Dark Justice (Croft Family Mob Series Book 1) (23 page)

“Lenore, it’s Dante. I have something in the works, and I need your help executing it.”

“Sure thing, Mr. Croft, what do you need me to do?”

He hoped she was ready.

“I need six body guards at the hospital. They need to be the biggest, meanest, and scariest we have.”

“On it, sir. Give me twenty minutes to get them there. I’ll pull them off casino duty.”

Perfect.

“In my office is a gym bag—have them bring it. I need my clothes.”

“Yes, sir. They’ll have it when they arrive. Is there anything else?”

“I need private transport from the hospital to Terrace Glen.” He told her what he was thinking.

Lenore laughed. “Mr. Croft, you’re insane.”

“Yeah, I’ve been told that before.” Only, it didn’t matter. For his fiancé, he’d do anything.

“Anything else?” she asked not even batting an eyelash over his requests.

It proved to him that she was the perfect assistant. He was going to give her a raise.

Dante thought about what she’d asked.

He should be good. Emma was going to be surprised when they pulled up. He thought about warning her, but this was going to be priceless.

“No, that’s all. Cut out for the day and go home. I won’t be working the rest of today, and in fact, clear my schedule next week of any in-office meetings. I’ll have to take them at Terrace Glen via video link.”

“Will you want me there to help?” she asked.

“Yeah, I will. Do you mind?”

“No, Mr. Croft. I don’t mind.”

“Thank you, Lenore. You’re the wind beneath my wings,” he said laughing.

“You’re insane, Mr. Croft. Good luck with your mission. Kiss Steele for me, and tell Emma I send my regards.”

He loved his assistant.

“Will do.”

He hung up.

Now he was going to go keep his future husband safe, anyway he could.

Let the media talk, speculate, or make up lies. Steele was going to be protected if it was the last thing he ever did.

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

Terrace Glen

Emma was glad to be home. When she waked in, Kat was eating some grapes and resting on the couch with her feet up. Immediately, she jumped up.

Emma looked worried.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, looking around. “Did you see a spider? An assassin? A Ghost?” she teased.

“I was just lying around in your home. I should be doing something productive.”

She laughed. “It’s Saturday and you’re growing a baby. That’s about as productive as you can get. Trust me when I say that if I could, I’d be right next to you relaxing, but I’d be having my grapes in the form of wine. It’s been that kind of day.”

She walked toward the woman.

Kat still looked nervous.

“Relax, Kat. You’re not doing anything wrong. This is Curtis’s and your home too. I want you to be comfortable here.”

She didn’t know what to say, so she went with the good news.

“We’re getting married.”

Emma smiled. “Are you? Well, then you’re going to be my daughter-in-law. This calls for a celebration. What’s your favorite cake?”

Kat had to think about it.

“It has to be strawberry shortcake with lots of whipped cream and berries.”

“I would have bet you went with chocolate. That was a surprise.”

Kat laughed. There was a good reason, so she opted to share it with Emma.

“When I was a kid, I saw that dessert in a magazine I found from America. I always wanted to try it. When I finally got here, I realized…it was better than it looked. To me it’s more than a cake. It’s part of my journey to this life. It has sentimental significance to me.”

Emma hugged her. “Then on this day, you’ll have it. Welcome to the family. I’m going to go make that cake. We’ll have it after dinner.”

“I don’t understand you.”

Emma stopped in her tracks. “What? My English? You’re the one with the accent,” she teased.

“No. I don’t get how you love everyone unconditionally. I was afraid to marry Curtis because of my past. I’m not worthy of him or this family. I’m not the kind of woman any mother wants for her children. I’m not someone who deserves all of this, but you still treat me like I do.”

Emma touched her cheeks and made her look into her eyes. “You’re exactly the kind of woman I want for Curtis. You’ve been the one who was hurt, so you know how shitty that feels. You won’t ever do that to him. I love you, Katerina. You have a family now, and if you need a mother, like Curtis does, I’ll be it. I’ll give you anything you need to fill those holes in you. You do deserve all of this. I see the beauty in the person you are, and that’s why I want you to be with Curtis. He sees it too. I trust his judgment on this one. He picked the best flower in the garden.”

She started crying. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Say you’ll let me love you, and you’ll believe you deserve that from us. That’s all I want for you. Greyson feels the same. He may not say it, but we are very happy that Curtis found you. We were with him through the Brynn mess, and you’re the one part of his life that we don’t even worry about anymore. He picked a good woman. I’d bet everything on it.”

She paused.

“Just promise me one thing.”

“What?”

“When you have this baby, you won’t let Curtis name your children anything from a comic book. I don’t need Batman Croft running around. We have enough talk about this family. You pick that baby’s name. Someone has to have some damn control in this looney bin!”

It made Kat laugh.

“Deal, Mom.”

She smiled. “Now, sit down, put your feet up, and eat those grapes. Blueberries are excellent for folic acid, so I’ll get you some of those too. Are you taking a vitamin?”

“Not yet. I have a doctor appointment next week.”

“Well, I’ll get you one. I’m sure that the stockpile of vitamins I’m always pumping into everyone in this house will cover you until you see your doctor. We need you to have a healthy baby. I’m going to be a grandmother.”

Emma laughed.

“What?” Kat asked.

“When I came here, I thought it was to be a cop. Fate is funny. You never know what’s going to happen. I never saw billionaire and a husband who was now running the mob in Vegas coming. I swear…Randall Mason is laughing his ass off in heaven.”

“I don’t think Randall went there,” Kat said. “He really did some shitty things.”

She’d seen Dimitri do them for the man.

Emma disagreed.

“Look at the good that came from all of this. You found Curtis, and we found you, Dimitri, and Natasha. We were given the blessing of more family. I didn’t have anyone but Greyson when I got here, and now I’m surrounded by truly amazing people. Plus, we also have the luxury of helping people. No, he did good. In my book, he earned his wings.”

Emma patted her cheek and headed toward the stairs to get changed, start dinner, and to make a cake.

Today started bad, but it was getting better.

Dimitri waited for her to leave.

“I don’t know what to think,” Kat said, glancing over at him. She knew he was there the entire time. She could smell the scent of his cologne wafting through the room. It was subtle, but she could always tell when he was around.

“Me either.”

“I love her.”

Dimitri had heard everything that Emma had said to his sister, and like her, he didn’t get it either. Maybe that part of them was broken.

What he did know was that Emma was something unique and special. He’d been right to trust the Crofts. She knew their deepest, darkest secrets, and that he’d killed her partner.

She still loved them.

That was something amazing to have found. This was unconditional love, and they’d never had that before. They never had this kind of family. They’d been alone in the world, trying to fight for survival.

Now they belonged.

“You know what, Kat?” he asked.

“What?”

“I love her too. Chris Ford doesn’t know what he gave up. He had a sister who would do anything for him. I’m not going to make that same mistake.”

“You won’t,” she said. “We learn from mistakes. Chris will too. I believe in him.”

He laughed.

“Yeah, okay.”

“He’ll come around, Dimitri. We all make mistakes. We all screw up. People deserve a second chance. We’re proof of that.”

She had a point.

Still…

“I think he burned his bridge back to the Crofts.”

Kat didn’t. She had to have faith in the woman who just left the room. A mother would forgive. Emma was that kind of person. Until this all played out, her fingers were crossed, not only for Emma, so her heart would heal, but for Nat—whose heart was just beginning to find its way.

Love would heal the family.

It always did.

Chapter Twelve

Saturday late

Afternoon

She loved being in the kitchen. Her family was sitting around the large island, talking about the case. They were discussing what Curtis had found.

After interviewing the partners, it gave them one direction to take—Adam Price. He might have seen, heard, or noticed something that happened to his lover before he was charged with the murders.

He would be their next stop tomorrow morning.

It would be a short day, simply because they had the Midsummer’s party planned. Since they had promised Randall, they’d make sure it was handled.

Dante had taken care of the details, and he’d likely done it up. The man did flare, and it had little to do with being gay, and everything to do with his attention to detail. The military had done that for him.

As Curtis typed, trying to find more information, Kat strolled into the room. Immediately, he got up, headed for the fridge, and got her orange juice.

It was all done without him even saying word. She gave him a kiss and took the seat beside him.

Greyson began laughing. “How sweet was that?” he asked, fist bumping his protégée. Someone had learned, and he was damn proud.

Since the cat was out of the bag, Emma was going to talk about the baby.

“So, when are you due?” Emma asked.

Curtis did the math quickly in his head. “Around Valentine’s Day.”

Kat grinned. “I can’t wait.”

Emma smiled. “I hope you have a Valentine’s Day baby. That’s sweet and special.”

And poignant.

Curtis was still typing away. He wanted to get the work down so he could pack it up for the night. It was pasta night, and Emma let them all gorge, including Greyson.

“Your cake is done,” Emma said, walking toward the large refrigerator. When she pulled it out, Kat started crying.

Everyone looked at her.

“Uh…is it horrible?” she asked.

“No, it’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen,” she said, checking out the four layers with all the fluffy cream and berries.

Curtis wrapped his arms around her. “It’s okay, baby. We’ll eat it, and you won’t have to ever look at it ever again.”

“HEY!” Emma scolded.

He laughed.

“It’s beautiful,” Kat said, feeling incredibly hormonal.

“Well, a beautiful moment deserves a great cake.” Emma recalled how Randall once thought Strawberry Shortcake was her favorite. It had come full circle. It was all connected one way or another. They were meant to be at this place, at this time.

“What are we celebrating?” Dimitri asked.

“We’re getting married,” Curtis said.

Dimitri actually knocked over his bottle of water and stared at them. “What?”

Kat kissed him. “Curtis and I are going to get married soon. We want to be married before the baby is born. I want our child to have what we didn’t have growing up.”

Curtis agreed. “There’s going to be one more Croft to add to the family.”

They didn’t mind.

Dimitri simply stared at them. “I don’t know if I should be shocked, happy, or amazed.”

Curtis grinned. “I wore her down.”

Kat hugged him. It was far from the truth. She’d simply realized that this was a good thing. She had a man who would treat her well, and she wasn’t willing to let that go.

“Dad, can we borrow the garden?” Curtis asked.

“Mi casa es su casa.”

He figured as much.

“Mom, can you do your food thing? It’s only going to be the family. We don’t want big. We want intimate and private. Once the media gets wind of this, and then the pregnancy, you know what it’s going to be like. There’s going to be one hell of a free for all.”

They were aware.

“Will you walk me down the aisle, Dimitri?” Kat asked.

The man’s normally blank face showed it all.

He wasn’t a stone—not when it came to his sisters.

“You know I will, Katerina. It would be my pleasure. I can’t wait for the day. You’ll be a beautiful bride.”

Curtis agreed. “There was never a more beautiful woman, so that’s damn true.”

Then he glanced at Dimitri.

“No comment about us getting married?” he asked.

“Well, I’m just shocked you talked her into it so fast. She’s stubborn.”

“That’s not fast,” Emma said. “We hold the house record. What was it, Grey?”

“Two weeks, Kitten. I managed to bag my babe in fourteen days.”

She tossed a dishtowel at him.

“I’m going to bag your chances of any carbs tonight if you don’t mind your manners, Greyson Thaddeus Croft.”

He grinned.

Before he could tease her back, the beeping on Curtis’s laptop had their attention.

“What did you find?” Emma asked.

Curtis turned the remote on, sending everything to the screen in the kitchen. “I found a link between three of the five girls. They were all corralled by the same pimp.”

It was a weak link, but they’d still work it. You never knew what might turn up.

“Who do we have?”

Curtis did his hacking thing. It didn’t take long to pull up a police report.

“This is Gerald Darden. He was the pimp to victims one through three. He was collecting money from Sallie Mae, Ayla, and Glenda.”

They checked out his priors. The man had a long list of assault charges on women and johns.

Apparently, when he didn’t get his money, he got mad. It didn’t really matter who the hell he kicked around, as long as he got some swings in.

“Look,” Curtis said, pulling up arrest reports. “It seems that Gerald liked to hang out at the MGM. His girls worked the strip in front of it.”

It made sense, because that’s where Glenda was arrested and dumped.

“And look at who arrested him four out of nine times for promoting solicitation.”

Greyson saw it.

“Seth Bell and Jesse Post.”

It was interesting how the man who wasn’t locked up for murder kept popping up in their investigation.

Emma knew what they were going to do. “Looks like I’m going to question a pimp.”

Greyson laughed. “Yeah, that’s not happening. In fact, that’s not ever going to go down in my lifetime.”

“What?” she said.

“There is no way I’m letting my wife anywhere near a pimp. I’m not insane—yet.”

“Greyson Croft…”

“I tell you what. Let’s play divide and conquer. I’ll take Dimitri, and we’ll hit up the pimp. You grab Curtis or Tessa, and visit the boyfriend of the incarcerated man.”

He knew Adam Price would be a far safer bet. What the hell could possibly happen?

She stared at him.

Greyson waited for the battle but none came.

“Okay.”

They all stared at her.

“What?” Dimitri said.

This family was full of surprises today.

“Is it a full moon?” Greyson asked, looking around.

“Nope,” Curtis answered.

“I know why you’re doing it, Greyson, and I appreciate it. You’re worried about my reputation being destroyed.”

His wife was always too smart for his own good.

“I’ll allow you to be a caveman on this one, simply because we have the party tomorrow, and there’s no way we can both be tied up with interviews. Besides, it’s a pimp. I’m sure you and Dimitri can handle him.”

Dimitri braced for it.

He was waiting for one of them to make a joke about him hiring hookers. He hoped they didn’t. His sister was right there, and it wasn’t something he was proud of doing.

It was simply a necessity in his life.

Then to his surprise nothing was said.

“Thank you, kitten. I love when you let me be the man. It does my heart good,” he teased.

Emma blew him a kiss as she continued chopping vegetables for the salad. She loved family dinners.

“I’ll see who has less work tomorrow and decide who’s going with me.”

That worked for him.

As he was about to say something, there was a scream of sirens and the sound of the front gate being opened.

That was off.

Dimitri raced to the security cameras.

“We have an ambulance breeching the security.”

Croft didn’t get it.

“How the hell?” he asked. “No one has that code or access to this house but the family.”

Plus they’d just changed it because of Chris Ford’s little stunt. The house should be secure.

Apparently, it wasn’t.

Dimitri pulled his gun and then handed his spare to Greyson. It looked like they were going out.

“Curtis, watch the women.”

“HEY!” they said at the same time.

“I get to be with the ladies,” he said grinning. That was until Emma smacked him in the back of the head. “Don’t be a caveman!”

He couldn’t help but laugh.

Greyson and Dimitri headed out as Curtis and Emma watched on the security panel.

When they got outside, there were two Medics pulling open the back door.

“What the bloody hell?” Dimitri muttered.

Croft had no clue.

Then he saw his brother hop out.

“Sorry, Grey,” he shouted. “I had to get past the media. He held out his hand, and Steele took it. Dante helped him out, and into a wheelchair.

The man was still shaky.

Dante pulled out some cash and passed it off to both men who’d helped him out.

Greyson headed their way as Dimitri escorted the driver and his navigator off the property.

“Steele!” Greyson said, stopping in front of him. “Are you okay?” he asked.

“I’m getting better,” he offered.

“Welcome home, son.”

Dante helped Steele up, and Greyson hugged him.

The man held on, burying his face in Greyson’s neck. He felt like crying all over again. He’d left them, and still they welcomed him back.

Steele had been a fool.

Here was where he should be.

“We missed you so much, Steele. If you ever do anything like this again, I’ll kick your ass.”

He laughed weakly. “Yes, Greyson.”

Dante glanced over when he heard Emma’s squeal.

“Steele!”

She raced toward him.

Greyson set him free so Emma could hug him. When she reached him, she gently hugged him to her body. “We were scared shitless.”

He gave her a kiss and held on. She felt so good against him. He’d missed Emma the most.

Well, after Dante.

“I’m sorry you had to find me like that.”

She helped him sit in the wheelchair. “Shut up. I’m used to naked men. This house tends to get wild.”

Greyson stared at her. “You’re going to explain that to me later, Em. I live here, and I don’t recall that shit ever happening.”

She snorted.

“Steele, I’d do anything for you. I’m just glad I stopped in to see you. Are you staying here?”

Dante took over.

He told them about what Paris had done.

Emma was going to hug him when she saw him. She loved their circle.

“So they’ll be staying?” Greyson asked.

“Yeah, that’s okay, right?”

“Hell, yes, it is. I’ll let the maid know. She’ll have their room made up.”

Emma was beaming.

“Why are you smiling like the cat who swallowed the canary?” Greyson asked.

“The family is all together again.”

Dante and Greyson noticed the smile didn’t reach her eyes. It wasn’t complete. Chris Ford was still missing, and Emma was trying a little too hard to pretend she was great.

She was good, but she couldn’t fool them. The men in her life knew her best.

They began wheeling Steele into the house.

“We’re going to be here for a while,” Dante said. “At least until the wedding.”

“Kat and Curtis’s?” Emma asked.

“What?” Dante said. “They’re getting married? When the hell did that happen, and how did I miss Dimitri flipping out?”

“He was calm, and here’s more. They’re pregnant.”

He laughed. “I leave the house for one day, and we pick up a new Croft in utero. Nice.”

Emma thought it was.

“I was talking about our wedding,” Dante stated.

“Dante,” Steele said.

“No, babe. This time, I’m driving the bus. I’m going to marry the man I love, here, in the garden, like we planned. That’s the end of it.”

Emma started laughing.

“What’s so funny?”