hard not to look away. The gist of them all was… Are you sure? Highdive nodded. Relief filled him when Hawk nodded back.

Hawk looked over at Diana. “If someone who is family starts a fight, it is an internal matter. An Old Lady is loyal to the Club and we protect them. So they can’t claim retribution for something they do as long as there is no permanent damage. He is asking if you are loyal to the Dark Sons and have bound yourself to Highdive for life.”

Hawk’s smile was challenging and Highdive knew there were volumes being said between the two of them. As soon as this confrontation was over he would demand to know how the two of them were connected. That just left protecting the girl. Maybe if she was Diana’s sister they could get her covered under the same clause.

“Good to know. Of course I’m loyal to the Dark Sons.” She said the words as if Tomasso was an idiot for asking.

“This is bullshit,” Tony muttered. “We would have known if they were together. But that still leaves the Stepanov princess. She started this and I won’t let her get out of her punishment.”

The girl was a member of the Stepanov Bratva? That was going to make things exponentially harder. Was she related to Akula then? Realization hit him just as Diana raised her chin.

“So you think threatening to rape the President of the Dark Sons' daughter deserves no punishment?” She snorted. “That those tiny cuts on your face are going to be nearly enough for her father? And when her mother finds out,” Diana let out a chuckle that was so cold it was as if the temperature dropped, “I think they are going to be finding your body pieces in interesting places for years.”

Tony went white. “Akula is dead. She was killed four months ago.”

“She was very much alive when I talked to her this morning.” Diana shook her head as if pitying him.

Tomasso pinched the bridge of his nose and looked at Hawk. “You are telling me that your Enforcer’s Old Lady isTishina,my father’s favorite psychotic cleaner, and your daughter is the Princess of the Stepanov Bratva?” He shook his head. “Which would mean you slept withAkula.One of the craziest assassins in the world.” He sighed. “You Dark Sons live dangerously.”

Hawk was doing a good job of keeping a straight face, but Highdive could see the storm that was brewing beneath the surface. “Yeah. That is what I’m saying.”

The girl in question gave a little wave. “Hey, Dad.”

* * *

It was almost an hour before Highdive was able to pull Diana into his office for a much needed conversation. She had insisted on staying by the girl’s side until all their visitors had left and Hawk had taken her back to his house for some much needed family time. Now that they were alone it was like the silence had grown thick between them.

Highdive’s office was smaller than Hawk’s because it was rarely used for meetings. He had a desk and chair and a small couch that he would catch naps on when things got tense and he didn’t want to be bothered. The walls held framed photos from the different rallies he had gone to over the years as well as a few from his time in the Marines. The Dark Sons were his only family and he had just brought this woman, whom he cared for but barely knew, into the fold. He leaned back against his desk gripping the edge as he tried to corral his thoughts.

“Was anything you told me the truth?” They needed a reset before moving forward and he needed the full truth.

She sighed and shrugged out of her coat and placed it carefully over the arm of the couch. He was impressed, but not surprised, by the number of weapons that were revealed. Twin guns were holstered at her sides and blades were sheathed at her wrists. Hanging from her hip was a leather sheath filled with at least ten throwing darts. Another knife stuck out from the top of her right boot. He doubted those were all the weapons she had on her.

“I never lied to you.”

He crossed his arms. “Is that so, Luna?”

She crossed her arms and stared back at him. “It’s my name as much as Highdive is yours. Most people call meTishina,I was born Diana, but I’ve been called many things.”

She had a point though her name was the least of their worries. One of the biggest being did she feel even a small amount of what he did? But he wasn't ready to address that yet.

“What doesTishinamean?” It was very obviously a Russian word the way Diana said it. He knew that Akula meant shark but that was as far as his Russian went. Unlike many of his Brothers he hadn’t learned multiple languages. He had focused his time on learning more physical things. He had mastered more martial arts than most people even realized existed.

“It means silence. My father called me hissmertel'naya tishina, his deadly silence.”

There was so much to unpack from that statement. What had it been like being raised by a man who would give such a nickname? He wasn’t even sure where to start with his questions.

“You don’t sound Russian.”

She shrugged. “I wasn’t allowed to talk much growing up. And I want nothing to do with that man or his family. I’ve gone to a lot of effort to make sure I sound nothing like him. When I’m around my sister it gets harder.”

“Nadya? She’s your sister?” He’d heard the girl's name before Hawk had taken her away but not a lot of detail. Though the girl hadn’t sounded Russian either. Was she Akula’s daughter as well? He wasn’t sure how old the woman was but that didn't seem possible.

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