Dark Justice (Croft Family Mob Series Book 1) (24 page)

She took Steele’s hand and walked by his side. “I’m just glad I’m not the only one being bossed around by some sexy Croftiness.”

Steele laughed, and it had probably been the first one in a long time. It sounded foreign to him.

When they got into the kitchen, Curtis headed his way. He leaned down and kissed Steele on the cheek. “Welcome home, Steele. We missed you.”

He was touched.

Kat was next. “I’m glad you’re okay, Steele. Dante would miss you if you were gone.”

He realized that now.

“Shall we start working on this dinner? Paris and Tessa should be along soon.”

That was the best damn idea any of them had heard all day. The family got comfortable, drinking wine, laughing, and bonding. This was family night for the Croft’s, and they would enjoy every second of it.

Tomorrow was a new day, and they would take another shot at the case as they tried to keep Vegas from going up in flames.

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

Sky Villa

Five P.M

When Paris got home, he was running a little later than planned. It had been easy enough springing Steele, but the paperwork had been a bitch.

He needed to make sure the trail was covered. In any other situation, he’d never bail a patient out before some treatment, but he really believed that Steele would be better if he was home with the family.

Emma would mother hen him.

Greyson would guard over him.

Dante would love Steele like he would need
.

It was definitely the thing to do.

So, as he wheeled into the condominium, he couldn’t find Tessa. She was supposed to be waiting for him. He knew she was home because she would have texted him if she was going out.

Rolling into their bedroom, he nearly called for her. Instead, he saw her.

She was on their bed, hand tucked beneath her chin, and fast asleep.

Paris took a few minutes to watch her.

Each day, he was amazed that he’d been lucky enough to have her as his wife.

Tessa was amazing.

She was made for him. Quietly, so not to disturb her, he climbed onto their bed. He moved closer, trying not to jostle her. What he wanted was to wake his sleeping beauty with a kiss. Pushing her longer black hair back from her cheek, his mouth sought hers.

Immediately, she came awake against him.

Paris deepened the kiss.

It was funny.

Before, when he got home, he’d been thinking about patients, work, and pasta.

Now he was thinking about something so much better. He wanted his wife. Before being shot, he’d been wild all the time.

After being paralyzed, he’d had to deal with the fears of impotency.

Tessa had healed him.

While sex wasn’t always a sure bet because his lower body had a disconnect from his mind, Tessa could bring it out in him.

Like now.

She must have just showered. His wife smelled like flowers and their soap. That had an immediate effect on his libido.

As did when she moved into his body, wrapping her arms around his neck.

“Hello, husband.”

He grinned. “Tessa, I missed you.”

She began nibbling on his ear. “I missed you too.”

“We’re supposed to go to the Crofts, but…”

She did something wicked, whispering something so sexy in his ear, he nearly went up in flames.

“Uh, we can be late.”

Tessa took that as her sign.

Her fingers found the buttons on his starched shirt. She secretly loved that he was smart, a doctor, and all hers. Nothing made her crazier than helping her shrink out of his clothes.

This was part of the fun.

As her fingers freed the buttons, her mouth moved down his chest as it was bared for her.

Kiss after kiss, she could feel Paris heating up. His response was getting better and better.

He was starting to get hard.

When she got to his belt buckle, he went up on his elbows to watch her. He needed to see her take him in her sexy mouth. The deliciously plump lips would be wrapped around his dick, and she’d get him the rest of the way there.

When he heard the zipper, his heart started thumping in his chest. Then, as he watched her pull him from his dress pants, he knew he was going to love what was about to happen.

Tessa licked him like a giant lollipop, making sure to get him really wet.

He couldn’t look away.

Not because then he couldn’t get off, but because she mesmerized him with the way she enjoyed his body.

When he disappeared into her mouth, right to the base, he moaned.

Tessa got him hard.

He still couldn’t believe she could tame the paralysis beast, but she had.

As she worked him hard, he watched his body react to Tessa’s mouth. She knew how to tie him up in knots, making him want her more and more.

“God!” he moaned, as she worked on the head of his dick. He was fully erect, and wanted his girl. Each day, it grew more and more.

“Tessa! I need to be in you.”

He popped free from her mouth, and she stood to pull off her shorts and tank top.

She was naked beneath, and he realized she’d been waiting for him.

“I really hope you’re as turned on as I am,” he muttered, watching his wife straddle his hips. He could tell she was wet, and it made him crazy.

For some reason, his witchy-eyed woman found him sexy. Why? He’d never get it, but he was infinitely grateful she’d chosen him.

As she lowered herself, slowly letting him slip inside her, he was holding his breath. While he didn’t have a lot of sensation down there, with the right amount of stimulation, he could feel enough to get him off.

The visuals were what did him in, and she knew it.

She began the ride, her breast bouncing as he slid in and out of her body.

Paris watched, as Tessa enjoyed him.

Yeah, he’d missed her all day.

When he could feel her tightening down on him, he reached up and flicked his thumb over her tight clitoris.

She came.

“Jesus,” he muttered, watching his wife have one hell of an orgasm. It was so hot he could feel his own body reacting to it.

Paris wanted to feel himself explode in her body, filling his wife with everything he had.

Tessa stared into his eyes, trying to focus.

It was hard.

That was one hell of an orgasm.

“Tessie, you’re going to kill me one day,” he said, his breathing still labored.

“Paris, I need more.”

He did too.

“Get on your knees. I want to take you from behind.”

Tessa grinned at him. “Yes, sir,” she said, wiggling her ass at him. When he got to his knees, he knew he wasn’t going to have much time.

So, he was going to use it wisely. Stroking himself, to check how wet he was, he was hard as steel.

Yeah, this wasn’t going to take long at all.

Still…

She wiggled again, teasing him.

Paris stared down at her ass and went for it. He rubbed against her ass, signaling what he was aiming for tonight.

Tessa glanced back. “Fuck me, Paris.”

His heart skipped as he shoved his dick into her ass.

Tessa moaned.

Paris watched himself disappear, and he could feel his balls tighten.

Jesus.

That one stroke nearly did him in. The visual was incredible. With his hands on her slim waist, he began sliding in and out of his wife.

It was so damn hot.

What man didn’t want to see this?

As he rode her, he knew he needed to be rougher. He needed that kiss of pain and stimulation.

“Tessie, I need more.”

“Paris,” she moaned, enjoying the way he felt in her body. “Take what you need.”

He leaned over her body, changing the angle. When he began furiously driving into her, he could feel the sensation running through his body.

Yeah, he was going to be cumming, and cumming soon.

Reaching around, he flicked his fingers over her clit as she bore their weight.

“More,” she begged.

Paris wanted that feeling to never end. The closer he got, the more he could feel.

With two more strokes into her body, Tessa began breaking apart. The tightening down of her muscles pulled him over the edge.

He exploded into her body in a wave of heat. They collapsed together, Tessa going with him for the ride.

Neither moved.

Their breathing was the only sound in the room.

Finally, it was Paris who spoke.

“Come here often?” he teased.

She snorted. “You’re a dork. It’s a good thing you’re sexy or I’d be slapping you right about now.”

He moved closer, pulling his wife into his body. He was still in her, and he didn’t feel like breaking that connection.

It would happen soon enough.

“You’re my heart, Tessie. Without you, I’d have no reason to live. I don’t know why you love me like you do, but I’m grateful. I don’t know how I caught my witchy woman.”

She listened to the emotion in his voice. Tessa hated how he always thought he wasn’t good enough.

He was all.

“You were born, Paris. That’s how you got me. You were simply put here to be mine.”

And for that, they were both grateful.

Chapter Thirteen

Saturday Night

Terrace Glen

Chris knew they’d be settling in for dinner soon. That’s why he picked this time of the day to arrive. He figured by now everyone had heard what he’d done to Emma, and he wanted them all there to hear his reason.

Plus, he had to go home and change out of his dress blues. It was the last time he’d be wearing them, and he needed a few moments to mourn the loss of his career. That part of his life was over, and a new one was beginning.

He hoped.

The only thing that had him concerned was that all the way home, he had a tail.

From the seat of his badass truck, he could tell that a cop was just waiting to pull his ass over. He didn’t doubt that he was going to end up dead in some trumped up case where they said it looked like he was pulling a gun.

Or worse yet, an unsolved murder.

Commissioner Raye would do him like that in a heartbeat. He wasn’t happy he’d gotten the upper hand and there would be retribution.

Truth be told, Chris couldn’t wait to get behind the walls of Terrace Glen where he would be safe.

Pulling up to the house, he ignored the media camped out like vultures. For a change, he was actually glad they were there. If he had an audience, that cop, who was biding his time, couldn’t make a move.

It would mean staying alive a little longer.

He couldn’t go down until he’d gotten the recorder to Greyson and explained what had happened to Emma.

He was almost home free.

As he reached out of the truck to enter the code, he was alerted with a buzzing sound.

The code wasn’t working.

What?

Really?

They changed the security access to get into Terrace Glen after one day?

This couldn’t be good.

Maybe Emma really did hate his guts.

He tried the code again.

Again, he was denied.

Well, he was going to have to do this the hard way. He was going to have to ask, no, make that beg, to be let in. Tonight, he had to clean this up.

His heart couldn’t take another day like this.

He pressed the button and waited.

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

Inside, the family was just settling in for dinner. The salad was done, the large dining room table was set, and all Emma had to do was drop the pasta in the ginormous pot.

Just as she was about to do it, someone buzzed the gate.

“Is anyone expecting someone?” Dimitri asked.

Greyson shook his head.

Emma wasn’t either.

“Maybe it’s Miranda Bell looking for an update?” she asked. “Does she know our address?”

Dimitri knew it wouldn’t be her. He didn’t give anyone their home address. Granted, anyone could find them, but still…

Why risk it?

Dimitri headed to the intercom system.

“Yes?” he asked.

“It’s Chris Ford. I need to speak to Greyson and Emma. Get them.”

Dimitri laughed. “Yeah, no. You burned that bridge, Captain. Neither wish to see you right now.”

He muted the com and checked with Emma.

She shook her head and went back to opening packages of pasta. She wanted to weep over hearing his voice. It broke something in her.

“I need to see them. Stop dicking me around, you Russian pain in my ass. This is serious.”

Dimitri was about to say something about Chris’s lineage when Greyson took over.

“Chris, she doesn’t want to see you. You left the family. You don’t get to decide when you want to come back. We have feelings. Emma is hurt. Go away.”

There was a pause.

“She has to give me ten minutes. Once it’s up, she can tell me to pound sand.”

“Sorry, Chris. Dimitri is right. That bridge is burned to the ground. You can’t rebuild it.”

He glanced over at his wife.

She was furiously wiping at her eyes. Curtis immediately went to her side and hugged her. She hid her face in his neck as she shook.

Yeah, this pissed Greyson off. He was only being civil because they had guests.

What he wanted to do was let Chris in so he could kick the shit out of him.

That sounded about fair.

“Greyson.”

He cut off the com.

“Let’s have dinner,” he said, heading back to his wife. Before he could get halfway across the room, the alarms started screeching inside the house.

“Holy shit!” Dante said, covering his ears. “What the hell is that?”

“The perimeter has been breached,” Dimitri stated, tapping on the security consol.

They could see Chris Ford climbing the gate.

“Jesus! Does he have a death wish?” Greyson asked as Dimitri cracked his knuckles.

It was official.

Chris was out of his damn mind.

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

Well, if they wouldn’t open up, he had but one choice left. Getting out of his ride, he climbed onto the hood. The entire time, he hoped he didn’t dent it.

He really loved the stupid truck.

As the media began snapping pictures and filming him, he braced his hands on the gate and vaulted it.

When he hit the concrete, he felt the jarring all through his body, including his chest.

That was going to hurt in the morning. Light duty probably meant not vaulting shit.

Lesson learned.

As he headed toward the house, Chris knew it was only a matter of time before the Russian was in his face, so he had to move fast.

Emma wasn’t going to hide from him.

They had to fix this.

He’d told her once that family fought, and then they got through it no matter what. He wasn’t giving up. He’d done all of this for her, and she needed to know that truth.

They needed to know what was barreling down on them. Speaking of barreling, Dimitri was running right at him, Greyson walking calmly behind his security guy.

It looked like this was going to hurt too.

Dimitri hit him square in the upper torso, and again the pain screamed up his body. His chest felt like fire. The man was wearing some sort of body armor.

If he survived this, he was going to kick his ass. He didn’t have to hit him as if he was sacking a quarterback.

Someone liked overkill.

Big time…

Together, they hit the ground.

Then they rolled around.

Finally, Dimitri pulled his gun and pointed it at the back of Chris Ford’s head.

That caused him to stop moving.

“You’ve just broken into Terrace Glen. I’ll cuff you until the police arrive,” Dimitri said, whipping out a pair of bracelets.

Great.

That was exactly what he didn’t want.

He didn’t move until his hands were cuffed. He knew Dimitri would kill him. There was no doubt in his mind it would happen. Add that to what the media caught him doing on video, and there wouldn’t be any doubt that he’d deserved it.

Okay, he should have rethought this one.

“Chris, what the hell are you doing?” Greyson asked when he got to his side. He crouched down. “Are you out of your mind? You just hopped our fence with the media watching. You’re going to lose your damn job, if not your life.”

Chris had nothing left to lose.

“I’m no longer on the force,” he said, as Dimitri pulled him up by the arms. The jarring made him want to weep.

“Take it easy on him,” Greyson said, seeing the man wince. He didn’t hate Chris. He just didn’t understand all of this.

“So you got shit canned and came here? That was probably a bad idea.”

“I needed to see you. You have to listen to me.”

“Chris.”

“Please, Greyson. When have I ever not played it straight with you?”

He had a point.

“You have five minutes.”

“Can you have your hit man take off the cuffs? I won’t cause any issues. I promise.”

Greyson motioned toward Dimitri.

He did it, but he didn’t look happy about it at all.

“You’re wasting time. Get talking,” Greyson said. “You have less than five minutes.”

“I did what I did for a good reason. I didn’t want to break her heart. I didn’t want to hurt Emma. I had to make it look good. That was my only way to help you both.”

He looked at him as if he was crazy.

“Do you think I’d really hurt her? That I’d choose anything over her and you? You’re both my family, Greyson. She saved my life. I owe her more than I can ever repay. That’s why I did what I did.”

“Is his time up?” Dimitri asked.

Chris gave him a dirty look.

“Wait, Dimitri.”

He had to admit that Chris’s behavior was off. It was so off the cuff that it made him, and Emma, wonder what the hell was going on.

His gut told him to listen.

“Go on.”

“Commissioner Raye came to me and ordered me to get Emma to confess that you or this Russian asshole killed Mace and Dominic Marianna. He wanted me to get her to come to my office, which was bugged, and get her to admit it.”

Dimitri growled.

“I didn’t do it. What I did do is make it look good enough that it caused someone to rat me out. The commissioner came down, and he admitted it on record.”

Chris pulled the recorder out and hit play.

They listened to the part where Raye admitted what his plan had been, and how he wanted Chris to do it.

Chris stopped it.

“Today, I went in to turn in my badge. I wasn’t going to hurt Emma. I needed him to admit what he was up to so I could help you both. I have enough evidence to bury him.”

He hit play again.

Again, they listened.

Greyson stared at him.

“You could have told me. I would have told her after the fact, so she didn’t suffer. Emma has been mourning you.”

“You think I didn’t think about that? Commissioner Raye is out of his mind with anger. Emma burned him. He wants her head on a pike. I couldn’t risk saying anything out loud. I had to hope that you’d know I wouldn’t hurt either of you. I had to pray that what we had as a family was strong enough to stand up under what I was going to do to her.”

Greyson got it.

“I was protecting my family,” Chris said. “I was making sure she was protected. He knows I have this. He’s not going to make a move on her.”

“Now you’re wearing the target, Chris.”

Oh, he was aware.

“On my way over here, I was followed. Commissioner Raye has already sicced the cops on me. He’s going to do the same for everyone in your house. We’re all marked. He’s going to keep it just above the law until he can figure out how to bury you.”

Greyson scrubbed his hands over his face.

This was a mess.

What the hell ever happened to the mob being feared and no one bothering them? Wasn’t he making a big enough statement in Vegas?

Apparently, times had changed.

Greyson needed to do it up big time.

“I needed to get here to tell you this. I’ll go. I’ll walk out to my truck and go home. I didn’t come here to ask her to forgive me. I didn’t come here to get you to protect me. I came here because it’s the right thing to do. I did it for my sister because she didn’t leave when I was bleeding on that floor. She stayed there with me. She fought for me, and I’d fight for her.”

Chris’s eyes filled with tears. “I’d die for her, and I’m likely going to, too.”

Greyson didn’t doubt it.

Chris Ford was a dead man.

“Tell her I’m sorry. I’ll go.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a zip drive. “Here’s everything they have on Mace’s death. Here are all the interdepartmental memos from the FBI to the commissioner and myself. Here’s the casefiles she asked for on Seth Bell. It’s all there. It should help you out.”

He dropped it into Greyson’s hand.

“You don’t have to tell her anything right now. I know she hates me or she would have come out here. If anything happens to me, just tell her the truth one day. I don’t want her to think I died betraying her—not Emma. Never her.”