Dante (Stone Society Book 3) (13 page)

Dante
hadn’t flown in an airplane in quite some time, ten years to be exact. He and
Gregor had taken a trip to one of the many Clan properties, just to get away.
They had spent a couple of weeks at the seaside resort, soaking up the sun,
fishing, drinking, just basically enjoying life. Both Goyles had enjoyed the
company of women, Gregor more so than Dante. Being passive made it hard for him
to find a suitable partner for sex. Most women were used to the man taking
over, or just going along with whatever happened. He wanted to be dominated,
told what to do, when to do it. He wasn’t into any type of pain or bondage. He
just didn’t want to be in control of what happened in the bedroom. When he
found a female who dominated him, it would rile his beast, and the sex was good.

Isabelle
had kissed him. Twice. That didn’t mean she was dominant in the bedroom. Had the
fates chosen a submissive mate for him, and if so, why? Was Isabelle truly
submissive, or was she also wading through the waters of a new sexual
relationship? Dante understood the first few times were awkward, at least for
him. It took a while to figure out what the other partner liked, what turned
them on, what set them on fire. Maybe that was it, and she was figuring him out.
She had kissed him after all. It hadn’t been a soft, chaste kiss either. Her
tongue had begged entrance to his mouth, and he gladly obliged. His mate knew
how to use her tongue. He was ready to see what else she could do with her mouth.
Before he let his thoughts get too far out of control and his cock too hard, he
returned his attention to the trip they were embarking on. With any luck, he
would save the damsel as well as her child, and have plenty of time to explore
the sexual side of their relationship later.

 The
Clan jet was in the air. Gregor and Tessa were settling in for the long flight.
Dante pulled a bottle of scotch out of the liquor cabinet and poured himself a
tall glass. He didn’t bother with ice. It just watered down the expensive
whiskey. He sank back into his seat, sipping the fine liquid.

The
worst part of this rescue mission was they had no idea where they were going or
who they were up against. They assumed Stavros was behind the kidnapping since
he was Connor’s grandfather. Then again, Alistair could be the mastermind,
wanting to punish Dante’s family. Was his uncle aware Isabelle was his mate? It
wouldn’t be hard to find out they spent time together, especially if he had
spies in and around New Atlanta. What if one of the guards had turned traitor?
Dante hated to become suspicious without probable cause, but anything was
possible. Even though the Gargoyles didn’t want for money, there were some
people, even Goyles, who never had enough.

Tessa
sat on the long sofa with her legs curled under her. “I hope they are taking
Isabelle to Zakynthos. At least there she will have some familiarity, even if
we do not.”

Once
they were at a safe altitude, Dante contacted Julian inquiring into the Stone
Society’s properties. Jules pulled up the list of properties in and around
Greece. “Atokos Island is closest to Zakynthos. I’ll have to get with Sixx and
find out if it’s currently occupied. If it is, you can always stop off at
Rafael’s villa. Speaking of Rafe, he and Kaya should be in Tennessee by now. As
soon as I hear something, I’ll let you know.”

“Thanks,
Jules. I would prefer to stay on Atokos since it’s closer. Hopefully being off
season, the villa will be vacant.” There wasn’t really such a thing as off
season in Greece. The islands were beautiful no matter what time of year it
was.

The
unknown was their biggest foe at this point. They were going to have to rely on
Julian’s assistance from thousands of miles away. With Alistair being King of
Greece, they couldn’t ask for help from other Clans. As a last resort, they
would call his mother and ask for her assistance. If Dante had his way,
Isabelle would be his true mate, and Connor would become his son. Athena would
have her first grandchild, even if he wasn’t by blood.

“What
if whoever has Isabelle isn’t the one who took Connor? What do we do then?” Tessa
was tapping her fingers on her legs. Gregor placed his hand over hers to stop
her fidgeting.

“One
thing at a time, Red. That is a possibility, but we need to focus on Isabelle
since we have a bead on her. We have to assume whoever took Connor will be in
touch with Isabelle. We need to track her and get her to safety.” Gregor put
his arm around his mate and pulled her into his lap.

“What
if taking her from her abductors puts Connor in more danger than he’s already
in?” Tessa asked with her head on Gregor’s shoulder.

“We
have to pray it doesn’t.” Gregor kissed the top of her head, running his hand
along her arm. The soft caress lulled Tessa into an unusual state: quietness.

Dante
was ready for the closeness Gregor and Tessa possessed. He may not pull
Isabelle onto his lap, but he would definitely put his arm around her and
lavish her with affection. He had to wonder if her kiss back at the lab had
been out of need or if she was saying goodbye. He swirled the scotch in his
glass as he thought of Connor. It would be to their advantage if the boy looked
like Isabelle. He was formulating a plan in his mind, going through scenarios
of rescue. Not knowing where Connor had been taken was making it difficult to
come up with anything useful. He downed the rest of the liquid, setting the
glass aside. He leaned his chair back and closed his eyes, sending positive
thoughts through the airwaves to his woman. “Hang on, Beautiful. I’m coming to
get you.”

Stavros
sat on the patio overlooking the water. His breakfast was set before him, his
coffee poured. The linen napkin unfolded and placed in his lap. His servant did
everything but cut his food and feed it to him. That task he reserved for one
of his girls. Since he was at the main villa and not one of the smaller ones,
he would have to feed himself. It was risky keeping women around who he was actually
training to be slaves.

When
he first got into the market of kidnapping women, he had made sure they were
destitute. He only took the ones who had no family who would miss them. He
didn’t just kidnap women and sell them. First, he brought them in, cleaned them
up, fed them, clothed them. Made them feel wanted. Rarely did they realize they
were actually being abducted. When he had their loyalty, he would
suggest
he
had a friend who was in need of a companion. One who would take care of the
woman as long as she would let him. What he neglected to tell the woman was he
was being paid handsomely for this service he provided. After all, he was
making sure the women were healthy and cooperative. Once the woman was placed
with the buyer, it was out of his hands what happened.

He
did have several clients who were repeat customers. Once the woman reached a
certain age, the buyer would trade her in for a younger girl. Stavros had no
idea what happened when one was replaced. He didn’t want to know.

Lately
he had branched out to tourists, young college-age girls on spring break who
were bored with their families and wanted a little adventure. That was where
his son came in. The handsome young man could seduce even the prudest woman
away from what she thought was right or wrong. It now appeared he and his son
would be branching out even more. The proposals they looked over the night
before had been specific in their requests. The purchasers were looking for a
certain type of girl, younger than most Stavros dealt with. He and his son
might not be upstanding citizens, but their moral compass did point closer to
north most of the time. The age of these girls had the arrow pointing south.
Way south. The risk was great, but the money was greater. His son hadn’t batted
an eyelash when Stavros showed him what the buyers were looking for. “It’s not
like we’ll be fucking them,” he said as he slid the folders back across the
desk to his father.

It
was decided they would accept the proposals. The younger girls, however, would
not be trained by Stavros or his son. He would draw the line there. The girls
would be found, per the buyers’ specifications, but would be immediately turned
over with no lag time. Once they agreed to the new parameters, his son had left
to do whatever or whomever he did at night, leaving Stavros to think about the
news of having a grandson. He had yet to mention this little tidbit to his son,
as he didn’t know how the news would be received. Even though his old
acquaintance had put things into motion, Stavros would have to tread carefully
with the boy’s life. He just needed to come up with a plan to keep his grandson
hidden for a while.

As
Stavros was finishing his coffee, his son came out to the patio. “I am going to
get started on our newest acquisitions. I will be traveling to Athens for the
day, possibly spending the night.”

“Very
well. I have business I need to tend to as well. I will see you later.” Stavros
didn’t elaborate on what type of business. He and his son were both grown men
with lives of their own. Their business arrangement had them working closely
most days, but when they needed their private space, neither one asked any
questions. As soon as he finished eating breakfast, Stavros gave instructions
to his butler he was not to be disturbed under any circumstances. He left the main
villa for one of the smaller houses where he was going to meet his grandson.

Connor’s
arms cramped, and he needed to pee. He was trying his best to be brave so his
momma would be proud of him, but he was scared. Somehow he had known bad things
were going to happen. He dreamed of finding Papi and Mimi on the ground,
covered in blood. He dreamed of his momma and some huge man fighting the bad
guys together. He could see the man clearly in his mind. He wasn’t his father,
but he was important. His father was dead. So who was this man who came to
rescue him in his dream?

He
had never been on an airplane before, but he could feel the room he was in
moving, bumping up and down. He could be in a big truck, but he didn’t think
so. He was pretty sure he was on an airplane.

The
tape across his mouth kept him from doing more than grunting, but he really had
to go pee. So he grunted and kicked the wall as hard as he could. Finally, one
of the bad men opened the door. The light hurt his eyes, but he blinked the
brightness away and grunted some more. The bad man ripped the tape off his
face. “I need to pee, please.” He would not forget his manners. Even if this
man was bad, he had been taught you get more flies with honey. He couldn’t
imagine why you would want to draw the flies closer. They were nasty creatures.

The
bad man cursed and grabbed Connor by the arm, pulling him off the floor. The
man cut whatever ties had been keeping his arms together and pointed to a
bucket in the corner. “Use that.” The bad man didn’t turn his head, just kept
watching as Connor eyed the bucket. Mimi had warned him about strangers and how
there were some really bad people in the world. He knew in his heart this was
one of those really bad men. Even as bad as he had to go, it took him a minute
with the man watching. He used the bucket, keeping his back to the man. When he
was finished, the man grabbed his arms and tied them up with another piece of
plastic. Once again, the door was closed, leaving him in the dark.

Connor
sat back down on the floor and rolled to his side. It was the only way he could
lie down and not hurt his arms worse. He closed his eyes, wishing for sleep,
because that’s where his momma and the big man were.