Dante (Stone Society Book 3) (9 page)

Stavros
Sarantos sat behind the large mahogany desk in his home office, elbows resting
on the arms of his overstuffed leather chair. His fingers were steepled under
his chin as he thought about the proposals in front of him. Proposals that, if
uncovered by the authorities, could have him sitting in prison. Being one of
the wealthiest men in all of Greece afforded him the luxury of keeping those in
positions of power on his payroll. Most of them, anyway. There were a few
honest men left in the world who couldn’t be bought, like the judge who let
that bitch, Isabelle, go free when Alexi fell overboard.

His
private line rang, and Stavros answered without pause. Only a handful of people
had that number. The voice on the other end was one he hadn’t heard in several
years.

“Stavros,
I have some information for you; news you will undoubtedly want to hear.”

“And
that would be?” Stavros was both wealthy and powerful. He was a peasant
compared to this man.

“When
Isabelle left the island, she took something of Alexi’s with her.”

“Impossible.
There was a prenuptial agreement.” There was no way that bitch was smart enough
to steal from his family.

“Ah,
but this wasn’t included in the agreement. What she took, she carried for nine
months, until which time she gave birth to a son. Alexi’s son.”

Stavros
sputtered, “You’re lying! That is not possible.” How could the man know this?

“I
assure you I am being most forthright with you. I have people in place,
watching.”

“Why
would you do that? What does this have to do with you?” He already knew the
answer. The man wanted something. He wanted something from the Sarantos family.
Again. They failed him last time when Isabelle refused to cooperate and give up
information on her father.

“All
in due time, my friend. Just know that for now, I have set events in motion
that will bring your grandson back to you.”

The
line went dead. “Fuck. FUCK!” Stavros yelled to an empty room.

The
door to his office opened, and his son stuck his head in. “Is everything okay
in here?”

Stavros
looked at his child. It was like looking in a mirror twenty-five years earlier.
Where Stavros now had gray around the temples, his son still had a head full of
dark hair. He was handsome. Stavros could see why the ladies flocked to the
younger man. His once bright eyes, however, had dimmed over the last few years.
The naïve boy had turned into a shrewd business man, following closely in his
father’s footsteps. He had no qualms about turning the family business over to
his son one day.

“I’m
not sure. I just received some information, and I need to process it. Now, have
a seat. I received some new proposals and would like your input.”

Dante
got out of his car and walked toward the hospital. The weather was cold for a
Georgia November, and the brisk breeze felt good against his skin. His thoughts
were on his mate as they had been since he found out she belonged to him. He
couldn’t stop thinking about the kiss. About the way she had pulled him into
her body. He wanted tonight to be really special. He was headed toward the
morgue when he felt a sharp pain in his chest. He didn’t have to reach far into
his mind to know it was Isabelle. Something was causing her a great deal of
torment, and he wanted to help her.

 Dante
turned around and headed back to his car. He called Isabelle’s number, but she
didn’t answer. He phoned Trevor to let him know he wouldn’t be in this morning.
He then tried calling Isabelle’s office line and got no answer there either.
Arriving at the prison, he didn’t see Isabelle’s car, so he hurried inside to
Gregor’s office. Laughter from inside reached his ears, so he listened to the
conversation between his brother and Tessa, making sure he wasn’t interrupting
them. “You can come on in,” Gregor said to him. He entered the office, fully
expecting to see Tessa in Gregor’s lap. Instead, she was sitting in one of the
visitor’s chairs. “Hello, Brother. What brings you here?”

He
didn’t want them to know he was panicking. If Gregor paid close attention, he’d
know anyway. “I’m here to assist Isabelle.”
And find out what’s wrong with
my woman.
“I thought she’d be here by now.” Dante looked at his watch. What
if she had already come and gone. What if she had been in a wreck? Could that
be the pain he felt earlier? He pulled his phone out of his pocket. “I’m just
going to call her again.” He left his brother’s office for the privacy of the
hallway. His call went to voicemail. Again. Godsdamnit! He had a bad feeling.
“Isabelle, it’s Dante. Please call me when you get this.” After disconnecting,
he dialed the landline number at her clinic where the answering machine picked
up. Again.

Gregor,
now behind him in the hall, placed a hand on his arm, attempting to calm him.
“She was here earlier. She drove over to her clinic to test Johnson’s blood.”

Okay,
calm yourself. You’re getting worked up over nothing.

Gregor
moved his hand to Dante’s shoulder and squeezed. “You want to tell me what’s
going on?”

“I’m
being dramatic. Isabelle isn’t answering her phone. I had a feeling something
was wrong, and now she’s not answering. Maybe she just doesn’t want to talk to
me.”

“Why
wouldn’t she want to talk to you? Hang on. Tessa, come here please.” When Tessa
peered around the corner, Gregor told her, “Please call Isabelle and see where
she is.” When Tessa disappeared back into Gregor’s office, he asked again, “Why
wouldn’t she want to talk to you?”

“I
don’t know. You know I’m no good at dealing with women.”

Tessa
came back and announced, “She’s at her clinic.” Dante didn’t miss the look
Tessa gave Gregor.

“And?”
both men asked at the same time.

Tessa
looked to Gregor. What the fuck? Gregor pulled his mate into his arms, whispering,
but loud enough for Dante to hear, “Red, please. What did Isabelle say? Is she
all right?”

“I
didn’t actually talk to Belle. Dane answered. He said it wasn’t a good time.
When I asked him what he meant, he wouldn’t elaborate.”

“Why
would Dane be at the clinic? It isn’t like he can get sick now.” Dante was
talking more to himself than the others.

“All
he would say was Isabelle had some type of emergency and called him. Said he
couldn’t tell me anymore and hung up.” Tessa nestled herself closer to Gregor,
as if Dante was going to shoot the messenger.

“None
of this makes sense. I’m going over there.” Dante headed for the door. Gregor
called after him, but he didn’t stop. In his soul he knew his woman needed him,
and he was going to be there for her.

By
the time Dante arrived at Isabelle’s clinic, he was ready to rip Dane’s throat
out. Dante called the detective who told him the same thing he’d told Tessa.
Pulling in the parking lot, he saw Isabelle’s car but not Dane’s cruiser. Knowing
it was futile, Dante knocked on the door anyway. When he realized Isabelle was
either hiding out inside and not answering, or she had left with her brother,
Dante lost it. He let out a roar that shook the windows. Godsfuckingdamnit.
This was killing him. What hurt most was the fact Isabelle called her brother
instead of him.

Dante
was at a loss. At that moment, his cell phone pinged with an incoming text
message. “
The antidote worked. I prepared more, and it’s in the cooler in my
office. Please administer the serum without me. 2 cc’s is sufficient.
”
Another message came through right behind the first one. “
The antidote
should take effect almost immediately. The code to the clinic door is 432867.
Feel free to use any of my equipment.
”

Dante
texted her back, “
Isabelle, please let me help you
.” He waited but
received no response. He called Dane’s phone again, but he didn’t answer. “I’m
going to kill the half-blood.” Dante did the only thing he knew. He called
Rafael and told him the little information he had. He asked his brother, his
King, to step in and get Kaya to find out what the fuck was going on. For now,
he would have to wait.

Isabelle
stared out the passenger window. She wanted to drive her own car, but Dane
insisted she was in no condition to drive herself. He was right. She was barely
holding it together. She couldn’t control her fangs or her claws. She was a
bloody mess. Her one fear in life had come true. Her son was gone. She had no
idea who had taken him, where he was, if he was even alive. A sob escaped her
throat as tears streamed down her face.

Dane
reached over and took her hand, being careful of her claws. “Don’t think the
worst yet. You need to think positive and stay strong. If what you told me is
true about Alexi’s father, Connor is probably being well taken care of.”

Dane’s
phone rang. Looking at the caller I.D., he let out a sigh. “Abbott. Hey, Kaya.
Can Jasper take this one? I’m handling some family business right now. I’d
rather not elaborate. Great, thanks.” He tossed his cell phone on the seat
beside him, looking at Isabelle. “You know this isn’t going to stay between us
long. By now, Dante has called Rafe. Rafe will be calling Kaya who will try to
pull rank. Think about this; from what I’ve heard, Julian is a genius. If my
son were missing, I’d want him to be helping me. I’d want all the Clan helping
me.”

They
were pulling into Isabelle’s driveway when her cell phone pinged. She looked at
the message, and her breath caught. “
If you want to see your son again, get
rid of the cop
.”

“Oh,
god. Oh shit!” Isabelle exclaimed as she read the text again. Before she could
stop him, Dane grabbed the phone from her and read the message.

Dane
handed it back to her and swore, “Fuck! Okay, listen to me. You have got to
trust the Clan now. We are being watched. Here’s what we’re going to do. I’m
going to continue talking to my friend in Tennessee, and you are going to call
Dante.”

Isabelle
shook her head, “No! I can’t. If they’re watching, they’ll see anyone coming
and going. I can’t risk it.”

“Isabelle,
you cannot take this on yourself. Listen to me. I’m a detective. I deal with
this kind of thing all the time. I’ve been involved in several kidnapping cases.
They are going to make demands. We really need Julian’s help on this. I want
you to go in the house, and I will drive off. Is there a back way onto your
property? What’s behind those trees?”

“Another
row of houses. Dane, I don’t like this. What if they catch you?” Isabelle
wanted to trust his abilities, but she was scared. This was Connor’s life they
were talking about.

“They
won’t catch me. I know you don’t know me that well, but I want you to trust me
on this. Now go on in the house and unlock the back door. I’ll see you in a few
minutes.”

Isabelle
didn’t agree to his plan, but she did get out of the car and go inside. As soon
as Dane’s car was out of her driveway, she received another text. “
Good
girl. Now call a taxi and have them drop you off at Jefferson Park. You will
receive further instructions there
.”

Shit!
Someone had to be right outside!  She didn’t hesitate. She did a quick search
on her phone and called the first cab company that popped up. She had to warn
Dane. She didn’t want to argue with him, so she sent him a quick message. “
Received
another text, they are watching the house. It’s not safe
.”