Dark Justice (Croft Family Mob Series Book 1) (20 page)

Hospital

Private Room

Morning

When he woke up, he wasn’t quite sure where he was. The last thing he remembered was downing a bunch of pain pills to numb the ache in his body and his heart.

He recalled stripping down, so that whoever found his body wouldn’t have to worry about removing the trace. When he rested on the bed, staring at the ceiling, he was thinking about only one man.

Dante Croft.

The love of his life.

Even now, as he stared up at the white lights, he didn’t understand why he was alive. There was no reason he should be. He’d taken enough to end it all.

He’d made sure of it.

Steele had wanted the pain to end.

Now he was recalling little flashes and voices. He remembered Emma telling him that she loved him. It was her voice whispering in his ear as men began working on him in the ambulance.

She’d found him.

“Hey,” Dante said, squeezing his hand.

At the sound of his voice, Steele glanced over. The man looked just as bad as he did. He’d lost weight, his hair had grown out, and he was sporting some major beard growth.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, his voice hoarse from the tubes they’d put down his throat.

“They had to pump your stomach, Steele. They had to get the thirty pills out of you.”

His voice said it all.

Steele closed his eyes. “I wish they didn’t.”

“Shut up.”

Steele glanced over as Dante raised his voice at him. That never happened.

Ever.

“You’re going to listen to me, and listen well. I’m sick of this. I gave you time to wallow, and it’s over. If you’re going to throw your life away and act like a baby, then I’m going to step in and boss your ass around. You need a babysitter, and it’s going to be me whether you like it or not!”

“Wallow?”

“Yeah, wallow. That’s what this is. You could have lost your license to be a doctor, Steele. Worse? If Emma didn’t stop by to see you, you’d be dead. If you were meant to die, she wouldn’t have saved you. Get it through your head, Steele! You aren’t supposed to be gone.”

“And why not, Dante? What do I have left to offer the world? I’m blind in one eye, I can’t open a stupid jar of peanut butter because my hands are so destroyed, and do I have to remind you what they did to my body? I’ll never have sex again. I’ll never have that life. Why would I want to be here? Who in their right mind wants this?”

“I want you, Steele.”

“I’m broken.”

“You’re my heart. Broken or not, I love you. I can’t live without you. I’d take a broken Steele over no Steele any day. I’m not with you for the sex. You can still kiss me. You can still hold my hand as we take a walk. I’ll open the peanut butter, Steele. I’d do anything to have you see that.”

Steele closed his eyes. A tear slipped out.

Dante took a chance and kissed it away.

The man shook.

“He broke me. I don’t know who I am anymore. I have nightmares. I’m afraid of everything. I keep reliving it over and over again—the sodomy, the burning, and the pain.”

Dante crawled into the hospital bed to be near him. It was a tight fit, but he didn’t care. Gently, he pulled Steele into his body and held him.

“I’ll help you, Steele. I’ll walk with you down this path, holding your hand and being your strength. I’ll carry you the rest of our lives if that’s what it takes. I need you in my life. I want you in it. You’re priceless to me.”

He began crying.

“Oh, babe, it’s okay. I’m here,” Dante said, leaving kisses on his face. “I’ve got you, and I’m sorry I failed you. This is my fault. I never should have left your side.”

“Then they would have hurt you too, Dante. I love you too much to see this happen to you.”

He kissed him softly on the lips. “Fight for me, Steele. Life can be better if you just give me a chance to prove it to you. Let me help you. Come back to the family.”

He sniffled. “I miss Emma.”

Dante laughed. “My poor ego. I swear she’s going to steal you away.”

Steele clung to him. The familiar feel and scent reminded him of better times.

“Babe, fight. We can do this.”

He tried living without Dante, so now he’d give it a second try.

“Okay, Dante. I’ll fight, but only for you.”

He kissed him again, but didn’t expect Steele to kiss him back. He didn’t mind. The man he loved was damaged, and he’d let him set the pace.

Only, that’s not what happened.

He returned the kiss.

Dante’s heart kicked in his chest.

“I love you,” Steele said, his voice barely over a whisper as his lips never left Dante’s.

In that moment, he did want to fight. He didn’t like the option. Life without this man was nothing.

He needed him.

Dante could feel the tears on his own cheeks as they kissed. He had hope for the first time in a long time.

They stayed like that for a few minutes, simply cuddling together. When there was a knock on the door, Steele jumped.

“Shhhhhh, babe, it’s only Paris. He’s come in to see you. I’ll be right here with you.”

Paris wheeled in, clipboard on his lap. When he’d gotten the call, he came immediately. When it was family, you didn’t hesitate.

He knew what Steele was battling.

Inside, he closed the door behind him. “Hey, Steele. How are you feeling?”

He kept his face adverted, buried in Dante’s neck and didn’t reply.

“I’m here to evaluate you.”

“Are you sending me away?” he asked, clinging to Dante. “Are you to find a place for me?” he whispered. He’d been a doctor. He knew what happened when someone tried to take their own life.

He was going to carry that forever.

“We’re going to find somewhere for you to go to rehab.” He knew how hard Emma had fought to keep this suicide attempt quiet. To get the man sent only for rehab, she had to pull major strings.

“Please don’t make me go. I want to go home.”

Dante stared at his friend. He knew if they sent Steele anywhere, it would only make it worse.
‘Please,’
he mouthed.

Paris got it.

When he’d been shot, and he was in that hospital bed, he didn’t want to be shipped off to rehab and away from the people he loved.

He needed them.

“I have a few options that we can discuss,” he said, waiting for Steele to face him. “I can make the recommendations, but in order to send you home, I need to talk to you.”

“Please don’t leave me,” he said to Dante, holding onto his hand for dear life.

“I’m not leaving, babe. You can relax. This is Paris. He’s our family. He’s not going to hurt you, are you, Paris?”

It was a warning and a plea all at once.

“I’d never do that, Steele. You and Dante are my family. Greyson is like a brother to me. I just need to know what happened.”

Steele turned his head and faced the man. His good eye focused on him. “I was abducted, raped, tortured, and I wanted to die. That’s what happened.”

Dante wanted to weep.

Paris took out his pen and began filling in a chart.

“It’s a good start, Steele. Let’s talk about it.”

“I don’t know if I can.”

Paris knew he had to push. Despite what Dante was asking him to do, he knew that he had to make sure he got Steele the best help he could.

He owed it to him.

“If you talk it out, you will feel better. If you discuss it, I’ll make sure you’re safe. I need you to trust me.”

He held out his hand.

Steele stared at it.

Dante held his breath.

When he actually took it, Paris knew they were going to get through this. “Steele, talk to me. I have you now too.”

He took a deep breath, and for the first time in weeks, Steele did just that.

He purged.

He kept his word.

He fought for Dante with all he had left.

 
                         
* * *
  G r e y s o n   C r o f t   * * *

Terrace Glen

When Kat woke up, she was stiff from a night of lovemaking. Curtis had taken her in positions she’d never thought possible. It was a damn good thing she was bendy.

As she rolled over, expecting to see him in bed, he was gone. Kat hated waking up alone. They’d done that a lot, but he should be in bed with her now that they had their own space. Pulling on his t-shirt, she sniffed the material.

It smelled like him.

Her heart flipped in her chest.

When she wandered out to the living room, she found him working at his laptop.

“Hey, handsome.”

He glanced up at her voice.

Then he smiled.

“Morning, beautiful.”

Somehow, she doubted that. She was a mess, and he had to see it. She was rumpled, disheveled, and a disaster.

When she approached and he pulled her into his lap, she cuddled against him. The kiss was sweet, and she actually sighed.

“Happy?”

“I’m okay.”

He looked at her. “Uh, that doesn’t sound good,” he said, touching her cheek. “What’s wrong, baby? What has you upset?”

She got out of his lap.

“Nothing.”

He wasn’t buying it.

“Have you changed your mind, Kat?”

She had.

That was the problem.

She really had.

“Yes.”

He wanted to be sick. Curtis stayed seated and covered his face with his hands.

Of course it was going to go bad.

Of course he was going to get the shit end of the stick. That was the story of his life.

In the last twenty-seven years, this was the norm. His mother and father dumped him, he grew up poor and alone, Brynn had broken his heart, and now this.

He really wanted off this ride.

It was too much to handle.

The ups and downs were getting out of control. Next stop, he was having a nervous breakdown.

When he opened his eyes to ask what was wrong, she was kneeling in front of him.

It caught him off guard.

“Kat, what are you doing?” he asked.

She took his hand in hers and left a gentle kiss on his palm before placing his warm fingers against her cheek. She needed his touch to get through this.

She was afraid of his response. He’d asked her to marry him once, and she said no.

She’d broken his heart, and now he would have the same opportunity to return the favor.

Kat had to have faith.

“You asked me to marry you and out of sheer stupidity, I said no. So, this time, Curtis, I’m going to ask you.”

He stared at her.

“What?”

“I love you. I’ve never felt anything so wonderful, amazing, or special in my life. All those years when I was being abused by men, I swore I’d never love one. I promised I’d hate each and every one until the day I died because they were all bad. Then there was you.”

He listened, not believing this was happening.

Was he dreaming?

Was Kat asking him to marry her?

Did this happen in the real world? There was a beautiful woman who wanted him.

He couldn’t wrap his head around it.

“You came into my life, and the second I saw you, I wanted you as my own. All those horrible memories, dreams, and nightmares fell away. You were the only thing that mattered to me. You became my dreams. You were the one who chased the shadows away. It was your love that filled in the festering wounds that others had created. I need you to go on. I can’t live without the man who healed me.”

She touched his cheek.

“I fell in love with you. Then we made a life. Growing in me is a little angel that has no idea what our pasts were like. Our child is only going to know our future. I don’t want to wait to get married, Curtis. I was wrong. I was stubborn. I want our child born into this amazing life we have. I want to wake up every day with you and know that I’m Katerina Croft, and I’m your wife.”

He watched the tears slip down her cheeks.

“I’m ready. I hope you are. Will you marry me, Curtis? Will you forgive me for turning you down out of stupid pride, and will you be mine for the rest of our lives?”