Page 45 of Bound in the Dark

“My father is dead.” Her voice was emotionless.

His first instinct was to give his condolences, but then he remembered who her father was and what that would mean. He should have considered that as a possibility when Nadya was brought here that her mother might do something drastic. But they’d been focused on Petrov.

“I’m sorry to hear that, Darlin’. We are in the middle of somethin' right now, why don’t you go talk to Val. Highdive will be out for you in a bit,” Dozer said.

Highdive winced realizing that the last two days had been such a nightmare he’d not kept even the officers up to date on everything that had gone on. Hell, he didn’t even know who knew what at this point.

Diana snorted.

Hawk sighed and leaned back in his chair. “Fuck. Okay really short version to catch everyone up. Nadya Stepanov is my daughter, her mother and my wife is Alena Stepanov. Diana is her half-sister. I’m guessing my wife decided to rid the world of her father and we are about to experience the fall out.”

“I thought your woman’s name was Akula?” Grinder spoke up.

“Think of it like a Russian road name. She is also Akula and I am Tishina,” Diana answered. “She is also inbound. ETA less than thirty minutes. She said to tell you she was bringing Max and Cat with her.”

Highdive was surprised. How had the two gotten here from Dallas so fast without contacting him? His questions would have to wait, they had more pressing matters. “How do you think Petrov will react to the news?”

“He won’t wait to attack if he finds out and that won’t take long. His only hope of retaining any power once the family's enemies start to act is to end this war with you quickly so he can focus on them.”

“Any hope of him giving up on taking us out?” Tek asked.

“No,” Hawk answered. “Not only is this personal, but if he backed down now he’d appear weak. He's been shouting to anyone who would listen for months that he would not only take us out but claim our territory and businesses. Last count he had brought in over thirty men with promises of power and wealth and those are only the ones we know about. They’re greedy fucks who won’t accept backing down for any reason.”

Plans started flicking through his head as Highdive considered the different possibilities. They had forty-six Brothers here on the compound and at least twenty three non-combatants. Normally he would be confident to say that he could hold off any force with that number of Brothers and the weapons they had stockpiled but what kind of hardware Petrov had was still an unknown factor.

How far would the Russian be willing to go to act out his vendetta? Would he attempt a full on assault and risk drawing the attention of Civilians and law enforcement? The Dark Sons had bought the land out in the middle of nowhere because they wanted their privacy. The closest neighbor who wasn’t a member of the club was over two miles away but an all out firefight might still draw attention even if it was just from passing motorists.

“He’ll come at you as soon as he can with everything he has once he has confirmation. You need to get the children out of here,” Diana said with a deadly type of calm.

“They’ll be in the safe room in the basement,” Tek said.

Diana crossed her arms. “This building will be the main target. Your walls are twelve inch reinforced concrete which is great against most weapons. An RPG-7 round like the ones Nadya fired last night will either punch a hole in the walls and destroy anything inside or disintegrate the stone. If I had to guess he will come prepared to bring this place down around you. If it was me and I didn’t care about casualties… I would have a helicopter do a fast pass, use heavy artillery to take out most of the buildings and rooftop snipers, and then have my ground troops move in during the chaos. You will be so busy trying to dig out your vulnerable that your surviving numbers would be easy to take out. This isn’t a street gang fighting you for territory. You’ve all been in the military think well-funded terrorist and you will be closer to the mark.”

“If he did that the US government would be all over him,” Dozer said.

“But you will be dead and are you sure of that? They have people in the government. Covering up something like this wouldn’t be hard since you all so conveniently set up away from anyone who would demand answers once you were gone.”

Diana’s cold appraisal was a shock to all their systems. They had been operating in the civilian world for so long that they had forgotten the horrors that were possible outside of their protected bubble. The Dark Sons had property all over the country and forty-three chapters that would take them in without hesitation. But only if they could get them there safely.

Highdive shook his head. “I think we’ve waited too long. Anyone we tried to move would be vulnerable during transport. We know Petrov has a way to see who comes in and out of the Compound. Even if we sneak them out the back, the amount of Brothers we would have to send to keep them safe would leave us critically undermanned.”

Sharp gave Diana a considering look. “You think he would attack our families if we sent them out in trucks?”

Diana nodded. “In a heartbeat. The old ways of family being off limits wouldn’t even give him pause. Andre is a Bastard in both the literal and figurative meanings of the word.”

Fuck. They needed a plan. Now.

Chapter16

At this point I think some people were put on this earth to test my anger management skills.

“Moy Sestra, Moy Muzh, idi syuda!” Alena’s overly enthusiastic demand for her sister and husband to get out here was loud enough to be heard even in the closed office.

Diana enjoyed the mixture of frustration and relief that showed on Hawk’s face as he heard his wife’s shouted demand. Alena could speak flawless English when she wanted, which wasn’t often. It was as if she enjoyed playing up to the Russian stereotypes. Loud, brash, and completely over the top was her default setting whenever there was a group of people around.

It was as good of a time as any to pause in the strategy session. Diana had never been in the position where she needed to defend someone other than herself. She understood the tactics used by those in security because she made her living going through them to her target. Working with the Dark Sons was a fascinating exercise where she told them how she thought Petrov would attack and the men adjusted their plans accordingly.

Already the children and their mothers had been moved into Tek’s house further back on the property. His home was the most defensible and could hold all the people necessary. She would have preferred to evacuate them completely, but Highdive had pointed out the dangers involved. All that was left was small details that would probably have to change once things got hot.

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