Page 59 of Sypher

“We got word that George Stone contacted one of his sons before he died and ordered him to finish everything. Don’t know what he meant by that, but it can’t be good.”

Marching over to my computers, I sat. “Do you know which son?”

“Yeah, about that. When Max finds out, he’s gonna fucking go postal.”

“Who?” I asked, looking over my shoulder at her.

“Dakota Stone.”

“Oh shit,” I groaned, sighing as I slumped back in my chair. Out of all George Stone’s sons, Reaper hated Dakota the most because that stupid fucker laid hands on Remi when she was at her most vulnerable.

“Exactly,” she said, reaching behind her, removing a file before handing it to me. “So, I’m here to help you do damage control. That’s everything we know about Dakota Stone. If you can’t stop him, Danny, they want her contained by any means necessary before Dakota learns where she’s at. Because if he gets to her before we do, he will use her and force the Bloodletter to choose a side, and you don’t need me to tell you what that means.”

No, I didn’t.

From the moment I learned she was alive and well in the off-site military facility, I started creating a timeline of sorts leading up to her supposed death. From what I could gather, shortly after Bullseye left for the Marines, Jekyll and Vain, brothers in the Black Vultures MC, kidnapped his mother. Only they didn’t kill her like everyone believed. Instead, they handed Donna off to Reed Scott, who whisked her away to the undisclosed military facility. Their plan was to use Donna to infiltrate the Russian Bratva and bring her brother Maxim to heel, but Bullseye’s mother flat out refused. For years they tried to break her, but the woman never uttered a single word, no matter what they did to her. As far as I knew, she hadn’t spoken a single word since her abduction.

Looking at the file, I muttered, “And he’s okay with that?”

“Fuck no,” Mia snarked. “He’s fucking losing his goddamned mind. For years we’ve tried to get her out of there, and every time we’ve failed. We can’t get past the fucking gates before the place goes into lockdown. They know we know she’s there, and the motherfuckers laugh their asses off every time we fail.”

“Well, I hate to pile on, but the team isn’t ready. Like you, we still haven’t found a way in yet. That facility is a fucking fortress. I can’t find a way around the biometrics to get into the building.”

“Well, maybe these will help,” she said, placing two small glass containers on my desk.

Gulping, I scooted back as I stared at the eyeball and severed finger.

In a shocked tone, I asked, “What the fuck, Mia?! Who?”

Mia grinned evilly and said, “Don’t ask. It will give you nightmares. Let’s just say he no longer has need of either of those.”

Shivering, I just nodded.

The woman was fucking scary.

“So, where’s the little man?” Mia asked, looking around my new place.

“Out getting shit for Danika’s room. He wants everything ready for when we bring her home.”

“Place is a bit high class, isn’t it?”

“Dante has specific tastes.”

“I see that,” she said, picking up a cashmere throw pillow before putting it back exactly as she found it. Leaning against the couch, she asked, “Tell me the truth, Danny. How do you really feel about all of this shit, Dante, the kid, everything?”

Taking a deep breath, I turned in my seat and sighed. “I don’t really know. I haven’t had time to stop and think about it. I know Dante is mine. Every time I look at him, he makes everything better. He makes me happy, and can we just agree that I really haven’t been happy in years? I can be myself with him, and he accepts me, flaws and all. I’m not perfect, and he knows that. He gets me while others don’t.”

“And his daughter?”

“Never thought about being a father, but she’s half Dante and looks exactly like him. God, Mia, they are the spitting image of each other. The second I saw her little face, I never felt anything so primal, so feral before in my life. I can’t really explain it, but that little girl is mine and nothing, no one, will stop me from returning her to Dante. She belongs with us.”

Mia smirked. “So, you planning on making the city your home, or are you going to take the little family back to the sticks?”

“I can work anywhere, you know that, but with Dante in the Soulless Sinners and the table right here in the city, along with the majority of my clients, it seemed easier to make roots here. I know my family won’t like it, but I’ve made my decision and I’m happy with it.”

“Babe!” I heard Dante shout as he walked in the front door, loaded down with bags. “You would not believe what I got for our little girl. I swear I bought out FAO Shwartz. They had the most amazing—”

Stopping dead in his tracks, Dante dropped his bags and stared blankly at the woman next to me.

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